HOUBIGANT
FIGUIER NOIR

2022

PERFUMER
Cecile Ellena

Fig Leaf
Cardamom
Black Pepper
Clove

Iris
Jasmine
Black Fig

Cedarwood
Candied Fruits
Fig
Patchouli

You can take ‘noir’ with a grain of salt here, because I think Figuier Noir is kept vibrant and versatile. It opens with a green fig. Fruity yes, but it also places you inside a forest. People that know my (at times anti-green) taste won’t be surprised, that I was unsure of where this opening would take me. Luckily, the balance really works for me.

On one hand you have the almost fiery, fierce amber-ish wood with a green tinge, which give the fragrance a masculine leaning tinge. It’s not daring or gothic by any means, it just make the imagery that of a fig tree, rather than just the fig fruit. On the other hand, you do have the fruit and the sweetness.

And sweet it is. Figuier Noir is not a Bois Mystique or Fougere Royale from the same house; it’s more modern and sweet in the drydown. Vanilla is not listed as a note, but I get an almost vanilla Coke type of drydown here. As a matter of fact, the fragrance this reminds me of is the obscure Summer 2020 Night by now-defunct brand Prescent, in which vanilla was the key ingredient. It’s a scent I’ve never come across otherwise, until Figuier Noir so I’m glad to have found it.

I think Celine Ellena (yes, daughter of Jean-Claude Ellena) did a great job with Figuier Noir; fitting comfortably in the men’s line of Houbigant, but leaving the unisex door wide open, as well as balancing the traditional styling with the modern.