Good morning! I hope everyone is doing well today. I am doing just fine. I am excited to start wearing some of my cold weather fragrances. It's finally starting to get down into the 50s(Fahrenheit) here. I have been waiting for this since March. It's a wonderful time of the year.
I am covering Zaharoff Signature Noir today, one of the pair of flankers that was released around a month ago. I've had it for around 3 weeks. I didn't want to do a first impressions article on it because that is just not my style. I like actually delving into the fragrances and being as accurate as I can be about them. So, I have put in at least 7 wearings of this before I wrote this.
I did receive this for free from George Zaharoff. Full disclosure: I do consider George a dear friend of mine and that could play into some bias in this article. I will still tell you what I think about this fragrance. George had no say in what I am going to write. He values honesty and so do I. That is why I am telling you that he is a good friend of mine and that this article could lean in a certain way without me realizing it. Zaharoff does not sponsor me or pay me in any way for this. He simply sent me the fragrances for free.
Now that we have that out of the way, I hope you enjoy my take on it. Let's get into it!
The Story
Darkened skies amidst a foggy landscape with echoes of the street lights dancing in the misty air. A simple, yet intriguing display. When light hits water suspended in the air, it creates this captivating show of how nature works. It intrigues us to get lost in it. Just as the man on the corner, adorned in a jet black fedora and trenchcoat.
Sixty years ago this would be a typical man amongst the crown. Clean-shaven, a crisp white shirt with a red tie underneath, this was a classic man. What was standard now, is an anomaly today. What does the man in dark clothing think? Is he lost in the wrong era and too old-fashioned for modern times? Is he a mix of both? Perhaps he is just emulating his favorite mafia characters from that movie that took place in the 60s? If we dig deeper, will we find soft sweetness or stoicism?
That is what draws us in. The pull to find out that which we do not know. It's human nature to be curious. The echo of the mysterious man in the fedora may never be unraveled due to societal standards of the times, but maybe, just maybe something can give us a glimpse of a modern man, who is still in love with those times. We shall call him the man of noir or man of the night. This is his scent.
The Notes
Top
Basil, Coriander, Bergamot, Mandarin, Pink Pepper
Mid
Ginger Root, Blonde Cedar, Anise, Cypress, Fressia, Fir Balsam
Base
Sandalwood, Tonka Bean, Frankincense, Oud, Myrrh
The Scent
Zaharoff's Signature Noir opens up with a combo of the sweet fruits of bergamot and mandarin with sweet coriander to magnify it. Right off the top, you get that buttery and creamy sandalwood with the warm and sweet myrrh from Signature Pour Homme, but it's much tamer in this flanker. That could be because the citruses soften it up a bit. I am not entirely sure, but that is what I perceive.
The fragrance remains sweet and fruity for the first two hours or so. At this point, the sweet notes die down and take a backseat to the base notes. At this point, you can pick up the cypress more, which melds with the frankincense, ginger, and oud to create a dry, woody, spicy, and resinous base that shows its masculine side without shame. There is still a faint bit of sweetness in here, but the drier notes do assert their presence in a louder fashion. A minty anise shows it's face to make the fragrance not overly dry. The sandalwood is evident in every stage of this fragrance. I would expect nothing less. considering that I believe the Zaharoff Signature line is built off of this note.
The overall theme is that Signature Noir opens up with sweet citruses and fresh spices, then it dries down to a woody, spicy, and resinous fragrance.
My Opinion
Signature Noir is a welcomed addition that keeps some of the original DNA of SIgnature Pour Homme and makes it better, in my opinion. I loved and still love Signature Pour Homme, but this one is much more rounded and more of my style, even in lieu of the sweet opening. It's not overly sweet. It's more like an Aventus sweet. No, it doesn't smell like Aventus at all, but the sweetness in the opening would fit in the same genre as Aventus.
I think the use of anise in the dry down is genius. It prevents the fragrance from being too dry and it keeps it intriguing with character. I also really love the use of ginger. The oud finally gets its chance to shine in this one as well. This is just a lovely concoction that is right up my alley.
You might hear varying opinions on performance for this one. The dry down is vastly different than the opening. Many folks will probably be looking for that sweetness to carry on, but the fragrance gets a bit less dense when the drier woods come out. It's still there and very apparent, but some might struggle with it in the same way they struggle with Aventus' woody dry down. I get around 10 hours on skin, with around 3 or projection. It performs quite well on my skin.
This is certainly for the colder months, but I think you could wear this in the warmer months as well, but go very light on the trigger. It's assuredly masculine. Could a female wear it? Sure. However, I think this is very much well cemented in masculine territory. Just like Signature Pour Homme, this fragrance leans slightly more mature. Although, I do think this one is more suited for a younger age than Signature is. It's still not a college fragrance to me. This is for a man who is a working professional and not a guy in sweats. This would be a wonderful date night fragrance for a gentleman.
The Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed my take on this fragrance. Thank you for tuning in. I will be doing a review on Royale in 2 weeks or so. I have only worn it 3 times and that is not good enough for a review, at least by my standards.
I hope everyone has a lovely day. Stay safe. Be kind. Kind words are free and you never know how much it could help someone. You never know where someone's head is at. One word could push them over the edge or bring them back. These are trying times for everyone and the holiday season is upon us. Let's spread some joy and cheer!
Much love to all of you. Until next time, keep smelling great and being great.
Buy Zaharoff Signature Noir here (Not an affiliate link)
Want to see what is going on in my group and vote on my upcoming articles? We also discuss fragrances and fragrant topics in a drama-free environment. You won't see any troll Aventus and CDNIM posts in my group! Join my Facebook group!
