Description
“Dusky labdanum is at the heart of this rich and sultry scent, with cedar and sandalwood in the base and subtle deep rose weaving between the woods.
I like labdanum and I wanted Ambre Noir to highlight it. Working with labdanum resin is a delight to the senses: it’s a thick golden resin with a wonderful musky, woodsy, amber scent and is beautiful after it is diluted with alcohol and filtered. I held the vanilla in Ambre Noir to a minimum and added interest and complexity to the labdanum with incense, moss, leather, and woods. I wanted the darkest, richest, smoothest woodsy amber with incense and a hint of leather.” (Laurie Erickson)
The composition includes: labdanum absolute, amber, rose, olibanum, myrrh, vetiver codistilled with mitti (clay), oakmoss absolute, aged Indian patchouli, texas cedarwood, sandalwood, castoreum. Ambre Noir was launched in 2008.
arhipka – :
I have a 34 ml bottle for swap, 2/3 full! Email me if you are interested! Thank you!
seomoajsgh – :
Sad to say but this one was a disappointment for me. Granted, I was expecting a lot. I adore Sonoma Scent Studio and I was thinking this could be my holy grail amber judging by the reviews and notes.
First of all, the color of the liquid I received was a very pale yellow. Miles away from the original formula pictured here, which is a naturally occurring dark orange brown. So clearly this has gone under severe changes since it’s release. Make no mistake, the current formula I received is indeed beautiful, but the performance leaves a lot to be desired for me. I mean, SSS all-natural Amber Incense was more potent. The longevity on my skin was one hour tops, and it projected moderately at first but rapidly quiets down into a skin scent within twenty minutes.
I perceived the opening as sultry gentle smoke with spice. Looking at the notes now I think I must have been smelling the castoreum, which I am not familiar with. The resins are also most prominent at first. Then in the heart the beautiful rose shines through, and transforms into a gorgeous amber honeyed rose. It dries down smelling like a pure, divine golden honey more than amber resin. Overall it smelled to me like a less smokey, more subdued and feminine version of Relativamente Rosso by Bois 1920. I mean that in a good way, as the latter opened up much too like barbecue smoke for me. But ultimately, the search for my dream amber must continue.
hovrin2010 – :
This is the best, most dark, mysterious amber I have in my collection. It is superb.
GKOEKRKOP – :
This one reminds me of April Aromatics’ Calling All Angels.
Both glorious in their own ways but this one is densely sweet and slightly darker (maybe closer to 777 Black Gemstone but much more natural & less intense) while the other is truly resinous.. Depends on your mood I guess 🙂
bear64 – :
Dark amber, smoky wood, with a swirling dusky rose in its midst. Its opening is sweet, balsamic, and red wine-y or cognac. This all tempers and the sweet/balsamic mutes and the dusky rose and woods arise . It doesn’t seem to change much after that but it smells so beautiful, I just don’t care! It took me a few wearings to really appreciate this fragrance and grow from like to love. Also, other ambers that I’ve sampled after this one just aren’t comparing to this one. I wonder if my amber journey has ended here!? It’s definitely cool weather material but I’d wear it on a warm night as well. Good longevity(8 hours and that was dabbled, not sprayed). I also layered over L’Erbolario Meharees which gave it even more richness. This will be a definite FB consideration come Fall.
saubera – :
A warm, woody, incense with a touch of amber. It’s not an outdoorsy campfire incense, but it is more churchy to me; a low light, old cathedral with burning candles and wood pews. It lasts for a good 12 hours and has a medium silage, as in, people close by you will smell this too. Love Love Love this scent!
mrooks – :
Dark, mysterious, exotic, addiction.
Dark amber and labdamum are at the forefront, but the combination of resins and woods give me an “incense” accord adding to the depth and mystery of this scent. On my skin, it lasts and projects very well. This is by no means sweet and subtle, but rather harsh, bold, and sophisticated. A little timid of this fragrance at first, but I have grown to absolutely love it. The smell of a dark figure emerging out of the shadows, mysterious and a bit scary. If I could only have 10 fragrances, this would be one.
respeckt82 – :
Here, the noir is actually noir. Dark amber.
There could be no improvement to this. The natural ingredients and the blend is perfect.
Longevity is endless and projection is polite and natural.
petbastard – :
DeadIdol embellishes his reviews with such artful poetry that one might just give up in following it. 😉
So the quick & dirty for me then: Very pleasant and rich sweet amber. Labdanum takes a strong position, with amber, sandalwood and incense, maybe frankincense as well. I also get some rose, myrrh, vetiver, oakmoss, and patchouli accompanying the base. Reminds me of a “Good Earth” nature store somewhere in Vermont. Warm and comforting, and more of a cooler weather fragrance. Very unisex, easily worn by man or woman. Also subsides to a skin scent rather quickly. Was expecting better projection from what I got in the first impression.
I agree with DeadIdol that the labdanum is a bit on the heavy side. I also would prefer the rose to be toned down a bit. But thankfully there isn’t any vanilla which you often find mixed in with an amber. This could be a great fragrance depending upon the person, but sampling first is strongly recommended.
Kir-_- – :
Read deadidol’s review immediately below. That is pretty spot-on.
Mild, mild sweetness from the amber, an undeniable rose wafting in and out, and a lovely and unexpectedly fresh, but dark, background.
This is about the most wonderful thing I have ever smelled. A top favorite.
kuchus – :
This is a dark, rose-y twist on the resinous amber genre; a vivid, labdanum-heavy composition in which agarwood is flushed with dark vetiver and patchouli to provide a singed effect—one that conjures up the impression of smoldering leaves. The rose—prominent and bitter—is backed by a sharp olibanum serving as a counterpoint to the semi-sweet and medicinal labdanum, situating the scent as somewhere between gothic and bohemian. For an oriental, it’s dry, veering more acerbic than sweet; and even though it’s comprised of several key items, it makes a fairly singular statement, shifting only at the beginning and at the final stages where it becomes an ashy merger of sandalwood, oak moss, and incense.
Oriental is my genre of choice, and I’m particularly drawn to dark, heavy amber and incense scents that are perhaps a little overcooked and dramatic. To a degree, this is playing many of the notes that I enjoy, but the rose and the charred components—clearly central to the composition’s overall theme—impede my enjoyment. The goopy labdanum, merged with the rose and what appears to be a touch of leather, juxtaposes a chypre-esque bitterness against balsamic aspects of the amber. The result is closer to what you find in Tauer’s Incense Rose or By Kilian’s Rose Oud than the name suggests, and for me, it causes a bit of cognitive dissonance. Ambre Noir isn’t really a straight-up dark amber; it’s primarily a dry, charred, labdanum-rose fragrance. But as with all scents from this line, the composition is jaw-droppingly polished and perfected and the structure is stable enough to carry the scent for a full day’s wear. It’s sombre, haunting, and develops beautifully, and so if rose, incense, and smoky notes are your thing, this fragrance is absolutely worth checking out as it’s one of the best genre-benders around.
Zendrick – :
H.E.A.V.E.N.L.Y. (eyes rolling back in my head). Out of all the frankincentric (did I just make up that word?) perfumes I have ever smelled, this is the cream of the crop. Move aside, Avignon! Ambre Noir accomplishes what Avignon does not. It’s a well-balanced predominantly frankincense perfume with the right touch of floral. Rose to be precise. Rose is very obvious here, yet it does not take over the perfume and instead retains a mysterious quality.
The initial phase smells strongly of sandalwood and leather, so it is woody and very pleasantly animalic. After some time, rose becomes more dominant.
While I agree that it is a dark perfume, perfect for candlelit castles and thunderstorms, it’s not terribly depressing nor cold.
Not a typical church perfume either, too romantic. Reminds me of visiting the duomos of Italy and enjoying the alters with thousands of candles that are lit by all the tourists and locals too. The drydown smells like a waxy, powdery, rose candle. Such a gorgeous scent. Very highly recommended.
IgromanISP17 – :
Many of the perfumes of this house sound so absorbing, and so does this one. Though the prices are pretty high.
Sadly you can´t order it from Europe and there are no retailers here.
I hope they will change this circumstance and make it available here.
арахнид84 – :
That’s a very solemn dark amber, a resin from an ancient huge mossy fir tree. And this tree it’s standing close to the zoo as there’s a strong animalistic smell present. I like the faint but still distinct rose note which lends a less serious twist on an otherwise strong and serious composition.
Ambre Noir is a strong but polite giant of a scent, it’s bound to be noticed: loved or disliked, it’s another story. For me the scent has almost a meditative quality, probably because of a hefty dose of frankincense in it.
Beautiful to be worn in winter, but I think hot and sultry summer might be another time to wear this. I doubt though that I’ll reach for Ambre Noir in fall and spring, as I see it, this scent needs extremes.
Strekoza1987 – :
What a scent! I noticed that people noticed me..by taking subtle sniffs close to me. I am not sure if this was a good thing 🙂 I found this to be truly a dark affair. Lots of amber, from the deep side, mixed with a light dusting of forest freshness (the Cedar?). after several hours, it melded into sandlewood, castoreum, and amber. Potent Still, and it’s been 8 hours! Definitely a stormy day affair!
bola – :
Wow,this is beautiful,one of my favorite amber scents.
xtcywpgltaf – :
Thanks Scorpiosheep! You prompted me to dig out my sample of Ambre Noir to test. You’re right of course, I do love this gorgeous dark amber. It’s very different from the warm and cozy Histoires de Parfums Ambre 117 tested yesterday which in itself was lovely, but more of a comfort scent than Ambre Noir.
SSS ambre Noir has a prominent rose note behind the amber that gives this a slightly retro feeling to my nose. It is dark, dusty and very sultry and surprisingly, caught the attention of my husband who is usually oblivious to my perfume indulgences! He was not only impressed with the scent, he commented on the sillage and longevity. (Maybe he IS listening after all?)
Anyway, I digress. This is a high quality niche perfume that should be tested by those searching for the perfect amber scent fro their wardrobe. Bravo Laurie!
iskradima – :
True to its name, Sonoma Scent Studio AMBRE NOIR is a dark, thick and viscous, YOUTH DEW-like perfume. One look at the contents of the vial, and it becomes clear that this is a serious elixir. The opening is briefly medicinal but then the composition smooths into a “dusky” (as they put it—and rightly so!) labdanum-rich amber perfume. This is strictly a winter affair, with an oily incense note along with the other hard-hitting oriental components, but we in Boston have no spring, so we’re trapped in winter basically until the day that summer dawns (sometime in May, we hope!). So far so good. I’ll update as the evening progresses…
…It’s a winner: smooth and seductive: I want it!
AsseksDrosy – :
Oh, this is gorgeous! It’s a full blast of labdanum, sandalwood, fir sap, cedar wood, and a little incense. The first image that came to mind was a forest of big, tall, dark evergreen trees, the kind of forest that’s so dense and dark nothing can grow on the ground, a forest that surrounds you with darkness.
As it dries down, both literally and in the olfactory sense, I can smell oud and vetiver, as well as more cedar, and the labdanum resin that is always there. It’s as if Laurie Erickson had captured the bare-bones spirit of an Arabian perfume, removed all the lavish decorations, and distilled it down to its dry, ethereal, woody essence. The sillage is magnificent.
This is far and away the best perfume I’ve tried in recent memory. I cannot praise it highly enough except to say that everyone should try Ambre Noir. It has a strong personality so you may love it or you may hate it, but in either case you will have had a true olfactory adventure. I almost never buy full bottles of anything, but after testing it I did buy a bottle of Ambre Noir.
superman48 – :
Amazing, mysterious pure amber and labdanum. Unbelievable how deep and resinous is this masterpiece. When I tried the AN first time, it was like electricity flowing throughout my body. Real darkness that stays unchanged for hours. Than it develops to the woody smokiness and the resinous dirtiness. For sure the AN is worth its name. Not too many fragrances with the name “noir” is really dark but this one is for sure. My lovely bottle is waiting now for colder weather because during the spring time it can be a killer for me and the entire environment around. Silage is unbelievable; the power is amazing, silage as the nuclear weapon.
pushkinous – :
Resinous myrrh incense and dirty wood. A fabulous mix of dark and golden. Has a bit of Christmas candle/ winter incense in feeling. Nicely done.
909090 – :
I never ever imagined that amber smelled like this. After sampling this scent twice, here’s what i can make of it. Here’s my visual interpretation of it:
Imagine a woman dressed all in black with a black lace veil covering her face walking in a cemetery on a cold January day. This fragrance, imho, exudes somberness.
If you wonder what it smells like, i’d say it’s a combo of incense and amber rounded by a hint of a rose note.
This should be worn mainly by women; i don’t think it’s suits men.
Update: i tried it on a rainy day and i got a smokey-vanilla rose accord. it’s completly different to what i experienced the first time! Wow!
IGORQ5 – :
hmm… I find myself in quite a pickle wiht this one. I was quite sure Winter Woods was my favorite woody from this house, but now I’m not so sure.
Amber noir has a sweet note, obviously, with that rose, myrrh and labdanum addition. To be honest this sits just below the ‘too sweet’ on me, but never quite tips the scale, which is why I loooove it. After wearing it 5-6 times now, i realize what I’m loving here is Frankincense, this note just can’t be beat when done well, it’s so intoxicating.
Amber noir is an interesting, sultry, resinous floral. It’s not deep and luscious, but more incens-y and smooth.
Edit: I chose amber noir over winter woods; WW turned too ?? to me, maybe the sample went bad from exposure to air, not sure. but Amber Noir has become more addicting.
cvoloshuga – :
I was testing it today – Ambre Noir on one wrist and Profumum Roma’s Ambra Aurea on the other. When I applied them, I was instantly taken by the dark, dry and dusty nature of Profumum’s Ambra Aurea. Ambre Noir seemed far too sweet and aggressive in comparison.
Half an hour later, however, I was stunned by the personality swap they had gone through. The amber in Ambra Aurea got strangled by sweet, generic vanilla. Those slightly smoky 5 minutes aside, it was now nothing more than an average vanilla-amber scent – lovely, yes, but nothing new. For 240 bucks? Please.
Ambre Noir, however, had evolved into something marvellous. The initial overbearing sweetness was passe and it had taken on a mesmerizingly dark and raw quality. I know just what Miss Nightingale means by the medieval times comparison. Dark, dry, dusty, incense-y, leathery indeed. Amber at its best.
Another winning scent from Sonoma Scent Studio. What a brilliant brand!
478912 – :
Oh my! Now THIS is a true Amber, and whilst many perfumes slap “Noir” on the end of their name in the hope of imparting a darkness that the scent does not, in fact, contain… we have all manner of shadows contained within this delicious, dark gold liquid.
So many amber fragrance creators wimp out and start dropping vanilla into the mix “surely most people wont be able to take this unless I make it sweeter?” they panic. Now, I love vanilla, but I don’t want every single base of every single perfume to go mad with it. There’s perhaps a hint of vanilla here, but it never fully appears in the dusky shadows.
The labdanum is very apparent and holds this fragrance together, along with that fabulously erotic note of leather. Somehow both comforting and stimulating. A little goes a very long way – I merely touched the dipper to my skin and am surrounded by an all-enveloping veil of amber & moss. It feels like being transported back to medieval times.
This is a bone-dry, dusty piece of sculpted wood from an ancient church-pew. Slowly, methodically infused with incense over hundreds of years. The first hit is almost overwhelming, but somehow melds with your skin to become an absolute MUST try for both Amber & Incense lovers.