Continuing on from yesterday…

It was just over two years ago when I was summoned to the Netherlands by Jan Ewoud Vos, the very creative director of Puredistance. I scent for personal pleasure and on occasion to create atmosphere. But there is another reason that I like to be fragrant. I use scent as a disguise because my personal aroma attracts men, women, dogs, cats and opossums if it is not veiled with blends of frankincense, wormwood and patchouli. In Asia I have to be wary of snakes.

Meneer Vos had heard of my scent aura via The Fragrant Stratosphere and he invited me to a meeting with him and perfumer Antonie Lie. I found the Puredistance HQ tucked behind a canal but it was not so much a meeting in Groningen; before I knew it I had been strapped to a human sized head-space technology machine thingamajig. The machine thingamajig breathed in from my pores. Recalibration was needed as the analysis was showing I was sweating sinking grade oud oil. Which explains why a certain oud seller visits me annually to collect my sweat to add to his plantation sourced oud oils. A lengthy meeting ensured and my IP lawyer flew in from Australia to complete a satisfactory agreement including confidentially.

Imagine my surprise when Normand Cardella in Canada starting writing about my scent aura. Suddenly Lucas, The Chemist in the Bottle, was analyzing the very essence of my being. Perfume Theorist Juraj Sotošek Rihtarec had waterfalls of words in French, English and Croatian to assess my scent. Vanessa was telling me she absolutely loves me in a majuscule kind of way. Perfume Analyst Kafka almost saw a cherub while he was landing on a fluffy cloud whilst inhaling. Mark Behnke was bespelled. Elena said I filled a void the she hadn’t realized was there as she placed me on her perfume shrine. Natalie thought me to be excellent company. The Scented Hound was calling me a man of many secrets. Caro said I was casting a veil of mystery while Gaia was caught up in an emotional storm. Birds were twittering and Katja de Bruijn was tweeting #pdblack . Robin at Now Smell This was even telling people that I would be available. If these wrists could whisper they would be calling out my name.

Dear Reader, please excuse any impression of vanity or vain-glory. My reaction to this scent was so personal that I felt like the above fantastical events had taken place. All I could do was envision, smell, and feel this scent swirling into my life story.

Let’s continue to the review…

My wrist has started whispering to my nose. The conversation has been going on for over 12 hours. If Fate Man was too atomospheric for you and you did not like the strength of Cuir 28 then BLACK is the subdued elegant ‘fume for you which according to the PR…

whispers

I am in agreement with the above statement; the whispering had my nose planted on my wrist to inhale this pianissimo suede with unreleased notes. Of course the notes are only unreleased until they warm up on your skin. Then you may be able to analyze the various notes or just enjoy the blend. If you have to know the notes then the highly esteemed noses of The Non-Blonde, Kafka, CaFleureBon, The Chemist in the Bottle, The Perfumed Chronicles and The Scented Hound will give your nose some pointers. As will Bonkers About Perfume, the cleverly named BLeauG and my other colleagues listed in detail below. Or you could run the ‘fume through your home gas-chromatographer for a GCA print out.

For me, as with any ‘fume it is always more about the blend, the composition, rather than individual notes as notes behave differently when made into accords. The BLACK accords smell of highly polished leather turning into suede then into a chamois generously splashed with Laotian Oud, a dab of cresol and sprinkled with crumpled patchouli leaves. If I was to use only one word it would be beautiful.

This is an aura scent that shines at an ambient level. It also smells expensive.

Puredistance BLACK is a Black Beauty. This is one of the 7 wonders of the modern perfume world. You can find out more about the other wonders in an upcoming post.

My favourite comments, now that I have caught up with the previously published reviews, are…

While I’m envisioning, smelling and feeling, can I name my own price?

Chrisskins
Commenting on Now Smell This.

a luxurious mystery, a soft start to a pervasive and layered scent experience that is a modern or even futuristic version of what darkness is, like swimming or flying through dark water or a night sky in a vehicle engineered by the most artful scientist. It begins with a pure point of faraway darkness, warmed by amber, disclosing after a time within its enfolded layers heated florals that increase and increase in strength as time goes on. Clarimonde finds this perfume tenaciously holding on to her luminous skin and transferring itself to the skin of those she embraces.

Clarimonde
Indieperfumes

It fits with the image of an athletic man wearing a black sweater that flatters his figure. And makes you look repeatedly.

Ines
All I Am a Redhead

Perfumes of this kind, from Amouage to By Kilian often use their sillage to assert themselves as luxury. Not here, though, and as the press materials stress– this is a feature, not a bug.

Gaia Fishler
The Non-Blonde

As Black’s heart progresses, you are taken on a journey over blackened, pebble smooth roads filled with complex twists and turns, traveling through a forest of smoke and sensual woods.

Flaconneur
Per Fumus

Puredistance BLACK isn’t the absence of light; it is the play of illumination and shadow ever shifting on my wrist.

Michelyn Camen
CaFleureBon

BLACK dances in shadows.

Soft and textural, it feels like perfumed velvet, wrapped around a crystal well of jet black ink.

Clayton Ilolahia
What Men Should Smell Like

Now I have to get back to my whispering wrist. What is it saying…? Frank? Ah, frankincense, wormwood and oud. I think there may also be potent # effects as evidenced by some of the reviews listed below.

Release Update: Usually I time reviews to coincide with the launch date so readers can find the ‘fume if a release interests them. This policy is also so that a stunning release does not get lost in the plethora of other releases between a preview review and the ‘on-sale’ date. Due to some confusion (on my part) this is a preview review however there are sample sizes of 2 x 2ml for $US39 available now otherwise…

BLACK will be available December 01 on the Puredistance website. Retail supply is scheduled to be completed by mid December 2013.

puredistance – BLACK
Perfumer: Antonie Lie
Release Date: November 2013
Perfume Extrait 32% Perfume Oil
Notes
Released when they warm up on your skin.

Launch samples (available now, limited period) 2 x 2ml $US39 €29 free shipping

17.50ml $US198 €165 Bullet spray
60.00ml $US330 €275 Flacon
100.00ml $US590 €490 Flacon

Puredistance website
Puredistance Facebook

Further Reading
Pure Distance interviews Clayton Ilolahia
Clayton Ilolahia interviews Jan Ewoud Vos

Alerts
08 Aug Robin Now Smell This
08 Aug Undina Undina’s Looking Glass

Giveaway – open until 7 November
Australian Perfume Junkies

Reviews
28 Sept Katja de Bruijn Beauty Comes to Mind (Ninfeo Beauty)
02 Oct Steven Lindquist The Scented Hound
02 Oct Elena Vosnaki Perfume Shrine
01 Oct Juraj Sotošek Rihtarec BLeauG
03 Oct Łukasz Szcześniak Chemist in the Bottle
05 Oct Vanessa Musson Bonkers about Perfume
07 Oct Patty White Perfume Posse
07 Oct Danielle de Madeiros Beauty On The Outside
09 Oct Mark Behnke CaFleureBon
09 Oct Dimitri Dimitriadis Sorcery of Scent
10 Oct Sachi Akiyama La Parfumerie Tanu
12 Oct Av Parfumista Parfumistans Blogg
13 Oct Annelie Höglid Confessions of a Perfume Nerd
13 Oct Annelie Höglid En Parfymnörds Bekännelser
14 Oct José Amorim The Luxury Activist
14 Oct Gaia Fishler The Non Blonde
14 Oct Natalie Another Perfume Blog
15 Oct Flaconneur Per Fumus
16 Oct Maria The Vanity BLOG
20 Oct Simone Mais Que Perfume
21 Oct Normand Cardella The Perfumed Chronicles
22 Oct Donna Hathaway Perfume Smelling Things
25 Oct Caro Té de Violetas
29 Oct Sergey Borisov Fragrantica
30 Oct Kafka Kafkaesque
01 Nov Jordan River The Fragrant Man
01 Nov Clarimonde Indieperfumes
07 Nov Karin Savvy Thinker
13 Nov Ines All I Am a Redhead
25 Nov Clayton Ilolahia What Men Should Smell Like
24 Dec Thomas – The Candy Perfume Boy