House of Matriarch - Sacre Noir

Sacre Noir is the second collaboration between perfumer Christi Meshell and Joseph Sagona, my dear friend and fellow fragrance blogger.  (Sacre Noir comes on the heels of their previous collaboration, The Longing.  You can read my review of The Longing at: http://bit.ly/2k9H4im).  I was anxious to try this fragrance as I knew, based on pre-release information, that this fragrance would contain many unique notes and was curious to see how the perfumer would create this Winter tribute to The Holly King.  Ms. Meshell has the rare talent of being able to blend complex, multiple, and unique notes seamlessly so I was extremely hopeful I would enjoy the result. 

Sacre Noir opens with a chilly walk into the forest in the heart of Winter.  It is here in the first moments of wear that the perfumer is hinting at where our journey will be taking us.  There is a slightly sweetened citrus laying at the base of snowy evergreens.  In the first moments of the opening, I get an almost crisp and icy vibe that smells like the fronds of an evergreen recently touched by the falling snow.  Roughly 30 minutes into wear, the iciness fades and dark, rich woods begin to appear.

In this part of the wear, Meshell has taken us deeper into the forest.  Yet even in its slumber, the forest offers up the complexity of life.  We walk though towering cypress trees and their sage-tinged woodiness mingles with a warm, green holly and balsam fir.  Meshell’s special spiced sugarplum accord adds a spicy yet delicate sweetness that falls into a subtle note of agarwood; deepening and darkening the woody undertone.  There is a lightly herbal oakmoss that evokes the feeling of the damp and crumbling leaves below our feet.  A resinous note adds a further depth to the juice.  Incense notes of the lighter black copal and a deep, rich, and balsamic Boswelia Neglecta swirl like a smoky mist down the path ahead. 

There is something quite magical about Sacre Noir.  The fragrance takes the wearer on what feels like a very special, secret journey into the deep forest in Winter.  In its wear, Sacre Noir reveals both the mystery of the dark woods and its welcoming arms waiting to gently comfort you in the darkest of days.

Sacre Noir wears on me for roughly 11 hours with moderate projection.

Notes:  Golden Oranges, Snowy Evergreens, Spiced Sugarplums, Cypress, Oakwood, Mastic, Red Rose Holly, Heather, Laurel, Myrtle, Bay, Juniper, Agarwood, Balsam Peru, Black Copal, Oakmoss, Boswelia Neglecta Incense, Forest Floor

Perfumer: Christi Meshell

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