Yves Rocher Fruits Noirs ~ Blackberries (2014) {Perfume Short (Review)}

Photo ©The Scented Salamander

Fruits Noirs, or Blackberries in its English version, is a new limited-edition eau de toilette out for the 2014 Holidays by Yves Rocher...

I wanted to call attention to it because this is a minor opus but delectable all the same. It is extremely well done. From the opening when a burst of hyper realistic fresh blackberries scent hits the nose to the ending which floats in the air with its light chypré impression.

The blackberries are really dark, almost black in their intensity and a bit vinous - with a nuance of Concord grape. Instead of smelling next of easier fruity notes, it takes the route of smelling overripe developing a note of durian, which adds depth to the overall fruitiness with its scent of decay.

There are very discreet green nuances and even minty ones which add internal complexity to the scent.

The sweet, sugary muskiness of the scent is very delicate evoking an Aquolina Pink Sugar, but as if it had been sifted though some fine, gauze-like material while plum butter had been added. This eau de toilette smells amazingly good.

The drydown avoids the obvious, which would have been a heavy white musk sillage, or a caramel kiss of good-bye. Again, sophistication as a standard is apparent in the creation of this lovely, under-the-radar suprise: you get a very light chypré effect reminding me of those chypre perfumes which use dry cassis in their formulas. Black cherry is also part of the formula.

While Fruits Noirs is a fruity perfume and a gourmand one too a priori, its treatment is an example of how much you can elect those motifs to be abstract and light-footed instead of trumpeting.

This is a perfume for lovers of subtle musks, subtle fruity musks in particular and good perfumes in general. Unlike a musk oil it really has the capacity to create an olfactory shock in you instead of being simply sensually seductive.

The bottle on the shelf was nearly dry; I was saying "Wow!", "amazing!", "Am I dreaming?"; another person was feeling extatic about it.

Given the fact that this fragrance is available in a wide range of ancillary products, it appears well worth exploring further. Recommended as a scented stocking stuffer for this winter.