Elegance and chic, Puredistance Black

The perfume house of Puredistance is an ultra exclusive brand from the Netherlands. Founded by Jan Ewoud Vos in 2007 it aims for the ultimate perfume pleasure by creating the über luxurious fragrance blends created with the highest quality materials. The house collaborates with 3 perfumers: Annie Buzantian (from NYC), Roja Dove (from London) and Antoine Lie (from Paris).

In November Puredistance will launch a new perfume named BLACK. I was really excited when I read the first mentions about this new release. My perfume radar got even more active when I read the description which to me indicated that BLACK will be more of a masculine perfume. The brand decided to keep the formulae a secret and we will not know the official notes. Here is my attempt to giving a sniff to Puredistance BLACK. Don’t treat it formal, I tell what I smell from the unknown.

Puredistance BLACK starts on my skin with a prominent spiciness. From the abyss of this fragrance, which has an inspiring depth from the very beginning, I managed to distinguished the note that I believe is cardamom. It has an intensive, yet gentle character characterised by a fizzy and warm quality. 10 minutes later more things start to get going around this perfume. Another accord I smell is black pepper – a dry and spicy aroma with a faintest metallic feel. It just has to be the note. Together with cardamom they give a masculine feeling to the scent. Sophisticated and elegant for sure.

When it’s 30 minutes from the moment since I applied BLACK on my wrists I begin to notice another layers emerging from this fragrance. The dark aura that effuses from the surface of my skin can’t stop me thinking – could it be that they used some oud in this perfume? The answer is unknown but my nose suggests that the answer would be – yes. It’s not a thick black resin but something more pale and transparent, only with the weight of oud accord.

The longer I have BLACK on my skin the more I like it! Few minutes after the mark of 1st hour some smoky layers are revealed. First there’s a pale incense note. Could be a silver incense. But just a quarter later the composition gets smokier with frankincense I suppose. What I smell now is rather spiritual, meditative and churchy. There’s an in-depth harmony to the scent. The spicy notes that appeared earlier are still around, seamlessly blended into unity. That’s the complexity I enjoy, even though it’s not really my strong point.

One more hour and I notice another phase of Puredistance Black coming in. It’s spicy again but in a different way this time. I believe that I smell coriander, warm and dry, combined with the spiciness of nutmeg. A little more further and at 2,5 hours I’m almost sure I smell cinnamon. Speaking of cinnamon here – it’s not the sweet kind one, it’s closer to the version you can find in Serge Lutens Rousse. It’s a dry, spicy bark. All these notes that were mentioned earlier – they come and go.

What I mean here is that they rotate. For around 2 hours, between hour 3 and hour 5, BLACK slows down its progress allowing you to enjoy all the spicy and more smoky note again and again. Happily it’s not the end of the journey with Puredistance. After 5 hours since spraying the perfume surprises us again. Now some balmy notes come to the front. I think there’s some tolu balsam in there.

At the 7 hours mark BLACK slowly gets closer to its drydown. Now a little bit sweeter notes appear on my skin. I think my nose detected some benzoin, as well as amber and a little bit of animalic qualities. I can also smell vanilla, but it’s not overly sweet. It just brings the oriental vibe into the blend. This phase also has a woody aspect and there’s a chance it was created with sandalwood and cedar. What I smell there too is a trace of oakmoss, a little bit dirty and earthy in style.

The perfume was undergoing some more or less noticeable changes for 4 more hours. At that time I was unable to determine if another notes appeared or disappeared from the composition of Puredistance BLACK. All I know is that after wearing it for over 11 hours the perfume became really fain and linear. It wasn’t completely gone yet – it happened just around 16th hour.

The perfume house of Puredistance describe its new perfume with these words:

Puredistance BLACK is an understated elegant and mysteriously charming perfume that is close to the wearer and releases sensual and elegant scent layers in a whispering way…

As much as PR materials can often be misleading, this one says the truest truth. BLACK is non-offensive at all stages of development. It’s sillage is very intimate, beginning with 2-3 inches above the skin and going smaller until it’s detectable only at the skin surface. It’s character is elegant, sophisticated and stylish. Puredistance presented the best of good taste with BLACK.

The first impression it gave me was the picture of a well groomed man, in tailored suit, white shirt and silk tie, sitting at the desk in this formal wear and writing a letter to his best friend, or to his beloved one… He would wear BLACK that moment and he would also scent the paper with this Puredistance fragrance as a sign of his ultimate love… and longing. The person who would open the letter would sense through the words and through the fragrance that it’s loved.

Elegant perfumes are important part of my life. I like the story they tell, or a story I can make while smelling them. Puredistance BLACK is no exception. It just feels like this perfume was made especially for me. It’s charming, mysterious and romantic. And that amazing lasting power of almost 16 hours! There are not many brands who create perfume this way. If I could afford it, I would buy BLACK by Puredistance without any hesitation. It’s so modern and classy.

The new perfume from Puredistance will be officially launched in November. BLACK is a perfume extrait containing 25% of perfume oil. It will come in 17,5ml (165€), 60ml (275€) and 100ml (490€) bottles. The flacon is black with golden letters and cap. Perfumer who developed it is Antoine Lie. It’s a unisex perfume with a little bit of a masculine vibe to it.

[note] sample of BLACK was provided to me by Puredistance. Thank you Samira! Picture 1 and picture 3 are my own and were inspired by the smell of BLACK, all rights reserved.