Or Noir

Or Noir arrives as a studiously composed contradiction—a fragrance that marries Mediterranean brightness with a distinctly nocturnal sensuality. The opening cardamom-Italian lemon pairing suggests daylight clarity, yet this is immediately tempered by elemi resin's resinous, almost medicinal grip, which whispers of amber-lit interiors rather than sun-soaked terraces. What makes Or Noir compelling is its refusal to settle into a single register. The spicy heart notes (those unnamed spice accords lending 100% to the composition) layer atop green pear with an almost peppery insistence, preventing the fruit from becoming merely juicy or approachable. Instead, pear reads as tart, slightly austere—a fruit caught mid-decay rather than at peak ripeness. The cedarwood here isn't the clean, pencil-shaving variety; it's warmed and complicated by leather and benzoin in the base, where coumarin's gourmand sweetness (76% sweet accord) sits in productive tension with dark leather's animalic suggestion. This is a fragrance for someone unafraid of olfactory friction—the wearer who sees contradiction as sophistication. It suits evening wear, certainly, but equally the kind of person who applies fragrance as punctuation to their mood rather than their outfit. Neither traditionally masculine nor feminine, Or Noir possesses an intellectual, somewhat austere character. It's the scent of considered choices, of someone comfortable in their own sensory world.