Stéphane Humbert Lucas
Stéphane Humbert Lucas
657 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The Sicilian lemon slices through cedarwood's dry sweetness within seconds, creating a sharp, almost austere introduction that smells more like lemon oil on raw timber than anything resembling freshness. There's an immediate sense of sobriety here, the citrus serving as punctuation rather than decoration, before myrrh begins its slow emergence from beneath.
Myrrh dominates completely now, its bitter, slightly medicinal character intensified by lingering cedar and the arrival of frankincense's resinous bite. The two resins create a dense, smoky atmosphere—not soft or devotional but stark and uncompromising, with that characteristic metallic edge that proper myrrh brings. Teakwood adds an unexpected coolness, its oily, camphoraceous qualities preventing the composition from becoming too heavy.
The resins have mellowed into a unified woody-amber base where frankincense's pine-like aspects have largely faded, leaving behind its warmer, slightly dusty character. Tonka bean finally makes itself known, adding a subtle creaminess that softens without sweetening, while teakwood's peculiar coolness persists as a ghost note. What remains is intimate and skin-close, a smoky wooden whisper with just enough balsamic warmth to feel inhabited rather than abandoned.
Black Gemstone reads like Stéphane Humbert Lucas's meditation on sacred smoke and ancient wood, a composition where cedarwood and Sicilian lemon form an unlikely conspiracy in the opening moments—citrus oil cutting through pencil shavings before the resinous heart reveals its true intention. This is myrrh given centre stage, not the sweet, balsamic myrrh of conventional perfumery but something darker and more austere, its bitter-green facets amplified by the cedar's dryness. The frankincense arrives with proper gravitas, bringing that characteristic pine-like sharpness before settling into its contemplative, almost dusty character.
What makes this compelling is how Lucas handles the wood accord: teakwood adds an oily, slightly mentholated quality that keeps the composition from becoming too churchy, while tonka bean in the base provides just enough creamy sweetness to soften the edges without compromising the fragrance's severity. The smokiness isn't the result of cade or birch tar—it emerges naturally from the interplay of resins and woods, like incense left burning in a temple long after the congregation has departed.
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3.3/5 (265)