For the sake of heaven, how come I waited so long before buying it? I do have several Ferragamo colognes in my collection, namely Uomo and its siblings, still F and any of its flankers, for a reason I don't know, never fit in the shopping basket. But, recently I had a chance of ordering some testers and F Black was available for a couple of bucks, so I blindly bought it, and I gave it a true SOTD wearing.
First off, F Black comes with an original bottle, mine is miserable without a cap, which might happen if you accept to buy testers, and contains a pale grey juice supposedly with oriental woody tones. On my skin, F Black opens up with an explosion of sweetness and freshness from fruity apple and pungent lavender, all the way. It smells good, I get the crispy apple unquestionably. Originally, the sweetness and sourness of the green apple are stronger than the lavender smell and they stand above it, yet a few minutes later it tones down and the lavender boosts in all its aromatic and harsh aspects. Ain't bad in any aspect, rather it is a bold, deep, punching loud, and dark lavender, more herbaceous and less flowery, far away from Davidoff Cool Water, for instance. The opening is amazing, is posh, is fruity and spicy, at least my bottle and batch are.
The heart introduces a good amount of black pepper, which adds some spiciness together with coriander seeds, all that in your face. The mid note of coriander begins to come through very pleasantly and seems expertly blended in the way it reveals itself. I do not get too much spiciness, the black pepper is dosed consciously and well mixed with coriander.
The mid-notes then seamlessly transitioned into a beautifully delicious dry-down. which is a combo of sweet and spicy with a bit of a powdery note that usually comes from labdanum or amber accord. The profound and sensual association of labdanum and tonka bean in the dry down mimics the masculinity of the warming heart notes and rounds out this amber and woody cologne. Still along for the ride, the lavender note remains present, but more subtly and smoothly. Aside from the punchy opening this one seems expertly blended and has the feel of a niche quality product.
I agree with other reviewers who find some small similarities with Chanel Allure and YSL La Nuit de l'Homme. I mean, F Black is not a clone of those colognes, however, it reminds Allure in the opening and then turns int YSL La Nuit de l'Homme in the heart and drydown. Notwithstanding, F Black is a nice fragrance per se with its personality. The notes I get most are lavender, black pepper, and tonka bean.
F Black has been created to be worn for evenings on the town and special occasions, anyway, today I'm rocking it at the office and did not get any disappointment. It's a cologne that fits perfectly with the colder months, Fall and Winter seasons, daytime, evening out, and rainy nights. The sillage and projection are average in my opinion, and the longevity is very good, I get around 8 hours on clothing. Overall this is a great cheapy to have in your collection, so if you can get past the lavender-heavy opening, you may be pleasantly surprised. Honestly, it doesn't blow me away in any particular aspect but rather is well above average across the board. No regrets.
-Elysium
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BertolucciK
Hugoderrica
Aithan
Elysium
AmberScent
ScentsByKK
Muotarek
Carlitos01
MrHonest
