PSA: Bourbon French Parfums is offering 10% off Voodoo Love and Eau de Noir during the month of October. Code: Halloween. I haven't tried Eau de Noir (it's in the men's collection that I haven't gotten to yet, not that gender matters in perfume), but Voodoo Love is definitely worth checking out. Especially if you like retro perfumes or want what I'd call experience or ambience perfumes that are a little unconventional. It's officially listed as unisex, is more dry than sweet, and is described as "a recreation of the special potion of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau." The rollerball version of the cologne ($10; the lightest formula) opens with a burst of powdery notes that are basically a nostalgia trip if you grew up in the south and your family used Avon Skin-So-Soft to repel mosquitos when you were a kid. I think this is possibly powder + carnation making an appearance at the top, but I'll admit that it freaked me out slightly. I was happy at that point that I had more application control with the cologne rollerball, but I'd like to try this in the more concentrated parfum form ($30 for 1/4 oz parfum). I'd be curious to see if the top notes were more mellow and smooth. The middle and basenotes of Voodoo Love are what I really enjoy. Thankfully, it settles down within a few minutes into a rounded tobacco-vanilla-leather that reminds me of flapper-era perfumes. Specifically, Molinard Habanita, Caron Tabac Blond, and Chanel Cuir de Russie, all designed to be worn in a cigarette smoke heavy environment (Habanita, a powdered tobacco-vanilla, was originally a scent for women's cigarette holders, not people). With Voodoo Love, I get a note that is more like a smooth leather jacket than the moss or patchouli notes that other people describe in reviews. There's the driest, least foodie note of cinnamon, adding warmth and roundness. The rollerball cologne sillage is fairly intimate (close to skin). There's vastly less projection than BF's bigger, louder Sans Nom. It's not conventionally "pretty" by 2024 standards: there's no candy, no sugar, nothing particularly cutesy, approachable, or sweet. But if you've ever been emotionally attached to a battered leather jacket or wanted to sit in a library that smelled of aging, slightly musty books, I think you'd love it. Very Halloween appropriate.
