black friday 2020 is the time for my usual annual restocking of scents from Sucreabeille, what with their generous tiers of promotional gifts with purchase and free international shipping.
one of these promotional gift tiers for which my purchase amount qualified was a 1oz eau de parfum of their valentines' scent Black Heart (salted dark chocolate truffles with spiced caramel cores, and a shot of whiskey).
this one is a wonderful gourmand that combines all the goodness of valentine's day - chocolate, caramel and whiskey, minus the oversupply of flower corpses that emerge for that week - and is perfect for wearing all year around.
true to its official notes, the first sniffs from a couple of sprays are a strong dark chocolate with salted caramel and lovely undertones of smooth booziness. it's not as sugary-sweet as i had feared; the dark chocolate is quite realistic in marrying the cocoa to a slightly-bitter edge, while the salted caramel leans heavier on the 'salt' than the 'caramel'. the overall experience reminds me of fancy artisanal dark chocolate, the kind that you would only get for yourself as a rare treat (or an annual february gift from a special someone).
the whiskey plays a supporting role early on by elevating the chocolate-caramel combination to more than just another dessert, but after about half an hour of wear the confectionery begins to fade and a more well-blended composition emerges, featuring all three notes in roughly equal proportions. it's a lovely combination and i greatly prefer this balance after it's settled on my skin.
the sillage is moderate, lower than what i would expect for an eau de parfum, but still a respectable couple of feet over six hours or so of wear.
i like how Black Heart is a gourmand that doesn't go too far with the candy-ness; a wearable interpretation of a romantic valentine's evening with a box of chocolates and a generous pour of whisky shared with a special someone. definitely an eau de parfum that will see quite a bit of use from me over the course of the year, but not something i would want to repurchase when it does (eventually) run out. 7.5/10.
scent aside, i think that the additional effort that Sucreabeille is putting into its branding and packaging is paying off. i really like the new sturdy box that the edp comes in, which adds a certain level of class (and protection) to the bottle. the label designs are also becoming more consistent across the different scents, with quality art reinforcing the house branding in an elegant manner that goes beyond the conventional expectation of "small indie company".
for a satisfying unboxing of Black Heart, do check out my Instagram @sniffsandscribbles here!
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this review is of a promotional freebie-with-purchase that i had received for making a purchase with my own money. i wasn’t asked to review this as a condition of receipt and didn’t receive any incentives for writing this. i’m not affiliated with Sucreabeille, and as always, all opinions remain my own.
Sucreabeille's website is available here. prices are US$6 for a 1ml sample, US$12 for a dram, US$16 for a 5ml bottle, US$20 for a 10ml rollerball and US$45 for a 1 oz bottle (before shipping).
all information correct at time of publishing.
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