By Kilian Back to Black

...a stealth bomber disguised as a creampuff.


I admit it -- I’m a glutton. Sure, that one Vanilla-Vanilla cupcake from the Red Velvet Cupcakery is divinity incarnate, and I’ll eat three more just to prove it. But don’t leave that plate of freshly baked peanut butter cookies near me unless you want it “disappeared”. And my childhood memories of Easter Sunday are a crackie blur of downing the entire contents of my Easter basket at dawn in a tweaker frenzy, followed by sitting blearily through the church service in a candy-coated coma.

To me, the perfect amount of anything is “too much”. That goes for raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, mayo on fries. And perfume. Perfume perfume perfume. Like a toddler who needs to put each and every random object in his mouth, I am compelled to try every perfume I encounter. What some may decry as poor impulse control, I prefer to view as a charming “lust for life”.

A couple of days ago, I was lust for life-ing at my favorite perfume boutique, spraying and sniffing, sniffing and spraying. In the space of only 29 minutes, I found myself wearing the following:

LesNez Manoumalia (sweaty tropical flowers)
Tauer Perfumes L'air du Desert Marocain (dusty incense and cedar-Coca-Cola)
Indult Manakara (lychee flambée)
Indult Tihota (marshmallow Fluff)
Indult Isvaraya (smoked jasmine and patchouli)
Solange Azagury-Partridge Stoned (peppery amber powder)
Vero Profumo Onda (vetiver-leather)
By Kilian Back to Black (vanilla honey and tobacco)
Amouage Epic Man (oud-y incense-leather)
10 Corso Como (oud and sandalwood)

I think I may have overdone it a smidge, because at the grocery story afterwards, strangers were commenting on my fragrance. From 50 feet away. And no sooner had I walked through my front door than my husband swore loudly from three rooms away, the printable part being, “WHAT is that SMELL?” Apparently Mr. Whinypants had a problem with his eyes watering, or an ice pick sensation in his sinuses, or blindness, or some such.

Something about the anguished urgency of his query made me give myself another snorf. By gum, he had a point -- what WAS that delicious smell? Out of my self-induced scent swamp emerged one supreme Venus. It was By Killian Back to Black.

Back to Black had asserted itself over the others not by screaming above the din, or by being extra weird and niche-freaky. Instead, this irresistible Calice Becker confection insinuates itself into the animal brain with its lethal blend of yummy, cozy, and horny.

At first, B2B is a “merely” a very feminine gourmand: a powdery blend of vanilla, honey and almonds reminiscent of Turkish Delight. Then a wisp of faintly cherry pipe tobacco lazes through the proceedings, and powdered sweetness morphs into smoke. Here’s where I fall into a dream, lulled by the eau de parfum’s fuzzy softness. Num num num, snuggled in my Back to Black blankie.

Then it happens - B2B pops an unmistakable woody. Woody accord, that is: cedarwood and patchouli spiced up with saffron and cardamom. I had to crib this info off the official ingredients list, because all my animal brain can register is that my playful companion has turned out to be a seducer all along.

Freshly aroused, my nose locks in on B2B’s ambery labdanum, which does wicked “exalted personal smell” things with the honey. I don’t mean “unwashed orifices”, exactly, but there is something verging on TMI with this animalic combo. The honey and smoke say a long, sensual goodbye on the skin, lasting all through the night and into the next day.

There’s a reason why the subtitle of this perfume is “Aphrodisiac”. Back to Black is a stealth bomber disguised as a creampuff -- and just the perfect amount of “too much”.

For more Back to Black findings, click here.

Back to Black is available at Amazon.com and LuckyScent.com, starting at $135 for 30ml

Madonna by Steven Meisel