The Heart of Darkness. Ink, Rum, old Leather book binding. In his childhood, Leo Crabtree read Joseph Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness, of sailors telling their stories as they traveled from London to Africa. This perfume is inspired by the idea that how we tell each story is how we communicate our history – through ink, through paper, in leather bound books, through tattoos on our body – and almost always over drinks. Coeur de Noir considers the relationship between the sea and the art that it has inspired.
Pen and ink drawings of yachts, old libraries of nautical fiction and tattoos are all referenced here in this warm, dark fragrance. Accords of Black Ink dominate; west Indian Spiced Rum; papers lost and found; the familiar dry accords of Leather bound books balanced with warm enigmatic notes of Vanilla Pipe Tobacco. All finely based around a dark heart of Birch Tar and Labdanum. the Leather and the Ink shine through in this perfume, just like the most incredible and alluring book always does.
NOTES
Top: Rum, Ginger, Ink
Middle: Paper, Leather, Vanilla
Base: Cedarwood, Tobacco, Birch Tar
PERFUMER
Julie Dunkley
HOW IT WEARS
Coeur de Noir is an Eau De Parfum that will last you at least and anywhere upwards of 8 hours on the skin, as with the whole Beaufort range. Warm, boozy spiced notes mingle darkly and deliciously with leather, pipe tobacco, inked parchment and wood. A steadfast, enduring and comforting wear.
LORE LOVES
We’re overwhelmed by the tangibility of the scene this scent evokes. Coeur De Noir immediately elicits visions of the captain’s cabin on a ship. The dark heart of the vessel where maps, log books and ledgers, ink well, liquor decanters and animated, in depth discussions all combine over the sweet smell of a tobacco pipe, infusing the dark wood and leather upholstered atmosphere of the cabin’s interior. We love the way the warm, rich leather shines in this fragrance. Dark, cosy, deep and all encompassing.
ABOUT THE BRAND
Beaufort London is an incredibly unique English perfume house created by musician and writer Leo Crabtree. Inspired by Crabtree’s lifelong love of fragrance mixed with his fascination with the darker elements of British history, Beaufort London’s first collection of intense, and bold perfumes is titled “Come Hell or High Water”. Coming from a family history of seamen, Crabtree also references the sea throughout this collection. “The sea, its traditions, superstitions and way of life are ingrained in me. The brand’s name Beaufort London (derived from the 1805 wind force scale conjured up by Naval Officer Sir Francis Beaufort) represents a kind of framework within which we can understand ourselves. The wind in consistent, enduring, but ultimately changeable and potentially destructive.”
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Jillian Noad (verified owner) –
This fragrance is amazing. It was my standout pick from Lore’s Fragrances of the World collection and I recently ordered a bottle. It is dark and delicious and I only need one spray to get through the day, a rare find for me as my skin can sometimes “eat” fragrance. On me it is deep and warm with the birch tar coming through early alongside the rum and ginger and vanilla. On my partner, it runs cooler with the leather and cedarwood leading. It’s not an obvious candidate for a unisex fragrance but in this house it most definitely is one! Well worth a sample particularly if you love Map of the Heart Black V2.