Byredo: Rose Noir and Chembur

Byredo is a Swedish fragrance line that just launched earlier this year. They have five fragrances total, and I'm sampling two of them today: Chembur and Rose Noir.

I originally intended to review them individually, the way I do with most fragrances, but there just isn't enough 'oomph' to them for me to bother. I tried, really -- I started off and was all, like, "Chembur is said to be inspired by the childhood memories of the neighborhood outside of Mumbai, India where the perfumer's grandmother lived. I can't personally vouch for how accurately Chembur reflects the character of this neighborhood, but it is a spicy, mildly sweet perfume with a bit of an exotic twang to it" and blah blah blah snnnnzzzzzz.

To be honest, I've smelled this exact fragrance about a thousand times before, a little dusty spicy with a sweet amber finish, and there's nothing about it that's unique enough, special enough or yowza! enough to deserve it's very own entry.

Same with Rose Noir. Perfectly nice green-rose fragrance with a pleasant white-musk base, yet mostly indistinguishable from the flood of other fragrances already on the market.

Mind you, it's not like purchasing either of these Byredo perfumes would be a bad idea. They're both wearable and well-crafted and might get you a compliment here and there, but I can't see recommending them over, say, a Frederic Malle, Le Labo, Serge Lutens, Parfumerie Generale, Annick Goutal, Chanel Les Exclusifs, Profumum, Parfums del Rae, Nasomatto, L'Artisan Parfumeur, the list goes on . . . however, I would recommend them over Montale, Etro (except Etro Messe de Minuit, I love that stuff), Givenchy, Diptyque, Gucci, Versace, Bond No. 9 and a Bulgari or two.

If someone throws a bottle of Byredo at you, then by all means, catch it and save it and maybe wear the stuff a few times . . . but don't expend any extra time and effort to go searching them out.