Potion Royal Black by DSQUARED²
Men 2013
Description
DSQUARED² Potion Royal Black is a woody-spicy fragrance for men. Launched in 2013, this composition features an olfactory pyramid that opens with incense, Jamaican pepper, and bergamot; develops into a heart of rose, leather, and tobacco; and settles on a base of guaiac wood, cashmere wood, and musk.
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When to wear it (votes)
Key notes
-
Top
incense
-
Heart
rose
-
Base
guaiac wood
Community
601 votes
- Positive 84%
- Negative 14%
- Neutral 1.8%
The olfactory pyramid
A guide to the opening, heart and lasting trail of the fragrance.
The community speaks
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In the collection
Leading answer I want it
1,570 votes
What do you think?
Leading answer Love it
601 votes
Season
Choose severalLeading answer Winter
536 votes
Time of day
Choose severalLeading answer Night
322 votes
Each question has its own vote count. You can choose several seasons.
Fragrance profile
About Potion Royal Black
DSQUARED² Potion Royal Black is a woody-spicy fragrance for men. Launched in 2013, this composition features an olfactory pyramid that opens with incense, Jamaican pepper, and bergamot; develops into a heart of rose, leather, and tobacco; and settles on a base of guaiac wood, cashmere wood, and musk.
Woods and mosses Spices Flowers Musk, amber and animalic
It may remind you of
Ranked by what the community voted.
More from DSQUARED²
How it wears
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Longevity
Leading answer Long-lasting
344 votes
Sillage
Leading answer Strong
429 votes
Character
Leading answer Leans masculine
75 votes
Value perception
Leading answer Fair price
66 votes
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Community reviews
6 reviews
Share what you noticed: opening, drydown, sillage and the moments when it works for you.
Juancar, if it’s a bad copy of VC&A Pour Homme, it won’t be cheap, because the Dsquared version costs double. A 100ml bottle of Pour Homme from VC&A goes for around €25 (or $26-27), so technically it can’t have high-quality ingredients. That’s one thing; whether it’s a great perfume is another, and I don’t doubt it (though I don’t know it myself). By the way, the distinctive note of Royal Black is incense, which Van Cleef lacks. Everyone says Pour Homme was reformulated some time ago. I can’t judge its scent or quality, but I might buy it soon given the price and reviews. If it smells better and has more quality as Juancar says, then with €25 for 100ml, Van Cleef’s Pour Homme would have to be one of the best on the market. To complete my review of Royal Black: it stands apart from current ‘designer’ perfumery thanks to that dark incense note, which blends with the leather. It’s not a timid, plastified leather like in CH Men (which sweetens it to avoid scaring the younger crowd), but a rough, gritty leather. That aspect is what I found most interesting.
Well, something’s wrong with the price of VC&A Pour Homme. Last year I got 50ml here in Valencia for €57. Of course, it’s been reformulated since 1978, but watch out. Personally, I’m not much for incense; I only liked it back in the discontinued Envy by Gucci. And mind you, the leather-rose combination in Dsquared2 has nothing to do with Van Cleef’s. I hope you, fellow friend Drakecito, try it soon (please, not in the heat), because in my case it works incredibly well at night. It’s the queen for captivating someone in a place.
By chance, I tried this fragrance, and the truth is, it disappointed me. I’m not saying it’s bad, but the rose-leather-incense combination is already quite overused in both modern and classic perfumery. Actually, it seems like a cheap copy of Van Cleef & Arpels Pour Homme that doesn’t even reach the sole of its shoe, because the leather note in one and the other has a distinctly different quality.
Well, it’s a very ‘interesting’ fragrance. The rose note is very prominent at first, but it’s a dark, spicy rose, with lots of incense and leather. It’s a muuuuy rough, purely oriental scent of ‘decent’ quality. For current ‘designer’ perfumery, I’d say it’s exceptional, but you have to like strong, rough, somewhat gothic perfumes. In the style of Amouage (saving for the quality differences, which do exist). It’s not personally my taste. Simply, the aroma doesn’t quite please me, but that’s a matter of preference. I don’t like Amouage Epic or Memoir, for example, nor Tuscan Leather by Tom Ford, to give another example. Good longevity, over 6 hours, and a rather low sillage (which isn’t a bad thing). Only for the brave, or if you like the smell of Napalm in the morning, well, soft Napalm or ‘designer’ level… 🙂
A fragrance where I only perceive leather, incense, and musk; nothing else. On my skin, it develops in a boring way; there’s hardly any evolution from the start, with all three notes together in a somewhat chaotic manner. Longevity is 3-4 hours with a light projection. This fragrance is familiar to me, though I don’t recall which one it is right now, but I’m convinced I used a nearly identical one before. I won’t buy it again, but it’s just my opinion. To be completely honest, I must add that just today, on the first day I wore it, someone already commented that it gave off a very good smell.
A fragrance with very good reviews that, however, hasn’t made it to Spain.