NAVA Black Crystalline Black Fig Review

Brand: Nocturne Alchemy/NAVA
Availability: Limited Edition Halloween 2015
Notes: Rich Black Crystalline Vanilla haunts this perfume while decadent Egyptian Black Fig permeates likes a phantasm within. Black Cardamom EO rises throughout the perfume like a ghost in the night treading across wooden floors but never touching the ground. A drizzle of sweet cream and black sugar are left where footprints should have been and an ethereal drift of White Fig haunts the spaces in-between

First impression out of bottle: Greenish fig, a hint of spice

Freshly applied: Still a VERY unripe fig, like the light green ones, not the nice ripe purple ones. Smells like fig skin and fig leaf, not the inner flesh. There's a hint of vanilla'd-spice but it's not like the typical strong NAVA vanilla, it's quite subtle. More spice with a whisper of vanilla.

Drydown: Whoo, the musk really comes out. This smells a bit old-fashioned, like a floral musk perfume worn by an older woman, or maybe the fragrance of midcentury face cream. There's a nice earthy spice that keeps it from going full Nivea/Avon but yes, it smells a LOT like an old lady's powder room. The hint of spice is from the fig (I noticed NAVA's fig perfumes often smell more like black tea than ripe fig) and a bit of sweet vanilla. But predominantly sweet musk is what I get.

After several hours: Still the same sweet, old-fashioned sweet musk. Not unpleasant but this is not the ripe blackened fig I was looking for. It's very "pretty" but it's not distinct enough, and I am one of those people who, once I have a couple musk perfumes, I get very bored of just musk.

Longevity: High
Sillage: Low-Medium. This is a strong-ish skin scent, which is to say I notice it, but only right against my wrist. It doesn't do a lot of wafting or traveling, rather it stays right up against my skin.

Would an [X] lover love this? A fig lover would be disappointed, the fig is super subtle here. A musk lover would be all about it, it's stronger than many skin scents, and a bit different and wicked from your usual pale musks.

Would an [X] hater love this? A musk hater would probably run away screaming from this. It has all the negative AND positive attributes of what musk can be. By that I mean it smells a bit powdery and grandma-ish, and it's purring and silky. So if you hate musk, no this is probably going to be a no for you.

Where am I? Remember when I said this reminds me of an old lady's powder room? You know, floral wallpaper, clean vanity, old jars of cosmetics? It's like that with a wicked twist. So maybe like an old witch's powder room. 

Where would I wear this? Work, sleep. It's a bit boring. I may layer it with something like Ava Luxe's Figue de Sucre to pump up the fig notes, but otherwise I think I may destash this to a more avid musk-lover.