Initio Parfums Prives (Initio Parfums for short) is not a fragrance line you’ll find in your local Macy’s or Nordstrom. You CAN however find these bottles at your local Neiman Marcus if you really want to go sample the gambit (you really should btw). This niche fragrance house is known for making their fragrances into different collections; Absolutes, Carnal Blends, Magnetic Blends, Hedonist as well as Black Gold Project. Each one of these have their own “base” scent, if you will, that is the DNA built into each fragrance within each collection. Each collection also comes with their own bottle color to coincide with that collection. A good example would be the Hedonist line (all white bottles) – these fragrances tend to be more powdery soft as the underlying base note throughout the fragrance journey but with different mids and dry downs to compliment the powderiness.
The Carnal Blends collection tends to be bolder and more engaging – powerful and distinctive. A fragrance blend that has a LOT of stopping power along with smoother note blends from opening to dry down.
Now, I haven’t really talked about Initio Parfums much on the blog because, well let’s face it, since it’s not readily available at your local department store, most people have no clue who this company truly is. It’s when you get further in your fragrance journey that you start to really delve deeper into the darker dungeons of fragrance delight that you’ll then start to come face to face with some really good niche fragrances. When you start out, it’s all Acqua di Gio EDT for daaaays and then you work your way up to other more expensive designers like Tom Ford and then next thing you know it’s bottles that never hit sub $275 - $300 anymore but I’m here to tell you, they are worth it, but it takes time.
Think of Initio Parfums like you would think about coffee. When you first start drinking it, it’s all about that cream and sugar. Your taste buds are still growing and everything has to be sweet. This is your ADG phase. Then you start lessening the sugar and using just creamer, this is your Tom Ford phase. Once you make it to just black coffee with nothing in it, now you’re in your Initio Parfums (niche) stage. Allow me to explain.
You see, designer fragrances are designed to be mass appealers and mass sellers. I’ve said this many times, they are companies that manufacture a LOT of products and their fragrances are just a notch in their portfolio, however the care and attention to detail just isn’t there. A niche fragrance company puts ALL their efforts into these fragrances, ensuring their quality is not even in the same stratosphere with designers – hence the higher pricing and better quality ingredients.
So, when I first started putting my nose to Initio Parfums products, I couldn’t get what my nose was smelling to produce anything positive. They were too “out there” for me at the time. I was still in my “coffee with creamer” phase. I have to tell you though, the more you wear one of these fragrances, the more and more you go back to them and the more you absolutely enjoy them. THAT, my friends, is what separates niche fragrances from the designers.
Narcotic Delight is no different. When you first spray it on you are immediately hit with some level of familiarity. It’s not the exact same as what you’ve sprayed before, but it’s in the same ballpark. I talked to a friend of mine and initially he didn’t like the fragrance on the first sprays. Even the dry down was a bit off for him. But, the more and more he wore it the more it grew on him and it’s now in his rotation and the compliments come easy with this one let me tell you. The very first night I wore this out the first person that came up to me asked what it was. They understandably had no clue who Initio Parfums but now they know.
The only thing I can tell you it smells similar to is if you took Carolina Herrera Mystery Tobacco, mixed with Angels Share by Kilian then added a smidge of Guerlain L’homme Ideal Extreme and put them into a blender and mixed them up you would get something similar to that. The booziness and sweetness that comes from Angels Share mixed with the dark tobacco from Mystery Tobacco with that touch of cherries from L’Homme Ideal Extreme makes for a perfect cold weather beast that will last you all day into the night. The top notes are cherries, pink pepper, and black pepper – mid notes are Cognac and Hedione – base notes are tobacco and vanilla. Honestly, I don’t see another cold weather fragrance with these notes coming close to Narcotic Delight right now. A definite must try for sure.
Final Thoughts
The sensual undertones of Narcotic Delight are a perfect combination for a cold weather fragrance that is quite literally launching right before Valentine’s Day. I would highly recommend you grab a decant for yourself right here and see if you agree with my thoughts above.
If Initio Parfums is a fragrance company that is not around you to go and smell for yourself, Decant House has got you covered. Grab some samples of Initio today and see what I mean about my coffee theory. If you really find you don’t like the fragrance, give it a shot for a few days as your daily driver. Trust me…people will notice and ask you what you’re wearing. That’s all for now, I’ll catch you all in the next one!
