I have tried out the "Black Seduction by Antonio Banderas" for a few days now since last Saturday and I think I have enough information for writing a review!

First up, a very fine and elegant box. Didn't try anything too fancy and over the board which is always a bonus in my eyes. I like simple!

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Next was the bottle - now this was absolute "top notch feel in the hand" stuff! It was a 200 ml bottle, so twice the amount of out usual perfume bottles which are generally 100 ml. And there was no way you could tell it was such a large bottle except for the fact that it was heavy! They proportioned it in such a way that it gives similar feel to say for example a Dolce & Gabbana The One EDP 100 ml. _(Why so specific? You'll find out!)_

It was a very comfortable bottle to hold in the hand despite its size, so well done there! And on first look, the juice itself inside looked a pretty decent color! It seemed black, but even in the darkness of the dimly lit "robindro shorobor," I could it was not really black. When I looked at it under proper light at home - I was honestly mesmerized! I hadn't seen such a beautiful colored perfume juice ever. I don't know if the image below does justice to it. I think it has a purplish hue, with enough transparency to it.

Now the all important "first impression" of the juice itself! My first impression of it can not actually be taken for word because of all the overwhelming emotions I was getting drowned in while trying it out the first time. I knew I liked the smell, everyone around the table liked it the moment I sprayed it and it was a large-ish table. So the projection is beast mode, that much is clear. 

As the initial commotion quietened a bit and everyone dug into their food, I was quietly sniffing it every few minutes and I told my wife I quite like the minty note I am getting from the perfume. But as I was looking at the notes breakdown of it after returning home, there was no mention anywhere in the breakdown. But I was so sure I was getting something minty. I tried it again the next day and it was there again, definitely some minty notes.

Interestingly however, the Blue Seduction from the same line does show "mint" among the top notes. Make what you will of it!

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# So how does it smell exactly?

It's always hard to explain how a perfume smells and it is easiest to do when you can just reference it to a pretty widely known fragrance. Luckily, I can use 2 such examples here. The opening is quite close _(not identical, probably like 60-65%)_ to my most favourite fragrance of all time - **Dolce & Gabbana The One EDP.** No wonder I liked it!

The dry down also seemed very familiar, but I just couldn't figure out what it was for 2 days. It hit me yesterday! In my school days, I had a body spray I really, really liked. It was "David Beckham Instinct." Even back then when I didn't know too much about fragrances, whenever it was raining, I used to go for "Instinct." The dry down of "Black Seduction" is very very close to that one, and it lasts a good few hours more.

# When to wear "Black Seduction?"

As I just said, it is a clean-cut rainy day fragrance. The last couple of day have been raining decently here and I have thoroughly enjoyed wearing it  in this weather. It somehow has a very mood uplifting vibe on a cold, gloomy day. I can however see it doing well on a summer evening too, when the temperature is slightly on the cooler side. Probably not a great idea to wear it in the extremely high heat - because even if the opening is very versatile, the woody and spicy notes might make it a bit clawing when the heat of the sun is out and scorching!

Fun Fact : Both "Black Seduction" and "The One EDP" has Cardamom and Amber in their mid and base notes! I happen to quite like fragrance with these notes.