Perfume Notes: Bvlgari Black

Black was launched by Bvlgari in 1998. It was created by perfumer Annick Menardo, and the fragrance notes are black tea, rosewood, bergamot, cedar, oakmoss, vanilla, amber, sandalwood, and musk.

Black has been brilliantly called "one of those masterpieces of weird that you would expect to come out of an obscure niche design house". Bvlgari calls it a “supreme exponent of the metropolitan concept”, and the fragrance does have an edgy, urban, very modern feel. There is a short lived citrus top note; after that, the focus is on black tea, in this case lapsang souchong, which lends a smoky, almost earthy edge to the dry woods. It is mildly spicy, with hints of burning rubber and leather, and a whisper of something like tobacco leaf. The far dry down is smoother and softer, with an almost comfort-scent blend of vanilla, musk and woods. A tinge of powder lends a velvety finish, but just enough of the smoke and rubber remains to keep it from being dull and pedestrian.

It is marketed as unisex, or shared, how I prefer. Either way, it is an edgy fragrance that requires personality and attitude to pull it off. 
I personally love this fragrance: At the first moments in contact on my skin, it feels edgy and urban, but after some minutes I can smell the smoke and vanilla, how I imagine an opium house in Shanghai would be. 


For a more comprehensive review see Now Smell This.