Magie Noire (1978)
by Lancôme

This is absolute Heaven for me! It has a depth & complexity that is sadly absent from so many new commercial fragrances. I have the new version as well as a vintage bottle and have no problem wearing either one. The new version is crisper and not quite as deep as the vintage but is still beautiful. The vintage on the other hand is richer from top to base. It begins with crisp almost medicinal greens morphing into rich, honeyed florals and drying down to dense woods and exotic, smoky incense. Just gorgeous! It is sadly becoming harder to find so if you get a chance to grab a bottle do so before it's gone for good.

Smells old and frumpy and soapy. No.

Magie Noir is warm, rich, sexy, "dirty" wood-rose fragrance. It smells great, especially after it's had some time to warm up on the skin. It is a classic fragrance bargain and should be tried. Men love this, especially after it's reached the dry down and has completely melted into the skin. Lasting power is excellent, sillage is medium strong, and it can be worn day or evening all year. I especially like this in fall and winter though. Wearing it is like sitting near a great warm fire. (This could also be unisex on the right man.)

DH jokingly says this makes me smell like a Satanist: dark, dangerous, sleek and sensual. It suggests to me that it may just be possible to personify a Godiva dark chocolate raspberry cordial with rose syrup.

The Queen of perfumes in my view and, like Climat, an example of how good Lancome used to be before all this new fangled Hypnose-type stuff. I wore this from my teens up til a few years ago. The only reason I stopped wearing it was because a horrible bitchy woman from work who used to liberally douse herself in horrendous 'sexy' power perfumes used to wear it and it completely put me off it! But putting that aside, I do regret giving that last bottle I had away and think I will buy this again soon, it's clever, magical, truly sexy and leaves a beautiful trail. This is not for tweenies or for those who dig the modern perfumes, it's an old-fashioned and traditionally feminine evening perfume and I don't think every woman can carry it off. It's definitely one for the slightly strange Phoebe from friends types, a bit different, a bit strange, a bit hippy, mysterious and truly sexy.

Woodsy, bittersweet & not at all safe or wishy-washy. A scent for evenings only... at least for me, and the name suggests that it's not intended as an 'office' fragrance. Although it's definitely spicy, I'm not sure about the oriental category... it's certainly not heavy & sweet like Opium or Coco.