Bulgari Black (1998)
by Bulgari

Am I missing something here? Having read many reviews, I expected to love this. Instead, I...rather like it. But it's far more conventional than I had been led to believe. The rubber, which I was dreaming of, is faint enough that I might not have noticed it had I not been specifically looking. The tea is pretty, especially in the (lovely) drydown....but overall, it's a fairly ordinary, pretty but not spectacular vanilla oriental w/entirely too much old lady floral in the first couple of hours, after which it becomes a somewhat more masculine version of Shalimar, but less spectacular and barbaric. Am I the only one who feels this way? I wanted to love this so much....

I've enjoyed most of Bulgari's fragrance except for this one. For the life of me I can't grasp the idea of why someone would wish to smell like burnt rubber/tar/smoke or wet animal, which all these things evoke when I smell this. It smells like you've ridden on the back on the tailpipe of a bus. This is just awful stuff. In my opinion there is nothing refreshing or sweet about this one except the joy in being able to have something cold soap or body wash to get rid of the smell and open windows to permeate the room. Just god awful. I am thankful though that so many don't seem to know about this hidden gem and don't wear it too often as say "Angel".

Initially I thought this was a real eunuch of a scent, but have been giving it more wearings and more time, and I've noticed that it does last but operates like a submarine, only resurfacing irregularly when you least expect to be reminded of the fact that you're actually wearing anything at all. BvlBlack suits those days when you're not really in the mood for perfume. It's not that linear to my nose - there's a unique topnote that's fresher than the rest of the marshmallow sweetness. The vanilla is also quite different from many others that have vanilla in the base. The bottle is ever so kewl and my spray mechanism is fine, thus far. I mean the spray mechanism of the bottle...

After reading some of the reviews of this cologne I questioned picking some up. I mean how can rubber and car parts smell good!?! I just picked some up and they pulled it off! I always have girls around for second opinions and they love this one too. You can get this bargain frag for $20 of some websites definitely worth it.

This review is under revision.

I've just taken possession of my very own bottle of Black, having lusted after it for a couple of years. When I first came to the perfumista world, I tried Black expecting to be shocked and repelled as it's touted as a 'wierd and wonderful' scent, yet I found it very comforting and familiar. The rubber note doesn't spring out too much on my skin (though I like rubbery, tarry smells anyway) and sadly, I don't get any baby powder, or black tea. Instead, I get a nice lingering saddle leather followed by a deep, comforting vanilla. Since I adore both notes, this makes me very happy.

I'd certainly recommend anyone of either sex to try this fragrance - it crops up frequently as a reference and it's an interesting and unique composition. Also, it's widely enough available that you should be able to get to smell it. It's often put in the Men's section of perfumeries, but is very much unisex.