Reviews of Bulgari Black (1998)
by Bulgari

A fleeting (and synthetic) rubber and vanilla scent, which is something I certainly do not care for.

Great bottle concept, though...

[Original submission date: 29 December 2007]

Smells like asphalt. Settles on the skin and leaves a putrid tar smell. Can't imagine an occasion that anyone would wear this. Bottom of the barrel.

Being a big fan of Annick Menardo's creations, I badly wanted to like this one.
All the ingredients are appealing to me and the basenotes reviews seem encouraging.
So I ordered a 40ml bottle, got it by the post, sprayed it on the back of my hand and…disappointment!
I only got vanilla plus a hint of jasmine, and after 20mins a synthetic rubber smell appears and stays forever, along the previous two notes. No smoke and no incense here.
The overall scent reminded me of something straight away, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Now I figured it out: vanilla flavored condoms!
So for me is a big no-no, it might trigger hot memories in some people minds but that’s definitely not the idea I have of a sexy scent!
Of course that what I got with my skin but I will strongly advice you not to the same mistake I did and to sample it before buying.

I try to keep an open mind--far be it from me to hate something because it is "different"--but this fragrance makes me physically ill. It is very strong, and the burnt rubber smell is very strong on me, inducing headache/nausea. Occasionally I get flashes of mellow vanilla and smoky tea, which are nice, but overall, this fragrance is completely unwearable on me. I have yet to smell this on another woman or on a man, but believe me, if I caught a whiff of the "tire fire" on someone else, it would be a one-way ticket to Queasyville all over again. Approach with caution, IMHO.

Delightful powdery vanilla with the occasional and unpredictable waft of burn rubber.

I am slowly beginning to appreciate fragrances of works of art. Like art, scents can be appealing because they are beautiful, enjoyable, innovative, provocative, or just interesting.

With this analogy, Bulgari Black is the Robert Mapplethorpe of the fragrance world. Often downright crude and disgusting but never dull... always pushing the boundaries of the tolerance of the person trying to appreciate it. I can appreciate this scent for its interesting elements but have no desire to ever again have it on my skin, just as I wouldn't want Mapplethorpe's work in my living room.

Loving that sexy bottle, not loving the smoky bonfire smell. It's rubbery and just too much. One for the fetish clubs, perhaps?

This surely is a re-release!!! The original (which I own and was looking to replace) is unforgettable, phenomenal... The new bottle is a huge disappointment

Walk up to the back of a Trans Am. Place your nose near a rear tire, not too close though because you don't want to get hurt. Now request that the driver do a nice break stand. Ummmm ummmmm. How would you like to smell that nonsense all day? There's a reason that this smell hasn't been used, to my knowledge, in any other perfumes. It stinks. It's a shame too because the tea notes are really freaking good. Oh well, I'll find a teaish scent elsewear.

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".

Has my nose changed, or has Bvlgari Black? Both, I suspect. Here's what I had to say a while back, based, I am ashamed to say, on my memory of Black from an earlier date:

"Audacious and original when it first appeared, but I'm afraid it's been surpassed in my book by many of the smoky leather scents that have come after it. Admirable, I suppose, but no longer all that exciting."

I recently tried Black again, just for kicks, and now I have a different impression. I hardly notice the notorious burnt rubber note. I can't even smell the tea. All I pick up now is the most cloying - even choking - powdery vanilla I've experienced in years. These days I'd turn to Santa Maria Novella's Nostalgia for a taste of what Black used to be...and sadly, I'm again having to punt the puck.

I would really like to be positive about this frag as my husband loves it, but fact is, it makes me feel nauseous. Probably too much vanilla, which IMHO should be found only in desserts, and should be kept out of fragrance. My husband can only wear this when I am away on business. I agree with ruggles that it bears no resemblance to Dzing, thankfully.

Olfactive Block? Why bother? While I love vanilla bases, I found BB to be a cloying and polluted vanilla. Too simple and, IMHO, nothing to do with the divine Dzing!

My first review! Everything about this fragrance primed me to love it: the name, the urban positioning, the packaging, the reviews, and several of the prominent notes (tea, vanilla, rubber, etc.: I love the scent of tea but perhaps not in a fragrance?). It just doesn't work for me: cloying and superficially sweet(none of which sounds very urban!).

Fortunately I only purchased one of the very inexpensive testers referenced in these reviews, but I'm sorely disappointed. That said, the packaging is still amazing.

I am one to believe that different perceptions of scents are not so much a product of chemistry as a genetic inability of certain noses to detect certain notes. Bulgari Black was purchased to entertain my craving for deep, dry rubbery tar and tea. What I got was the sickeningly cloying artifical vanilla scent of a cheap hand cream or dime store body spray. I believe it's contributed by the ingredient Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene, basically an overused compound put in every hand cream to give that love it or hate it "warm vanilla" note that I find heavy and repulsive. Interestingly, studies have shown it also to be a HUGE irritant, and Europe demands that it be disclosed on labels. It's hard for me to overstate how much I loathe that smell. It literally closes my lungs up in bronchospasms.

My bottle of Bulgari Black went from my wrist to Ebay in 15 minutes flat to finance a purchase of Comme des Garcons Synthetic Series "Skai." I'm hoping it gives the smoky, Barbie Doll PVC scent I'm after.

I had to give this away, it was too woodsy and irritating for me, usually love blvgari's scents, but this one was not a good one.

It smells like burning tires on my skin. Spritzed in the air it has a much more pleasant sweet, smoky smell that is so much easier to take.

Two words:
Wet cardboard.
I'm not saying that's good or bad, but most people would agree. Wet cardboard.