Lumière Noire pour Femme (2009)
by Maison Francis Kurkdjian

Absolutely gorgeous, could easily be a modern classic. I get narcissus, though it's not too heady, subtle rose, and clean patchouli grounding the composition..no skanky notes (eg cumin) on my skin. If anything it prevents it from becoming a clinical, soapy floral (many modern florals are)..
Lumiere noire is not a casual scent- it almost demands some class! Well balanced, feminine and unique with excellent sillage and longevity.

23rd January, 2011.

Notes (from Lucky Scent.com): cumin, pimiento, rose, narcissus and patchouli.

Much like his Lumière Noire pour Homme, his work for Parfums MDCI, and his Acqua di Parma Iris Nobile, Lumière Noire pour Femme shows off perfumer Francis Kurkdjian’s talent for crafting ambitious, classically inspired compositions without slipping into historical pastiche. In this case the stylistic landmark is a grand, spicy, aldehydic rose against a gamy animalic chypre background, making Lumière Noire a distant cousin to rose chypres like Knowing and Paris - perhaps by way of the more fruity and obviously animalic Amouage Lyric Woman.

Like its forebears, Lumière Noire pour Elle is an elaborate and generously scaled composition, but it displays none of the dense, opaque quality that makes the roses of the 1980s so challenging to wear today. Instead it feels as if a lantern has been set inside the old rose chypre structure to reveal internal contrasts against its soft glow. How Kurkdjian accomplishes this I do not know, but I will say that here, as in Enlévement au Sérail, this treatment rejuvenates and revitalizes a long-established genre.

Lumière Noire’s rich, sweet-tart fruity top notes possess a wine-like quality that persists into its rose centered heart. The rose is redolent not only of fermenting fruit, but spice and wood as well, in a manner reminiscent of the woody, fruity rose in Femenité du Bois, with which it shares a paradoxical sense of simultaneous translucency and darkness. Prominent but unobtrusive cumin contributes the same kind of knowing, animalic sensuality it does in scents like Eau d’Hermès, Rochas Femme, and Gucci Eau de Parfum, though its subtle, understated application in Lumière Noire is more in accord with the Gucci than the Hermès or Rochas.

The animalic overtone finds reinforcement in an earthy, green narcissus note that sidles up next to the central rose, then extends into the warm patchouli-laden drydown. Lumière Noire is potent and lasting, though again without the potentially overwhelming power of a Knowing or a Paris. In all it is a beautifully constructed, noble, yet suggestive scent that can stand proudly beside the masculine version.

31st July, 2010. (Last Edited: 1st August, 2010.)

A sexy gorgeous complex and well contructed perfume by the talented Mr. K . I got spicey rose and patchouli which did 'sort of ' remind me of Aromatics Elixir . It's beautiful and darkly sexy .

26th April, 2010.

I think this is really, really gorgeous. Narcissus is one of my favorite scents, and in this fragrance it is wickedly interesting (I don't know why that adjective came to mind, but there is something about this scent that is kind of naughty to me)

OK- on another note, I'm finding this line reminds me of body smells, and this scent, to me, smells like your lover's body after he's stepped out of the shower and dried himself off. (See the naughtiness creeping in?) I'm afraid to find out what was the inspiration for this fragrance...

this scent lasts all day on me, and does not fade into something 'unfresh'. IMO this is his best scent for women.

8th February, 2010.

Very sophisticated, perhaps a bit too sophisticated, meaning cool and abstract and synthetic. Leather is not listed among the notes, but to my nose this is predominantly a clean leather fragrance with accents of unsweetened fruits, perfumey florals and discreet spices. Pleasant enough but I wish it would make more of a statement, not be so blandly elegant...

15th December, 2009.

A sweet rose fragrance with facets of strawberry over green and chewy patchouli and musk. Reminds me a lot of the Juliette Has a Gun fragrance line, however Lumiere Noire pour Femme is done with a lighter hand and less drama. Not quite as magnetic as Lumiere Noire pour Homme, yet this is much darker than the its male counterpart and much more mysterious. It might not be a groundbreaking fragrance, but it pulls all the right moves. Lumiere Noire pour Femme is a fragrance for a mysterious femme fatale, but its bright and fruity notes like strawberry result in it being pretty and accessible at the same time. True to its name, Lumiere Noire is black light - dark yet luminous.

While it tilts more to the feminine side, I see this fragrance as unisex and accessible by males, granted one wants to smell slightly femme in a fashionable way.

9.25/10

20th November, 2009.