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Bvlgari Black & Le Male VERY similar! (ok, WRONG!)

post #1 of 21
3/27/06 at 3:13pm
Thread Starter 
Ok, I have a sample of Black here and I am LOVING it!

Indeed tomorrow I am going to buy a full bottle of it.

But this fragrance in the drydown reminds me a LOT of Le Male by JPG, at one point I actually thought I was smelling Le Male.
It's sooooo similar, excepting the fact that maybe Black is less sweet than Le Male and has more "smoke" in it because of the typical Bvlgari TEA note.
So I find Black to be fresher and more wearable for me and less common too.
Same vanilla, same musk, but Black is with extra smokey tea note.

Someone else agree with me?

:P


ps: oh, both have fancy bottles too. ;D
who else would use a huge rubber block on the bottle? ;D
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post #2 of 21
3/27/06 at 3:19pm
Man, I have to disagree with you. To me Black is just rubber and powder, with distant vanilla accord.
Le Male, sweet&sour vanilla-musk with lavender and plastic.

But hey, we smell these scents very differently anyway, keep that in mind.
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post #3 of 21
3/27/06 at 3:24pm
I like Le Male's bottle better and the stuff inside. I think that Black has so many other notes that make it less sweet and deaccent the vanilla. Le Male is so sweet and the vaninlla is so much stronger. I would say that Le Male is closer to Boss Bottled or Pi.
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post #4 of 21
3/27/06 at 4:27pm
They're both ambery orientals - so you'd expect some similarity in styles between them. Other than for that, I wouldn't think of them as similar scents.
Renato
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post #5 of 21
3/27/06 at 4:38pm
sure they aren`t similar !, maybe just the vanillic note in both , but thats all, and similar to boss 6 ?? mm,.. i dont find nothing similar with le male, boss is completely fruity/ light woody-spicy.. one of my favs.

i love BLv black,. le male make me sick ... :
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post #6 of 21
3/27/06 at 4:46pm
For once, musician, Im going to have to say our noses disagree. I find Le Male's vanilla to be much stronger, with Bvlgari's vanilla taking a abckseat to the unmistakable rubber-powder-smoke. They are indeed both ambery orientals with vanilla-ish basenotes, but on closer inspection, I find them very different. Bulgari is reserved and stays close, whispering its vanilla through the smoke, while Le Male seems to yell "VANILLLLLLLLA!!!". It seems to me that it is like if you catch two red cars driving by in the corner of your eye. At first, you may think them the same, but if you stop to look for detail, you can easily tell the Ferrari from the Fiat.
I think it may be an interesting exercise for you to sniff Pi or Boss Bottled or even Gaultier 2, all of which have a strong vanilla presence. If these seem just as similar to BB and leMale, then I think it is likely the vanilla that your nose is noticing. If Pi, BossBottled and G2 smell different, but BB and LeMale remain close brothers to you, then I think you have a very pasrticular nose indeed!
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post #7 of 21
3/27/06 at 5:17pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joel_Cairo

For once, musician, Im going to have to say our noses disagree. I find Le Male's vanilla to be much stronger, with Bvlgari's vanilla taking a abckseat to the unmistakable rubber-powder-smoke. They are indeed both ambery orientals with vanilla-ish basenotes, but on closer inspection, I find them very different. Bulgari is reserved and stays close, whispering its vanilla through the smoke, while Le Male seems to yell "VANILLLLLLLLA!!!". It seems to me that it is like if you catch two red cars driving by in the corner of your eye. At first, you may think them the same, but if you stop to look for detail, you can easily tell the Ferrari from the Fiat.
I think it may be an interesting exercise for you to sniff Pi or Boss Bottled or even Gaultier 2, all of which have a strong vanilla presence. If these seem just as similar to BB and leMale, then I think it is likely the vanilla that your nose is noticing. If Pi, BossBottled and G2 smell different, but BB and LeMale remain close brothers to you, then I think you have a very pasrticular nose indeed!


hahah thank you buddy Joel! That's analyzing method is so interesting! ;D It seems absurd but it's pretty easy for me, since I have profumary under my house!

Well, honestly, I have had Le Male MANY years ago, when I was VERY young... my mom bought it for me at an airport. So maybe time made my memory of that fragrance fade off and only the vanilla and musk remained... and Black has both ingredients. That's why, now when I smell Black it still reminds me a LOT of Le Male, maybe tomorrow I will to go the shop and smell Le Male once again after many years and do the Joel's test.


ps: I like the vanilla scent very much, but it seems to be cloying like hell. To me it's the MOST cloying good-smelling odor. That's why I am buying Bvlbari Black tomorrow, it's just a hint of vanilla and not cloying at all.
I also found a bodyshop's unisex fragrances with vanilla called "Vanile Café" of which I can't remember the brand, it's very good but cloying, but tomorrow I am buying it too because since it's bodyshop, it doesn't cost too much.
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post #8 of 21
3/27/06 at 5:55pm
I have a friend who works in the IT Dept. at my former high school, and his fave scents were (and still are) Bvlgari Black and Le Male.

So, the similarities between the two may not be a coincidence.
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post #9 of 21
3/28/06 at 6:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Musician


ps: I like the vanilla scent very much, but it seems to be cloying like hell. To me it's the MOST cloying good-smelling odor. That's why I am buying Bvlbari Black tomorrow, it's just a hint of vanilla and not cloying at all.
.

I agree very much. vanilla is a wonderful smell, but it can get verrrry heavy and sticky and sweet. Often I find a vanilla scent that I love will turn to one i hate (this happened with Boss Bottled) This is also why I love Bvlgari Black so much- the vanilla is so dry and smokey that it doesnt get syrupy or cloying
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post #10 of 21
3/28/06 at 6:49am
Man, I can't see any similarity at all... :-/
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post #11 of 21
3/28/06 at 6:58am
Not very similar, but if you smell the spray-nozzle (?) of BB, it's quite similar...:P
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post #12 of 21
3/28/06 at 8:51am
what in the?? no way they are similar! i am a fan of black BTW, i wouldn't cry if le male gets discontinued (wich it seems it never will)...
agree with the descriptions posted before that black smells rubbey and stuff, and i would like to add that le male has made me sneeze before but only when a guy oversprays...it feels like fresh black pepper..
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post #13 of 21
3/30/06 at 6:49am
Thread Starter 
Finally bought my full bottle of Bvlgari Black, and LOVING it! In the meantime I went to the shop and re-tried Le Male, I have to admit that I was WRONG about their similarity. They both have vanilla base sure, but Le Male is TOTALLY different, it is so MUCH sweeter than what I recall. I liked it very much many years ago when we bought that bottle at the airport, but now I don't like it. I find it almost too sweet.

Here's my disadventure with Black: when I got home with my new bottle I thought: ok, now I have a full bottle of it so I can exagerate with it! Then I sprayed it like... emmm 7 times... : and I instantly smelt this hot burning rubber odor! LOL It was sooooo strong I had to get myself washed LOL. I smelt like I was on fire. LOL and I got absolutely NO sweetness of vanilla. LOL Then I put the bottle in one of my drawers, wondered why such a difference between the sample vial I got and this full bottle, and never thought about it again 'till the next morning. The day after, I applied some of it in the morning, paying attention not to spray too much this time but just a pair of small spray on my neck. As a result I have this WONDERFUL not-too-sweet smoked vanilla scent which reminds me of some vanilla cake, but it's not femminin at all, it's a very original fantastic scent. To me it's very subtle, not in-your-face kind of vanilla like Le Male and stays pretty close to the skin.

I love this amazing scent but I think I have to learn not to over spray it and to the right places. 8-)
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post #14 of 21
3/30/06 at 6:54am
I disagree about the "overspraying".... if you want ANY longevity and sillage, you NEED to bathe in the stuff!!
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post #15 of 21
3/30/06 at 7:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rashkae

I disagree about the "overspraying".... if you want ANY longevity and sillage, you NEED to bathe in the stuff!!

I agree. The rubber subsides eventually. And it's also an aquired taste. Now Musician, go spray yourself and suffer through those first 30 minutes. ;D
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post #16 of 21
3/30/06 at 7:00am
You know Musician, I also sometimes find it overpowering if I spray a whole lot on. Its one of the peculiarities of this scent: it stays so close and does not project, but yet those first 5 minutes can seem VERY strong. I think it is probably such an unusual scent, so your nose says "holy cow! what is going ON here?!?" I find three sprays is good. sometimes I spritz some one my shirt.

Oh, and with your new bottle, leave it in the ON position, never turn it OFF. It will break much sooner if you flip it back and forth.

-Phil
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post #17 of 21
3/30/06 at 7:29am
Thread Starter 
Oh, so I guess I have to spray a LOT of it to have some sillage and suffer through the initial rubber scent huh? ;D Well, that rubber scent doesn't smell so ugly to me, but I wonder how it smells to the persons near me.

Shit Joel! Right before I was playing with the on-off cap! I was moving it back and forth like crazy as I was monitoring some recording! Thank God you told me! But I like this bottle so much, it's so "dark" and it's very unusual. 8-)
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post #18 of 21
4/1/06 at 3:37pm
Thread Starter 
Ok, now I've been wearing Black for 3 days. Both at university and work.
And it's growing on me like hell! I dunno, I find it to be a masterpiece. It's very unique and could even be "irritating" for the usual "fresh-watery-flowery-scent" lovers. It's not one of those cologne that you put on when you don't know what else to wear. You wear it because you WANT to wear it. It has a VERY strong personality.
But is not all that weird, because of the woody and vanilla notes. They help to mellow down the strong personality of this cologne.
I think it's the smokiness in it which makes this fragrance extremely masculin, although it's marketed as a "unisex" fragrance.
Hey I even find an ANICE note in it... does anybody else detect it?

M.

ps: anyone knows where's the official listing of the notes of this cologne?

ps2: to me Annick Menardo(the nose who created Black) is the Queen Of The Smokiness! ;D
One of the other "smokey" colognes she created is Bois D'Argent by Christian Dior.
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post #19 of 21
4/1/06 at 3:49pm
Don't forget Body Kouros which seems to me is B-Black on steroids!
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post #20 of 21
4/1/06 at 7:41pm
I don't think they smell much like each other and honestly, i don't like either of them. My roommate wears Le Male...it has the potential to be nice (it's pretty smooth and sweet) but he doesn't know what he's doing and oversprays. I want to kill him. I tested Bvlgari Black once on my wrist and was disgusted...and i'm normally a Bvlgari fan. It's grating and synthetic and not pleasant at all. Body Kouros I like. Long live YSL.
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post #21 of 21
4/1/06 at 8:49pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by thisguy

I don't think they smell much like each other and honestly, i don't like either of them. My roommate wears Le Male...it has the potential to be nice (it's pretty smooth and sweet) but he doesn't know what he's doing and oversprays. I want to kill him. I tested Bvlgari Black once on my wrist and was disgusted...and i'm normally a Bvlgari fan. It's grating and synthetic and not pleasant at all. Body Kouros I like. Long live YSL.


Well, I think it's more a matter of CREATOR of the frag, rather than the house which produce it. Black and Body Kourus are from the same creator Annick Menardo. So Long Live Annick! The only 2 YSLs I have are Live Jazz and Jazz(have had in small quantity), they are pretty un-yslish, and Black is pretty un-bvlgarish. Funny huh? To me Black is more like some weird niche scent, certainly not something you would expect from Bvlgari. I've been patient with this particular frag, and I've been rewarded.
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