SSD! Basenotes Teaches The Globe Bulgari Black!

Looks like Jasper, a new member, is beating us all to the spray nozzle. I cut his post out from the sticky SSD thread to start an official and special SSD thread.

Do like Jasper does! Tell us:

How you're wearing Bulgari Black--lots? Bottoms up!

What you're wearing with it--leather underpants too tight for you these days or did you work out enough so your undergarment matches the scent?

Tell us one thought you had because of the scent today.

Relate anything that happens to you related to the scent.

Solicit some commentary! You got buddies--ask 'em if you smell like a lady today.

Make up any other question and insert it and your answer in your post.

Do you like the scent? Can you live in it longer than one day?

This is Basenotes fun.
--Chris

I almost can't wear it for more than a day because it gets to me after a certain time.

I have another 12 hours before I am showered and ready to start the day and get my Bvlgari Black on. I can't wait!

oops! forgot its today. i wore lanvin arpege this morning...
ok...change of shirt and black right now

For me wearing Bulgari Black means revisiting an old love, I used to wear it a lot when it was a new scent. It was different, it was urban, it was futuristic, it reminded me of Blade Runner and an endless, rainy night in an Asian metropolis.

It still does: I just spritzed some BB on the crooks of my elbows and the smell of black matte rubber, Lapsang Souchong tea and smoky woods floated out and about. And it rains outside, heavily. It has rained all night.

I was really looking forward to wearing BB again, so no wonder I dreamed last night that I wore black leather pants!

I couldn't wait . I sprayed my forearms with a spray of BB each, & I'm gonna drift off to sleep in smokey vanilla goodness. Then, its a full wearing tomorrow (er, later today) for work & a meeting with classmates.

Wow isn't that good enough? I'd be so so happy if I got questions like that a bit more often. Well, funnily I wore Body Kouros last night, also an Annick Ménardo creation, when I read this thread. I had forgotten about the SSD, but saw this one in time, all covered in the cozy Yves Saint Laurent. They are a bit a like, at least in character and mood. Only thinking about me wearing Bvlgari Black today feelt so good.

And now it i today and I'm all dressed in my Black. Every single time I wear it, I wonder why I don't use it more often. I tend to forget about it, for more adventurous creations in my wardrobe, and this lowkey fragrance gets pushed aside. It is lowkey, but certainly not without character.

I never get any dry tea from this one and the rubbery feeling which once was so prominent, is gone. Instead I get this silky heliotrope smoothness, sometimes with an almost minty feeling. And the amazing vanilla backdrop. One can only marvel at vanilla incorporated this successful.

PARTY-POOP ALERT!

Im sorry chaps 'n' lasses... I puffed a bit of this on my arm on the way to work this morning for purposes of this exercise, and I find its still not a great love of mine. Its a scent I used to own, and hadn't intended to replace.

Bvlgari Black represents for me the smell of erasers (yes, the kind you collected in school with googly eyes stuck on them). Though I can appreciate each of the accords individually I find this cloying and too synthetically rubber-like for my tastes.

I must admit however, I do find it more enjoyable worn today in the cooler climes of Denmark rather than the hot West Aussie one.

Enjoy, all of you

Well, I put on two spritzes of Bvlgari Black today.. my third wearing of the scent since I got the bottle. And it's the same smoky tea/vanilla scent I love.

As for my clothes, I'm not wearing black leather underwear, nor a black latex rubber Thierry Mugler suit from the 80s. But I'm still wearing all black. I'm wearing black Fruit of the Loom undies (from Weed-Mart... I mean Wal-Mart), black South Pole jean shorts (bought on sale at JCPenney), and a black American Apparel t-shirt with the 1981 Bill Gates quote "640k ought to be enough for anybody" (from Insanely Great Tees).

Hold on: Commentary from my classmates will be coming between 2-3 PM US EDT.

I wore a heavy dose of BvlBla today

i figured it would be at odds with my "oh god it's monday again?" wardrobe choice: comfy chocolate chinos and a stripey yellow polo top - but it's working remarkably well with my whole ensemble. it seems to match the rubbery soles of my timbo boots, and the dark vanilla tea is belnding with the incessant south florida rain in a way i wouldn't have expected of either.

i traded my bottle away, wondered if i'd regret it. and i may still, but mostly feel this scent is just a touch too heavy for me, too dark, too gothy. at one point in my life this would have easily been my signature scent, but at this point? no. i'm too happy, too up, not morose enough anymore.

i can tell it's a masterpiece. but - in the same way that i don't like Nas' voice but can totally respect his flow, or don't feel emotionally drawn into Georgia o'Keeffe's obviously masterful paintings - i just don't quite connect with it.

still fun to join everyone with the SSD

Strange, I hadn't seen that this was going on until just now but I ordered a 5ml bottle this morning! Clearly much too late to join in but I'll try it in a week or so and think of you guys

My Bulgari Black experience occurred on an auspicious day. I began by getting dressed very quickly, and spraying generously from the divine little hockey puck, which I happened to receive just last week. The great sweet, rich, sensuous, feel was very pleasing.

The morning was a whirlwind. As it happens, in my town a beloved art curator is being dismissed from the local university. A lot of people are very angry about it. The city has actually given her a sort of symbolic position to show their support, so "big up" for them. My wife and I provided free coffee at a public city ceremony supporting her and other arts people, so we had to hustle to load everything, get set up in front of city hall, and begin the festivities.

BB was just the thing for fraternizing with the big, artsy crowd, and we happened to get a great sunny day for our outdoor gathering in front of city hall, so despite bittersweet feelings, it was a successful morning!

Greetings to all the other fine-smelling BB wearers today, wherever they may be!!

PS: Hey, Chris, I bet that all the ladies that are wearing this today smell exactly like... ladies! [said the snarky metrosexual]

Cheers, D

It has been sunny here for a week. The weather today on Bulgari Black day?? Rain and gloom. Coincidence? - I think not! Working from home, it's a perfect excuse for a black t-shirt to go with BB....

OK, so a little back story here:

Bulgari Pour Homme (another Bulgari fragrance) was my first fragrance I tried from the Bulgari line - probably 12 years ago. I wore it for quite a while, going thru 2 bottles of it but it has a strong scent association with an ex-boyfriend of mine. I've avoided wearing it. When Bulgari Black was released I assumed it was going to be similar to Bulgari PH. When I joined Basenotes I was a little surprised when I found out so many Basenoters love BB.

When I found out that BB had notes of rubber in it, was curiosity was piqued (it sounded like something from the CdG Synthetic Series). Still, I never smelled it. I read about the similarities between BB and Patchouli 24 by Le Labo. When I got a sample of P24, I instantly liked it. Now I was becoming more interested in trying BB. Then CologneJunkie came up with this idea and the vote came down to BB...and here I am.

I have to say, first of all, I think BB is an okay fragrance. I think I might even enjoy smelling this on a man - it's very masculine. Not offensive at all, nothing turns me off. In fact the type of vanilla this fragrance has is not really my favorite kind (I prefer a more oily, resinous vanilla) but the contrast between the rubber and the vanilla is truly unique and allows me to enjoy the way the vanilla pops out here-and-there while earing it.

But then when it dries down and really starts to show its true heart - it just doesn't do anything for me. I wanted it to be much smokier. I also wanted more sillage. I wanted the rubber to heat up a little. It didn't.

I am not judging this too quickly - I am going to reapply some tonight. However, based upon my first impression I can't imagine owning a full bottle of this.

I FORGOT this morning at 5:30am as i was getting ready to leave...... anyway i got ready and blasted a load of ...wait for it .... Bulgari Black........ thinking to myself this smells awsome... at about 3pm this afternoon it dawned on me that today was the day to be wearing it ..how lucky was it that i chose BB....i must have subconsciously knew i had to wear it today .....memory like a seive ... mus have been all that dutch lager last night!

Wow, Bvlgari Black wasn't exactly what I expected but it is certainly delicious. I get the vanilla a lot and occasionally that 'rubber' note. I don't get the smokey tea so much, but I detect a little smokiness in there. The second I sprayed it on I realized the familiarity of it. I think I smelled it before, a few times even! I can't quite place it, but it was definetly a girl(s) who wore it! It could just be the heavy dose of vanilla actually --maybe the girl(s) weren't wearing Black but another vanilla fragrance.

As for the day, I was not sure what to expect, but I dressed in dark jeans and a black t shirt today. I don't think the scent is as 'dark' or brooding as it is comforting, so I probably could have dressed in brighter colors haha. Anyways, I didn't really get any reactions so far. But the cute girl on the bus didn't exactly run to another seat either....

I'll see how this develops. (the scent )

What I wouldn’t give to see the reaction at Mike’s office when he blasts in wearing those leather chaps. I expect they are calling him Sir now. And I’m too fond of the Flying Spaghetti Monster to mind him appearing anywhere. So it pains me to admit that I just threw on blue sweats at 6:30 for my first drive of the morning. I expect I’ll fix that if I’m to appear in public later today. I am, however, joining you all in Bvlgari Black for the day.

Now one of the first things to appear in my head when evaluating scents is often whether it feels masculine or feminine and this generally perplexes me, because I have no idea what I mean by this. I’m sure it’s some jumble of marketing, semi conscious associations, and occasionally some real insight into what notes work generally better on what skin. So for whatever reason it might be, I don’t think any of the men wearing this are pushing the gender boundaries. And I expect most of the woman are, but rock on, it looks good on you.

It behaves well on me and I get the expected notes in a nicely balanced proportion, but I don’t get any of the amazing synergy of a scent that just seems to have my name on it. And despite the fiddly sprayer, it’s a great marriage between scent and packaging. Both minimalist and modern, while I’m still thinking that the turn of the century means 1899 and to hell with less is more, too much is never enough.

Great Stuff (thanks, Matt!) and I’d be very happy to smell this around me anytime, but I’m not stealing the bottle from my son.

Everyone in my office already calls me 'Sir'.

Sorry, I really wanted to be involved with this, but I reached for my sample this morning, and wasn't in the mood. I instead went with CDG Kyoto, which isn't a bad sub, but I was spending a long day out today and wanted something to keep me company for longer then a couple of hours. Bulgari Black doesn't last all that well on my skin....and I wore Black Jeans.

Still involved in some tiny way.

I received my spray sample early last week, but I saved the first wearing for today. As I've noted in another thread or two, I've recently fallen for Le Labo's Patchouli 24. I was hoping BB would be closer to that. I'd say ...

BB : P24 :: skim milk : whole milk

... although I'm really no fan of skim milk, while I do enjoy BB. It's just that I have a stronger attraction to the Le Labo, and I don't feel the need to own both.

Anyway, I've been working at home all morning and I'm about to head into the office for some meetings. I'm going to refresh with another spritz or two of BB, and I'll report back if I receive any comments worth sharing...

More to comment on Bulgari Black:

- This afternoon's reapplication of BB really amped up the rubber on my skin - it smells divine now. Perhaps I have to bathe in this, to really like it?

- I'm getting patchouli this time around - does BB have patch in it?

- Does anyone else think BB smells slightly similar to Dzing by L' Artisan Parfumeur?

I reapplied at midday, like Mike mentions doing, and I too found the rubber note would sort of waft up and assert itself from time to time the rest of the day. I kept trying to find "tea" in the fragrance, but I don't really get that at all. I did decide it's "watery" without being "acquatic." (But maybe it's just because BB seems a bit watered down to me, given my obsession with Patchouli 24...)

I got no comments from others, but with very few exceptions, my university colleagues aren't the sort to notice or comment.

Got a sample of BB to participate in SSD, so this was my first wearing. I should probably start by saying that I am not a big fan of gourmand scents, and with its heavy dose of vanilla, I would characterize BB as such. Second, I think it was too early in the fall to be wearing this. It strikes me that it would be much better in cooler weather. That being said, I did enjoy wearing BB. It is obviously made with quality ingredients. The only scents in my way too extensive wardrobe that I would characterize being of this style are YSL's Body Kouros and Serge Lutens' Arabie. I enjoy wearing these two because they balance the foodie sweetness with other ingredients, BK with a dose of eucalyptus and the Lutens with an array of spices. The rubber in BB works to the same effect, balancing the vanilla and keeping the scent from going gooey. At the same time, I wish it was smokier and a bit darker, as my skin has a tendency to sweeten many fragrances, and the tea note was not as distinctive as I would have liked. While I think both BK and Arabie work better with my skin chemistry, I did gain respect for BB, although I'm not sure that I would buy it. No compliments, by the way, but that is not unusual, as I tend to be discreet in the amount of scent I wear.

I wore BB! the weather played along. We were starting to get some scorchers here and then the last two days have been cool cloudy and drizzly. It was perfect. BB really is a great frag.

There are fantastic comments on this thread. What a great thing CologneJunkie has done getting this thing together and reminding us of how fun this simultaneous examination of a scent is.

This was my first wearing of BB too. My experience is like Levente's, with who's tastes I often agree. I've also got to agree with Mike that this kicks L'Artisan's Dzing! into my brain.

Dzing! dries down to sweet sandalwood, I think, and BB to the vanilla. I marked the similarity of the two in top and middle throughout the day, but also, with BB, since it's unfamiliar to me, I found myself turning around often because I thought I smelled something on someone else I was near. That summed up the BB experience for me, it seems like lots of other scents, and ones it's easier to smell on people at that. It isn't fair to call BB common or of huge mass appeal (I don't think it's either) but it had me thinking less adventurous or less classic scents were all around me. I thought Jaipur might be around because of the vanilla, and I thought Chanel Pour Monsieur Concentree might be around at one point for a powdery quality. Neither make sense as comparisons, and there seemed to be others I recognized in parts of BB, but I couldn't get away from thinking the scent wasn't bringing out the rubber and any other dirties that I wanted. One of the most distinct smells that I love in the world is the air escaping from the valve of a bike tire's tube, or any inner tube, I guess, and as much as I want that BB doesn't do it.

And I'm bored by the vanilla. I can tell it's there, but it isn't interesting vanilla. Diptyque's Eau Lente has vanilla that's extraordinary and sets my nose's standard for the ingredient. Probably that's unfair to other vanilla scents. DustB regrets the unfairness.

I didn't have people to impress or spend time with today so no one said anything and I was only wearing jeans, a white cotton buttondown dress shirt and a light wool sweater. I thought the vanilla quality of my apparel went with the scent's vanilla quality.

It's a good scent, but it reminds me of reading a perfumer or reviewer saying that one of his or her greatest putdowns of a scent was calling it "nice." I feel like I doom the juice, but it's nice.

I love Dzing! and would pick it more often. Clearly I'll have to try some SMN Nostalgia and Labo Patchouli 24 for the sake of trying the other beasts from this same cage.

Thanks to all the posters above and all the posters yet to post.

Special thanks to CJ,
--Chris

Whew, I almost blew it! I got up, got out of bed, got changed and immediately headed off to work (I was running late and needed time to get food before my shift). I had forgotten all about SSD. In my car I sprayed on some Gucci Envy, as it was the "spare" I kept in my car in case I didn't put anything on before I left the house. About half way to work, I was thinking, "Crap! It's Bulgari Black day!" It was too late, there was no turning back (I would have if I had more time!), and I'd have to live with the Envy until I got home... fortunately it was only a 5 hour shift.

At work, I kept my nose open for Black, but to no avail. In a college town, all you get is Axe, Fierce, AdG, or Code. Boring. In a cruel twist of fate, I was twice complemented for smelling good, even though I couldn't wait to wash the Envy from my skin and put my Black on.

So I make it home and lay down for a nap as I had only slept 3 hours the night before (yay insomnia!). I got up, showered (using my Axe Kilo body wash as its scent most closely goes with Black), and attempted to apply a liberal dose from the "hockey puck." For all the complaints I've heard, I've never had a problem with my sprayer... until today. It wouldn't turn to its "on" position, and after some rigging with my needle nose pliers, I got it to "on" and sprayed away. Mmm... that unique rubbery vanilla aroma surrounded me in its warm, glowing aura.

I was going to go shoot some pool at my favorite bar, so I figured I'd be pretty casual... of course, "casual" for me means "eclectic" or "weird" to others. I went with white jeans, a black and white Affliction tee with some red accents, black and white Puma shoes with red stitching and lace accents, and a dark grey and white Puma velour track jacket [ducking for cover... but trust me, I can pull it off]. I figured the Black would go with all the white... and I was feeling pretty grey overall (recent breakup after being used by a girl... etc.).

Well, pool went pretty well (break-and-runs always feel good), and I got one good complement on my scent and a few good smiles from some of the girls there. Overall, not bad, but I wish I could have enjoyed the Black all day long. Oh well, hopefully there's another SSD soon (why not make this a monthly or bi-monthly thing?), and hopefully that time I'll be able to get a full day's wearing out of it!

Have you smelled Cumming? The rubber note in it is slightly different than BB and might be the inner tube note you're describing.

The second application of my BB in the afternoon I overapplied intentionally - and I got a slight headache. However at that level of saturation of scent on my skin, I finally (for about 10-15 minutes) was surrounded by a very distinctive smell of industrial grade rubber. It was exciting and intriguing - before it became headache inducing.

I would also like to agree with some of the above comments about Bulgari Black and it's 'nice' label. I think if a friend came to me and asked me what I would recommend if he was getting 'bored' with his fragrances and I didn't want to recommend something too strange (niche) or too expensive - then I'd recommend BB. It fills that type of request, IMO. Besides that, I think there much better done fragrances that have industrial oriented notes and/or vanilla (Play by CdG, Dry Clean by CdG, Greenbriar 1968 by CBIHP...)