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Reporting Back: Ladies need your opinion please REFORMULATED MAGIE NOIRE

post #1 of 22
4/15/10 at 7:22am
Thread Starter 
Hello,
For those who have tried the reformulated+repackaged Lancome Magie Noire, do you find it close enough to the original (vintage)? Would a regular user but non-hobbyist "normal" : ) person be reasonably satisfied with it?
I'd like to repurchase this for my mom and find the vintage prices already too high. This is her most favorite and I was wondering if the difference in the formulation would be too disappointing or unaccepatable for her.
It's funny because she is a fan of soft florals otherwise and never likes anything sharp or in you face. But MN is the exception for her and she still finds it soft enough. It must be her skin.
She's a non-basenotes type of person LOL. The other day I saw a brand new large size vintage YSL Opium in her wardrobe. She was kind of "...and I don't know about this one...I don't know what to do..." I almost yelled at her and told her to put it away and not ever think of getting "rid" of it.
Thanks
RM
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post #2 of 22
4/15/10 at 7:30am
Ooooh, R_M, this was mentioned in the comments of the blog in the signature below this post (article on reformulation). In my view, a 'non-hobbyist "normal"' person probably *would* be satisfied with the reformulation, though there really is no doubting that it has been tweaked. What persuades me is the fact that you say your mum generally likes soft florals -- I find the new MN far less pungent than the older stuff, and wonder if this is because its civet component has been recalibrated. It does, however, make the scent a little 'sharper' in one aspect, to my inexpert nose. (Contradictory, moi?!)

Having said all that, VM I Hate Civet reckons the new stuff is more civetty than ever ... so there you are! Even more contradictions to contend with! Though hopefully a few perceptions for you to mull over.
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post #3 of 22
4/15/10 at 7:56am
I know Magie Noire, but not ever having been an actual wearer of it I can only offer this much. My neighbor is in her 80s and Magie Noire has been her signature scents she says, "since dinosaurs roamed Wisconsin." I know this because I recognized it on her, and I asked if it ever seems to have changed through the years, to which she replied "Oh, I don't think so - not that I've ever noticed." She's not a perfumista by any stretch, but she knows her MN, so I'd think any tweaking can't have been all bad.

However, actual perfumistas who have more experience with it will surely have something different to say.
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post #4 of 22
4/15/10 at 8:27am
I only know new Magie Noire and I love it a lot. I have to be in a the mood for it ( which I haven't been for a long time ) but it's a lovely dusty, pleasantly' almost' metallic rose on me. On my mother it smells wonderful and distinctive. I don't get civet but there is a light sharpness to it.
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post #5 of 22
4/15/10 at 11:49am
As a non-fan of the new MN, I have to report that some "vintage" MN I got in a swap doesn't smell quite as I remember it smelling either, though it does supposedly date from the 80s. The new one is thinner and sharper than my vintage sample, but I still get unacceptable levels of civet in the vintage whereas I don't remember ever clocking or being bothered by the civet when it was the 80s! Either there is something odd about my vintage sample, or I no longer tolerate civet. Frankly I think I am too befuddled to advise. : - )
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post #6 of 22
4/15/10 at 3:35pm
I don't get civet in the new version, and I find it a "just-okay" dark-ish, musty, aldehydic chypric-thing. Maybe a touch "messy", but not gauche and/ or hideous like so many newer Lancome offerings.

However, the old stuff (purportedly a brazen, vampy, gender-bender chypre) always struck me as truly noxious, overly-civety, and oddly soy saucey. Moreover, the couple of "vintage" bottles I have encountered were both badly turned and emitted a terrifying, bio-hazardous, corrosive fume.

So as an alternative to the new, I might suggest Eau du Soir, a totally un-reformulated dark, herbal chypre with the "heft" and presence the old Magie Noire might have had for your mother. It's still a high-quality scent, and the presentation is LOVELY.
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post #7 of 22
4/15/10 at 7:02pm
How does one tell, if a box or bottle of "Magie Noire" is vintage?
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post #8 of 22
4/15/10 at 8:22pm
NEW=





OLD=


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post #9 of 22
4/15/10 at 8:34pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you ladies for all the good info and your comments and suggestions.
I feel safe to go ahead with it now. I'll report the results promptly...
RM
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post #10 of 22
4/16/10 at 12:06am
I have a bottle of MN which I don't wear much, infact its from the early 90s. So decided after reading comments about the new decided to ask to sample it. The Lancome counters never have testers sitting out but hidden away. So I sprayed and did not recognize it at all compared to mine. Then ten minutes later it turned into what I knew as MN.

Oh I do second Eau de Soir, a classic chypre.
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post #11 of 22
4/16/10 at 2:24am
Agreed, Donna. I also noted that the new stuff took some time to evolve into something resembling the MN of old. And I, too, had to ask for the tester to be fished out of the cupboard, as though it were something shameful! The sales assistant (who was about 12) chuckled indulgently when I asked to smell it, and assured that me that it 'did actually smell quite nice' and that 'every now and again she'd wear it -- for something different'. Speaks volumes, to my mind, about the rest of Lancome's current output!
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post #12 of 22
6/10/10 at 10:33pm
Thread Starter 
I've been meaning to come back and report about my experience with this. As many had mentioned, sadly, the new formulation is almost unrecognizable (even compared to the most recent one). It is sharp and there's no depth. And yes, even a "non-Basenote" person, my mom, was disappointed by it. In spite of the presence of the civet in the original, she always mentions how it settled so softly on her skin and lasted for a long time, allowing for occasional whiffs that were truly enjoyable. Equally sad is the design of the bottle, completely out of line with the concept. Shame on Lancome--but this is nothing new with the big companies.
I'll have to look for a vintage bottle for her. I'll also try the Eau du Soir as suggested.
Thanks again,
RM
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post #13 of 22
6/11/10 at 6:56am
Magie Noire used to be one of the "parfums de ma vie" (perfumes of my life) - and I am so disappointed by the reformulation - no words to describe this!

I must also admit that I have not found any substitute yet - Sisley Eau de Soir is not my cup of tea at all, too sharp - unfortunately -
Should anybody have an idea which other scent in its current form might resemble the original Magie noire- please let me know!
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post #14 of 22
6/11/10 at 7:09am
I just bought this to get the tote-bag offer that Lancome issues at the beginning of summer. It is a very pleasant chypre on me; but then again I am very fair with somewhat dry skin, so fragrance does not last on me, and the more animalic elements don't really "stick" to me. The body lotion is great...my husband says that it is a 'subtle' scent on me.
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post #15 of 22
6/12/10 at 8:31am
I think there's a big difference between original and reformulated.
The reformulated is strong and sharp, without the soft sweet musky civety sublety of Magie Noire that I remember.
I managed to find an old black plastic bottle (which means it must be from the 80s or 90s) - it's beautiful. Warm and soft and easy to wear.
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post #16 of 22
6/19/10 at 1:10pm
DO NOT go anywhere near the reformulated Magie Noir.

Eau de Soir is an overpriced chypre, to me very similar to Paloma Picasso edp. Try buying Paloma for her, you wont spend much money but youll get a quality fragrance.

Also, I used to own the old Magie Noir, it want chypre at all, it was just very dark floral oriental, like the old Ysatis. A dream. If you can get the old Ysatis, dont think twice about buying it.
Its the one with the golden cap and black box. The new one has a glass cap and dark purple box.
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post #17 of 22
6/27/10 at 12:46pm
I, too, found Magie Noir to be more floriental. The reformulation seems more "cleaned up", slightly metalic, less lush, creamy, and dark, but I still love her.
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post #18 of 22
9/28/10 at 11:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hillaire View Post

NEW=


OLD=



Hillaire, is the 30ml black magie noire the first version?
I got one at a ridiculous price at fragrancex and I`m really amazed with this fragrance.
What impress me it`s that doesn`t match at all on me what other people say about this one. I don`t feel deep animalic notes, or something leathery, ar as dark as they say. I do get from my magie noire a chypre vibe similar to the sisley ones, but to me it reminds me of the soir de lune more. At first i have a dry, animalic opening, but it`s so fast and conducts to beautiful musky honey and sandalwood base, that smells comfortable on me and it`s not shy neither loud too. There is also a woody spice aura that makes me think of a darker l'instant pour homme too.
If mine is the old one, i can undestand now why my impressions doesn`t match with the newest one.
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post #19 of 22
9/28/10 at 11:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shoshi View Post

I think there's a big difference between original and reformulated.
The reformulated is strong and sharp, without the soft sweet musky civety sublety of Magie Noire that I remember.
I managed to find an old black plastic bottle (which means it must be from the 80s or 90s) - it's beautiful. Warm and soft and easy to wear.

I have the same impression about my magie noire. Warm, soft, easy to wear. Something on this aroma reminds me of a silky almond body oil from a brazilian brand called natura. It`s very famous here, it`s fragrance oil called séve which has a velvet almond-rose aroma.
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post #20 of 22
9/28/10 at 11:50am
And does anybody knows if there is two or three different versions of magie noire?
I always thought that the one that is being sold now is the reformulation of a version of the beginning of the 2000 years, where some users already reported the lack of the animalic notes...
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post #21 of 22
9/28/10 at 12:37pm
l am a huge lover of the original Magie Noire which l wore back in the '80's, & now have a highly prized vintage bottle l got from ebay. l recently tried the reformulated version, & it was definitely different; the top notes were somehow thinner & greener, lacking the richness & depth which l'm guessing came from the civet & possibly oakmoss of the original. lt improved in the drydown, & had l never known the original l probably would have liked it, but if someone had bought me this l too would have been disappointed. l would say it really is worth shelling out for a vintage bottle, l almost wept tears of joy when l got mine & smelled that beloved fragrance again after all these years. l'm sure your mother would feel the same!

To my mind there is no other frag that resembles MN; Paloma Picasso is sort of similar, but to anyone who loves MN no substitute will do. Now l have to stop talking about it & go spray some on!
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post #22 of 22
9/28/10 at 3:56pm
I never wore the original but many people around me did. It was my best friend's signature frag and she does not like the new one. The old one was a dry, bitter, animalic and transparant. This one is somehow sweeter, greener, but I do not detect animalic notes in it at all. A pale copy. Resembles the original a bit, yes.
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Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Female Fragrance Discussion › Reporting Back: Ladies need your opinion please REFORMULATED MAGIE NOIRE