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Vintage Magie Noire issues and questions

post #1 of 16
4/4/11 at 11:02pm
Thread Starter 
I am a vintage Magie Noire fanatic, I can't get enough.

Recently, I tried purchasing one of the pre-reformulation edt bottles (in the black plastic flask-style) from parfum1 and when it came, it was nothing like the other vintage edt I had, one of the little 15 ml round glass bottles. While my little 15 ml edt is so voluptuous and heavy I only need to wear a few drops to be set for the whole day, in comparison the black plastic bottle was strangely watery. I can smell the Magie Noire in there, but the first thing I get is a sharp alcohol scent and then...very watery Magie Noire, if anything.

I thought that either Parfum1 sold me a dummy bottle or a bottle that had gone over, but it wasn't expensive and I know how volatile vintage perfume can be, so I let it slide.

Then recently, I traded with a very reputable trader on Fragrantica for her similar black plastic flask-style bottle of Magie Noire. I told her my story of the parfum1 disappointment and she assured me her bottle was fine!

But when I got it, it too smelled very watery and alcohol-sharp, compared to my 15 ml edt in the little glass bottle.

I thought perhaps it was an issue with spraying vs. dabbing (since the 15 ml is a dab bottle), but it didn't seem to make much of a difference when I decanted from the plastic bottle and dabbed.

So what gives? Could both plastic flask bottles be bad? Did Magie Noire reformulate when they released these black bottles? Has anyone else experienced this? Am I just weirdly anosmic to these bottles and not smelling them as I should be? I am so confused!


Any help would be appreciated!
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post #2 of 16
4/5/11 at 1:37am
Hi H, l am a vintage MN freak too!

l have a 50ml glass bottle of the vintage EDT with the black plastic "shoulders", is this the one you mean, or are your bottles completely plastic? l got mine from ebay last year, & although the top notes may have turned slightly, it still smells as deep, dark & delicious as l remember it, not in any way watery or alcoholic. lt does sound as if you may have been unlucky enough to get two dud bottles; l wonder if the bottle has something to do with it; does plastic preserve scent less well than glass??
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post #3 of 16
4/5/11 at 8:04am
Thread Starter 
Hi teardrop! Thanks for responding. It was one of these bottles:

I wonder if it is just the plastic and an issue of it not preserving as well.
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post #4 of 16
4/5/11 at 8:43am
Sometimes I think that many scents get deeper and richer with age. We seem to be quick to think everything is reformulated and maybe it is, or maybe it's just a newer batch that hasn't aged yet. Just a random thought I had. I find that some of my scents definitely smell better as they get older. Anything with amber/resins especially tends to get richer the longer it's around. Maybe I'm just crazy. lol
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post #5 of 16
4/5/11 at 8:56am
Thread Starter 
Jacona, I agree! I collect vintage Tabu because of that better-with-age phenomenon. Some of my vintage Tabu has a lovely liquorish-leathery note now, that I find so gorgeous!

I think though, that my plastic bottles of Magie Noire do not smell the way they should have, even when they were first bought. A lot of reviews I've read for Magie Noire talk about what a incense-oakmoss bomb it is, very animalic and powerful. But these bottles have a very thin, unwearable fragrance inside. SIGH. I think if I'm NOT weirdly anosmic to this era of Magie Noire (which is why i wonder if it was reformulated for these bottles), than anyone smelling these would be surprised at their weakness.
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post #6 of 16
4/5/11 at 12:52pm
Thanks for posting the pic, H! l must admit l've never seen that bottle design before. Does anyone know what year they started making those? MN has definitely been reformulated; the juice in the rectangular glass bottles that are currently available is much thinner & greener than the vintage. l wonder if yours were produced post-reformulation as well? That might explain why the seller thought her bottle was fine; l wonder had she ever smelled the vintage? Otherwise l think it may be a problem with the plastic; perhaps chemicals from the plastic could leach into the contents & spoil them?
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post #7 of 16
8/31/11 at 12:33am
i am a CRAZY collector of vintage MN too! :P i have the circular-shaped version, the tall glass with plastic "shoulders", the huile perfume oil, and even the new squarish bottles. Out of these, i like the circular-shaped version the best. And out of these, i find that those in boxes with the strange symbols are the best-smelling (as compared with the all-black boxes)! The huile perfume oil and the new squarish bottles actually smell pretty good to me, although they tend to smell more "green" compared with the older versions. So, i do not agree with other BNers who completely dissed the newer squarish bottles.
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post #8 of 16
5/2/12 at 12:05am
Hi, I realize this thread is over a year old but thought I would help out with what I know. I sell fragrances on ebay and MN has been my signature scent almost since it was issued. In my experience, plastic does not hold the scent like glass. That may be 1 problem with your scent. However, the original MN issued in the glass bottle with black plastic shoulders is definitely different than the new MN. The original scent was formulated by Armand Petitjean, who also formulated all the previous Lancome fragrances pre-MN 1978. Original has a much richer base and the Patchouli is recognizable. Also the new one is missing some of the Ambergris and Civet that make the older version so recognizable. It's my understanding the new fragrance of MN was formulated by an entirely different person. And when the square bottle came out, I believe it was somewhere around 2005 or 6. The last original scent I purchased from Dillards was in about 2006. The next time I purchased one from them, it was in the square bottle and I still have a little of it as it just was not what I expected. The ads list MN as a daytime scent. Maybe the new one is, but the original scent was definitely much more seductive and was very appropriate for nighttime wear, though I wore it all the time. Hope this helped a little. Now MN is discontinued and the only one sold by Lancome is the 2.5 EDT spray. I left my opinion on the Lancome sight. I am very angry that they took a part of me off the market for good. And what can be purchased it skyrocketing in price.
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post #9 of 16
9/11/12 at 3:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by latelittlesleeper View Post

Hi teardrop! Thanks for responding. It was one of these bottles:

I wonder if it is just the plastic and an issue of it not preserving as well.

I'm another MN fan, although I haven't yet tried the new one in the square bottle. I too bought a spray like the one pictured, the only time I have ever seen one. The contents smelled like cats' pee and I gave it away. Currently I have mainly the round-bottled vintage dab-on stuff, but also have a small bottle of perfume oil and one of the spray bottles with plastic shoulders. All smell OK.
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post #10 of 16
9/15/12 at 11:53am
Plastic? Good grief, where are they making this stuff now? China? No wonder it smells like pee. So pathetic the way these companies treat their customers.
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post #11 of 16
10/6/12 at 5:03pm
I just found Vintage Magie Noire Pure Perfume! 1ml Vials, left over from the 70's and 80's. I asked the seller about them, and she told me that they were from a 90 year old perfume salesman, and these are what was left over from his business.. I can't wait for mine to arrive! TPC sells them fo $40, and I ordered 6 for $24 each! I cannot wait! (and I was told that more amazing vintages will be listed soon!)... Oh.. I almost forgot to write where I got them.... http://www.etsy.com/listing/11142704...parfum-perfume
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post #12 of 16
10/9/12 at 8:54pm
Love MN and I have had similar experiences with the black plastic atomizer bottle in the past. Not good at all. I became a fan and loved the MN in the round glass bottle with the dabber. I have a glass spray bottle now and it is a few years old and the juice inside smells as good as the little round glass bottle from the 80's that I loved.
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post #13 of 16
10/16/12 at 8:08am
I love Magie Noire too!
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post #14 of 16
1/24/13 at 12:40pm
The bottle on the inside of the flat black plastic EDT is remarkably plastic as well. It's ridiculously shitty and is totally useless at actually preserving fragrance. Avoid these bottles - they're terrible.

I just secured myself a full 1oz bottle of the perfume oil and that stuff is amazing. It has insane longevity and sillage and it's just hypnotic. It takes a little longer to get to the drydown than the alcohol version but it lasts ay longer in my experience.
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post #15 of 16
1/24/13 at 6:30pm
Have this bottle and also think it could be better and stronger.

LL
LL
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post #16 of 16
1/26/13 at 11:27am
I have the same bottle as Russel, it's about 6 or 7 yrs old, and I agree, it's nice, but weaker and lighter then the round glass bottles that are dab on. The mossy patch opening is gone, and I will only buy the round bottle myself again, hoping it's the vintage from 70's and 80's. What a gorgeous perfume it was. Did Lancome discontinue it, or can they order one special??
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