Black Up is the first perfume of the French makeup brand dedicated to medium to dark skin tones, which gave it its own name. Signed by Dora Baghriche-Arnaud, the oriental, floral and musky eau de parfum opens on blackcurrant, mandarin, lemon and licorice, devotes its heart to musk, rose, violet and iris, and finds its base in amber, patchouli, vanilla, sandalwood and Tolu balsam.
Citrus, blackcurrant and licorice
The opening pairs blackcurrant, mandarin and lemon with a licorice note with confectionery accents, recalling licorice candies. This first contact, tangy and sweet, gives the perfume its gourmand facet.
Powdery flowers
The heart brings together musk, rose, violet and iris. Iris and violet carry the powdery facet, rose rounds out the accord, and musk, which the house places at this tier already, already announces the sensation of skin.
An amber and balsamic base
Amber, patchouli, vanilla, sandalwood and Tolu balsam form the base, which the house describes as lascivious. Ambroxan and musks soften its warmth, while Tolu balsam brings a resinous sweetness close to vanilla.
Diverging mentions
Descriptions of the perfume do not all agree. Some add praline, white musks and iris wood to the base, another places sandalwood at the opening: these mentions remain outside the list of notes, for lack of agreement.
What the label declares
The Eau de Parfum's label partly matches the announced notes: alpha-isomethyl ionone, an iris and violet facet, corresponds to the powdery flowers, citral and limonene to the citrus of the opening, geraniol and citronellol to the rose. Benzyl cinnamate, a constituent of balsams, accompanies the Tolu balsam.
Coumarin, a hay and tonka bean smell, and farnesol, a floral and green note, do not appear among the notes. The list also declares three colorants, red, yellow and black, which tint the juice; no UV filter appears in it.