Magie Noire

Bois de Jasmin, the aura of a self-assured woman

On January 10, 2011, Victoria Frolova gave five stars to the original version and three to the reformulation. Among fragrances that set out to evoke darkness, Magie Noire strikes her as one of the most successful: dark, animalic and intensely green, hard to love, not especially feminine.

She readily imagines it on a man and says she is fascinated by the way it moves from challenging to spellbinding. It seeks neither to be likable nor to please anyone: it projects an aura of strength and confidence, which she finds special.

She prefers the parfum, richer in tuberose and leather, to the eau de toilette, thinner and greener. Rediscovered at the Lancôme counter, the current version keeps, in her eyes, its dark and mysterious character, less mossy and less leathery, offset by its ambery and woody notes.

Perfume Shrine, a sorceress’s fragrance

On October 31, 2009, Elena Vosnaki named it the ideal Halloween fragrance: a devilish sorceress of ardent sensuality, projecting the mysterious force of an evil heroine. Its unsettling base acts, she writes, like a fur coat hiding a knife.

Even in its toned-down form, it is not, in her view, a fragrance for young girls: like a grand cru, it takes some getting used to. Its distinctiveness lends it a special-occasion air; savored drop by drop, it wraps its wearer in a protective mantle.