While Bvlgari has (almost) discontinued the very original Bvlgari Black, one of the few original creations of the "transparent" era, Van Cleef & Arpels is actually relaunching it under the name Midnight in Paris. This perfume is pure beauty with an excellent smoothness, remarkable refinement and a very linear evolution. It is night, the sky embraces the earth with its profound darkness and the shapes slowly disappear into the infinite. The silence is deep and profound like the heavy smoke of incense in an oriental temple, near a guaiac wood statue. There is no beginning and no end in this perfume, the structure is linear, like a dense smoke surrounding everything in the sensual embrace of black cashmere with its precious incense accent. A dark flower blooms inside this perfume with an unexpected light gourmand facet.
The name of the perfume evokes the famous Soir de Paris (Bourjois), but it is also the name of a Van Cleef & Arpels watch. The perfume is launched right in time with the movie Midnight in Paris (2011), directed by Woody Allen, with Marion Cotillard.
The name of the perfume evokes the famous Soir de Paris (Bourjois), but it is also the name of a Van Cleef & Arpels watch. The perfume is launched right in time with the movie Midnight in Paris (2011), directed by Woody Allen, with Marion Cotillard.
This new creation from Van Cleef & Arpels gives a new life to a 1998 perfume that became quite hard to find. It is Bvlgari Black with a twist, like a new floral accord combined with a very soft leathery orris note. Like Dior Homme, it is a perfume without a gender - no aromatic notes, no recognizable masculine odor, except the soft spiciness.
First, there was Canoe (Dana) and Brut (Fabergé) and though these creations belong to very different eras, they shared some important similarities. They were aromatic, sweet balsamic and very musky. Unlike the original fougère accord, the accent was not on the lavender coumarine facet and not very much on the geranium heart. They emphasized a particular sweet note combined with a soft balsamic molecule. Brut gave Le Mâle (Gaultier), a modern and original interpretation that was totally opposed to the extreme testosterone aromatic facet that previously gave Azzaro pour Homme. The fougère family was split in two. But Bvlgari Black, this most unusual, highly original and exquisite creation of the 90's with a styrax burnt facet, went back in time and took an original sweet balsamic accord found in both Canoe and the very elaborated Je Reviens. This small note, wrapped in balsams, woods, very sweet vanillic notes, musk and the distinctive smoky burnt note, was the lost link between the fougère, the oriental and the leather family. It also brought something that was neither feminine nor masculine, but not fresh.
Midnight in Paris (Van Cleef & Arpels) has more power and tenacity than the original Bvlgari perfume (a beautiful but quite ephemeral creation), with an accent on the woody notes. The softness of cedar, the powdery delicate touch of orris, the milky undertones of sandalwood and the raw sweetness of tonka evoke the smoothness of another beautiful perfume. This is "Dior Homme Black", where the powdery facet of orris was wrapped in sweet oriental notes and black tea. Another perfume of the same type is Body Kouros, an excellent interpretation of the smoky sweet sensual theme, contrasted with a very clean note and a liquorice / anis facet, where the floral heart becomes an unusual lilac.
Midnight in Paris (Van Cleef & Arpels) keeps the darkness of Bvlgari Black but it is wrapped in soft powdery notes. It is benzoin, baby powder and the illusion of mimosa, in an ocean of burnt and woody notes. Unlike Bvlgari, the drydown of the perfume is more vanillic-tonka and it is similar in style with a perfume launched in their exclusive collection. The new interpretation of coumarine or "black tonka", can be found in several masculine creations launched in 2009-2010 but Midnight in Paris (Van Cleef & Arpels) gave the full expression of this idea, leaving away the lavender and other aromatic notes. Even the bergamot-lemon top, suggesting an "abstract black Shalimar" when combined with the sweet vanilla tonka facet, is less important in this perfume, presented in a beautiful "Eau de Merveilles" like bottle.
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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art
