Narcisse Noir 1960 Eau de Toilette

Version from 1960
Narcisse Noir (1960) (Eau de Toilette) by Caron
Bottle Design Félicie Bergaud
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7.6 / 10 138 Ratings
Narcisse Noir (1960) (Eau de Toilette) is a popular perfume by Caron for women and was released in 1960. The scent is floral-animal. The production was apparently discontinued. Pronunciation
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Main accords

Floral
Animal
Woody
Powdery
Oriental

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes Top Notes
LemonLemon Mandarin orangeMandarin orange PetitgrainPetitgrain BergamotBergamot
Heart Notes Heart Notes
NarcissusNarcissus Orange blossomOrange blossom JasmineJasmine
Base Notes Base Notes
MuskMusk SandalwoodSandalwood CivetCivet

Perfumer

Ratings
Scent
7.6138 Ratings
Longevity
8.0107 Ratings
Sillage
6.993 Ratings
Bottle
8.1103 Ratings
Submitted by Kankuro, last update on 20.03.2024.
Variant of the fragrance concentration
This is a variant of the perfume Narcisse Noir (1911) / Le Narcisse Noir (Extrait) by Caron, which differs in concentration.

Reviews

4 in-depth fragrance descriptions
AromaX

33 Reviews
AromaX
AromaX
2  
The slow thickening of sunlight
Narcisse Noir creates an illusion of a non-existent flower which is quite convincing. The dry green bitterness with oil-paint like nuance evokes the image of narcissus. And the animalic darkness of civet in the base does paint it black. Although reading about this fragrance makes me to think that the original version of this perfume was much heavier on civet than its modern interpretations. But to me Narcisse Noir is mostly about the orange blossom. It represents an interesting aspect of the orange flower which I perceive as a slow thickening of sunlight during a sunset. The color changes from a warm orange glow to a dark orange and almost brown before it falls into the darkness. Warm, sultry, heady and definitely fatal.
0 Comments
5
Bottle
10
Sillage
10
Longevity
8
Scent
DorothyGrace

81 Reviews
DorothyGrace
DorothyGrace
2  
Improved in Storage
My Narcisse Noir is an eau de toilette, in the current bun topped bottle, and came in a black box with gold spots. It is one of the last produced in that bottle so from somewhere around 2012 give or take a couple of years.

When I first had this perfume it was soap and narcissus all the way; over-poweringly soapy, thick, harsh narcissus, linear, and it sucker punched with its strength; hence I have nearly a full bottle remaining.

Nothing was calling me today but this was at the front of the shelf from where, yesterday, I had pulled everything out looking for Beautiful, so I gave it a go.

It has changed significantly. Gone is the harsh, up-front and brutal narcissus, gone is the bucket of choking raw soap; I was instead greated with a very rich ambery orange blossom, just a touch soapy, a little bit of lemon. It developed some gentle sweet musky notes, a little touch of pepper, a hint of smoke, just a little narcissus, some sweetness I can't put my finger on but maybe peru balsam is a good descriptor, occasionally wafting a dry green note.

A couple of hours later I was left with a creamy sweet wood with a touch of mandarin and a wee bit of animalic musk.

I guess that means my bottle has 'gone off' but it smells wonderful and works so much better for me compared to when I first bought it and indeed the pyramid of notes much better represents it now whereas before there was no match.
0 Comments
7.5
Bottle
7.5
Sillage
10
Longevity
6
Scent
Briarthorn

91 Reviews
Briarthorn
Briarthorn
3  
Soapy with a captial S
This is for the EDT:

After reading other reviews, I think I have the reformulated version.

It started out with a punch of very sharp and SUPER soapy Jasmine and I think orange blossom. There was a hint of incense but overall a very sharp white floral opening. Not pleasant, kinda generic.

After the warm up, the Narcissus/Daffodil stepped forward. The scent wasn't razor sharp anymore and became Lovely. It was still pretty soapy.

I never really got much of the musk, sandalwood, or vetiver. Maybe the barest hint of sandalwood.

Edit: I have really learned to love the heart of this, something about it reminds me of the heart/drydown of CoCo mademoiselle. That's a good thing. I think it's the balance of the Jasmine, Orange blossom and Rose that make them both sing.
The opening is still WAY too soapy for me. Some describe it as powdery but I don't get that.

Dec
30
2014
0 Comments
7.5
Bottle
7.5
Sillage
10
Longevity
8
Scent
Sherapop

1239 Reviews
Sherapop
Sherapop
Top Review 8  
Musky Singed Velvety Flowers
My bottle of Caron's NARCISSE NOIR is clearly the reformulation--I bought it at parfum1.com (plus my cat, a fully certified civet detector, does not follow me around when I wear it...). But I go against the grain in liking the reformulation, what to me is a deep, dark, somewhat intense perfume which I can really sink my nose into.

The opening feels like singed flowers--I am assuming that this is the effect of the neroli on the narcissus ('neroli' contains 'noir', after all...). From there, NARCISSE NOIR seems to me like a chypre, not a "sweet and fresh" floral fruity perfume!

In fact, there is no point in my experience of NARCISSE NOIR where I can agree with the aptness of either adjective. Neither fresh, nor sweet, NARCISSE NOIR is dark and deep. The orange comes in the form of dried, not candied, peel and imparts more of an oriental than a citrus quality.

The singed flowers mingle with vetiver, thick musk, and a touch of sandalwood in the drydown, with excellent longevity in the edt--a good thing, unless one happened to be hoping for something, sweet, fresh, and fruity, as opposed to musky singed velvety flowers.
0 Comments

Statements

1 short view on the fragrance
CumulnimbusCumulnimbus 2 years ago
8
Bottle
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
9.5
Scent
Warm, yellow flowers and orange blossom, with an end of dusty sandalwood and shy animalic notes. Not too sweet. Absolutely glamourous.
0 Comments

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