Black Pearls Elizabeth Taylor 1996 Eau de Parfum

Black Pearls (Eau de Parfum) by Elizabeth Taylor

Bottle Design Elizabeth Taylor

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Black Pearls (Eau de Parfum) (Elizabeth Taylor)

7.8 / 10 94 Ratings

Black Pearls (Eau de Parfum) is a popular perfume by Elizabeth Taylor for women and was released in 1996. The scent is floral-powdery. The longevity is above-average. It was last marketed by Elizabeth Arden.
Pronunciation

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Main accords

Floral

Powdery

Sweet

Woody

Fruity

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Gardenia

Bergamot

Peach

Heart Notes

Lotus

Water lily

White rose

Base Notes

Musk

Sandalwood

Amber

Perfumer

Sophia Grojsman

Ratings

Scent

7.894 Ratings

Longevity

8.064 Ratings

Sillage

7.262 Ratings

Bottle

7.971 Ratings

Submitted by Lissy, last update on 23.12.2023.

Reviews

5 in-depth fragrance descriptions

02/26/2012

8
Scent

Awesomeness
247 Reviews

Awesomeness

Top Review 7

Look for frosted glass bottle

This is fun to have if you can find a sufficiently old bottle. Don't waste your time & money on the new version, which is in larger, clear glass bottles, such as the one pictured here. Instead, look for a small frosted bottled at estate sales, including the parfum mini, a 10ml EdP, and the 30ml EdP -- all in frosted bottles.

I've managed to pick up a gift set, still in box with a department store price tag from the 1990s, for about $7. I loved it as soon as I tried it and got rid of my modern bottle immediately. As far as I can tell, the frosted bottles are vintage. But to be sure, look for boxed gift sets in black flock with clear covers -- they're the real deal from the past, released to department stores for the Christmas season sales.

Vintage Black Pearls is a powdery, floral amber that wears like a floriental on me. I don't see amber listed as a note, but I get amber in the base, or maybe it's the vanilla & sandalwood giving me the impression of amber. It's not bright floral but not dark one either. Many people report vanilla & sandalwood in the base but I can't pick out those individual notes & accords. It's just very well blended in vintage, and the modern version is harsher by comparison.

Vintage Black Pearls is unique. It's the only ET fragrance that I wear, and I've tried most of the ET range. I'm happy to have it in my collection.

07/16/2013

5
Bottle 5
Sillage 10
Longevity 10
Scent

Piapedersen
22 Reviews

Piapedersen

Very helpful Review 6

Lush, luxuriant and long-lasting

Before spraying this wonder you have to make a clear decision: Will I wear this scent for the next 24 hours? Because that is the deal you make. The lasting power of this marvelous and warm fragrance is beyond belief. I have never experienced anything like it. It does not mean that the fragrance is overwhelming or that you are reeking of it. But it goes on and on. So when you wake up the next morning, after you have worn this since breakfast, you are met by the most lovely, warm waterlilly and sandalwoody smell, which has settled during the night in your pillow. Now, that is what I call a perfume.

It opens up quite strongly. I was actually a bit uncertain the first time, if I had made a wrong purchase. But quickly I was dragged into the smell. It swallowed me and I did not mind. Rose, pear and sandalwood in the most lovely and convincing manner. The whole day it kept hitting my nose in waves, wonderful waves. And the drydown is even better.

Usually I would comment on the flacon, but in this case I am not impressed. The box is common and the bottle is, though it goes well with the name, not a masterpiece. In my opinion it looks cheap. But none of ETs Flacons strike me as beauties. They are what I call standard.

I wear this scent on special occasions. The sillage is good but I have not had any offended comments, so I reckon it is great for social events. If you are new to the world of fragrances this is NOT the place to start! You will be blown away, run off screaming and never make a second go for it. But I cherish this pearl in my collection.

06/24/2013

8
Scent

BronxBeauty
58 Reviews

BronxBeauty

Very helpful Review 6

Watery Flowers That Work

As a balsamic, chypre and bash-them-over-the-head-with-a-vase floriental gal, I find there's something about watery flower fragrances that generally makes me want to scrub them. Too timid and ingratiating! For white-necked swans wearing ballerina skirts! Whatever...ET's Black Diamond,however, is a watery floral I can wear. I think it's the sandal-y base, which provides a nice warm balance to the etherial florals, giving the fragrance a nice heft. Like Awesomeness, i have an older, frosted bottle. We have to thank La Taylor for many things she gave us in a long life of acting and histrionics, and I'd definitely list her perfume line among them.

12/24/2023

10
Pricing 8
Bottle 7
Sillage 8
Longevity 8
Scent

Minigolf
308 Reviews

Translated Show original

Minigolf

Helpful Review 7

From dewdrops to a balsam bed

And that's not all! Because when one of those mysterious days dawns that brings dewdrops on flowers and grasses on cool mornings, that wraps afternoons and afternoons in velvety warmth and lets the evenings fade away with balmy depth, it is often early fall. Or late summer. As you like.
When the fruit begins to ripen and a fine fragrance is carried near well-stocked trees. The gardenias unfurl their richly colored blossoms in large clay pots on terraces and near garden paths, smelling mysteriously tart and fresh.
The warmth of the sun almost "stings" away from deep shadows and within which the damp coolness of the past and coming night can be sensed.
At the nearby pond, the water lilies are in full bloom and compete in fragrance with the irises and shrub roses! In the evening, when the cool air slowly drifts in, the trees and shrubs and their wood and bark also come into olfactory honor.
Dark, woody-powdery "balsamics" may welcome the coolness, wet themselves with moisture and retain the warmth of the day. All at the same time. It knows how to fascinate. And it does so without any fat fuss that tries to "force" a fragrance into the limelight. It is restrained and natural! And yet as densely woven as first-class velvet!

10/02/2023

Exciter76
77 Reviews

Exciter76

1990s Doll Heads And Powder And Celeb Perfume Hearsay History

Originally reviewed on April 18, 2012:

I purchased this blindly, expecting something in essence to Givenchy's Organza Indecence or Cinnabar—thick spices with a little sweetness. Instead it begins with a heavy-handed floriental slap, typical of most 1980s florientals. The initial spray reminded me of Boucheron’s eponymous fragrance. I had had Boucheron already and I was anxious to be rid of it, so imagine my great frustration of having it back in my possession once again. I made an empty vow to myself never to buy blind again and handed this over to the House of the Grand Dame’s greatest admirer, my mother.

A year and many glowing reviews later I decided to steal a quick spritz for memory’s sake. I was disgusted upon initial wearing. I was ready to scrub this off as I did the first time I tried it. It was the Boucheron all over again! If I have learned anything from [Online Fragrance Communities] I have learned to wait out a perfume from beginning to end to see how it plays out on my skin and NOT to scrub anything off. The heady Boucheron scent bowed out gracefully to a creamy spiced vanilla with an infinite amount of staying power. I’m kind of sorry I was so hasty to give this one away.

Pleasant as it is I must be realistic with myself: I probably would not wear this one too often even if I had kept it. There is something waxy about it but it really is a nice one from the House of Liz. Not a fan of fruity florientals? Not to worry, this is strictly spicy vanillic florals with a sturdy base of sandalwood. As with all her perfumes, there’s great longevity, projection, and sillage. Of all her creations I would say I am most impressed with BP.

Update: Thanks to [Redacted User], I just had to get my hands on a vintage bottle of this. It is absolutely blissful! The cloying opening of the reformulation is dashed to bits, leaving the spiced vanilla to run this show. This is definitely the crowning jewel in the House of the Great Dame.

Following up on my doubts on October 1, 2023:

I did indeed order a vintage frosted bottle to test out. It was love without a waiting period. Black Pearls Eau de Parfum smells like the 1990s, if I'm being blisteringly honest with myself. It didn't fall in line with many of its aqueous-like contemporaries, like Happy Perfume, CK One Eau de Toilette, or Tommy Girl. There was nothing subtle about Black Pearls Eau de Parfum, but it received permission from sister scents, like Amarige Eau de Toilette and Trésor (1990) Eau de Parfum, to continue to be loud and proud. It also gave permission to its younger sisters Hypnotic Poison Eau de Toilette and others to keep singing loud enough for those in the back row to hear.

From my aged recollection, Black Pearls Eau de Parfum might have been among the last celebrity perfumes to be associated with our mothers and not our daughters, if that makes any sense. Prior to JLo and Britney, when a celebrity perfume was mentioned I, as well as my friends, associated celebrity perfumes with older women. To clarify, established icons produced fragrances that were marketed for the more confident, established women and men in our personal lives. Us younger consumers were fed a steady diet of mass retailer body sprays and health food store body oils. A generational shift happened sometime at the turn of the 21th century. Now, when someone says, "celebrity perfume," our immediate thoughts turn to something marketed toward young people, regardless if that is true or not.

Back to Black Pearls Eau de Parfum: she was dolls' heads and a vanillic powder. The comparison I was making between Black Pearls Eau de Parfum and Boucheron (1988) Eau de Parfum was due to the gardenia they both share and my unrefined nose's reaction to it. It's not an obvious gardenia but it's there. I still enjoy it but I predicted I wouldn't wear it often, and I don't. But, when I wear it, I often ask why I don't more often.

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