Tete-a-Tete

11. september 2013 I am very excited since this great fragrance has finally been added to database. Oh, this is the smell of childhood, my mom used to own a bottle (i think most of russian women back then owned it). Back then they were presented in different rectangular flacon with a golden screw-on lid. After all these years i still can smell this wonderful fragrance, i used to unsrew the lid secretly and sniff it. For me it wasn ́t a heavy one or unpleasant, i was bewitched by it ́s beauty. It was green and sharp chypre, yes it was on the heavy side but very much enjoyable. Even for some 5-7 year old like me. And epitome of class for me back then, my mom used to wear it to the theatre, so for me this was a "special occasion evening wear fragrance". I do see this fragrance more associated with brunettes than blonds but it is just a matter of taste. Just few weeks ago i have purchased a new formula in bottle looking like in the avatar. Yes it has changed, BUT i still find it quite close to the original and enjoyed wearing it during hot summer day while testing it. It is labeled 35ml parfum spray and let me tell you that it has an super excellent lasting power and sillage. Just ONE spray lasyed on my arm over 24 hrs!!! Isn ́t this great!? And the best thing is the price! Very affordable! This green classy chypre adorned with an intensive blackcurrant leaf note and thans to that and rose it is not masculine at all. It is deep, rich and tending to be a cold fragrance. I don ́t see it as warm one, for me it is on the colder side. I might be mistaken at the moment but as much as i remmeber it was somehow distantly similar to Yves Rocherś "Venice" vintage in EDP which my mom used to have as well (however i might be mistaken). I do love this fragrance and will be wearing it myself as well later this year. Honestly, "Novaya Zarya" still makes some really good and affordable perfumes. P.S. Try also the "Gold of Scythes". It is not as amazing as the vintage formula, however still extremly good!

Oh, how I love these kind of perfumes. I don’t even have to close my eyes to see the end of a theater play when thick velvet curtains fall in slow-motion on the dusty dark wooden floor boards. Bright lights go out with a flash, leaving a warm orange-yellow colour making the large stage an intimate spot in a second. The mumbling audience leaving the room, a last laughter that fades away. A cramped dressing room, clothes everywhere, lots of makeup on the table, a bottle of scotch and dozen soft shiny beats from a broken pearl neckless. And then the smell of powder... it’s almost suffocating but creating this sensual atmosphere at the same time. Now it's time for a tête-à-tête. I’m still surprised how acurate currant leaves smell like civet (makes it animal friendly!) and anise making it such a powdery perfume. Lovely! I’m not getting anything masculine and no strong green notes, basiclly the projection is 'just' about “civet”, amber and the powdery anis. Like L'Heure Bleue, I can't stop sniffing but at the same time I feel like I really need some fresh air. A very welcoming perfume on this rainy day, where I'm sitting at my desk supposely writing a business article...

Tete-a-Tete. What a magnificent perfume. It's perfect. So beautifully strong, luxurious and feminine. So classy. So refined, but powerful. It's how a perfume should be - for me at least. I love them strong, and Tete-a-Tete is glorious. It is a perfect chypre perfume. Beautiful rose and jasmine and yang-ylang, and blackcurrant leaf; gorgeous anise, and the patchouli is heavenly, so is the vetiver and oakmoss. It's all fabulous. Very very fabulous. I adore it. It's bewitchingly glorious. I feel so beautiful in it. I feel like a very sensual, high class woman, on my way to the theatre, dressed sumptuously in my opulent, gorgeous satin gown, on the arm of my beloved. All the beautiful smells wafting around me, and everyone smiling at the beauty I am exuding. It's a glorious dream of a fragrance.

I love Tet-a-Tet. The only advice, use it in smaller quantity, it may easily overwhelm, beautiful, hearty, all-consuming power. Truly feminine smell, so much in love with it... Try it if you like chypre fragrances, has good sillage, and long lasting, this is why use the smallest quantities, overall divine chypre.

Powerful, warm, rich, elegant. Novaya Zarya again proves its commitment to glorious top quality scents. It took me ages to get my bottle but I'm absolutely in love with it. Glamorous, slightly androgynous, sexy in a vintage way, spicy, with the right hint of citrus and rose to keep it wearable.

Just got a bottle in the post and now see it is marked pour homme! But it is simply wonderful for me as a vintage magie noir lover...deep, green, soft and sexy. Will be buying bottles of this to store away!

An excellent dupe for the old and great original fragrance of Magie Noire.

I ordered this on the basis of people saying Magie Noire reminds them of this and because I love chypres. I received my bottle from Russia today and couldn't wait to try it but had to wait as I was already wearing another perfume. I sprayed it on about two hours ago and, at first, I was a little taken aback by how strong it was but it quickly settles into a warm, spicy, peppery scent. Then a little later it becomes powdery with a hint of soapiness and now I am getting the amber and vanilla coming through. The patchouli is there throughout. It does not remind me of Magie Noire - it is not animalic as MN is. To me, it is more resembling Paloma Picasso and there's nothing wrong with that! I'm really pleased with it, thus far. It's s warm, classy perfume that is well blended and smells much more expensive than it is. It's not a perfume I would wear for work as it could easily be overpowering and I wouldn't wear it to go clubbing. It's the sort of perfume you would wear to a formal gathering or to the theatre/opera. Yes I like it very much and it's definitely worth trying if you like chypres like Paloma PIcasso or you are a fan of perfumes that come from an era when perfumes didn't smell like candy floss. It's clean with just the right amount of floral and vanilla to keep it warm and feminine. And it's very affordable.

For those missing vintage Magie Noire, who aren't independently wealthy, or simply are not willing to pay the two arms and a leg required to purchase it on eBay, try cocktailing this fragrance (Tete-a-Tete) with vintage Occur! by Avon.This combination will mimic Magie Noire's animalic drydown, which is missing in Tete-a-Tete. Tete-a-Tete does have a somewhat "animalic" nuance, but it comes from currant buds, and that note is actually more urinous- (urine like) than animalic- (sweaty, oily, carnal). In Magie Noire the animalic notes are provided by the addition of both civet and castoreum, and Occur! is LOADED with civet and castoreum, the "good stuff" that is only found in vintage fragrances nowadays, just like one finds in the original Majie Noire. Plus Tete and Occur! are structurally quite similar, so they dance very, very well together. The only other thing absent from this potion would be Magie Noire's subtle raspberry note (that truthfully, I really don't think you'll miss that much), otherwise this is the closest dupe of vintage Majie Noire I've ever managed to concoct. Try it, and ENJOY !

For some reason this smells like Ispahan by Yves Rocher to me, but drier and woodier. Intriguingly complex and definitely not linear. The dry spicy anise & patchouli, the mix of florals and an earthy base that is more felt than smelled come through the most. Could be described as 'dank' but artfully interspersed with cooling, uplifting and refreshing currents. Sometimes I think of what a powdery accord smells like in perfumes, and it's like this stuff has a different, more windy and animated interpretation of that scent-space altogether. Cant stop smelling my wrist, and I catch different things each time. Dry dry dry. The dry-down begins to resemble cologne as it progresses. Worth the low price as an interesting introduction to chypres, Russian perfumes and/or vintage scents.

yes it s a mixture between Magie Noire and Paloma, but it is far from Magie Noire in the dry down. Unfortunately, even it s a good quality scent, on my skin the silage is not so good and the longevity is about 2 hours, then it transforms into a pleasant but pale skin scent.Worth the price, but don t expect something wow.

i ordered this on ebay as a blind buy, and i was super excited to smell it just because of its age and origins. the musk is very prominent in this fragrance, and it has a long trail that smells like urine. top notes are peppery and citrusy, but it quickly dries into a jasmin-y animal smell. tete-a-tete is definitely not a modern fragrance and the contemporary nose is not accustomed to her, but i respect her, she's from a different time. edit: the respect still stands, but wow, the urine scent was overwhelming to me, especially combined with how long it lasted on my skin.

I usually like old fragrances, but I can hardly imagine this one on me. It's more close to the masculine fragrances. Ylang-ylang, oakmoss, patchouli, green notes are the leading. I only can say that it's noticeable comparing with many quiet fragrances by this brand.

This stuff is ridiculously good. Instantly became a favourite. I've never encountered Magie Noire that it is supposed to resemble but without it being a dupe, it's worth a purchase. It comes over as very 70s without the discomforting volume and projection scents from that era often have. Despite that it has really good longevity, especially at this price point. It's not mentioned in the notes but the dry down of this is a fantastic honey musk. Wow it's good. I get jasmine and dusty herbs up front, maybe rose. It's a very complex mix and hard to chime on anything other than the jasmine and honey. Worth the purchase for the honey note alone. Will be buying a back up bottle. Side note: this fragrance smells a fair bit like HEM Jasmine Honey incense. If you like this perfume, that incense is worth the buy.

This is a masculine fragrance actually. I remember when I was a 5 y/o kid, I'd watch my uncle (I lived with my uncle and aunt's family) get ready for work and he used Tete-a-tete shaving foam, aftershave and a cologne before he got his fedora hat on and left to the town administration. I dont really remember the smell itself though. Only thing I remember, Tete-a-Tete was kinda harsh (must be the oakmoss) and dusty (woods?). But maybe Novaya Zarya had produced Tete-a-Tete for women and another scent for men too? Or was it a unisex fragrance?

My mother had this in the 80s and kept on nagging me to find it for her, I located it on ebay and got it from Ukraine of all places. Smells so strong, exactly like Ysatis by Givenchy... looking at the notes I see they have the same main notes. Interesting. I love it. I remember I did not like it when I was little but now I do. It is very strong and more of an older and elegant woman type of smell. Edit: reading some reviews here saying that is similar to Magie Noire... has a similar note to that too. Love it.

On me this is an old fashioned oily chypre floral. It's too sweet and heavy on my skin and lacks sparkle or lift.