Bvlgari Man In Black Essence

The Journey to my centre of the Earth My signature fragrance up till 2 years ago was Boss #1. Halston Amber for Men along with Bvlgari Man in Black succeeded up till 3 months ago. I chose the fragrance MIB Essence recently and the reasons seemed obvious to me: - It is the type of scent that pleases me the most, but some other fragrances do it also. - I am really in love with the bottle, but some other fragrances do it also. - It's quite versatile and wearable for my taste, but some other fragrances do it also. - It has an above average performance but some other fragrances do it also. - It's a magnific scent to use at leisure, but some other fragrances do it also. - It has an attractive pricing for the "package", but some other fragrances do it also. - Easy to order so far, but some other fragrances do it also. - It is quite unique, but some other fragrances do it also. - It's an obvious choice when I don't know what perfume to use, but some other fragrances do it also. - It's the only one that fulfills all the conditions above, and no fragrance I own does that. - If I would be Robinson Crusoe I would choose this fragrance to salvage from the wreckages. When I first bought it, I confronted it head to head with the original MIB. They are somewhat similar in the opening, but Essence has more "muscle"and the drydown goes into a different direction. The spices and the woods of Essence have been turned up significantly and there is a cocoa heart note that remembers me of Valentino Uomo. Essence is drier, less sweet but with a less strong and more elegant booziness. The MIB musk note seems to be almost absent in Essence and I don't miss it. It has some very much appreciated common vibes with Pure Havane, SpiceBomb Extreme, Valentino Uomo and CH Men Privé. It does not have a very much loved oud soft vibe, but I rely on other specific perfumes to get the non versatile oud note when I feel in the mood for it. This is a perfume that I usually use for my own personal pleasure, not caring much for "ladies praise" although it happens in a reasonable amount. It's a very mature fragrance - I am in my 50's - and not intended for youngsters. As appropriate seasons, late Fall, Winter and early Spring are obvious choices, although I wear it at night independently from the season we are in. It projects intensely for the first two to three hours. Overall I get a longevity of more than 9 hours with three sprays on skin - left, right and back of my neck - and two sprays on clothes - my shoulders. Maximum sillage is around six to eight feet. It's quite unique and so far I never met anybody using it at the same time as I. THE JOURNEY Upon first spray, the fragrance reminds me of Pure Havane due to a cherry tobacco dirty and loud scent. As Man in Black Essence does not have a tobacco listed note, I imagine that my nose is fooled by the boozy rum note blended with oriental spices and bitter orange (this one resembling a dusty floral note), resulting in an intense dirty seductive tobacco vibe. I cannot identify individual spices and it may be just a mix of cinnamon, clove, vanilla, pepper, mace, nutmeg... I do enjoy the opening a lot. This booze and oriental spices accord leaves a stunning scent trail and a statement of "I am here !". The development heart fades slowly the boozy rum note, while the bitter orange & dusty florals keep escalating, toning down the spices. A sensual cocoa & soft leathery vibe is quite present at this stage, while the woods (orris for sure but maybe guaiac also) start to reveal it's alluring character. After one hour or so the scent opens up with balsamic, dark and tonka sweet woody notes. The oriental spices are equally matched and balanced with the sweet dark woods. As I am a dark woods scent lover, I can only state that the begining of the drydown It’s really a very pleasant one. The calm finally arrives with the drydown full development. The scent ambiance is one of a creamy, sweet & dark woody body with a soft leather undertone. A skinscent is still detectable still by the 9th~10th hour. The fragrance journey offered us an impressive boozy beginning, a glorious oriental & cocoa heart, and a sexy dark woody dry down. Compliments and admiration are guaranteed from both sexes. The journey is now completed with ample satisfaction. Bvlgari Man In Black Essence is an olfactory happiness switch, my signature switch. Scoring my signature scent: ___________________________________________________________ Scent opening: 10.0 Scent Dry Down: 10.0 Longevity (h): 9.0 (up to 9~10 hours with 3 sprays on skin) Sillage (ft): 9.0 (6~7 ft with 2.5 h of good projection) Versatility: 8.0 (Above average pending for colder temperatures) Usability: 8.5 (High; Not suitable for any hot temperature event) Compliments: 7.5 (Agreable, elegant, alluring, but not a compliment champion) Uniqueness: 9.0 (almost unique, but is a flanker of MIB) Quality: 9.5 (above average quality, good cap & lock on sprayer) Presentation: 10.0 (a matter of opinion) Price: 8.0 (€ 40 for a 100 ml tester + taxes) ___________________________________________________________ - Average: 8.95/10.0 between 7 and 8 => above average; between 8 and 9 => recommended; equal or bigger than 9 => don't miss it; Opinion on this admirable Essence: Very good presentation and overall very pleasant scent, elegant, making a nice choice for being different, and with a lot of class! Above average performance. Pricing still a bit expensive. During 2019 the on line price will certainly come down a bit more. Recommended? Yes. Blind purchase worthy? Yes. Music: Emerson, Lake & Palmer - "Lucky Man"

Carlos from Brooklyn Fragrance Lover said that only 3000 bottles were made. But I have the feeling it are way more than that, because it is available at many discounters in Europe. Current prices are around €60/100ml. Fragboy Stewie said that Essence and the original are almost identical in scent, but just the bottle design is different. I normally trust his nose, but I guess even the best noses can be wrong once in a while. I think he has to try them out once more, because you almost instantly smell that they are different. I compared it head to head with the original MIB. They are 'quite' similar in the opening (read: they have the same vibe), but Essence is much more potent and the drydown goes into a different direction. In Essence the spices and the woods have been turned up significantly and there is a faint cocoa note. Essence is much drier, less sweet and the booziness is fainter. I do not get the musk and the florals. I am selling my original MIB bottle, because of performance issues. I read that people are getting mixed performance with the original. Essence however, does not have any performance issues, at all! I need to wear it a few more times, before I can give this a rating. I think the scent has to grow on me.

I like this ok, but for the prices it is going for, and the performance that it has, I would not recommend it... I think there are far better frags you could pick up that perform better, and easier on the pocket. It's really a shame too... I really like the smell, but the performance is disappointing. I'd just buy Man In Black, which has much better performance in my opinion, and it's not discontinued, and selling for some insane price. If they could have found a way to make this perform, it would have been a total banger. _________________________________________________________________________ EDIT: I was able to test this some more, and have really grown to become infatuated with it. It obviously isn't a beast, but it lasts a very long time on skin, and I find myself smelling it over and over. I was able to get a bottle on EBay for a reasonable price, so I jumped at it. I would not pay insane prices for this, as I stated above, but if you can get it without paying through the nose for it.. jump at it. Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (9/10)

Yeah that's great, perfect for date's and others special occasions, but very similar to og Bvlgari Man in Black, this the perfume is not worth its current price of a discontinued perfume, you get a more masculine version of the original, a little more spice, no one will notice the difference in the aftertaste, come on only one reason to buy this one: Fancy bottle, but who will overpayed twice only for cool bottle? I Bvlgari Man in Black (And in general the entire line) enjoyer, so i love it so much, but i prefer og version little bit more. But honestly I can't say anything for sure, cuz the trial version of the original version ended a long time ago. Conclusion: Perfect fragrance, worth to try it, but not worth to overspending on it, better get the regular Bvlgari Man in Black. Rating: LONGEVITY: 9/10 (PERFECT, I prefer a perfume that will not stay on my clothes for months, and at the same time emit a smell no worse than from the very beginning) SILLAGE: 7,5/10 SCENT: 10/10 OVERALL: 9/10

This is a spectacular boozy, spicy oriental - emphasis on the boozy. I agree with the reviewer who said it's boozier than original MiB, but I also agree with those that say it's a more mature version as well. Overall is it softer, more floral, and "warmer" than MiB (likely that cocoa accord others have picked up on) - at least on my skin. Original MiB and this would make a great day/night pairing - or use this as a standalone evening or date fragrance. This does have a classic cool/cold-weather structure - I'd imagine in warm weather the boozy side of this might be a little too much. On the review below discussing the 3k bottles - I'd actually believe that. If many thought, as I did,. when seeing it in the store that it was original MiB in a collector's edition bottle they likely would pass on it. If each discounter wound up with a stock of 200-300 bottles I can see how it might have been pretty cheap initially at each as they price it to move.

After one opinion given 8 months ago, I do have a slightly different position now: - The Fragrantica listed notes are wrong. One of my favourite notes is Orris and this frangrance contains a lot of it, but it's not listed. Cocoa is not listed as well. - This fragrance is superb - signature fragrance material for me!! - I don't consider the flask tacky any more. I really like it now - Less Oud than Orient (actualy MIB Essence does not have Oud), more Orris Than MIB and Orient, less spices than Mib and Orient, same booze as in MIB, ... For me it's better than MIB and Orient. I own the 3 of them. All of them are fantastic but I really prefer this one.... it's a gorgeous dark fragrance, probably the best I have ever used! Whenever I will rank a top 20, those 3 fragrances will have a place in the list.

Weird in a good way. Forget all you know about Man In Black. Man in Black Essence smells like a fougere patchouli with a spoon of dark chocolate. As if you've mixed Nicolai Patchouli Intense's green, fougere lavender/patchouli combo, with JPG's Kokorico's cocoa. That was totally unexpected but it smelled really good. Warm, patchouli, chocolate, & light lavender. I smelled it out of curiosity since I like & own MiB Black Orient & the bottle with the "Laolu" caught my eye at the store. It wasn't even in my to-test list but now I'm putting it on it to give MiB Essence another test-drive. I didn't see nor anticipate that smell when I sprayed it. Cool weather, intimate, masculine scent. Big "Like".

Fantastic perfume The best and most sophisticated in the line IMO. not leathery as the original one nor the oudy as the orient version, but it has the most glorious heart in its Essence. It mysteriously deserves the name it carries "Essence" . It is truely the black one with a hidden lava in its heart as presented in the advertising photos. It rolls such an orphic sweet warm black vibe which fills around you ,carries your stories and let others getting a glance of your hidden essence... Good sillage and longevity. ViVa Alberto Morillas ViVa Bvlgari

This is a limited Edition (EDP), supposed to be only 3000 bottles. But on how much I saw it in my country alone, I doubt that .... Do not know if there is some kind of number on the box/bottle for this. Notes as showed on Douglas: Top: sweet rum en bitter orange; Heart: black cacaobean; Base: iris absolu, ebonywood and tonkabean. It is a bit darker version of the original, with some cacao in the middle. I think the picture on top of this page is the back-side of the bottle!

The very bottom of the Drydown on this one is reminiscent to spicebomb extreme..... Howeever there is a leathery sultriness that cannot be ignored. Man in Black Essence....,Essential for this Black Man Having both in the collection is not redundant in my opinion. This is one of my favorites from Bvlgari it lasts forever and Morillas is one of my favorite perfumers as well so it’s a huge win to have scored this limited edition LaoLu art on box and bottle.

Bvlgari Man In Black is one of my top 5 fragrances. This flanker is signed by Mr. Alberto Morillas. Looks very interesting :-) I am really eager to know something about this juice or even to try it on me. The fragrance itself is gorgeous but so far I only smelled it in paper strips. For the time being I find the flask a bit kitsch. The original bottle is a temple of sobriety and - in my opinion - the most beautiful perfume flask in the market.

Blind buy this flanker without ever trying any MIB before. It turns so outstanding for me. The spicy rum opening is Morillas’ unique signature which reminds me of ADG Profumo opening and it dries down into warm woody and dark cocoa. This will fit evening formal or semi formal occasion with suit or at least shirt and pants attire. Dark, elegant and masculine.

I have both Man in Black Essence and Black Orient. To my nose they are very similar. Differences are as follows: Essence has a cocoa note that replaces the oud note in Orient and Essence is more balsamic than Orient. Otherwise they are very close. I prefer Orient although both are amongst some of the best cool whether scents I have experienced.

Awesome cacao note. So delicious! In a hot and humid weather, it lasted about 6 hours on my skin and in a controlled climate about 8 hours. Projection is solid for 3-4 hours. My top favorite is the MIB All Blacks followed by the Essence, Black Orient and original MIB. Fully recommended!

This is really nice, I was lucky enough to have purchased, based upon the scent at the Bamako airport in 2017. I was at the beginning of collecting and just happened to get lucky. I gifted this to my son as he really likes it. Fortunately he lets me wear it on occasion.

Im in love with this scent. It has the right amount of mystery, quality and spice. Boozy and gooey with incense. I have read so many negative reviews and perhaps it just gels with my skin chemistry better idk. Im just super happy I found this rare scent.

A simply stunning scent that lasts ages. One for the mature fellas out there. The spices explode in this number. 3 hours later, it’s as good as when I first sprayed it. If you loves spices and woody undertones, you’ll love this.

I will miss this fragrance... Really good job, thank you Alberto Morillas! Yes, this is the usual Bvlgari Man in Black only VERY masculine. I would like to buy it, it's a pity I can't find adequate prices...

Resinous, with what might be a rum barrel woody scent, and a chewy almost juicy floral note. The latter really pops. Very pleasant. Fairly linear. Decent longevity, and silage good if applied with weight.

In sum up, this is a masterpiece fragrance. Spicy, resinous, leathery, chocolaty,boozy perfume Most noticeable notes are : cinnamon, rum, leathery guaiac and resins 09/10