Narcisse Noir (1911)

My review will be very pale in comparison to others here, but I must add my comments, this is so spellbinding! I am new to Caron fragrances; I recently stumbled across a "vintage" bottle of NN in the EDT form, it was pre-owned but barely used. I'm confused about the labels on the bottles, there seem to be white ones or black ones, but this one is blue (a darker blue, not navy blue) with the outline of a woman wearing green sleeve cuffs and a green hat. I can't seem to find out when this particular label was used, and I don't know how "vintage" this is, as a result. If anyone could tell me which decade this particular label is from, I'd be so grateful. I wore it for the first time today, and it is like nothing else I've ever worn, ever. At first, since I know very little about this fragrance, I was afraid that it might not be a vintage because when I sprayed it on it was very light and sunny, all orange blossoms and sunshine, and I thought "oh, this will completely evaporate in about an hour". And then the diva came out, lol! After a few minutes I still got orange blossom but then a dark undertone of something very sensual came out to join the flowers...the best way I can describe it is sort of an estrogen fueled "Gloria Swanson brought me here, so watch out now; I'm a woman watch me toss my hair, shoulders back, bust out, wearing my tightest dress and highest heels" kind of smell and vibe! It was pretty loud for an EDT and as I drove to school I was thinking "oh no, I hope I don't make everyone in class sneeze"...After an hour or so, a very mysterious floral element awakened, something I'd never smelled before; it was so mysterious, in a dark, pristine, beautiful way. Then the incense came out, and seven hours after applying, I can still smell this around me but it isn't loud. It's not powdery and it's not old lady, but it is definitely for a seasoned lady, one who is coming into middle age; she has paid her dues and is embracing her personal power kind of scent. This hasn't faded at all, and it doesn't overpower. I think this intoxicating floral element is the narcissus? I've never smelled narcissus before. The incense that is conversing with it is a soft and slightly spicy incense, a delicate blend that you would burn in your home at your personal altar; it is definitely not the church knock-you-to-your-knees-and-repent kind of incense! This is something I'd wear on days where I want to somehow tap into the power of the Universe for an answer to a question or for help in clarifying something or determining a goal to achieve or a path to take, or for making a statement. This is absolutely beautiful. This is indeed old school, but it is not old fashioned or old/dated. They don't make anything like this anymore. And this is the eau de toilette! I can only imagine that the vintage perfume, in the bottle with the black narcissus cap, was a staggering beauty! I wish I knew which decade my bottle is from. I am so happy to have found this! PS: I was just told that my bottle is around 15 years old, yay!

This is for the EDT, which is supposed to be not as dark and edgy as the 1911 vintage original, but still good and focuses more on orange blossom. I was confused when I saw that this was voted so highly for fall and winter, yet it's a floral fragrance. However, when I first applied, I definitely got it. It's floral, but also got warmth and some spice to it. It also projected strongly within about 8" after first applying my sample! There's a very sexy almost masculinity to this, from perhaps the vetiver and sandalwood already, if not some animalic note as well. But still pretty and feminine with a touch of delicateness from the sunny flowery and slightly fruity elements. It's a bit smokey as well. Very cool, very sexy. An air of mystery as well. I imagine this on a femme fatale. I also know this isn't the original, but it doesn't smell typically vintage at all. I was also surprised to see so many people mention men were wearing this, but I absolutely could see this on a man or a woman. 5 minutes later I get a bit of what people are saying with it smelling grape-y. It's still floral though, but I can imagine grape juice. I smell it more within about 3" now as well. 15 minutes later and it has just a touch of powderiness, but also some heaviness and darkness to it, where it isn't a typical vintage feminine powdery scent. There's a slight sense of cleanness to it, as well. I am really loving this so far. I just wish, as a late 20-something woman, I could think of a time I would wear it. It's definitely for someone that is mature and knows what they're doing. It's a firm and intentioned statement. I may be able to make it work, especially for dressier occasions, and a black dress. 1 hour later and it's mostly a skin scent already, but is definitely there still on the skin. It's dark, spicy, floral, still mysterious with a bit of smoky and hints of grape. Still seductive and classy. Something animalic is just turned up a notch. It makes me think of what probably a Tom Ford fragrance would have been in 1911 with some of their fragrances and their branding. I'll see how long this lasts, but this has been very enjoyable so far. 3 hours later and it feels like I can still smell some sunny bright yellow floral/daffodil, but also a lot of sandalwood on the skin. It's a very nice rich and spicy sandalwood, too. It's not as 'dark and mysterious' anymore I feel, but I still enjoy this scent. Very interesting, but at around 5 hours, it seems to have gone mostly fully daffodil-ish. 10 hours later and the scent hasn't changed, but I can no longer smell it on one arm, and the other arm where I applied slightly more still has a faint skin scent to it. 13 hours later and I'd say the scent on the arm I could still smell this on is basically gone.

Narcisse Noir is the smell of a small liberation. It is the ecstatic unfurling of a muscle too long held in tension, the stretching out of long limbs too long constrained and now allowed at last to be lucid. It is a perfume of performance not entirely suitable for rehearsals. Opening with an entire corps de ballet of daffodils and orange blossoms this production has ambition from the start. These first performers quickly cede centre stage to new stars: a robust if not downright rotund orange with its two partners a somewhat jagged and playful jasmine and a decidedly medicinal tincture of rose. The narcissi never leave the scene though, and can be called upon at any point to lend force to every heavily choreographed and highly sexed set piece. Our third act finds us in expansive territory, an imagined landscape of the Russian Steppes as they once were: wild grasses with antelope and feral cats here and there. It is an animal world, the only trace of men the incense of unseen churches of the old religion. Against this endless wilderness our drama plays out towards an enigmatic ending that hints at the eternal. Narcisse Noir is by turns a joyous evocation of youth, an erotic dance of courtship and a meditation on the meaning of the final curtain. It is classical ballet made scent. Like all great dance it calls on dancers of every sex. ************* I was fortunate enough to sample the current extrait and an older eau de toilette formulation in a white spotted box and the traditional Caron flacon. However, though lighter I find the current toilette to be a perfectly sensuous scent, much derided for no good reason. Rumours abound that the eau de toilette is to be entirely discontinued if this has not indeed already happened.

You try classics as a vintage enthusiast, with much anticipation and a small amount of trepidation praying you dont get smitten with something so unavailable....Vintage edt review. Lasting over 7 hours on me, this opens with jasmine and jonquils cast their spell and command attention. Rose rises up to keep you enthralled guiding you into the musky sandalwood, civet sexy drydown. Love at first spray, it fit my chemistry like a glove, and i could smell its presence all day. Its definitely one of the femme fatale scents that starts as a head turner, grabs you by the throat in the middle and makes you surrender with the growling animalics. Gorgeous, classic, and really nothing out there comes quite close to compare.Beautiful sexy scent. vintage parfum: A richer dark jonquil casts her spell. Similar to edt, only richer. Jonquil note stays at the forefront. Vintage edt version in gold spray canister: The opening neroli is a bit bitter with the jonquil. Its still the Narcisse Noir of later formulations but this from the 50s is a slightly spicier and dryer.I cant begin to tell you that the scent is so realistic, like nothing else I have experienced in fragrances. The animalic nuance flows like as if the animal was right in the room with me and the same with the florals and spicy sandalwood. Its been sealed thru the years and hasnt degraded at all. After coming accross this version of NN..all I can say is modern synthetic perfumary cant hold a candle to this example of expert french perfumary. Bollicks to the IFRA. This is the way to go. Note: serge lutens fleurs d citronner vintage version echoes NN minus the jonquil and heavy syrupy body. For a daytime version give lutens a whirl.

I was about 20 when I first discovered and bought this fragrance, this would have been in the late '70's in Sydney, I bought it at David Jones in Elizabeth street, and I still remember the event, that it was winter, the perfume counter, and my reaction when I first breathed in this gorgeous concoction. I had purchased the EDT and it came in a white box with a pattern of little black snowdrops or stars on it. I kick myself for not having stock piled it, because I have not experienced this for more than 30 years and it is the one fragrance I can recall almost totally from the first spritz to the dry down. This is haunting, deep, sensuous, because of the connection to the time I bought it, it always evokes a feeling of depth, of drowning in a mock orange blossom grove, of daffodils growing amongst the murraya shrubs...I yearn for it and I might try to get a small decant from one of those vintage fragrance stores, only the potential for deep disappointment has prevented me from pursuing this. I saw that there was a formulation released a few years ago, but my connection with this fragrance is pristine, however flawed my olfactory memory may turn out to be. A few months ago, one of the young guys at work came in wearing Zegna's Mediterranean Neroli, and it startled me because my nose immediately connected this scent, on him, somehow obliquely with NN. I have since persuaded my husband to order the Zegna fragrance on line, so we will see how this works out on him. Pure high quality Neroli essential oil is somewhat close when I desperately need a hit.

i had a decant of the contemporary formulation of "narcisse noir", and found it pleasant but not very lasting on me, and a bit...thin. recently i was given a very wonderful gift of a vintage eau de parfum in the original little black-capped bottle, and it is a whole different story. it's like time travel in a bottle, whisking you away to the beaux arts period.(although my own bottle was from the late 20s or early 30s, i believe.) it's beautifully contradictory: ladylike, refined, elegant, but also tremendously sensual. the florals modulate between white and yellow flowers, rippling like silk banners in the wind. the citrus note is present but not dominant; even at the beginning it is overwritten with floralcy. the musk is exquisite, and long lasting. i believe there is a lot more going on, at least in the older versions, than the notes listed above indicate...it's a breathtakingly well-conceived and executed perfume in its vintage form. so, so beautiful. it doesn't project tremendously, at least on me, but it does last pretty well. it has an almost hypnotic quality to it. i am utterly in its thrall, and desolate that they don't make it the same way any more. perhaps i will try buying a bottle of the current NdN in pure parfum form, and layer it with a deep but uncomplicated musk, perhaps "muscs koublai khan". i know that when the sad day comes that my little bottle of vintage is empty, i will not throw it away. i will keep it always, just so i can occasionally open it and sniff the ghost of something hauntingly perfect.

The back-and-forth here seems to be confusion resulting from reformulation and several different iterations of this beautiful classic. Indeed, Luca Turin is correct about this fragrance - the new version is a pretty orange blossom. There is a hint of the original in the heart, but it definitely misses the incense heft and animalic darkness that characterized the original. The new one opens up with orange blossom and a bright, sunny sambac jasmine. The heart has a lovely rosey daffodil accord, and the drydown is sultry and musky. It smells sophisticated, but it doesn't feel totally realized. Something about it is a bit too simplistic. The original fragrance is not nearly as simple. A huge opening in the form of a blast of gorgeous, smoky incense, really indolic jasmine, orange blossom, and a lovely green accord. The heart is indescribable. A slightly sour, but pleasantly so, woody floral unlike any I have smelled before or since. It's hard to say for sure what it is exactly that I'm smelling, but it's unbelievable. A big animalic accord is present, and the whole thing smells like fur, daffodils, jasmine, blood oranges, and incense. The "noir" is definitely present. Ironically, the vintage version actually smells far more modern.

Definitely very "vintage" smelling. This is what I imagine the ghosts from the "Gold Room" in the Overlook Hotel to smell like, while "It's just a burning memory" is playng in the background. I mean, it was composed in 1911 after all, well over a hundred years ago now! It's such a beautiful perfume. Light and dark, powdery, balmy and smoky. And it smells like so many things at once! I get hints of Mitsouko, L'Heure Bleue, Vol de Nuit, N5, Bois des Iles, Cuir de Russie, Poeme, Vanderbilt, Pure Poison and many others. Actually, now that it has dried down a bit, it is really starting to resemble a more smoky version of the discontinued Fleur du male from JPG. Must be the heavy dose of orange blossom. I tried to layer it with a bit of N5 Eau Premiere today, and that actually turned out to be a wonderful combo! Unfortunately, I don't have more than a 2 ml sample vial with a white sprayer that only says CARON PARIS 2ml and made in France on it, so I have no idea what formulation or concentration it is. I'm pretty sure it said either vintage or older formulation when I bought it on eBay years ago, but man, if this is a newer formulation the original must have been out of this world!

I do not like this fragrance: I LOVE it! I'm not sure but the bottle I've got, although not a proper vintage, should be oldish and perhaps I'm describing a frag no more (what a big pity!) available ...... Intoxicating opening, nothing to do with soft, dully, clean nowadays 'smelling something' but a proper fragrance! A thick, dense, brownish liquid therefore dangerously staining. 'Dark' of course in a really charming way, magnificent sillage: rich, generous, a little bit 'redundant' (in the most positive, old fashioned meaning) a rich repertoire - where a magnificent narcissus is the real landlord - no more possible to obtain nowadays due to the clear intention to kill perfumery (both niche or 'commercial') in the name of a sort of 'politically (un)correct idiocy' with the pretext of keeping attention to the health of people....when we normally breath rubbish everyday instead of clean air! A perfume thought for a diva (Gloria Swanson) to arise the 'diva' sleeping inside everybody (no matter male or female one). Very persistent also. Great in every aspects! p.s. An old version, I happened to try something from the '30es was to dye for!

This is absolutely INCREDIBLE guys!! I have never had such a visceral reaction to a fragrance before, by gawd, it’s incredible! Sweetness and SEX, incense and flowers, dark and lush and FERAL, joyful and devastatingly gorgeous, it really is DANGEROUSLY beautiful! It’s almost candied in its sweetness, but not a modern chemical-candy-sweet. This is some kind of evil magic potion, maybe bees taste this kind of sweetness of flowers when they drink their nectar? The daffodils and jasmine are so lush and beautiful, like hundreds of diamonds shimmering and MELTING in the sun, and they are really heartbreaking against the animalic furriness that deeply purrs and purrs like a big wild cat... It's like flowers having sex! And as feral as it is, it smoothly maintains a fierce sort of supreme elegance! Incredible! There is no pink pepper in sight — the spice comes from the beautiful soft incense, which is floating, buoyant, dazzling, beams of light shining through the smoke. This puts all other "Noir"s to shame. Narcisse Noir is IT -- THIS is carnal darkness! UNBELIEVABLE!

After hearing that the founding father of country music, yodeling cowboy Jimmie Rodgers, wore this, I had to track it down. He would apparently shell out a large portion of his paycheck to buy this when he was in New Orleans and keep it on him at all times to mask the smell of the railroad. I can't believe I found a vintage, full bottle of the parfum advertised as a decorative bottle on facebook marketplace for $5! (15 ml bottle with black flower top and round gold label) At first sniff, I wasn't sure, but after around half an hour it has dried down and has become a beautiful, thick, heady, creamy, musky floral with incense. There's a bit of a medicinal vibe to this as well. For that reason as well as the sweet, thick florals, I would out this in the same family as L'heure Bleue or LouLou.. It's like L'heure Bleue's devilish, sexy, older half-sister. It's by no means the same, but it gives a similar feeling. I can see why people are wild about this and can only imagine how good a new bottle smelled in 1911.

My perfume sherpa, Sarah, sent me a sample of this in its vintage formulation, and oh my god it is so beautiful it makes me feel almost CRAZED. I get in this frame of mind sometimes where I think, "You know, I'm perfectly happy with my current formulations that have a synthetic sandalwood base, and then I smell this beauty, and I could burst into tears, it's so insanely rich and buttery and perfect. The narcissus note at the top simply sings. Why, why, WHY can't the major perfume houses focus on getting a perfect narcissus note like this, and a perfect sandalwood note like this? We don't need the 47th flanker of LVEB or Chance or Mon Guerlain. We need a fragrance that smells like this, a fragrance that makes you wonder what would happen if you took a field of jonquils, extracted their essence at the peak of their freshness, and then turned it into the most perfect incense ever created, and then put that incense, unburned, into a beautiful rosewood chest.

I have the dotted curved bottle you see at the top of this page. The label is also white. Elegant and classical, dark and mysterious. I don't know the scent of Narcissus, but this feels like neroli and jasmine flowers floating white in the moonlight in the darkness of the night. It makes sense that it is called a famous incense that has been around for over 100 years. This is a one of a kind scent. A warm and gorgeous opening. Neroli and jasmine bloom in unison and last until the end. Gradually sandalwood and musk combine to create a dark, meditative golden syrup. I was overwhelmed by this scent when I was young when I got it and felt I was not old enough to wear it. Now that I'm older, this scent feels just right against my skin. However, it is still a very classic scent and cannot be used on a daily basis. A fragrance for special occasions.

(This review is for the newest version of the parfum.) On my skin, Narcisse Noir smells like a beach party with suntan lotion and cigarette smoke. It reminds me of flappers in stripey bathing suits, laughing together, running up and down the sandy bank, and feeling independence. On a more personal level, it reminds me of being a young goth cutting class and going to the ocean with my friends in high school--laying on the beach putting sunscreen on, and sneaking cigarettes in order to be "bad". That's why I love this perfume so much--just when you think it's gone over to sunnyville, the tendrils of smoke come out and give it an intriguing somber edge. It represents the sunny light of teenage memories mixed with the lingering, nostalgic pain of events that can never be relived. That's why I love it so much.

Feeling sick of Winter? Tired of the cold and snow? Cabin feverish? Get thee a bottle, decant, or big sample of Caron Narcisse Noir. Trust me on this. For a while, NN will make you feel as if you're a child again, at Easter or Passover... dressed up for a change, but you sneak out into the yard and inhale the narcissus growing there. Yes, it's finally Spring! After a bit, that powdery, pollen sneaks up on you, and you start to feel a bit giddy. Yes, there's chocolate bunnies waiting inside, but whoa... now this scent is getting more grown-up by the second! Jasmine and musk... forget the bunnies for a while. Inhale deeply, and feel alive again. The Sun is shining, and you feel wonderful; I'm wearing this great Caron today, and I do.

I received my first bottle of Narcisse Noir as a gift from my grandmother at age 14. I fell in love with this perfume! I used it for special occassions (dinners, dates, dances, etc). I used it for over 30 years until I could not find it anymore. A few years ago I found it online and ordered one bottle. Even though it is the same perfume, it does not last as long as the perfume back then in the 1960's and 1970's. I love the orange and sandalwood notes. It goes great with my chemistry. I wish the company would market it in the original bottle with the black flower top and the black and gold box. This perfume last a long time.

For current version of PARFUM. When I put on me I had feeling of "uhhh" something wrong, It's not like EDT I have, I was disappointed . Open with woody note instead of beautiful sparkling floral NARCISSE NOIR I love. But after few minutes I started to smell NARCISSE NOIR around me ! so I put my nose to hands to smell, It's not that one, seems like VERY concentrated that gives to me different sensation. Compare to EDT, PARFUM is more calm but glorious. This is PERFUME of grand dame. Also longevity is good, On me more than 10 hours of smelling. After all I am very happy that I got this PERFUME.

Just sampled the EDT and from the first spray, I'm intrigued. The notes sound deceptively straight-forward, but sweet and fruity is not the sensation I am getting. There is some darker note or undertone that's apparant from the start, and I can't put my finger on it. What did they DO to these sweet/fruity notes to get this effect? This is a fragrance for "big girls", not a teen. The drydown is a nice musky-woody tone, although I wish it were more intense. I'm sure the original was a knock-out, I'll be busy searching out vintage in the near future--if I can afford it I mean!

I just opened a bottle of Narcisse Noir EDT, purchased online. I've bought it previously from other online sources, and before it was available that way I even sprang for some at Harrods, twice, All my former purchases smelled like the original that I've worn for years, but this latest one is a disappointment. Even after dry-down, something major is missing, and I agree with other commenters that it is probably the sandalwood. I've decided to move on and find a new signature fragrance. Who knows? Maybe it was time for a change. But for the moment, I'm sad.

To the words mystical and haunting, I would add sensuous. I have a very very old bottle of the Lotion version. The first whiff told me that I was about to experience something completely unique. Does it smell like incense? Yeah. With a sublimely flor heart? Definitely. As with so many old scents, I feel no need for dissection. I inherited my affinity for the House of Caron from both parents: my mother wore Tabac Blond and my father bought me a bottle of Nuit de Noel for my 10th birthday. I love both of those today, but NN may be my absolute favorite.