Narcisse Noir (2021)

Alright, I'm stepping up to review Narcisse Noir, having owned the vintage version 10 years ago and shelling out the cash to experience what this smelled like back in the day. Caron is one of my favorite houses and the house that over the years I have bought the most perfume from. Which means I bought a full bottle of the 2021 Narcisse Noir. And I like it. I like it a lot. So much so that I almost got teary eyed when i spritzed it on. Is this the same Narcisse Noir as years past? No. It is drier, more 'papery', and doens't have that 'crystal glass' ring of the original. But the bones are still there, and I still enjoy it. I don't think the new formula is as much to do w/ Caron as it is with availability of materials and current industry restrictions. Nevertheless, there is a reason this scent has been around for over a 100 years. If you are wondering why, get a sample and see for yourself. :-)

@Jocky, the perfume has always been a huge sandalwood scent. The Bee & Flower sandalwood soap is very similar to the effect of the original perfume. Even so, the very retro floral effect is hard to miss.

Narcisse Noir (2021) is pure nostalgia in a bottle — like a delicate cloud of luxury baby powder wrapped in white florals and soft woods. Absolutely dreamy.

I was lucky to smell a sample 20 years ago or so and I recalled loving it. I smelled it recently and what have they done to a classic fragrance? This is a watery, modernised ' realistic' green floral and misses the punch and alure of the older version. Yes it might be more mainstream now, but it lacks what made it special. As a positive it smells like a fairly realistic daffodil in water, If true realistic green fragrances are too weird and not pretty enough for you, then this is your answer.

Powder. Definitely some Jasmine and Sandalwood there too. This is just unpleasant. It smells chemically, like a public bathroom that was just cleaned. Leaves a gross taste in my mouth after smelling and immediately gave me a headache. On others this may smell nice but on me this is a definite no.

I'm a collector of narcissus perfumes and was anxious to try this one. I'm glad I took a closer look at the 2021 release compared to the historic vintage 1911 formula; there's a difference: no narcissus in the 2021. Here's the new notes as of 2021: Around ORANGE BLOSSOM: Neroli Essence | Petitgrain Essence | Orange Blossom Absolute | Orange flower water absolute | Jasmine | Rose Around SANDALWOOD: Mysore Sandalwood essence | Haitian Vetiver essence (IFF For Life) | Musks Caron's Narcisse Blanc has just a whisper of narcissus in it, but the citrus notes are real attention grabbers in both the noir and the blanc, and they photobomb most of the other notes. I'm not really detecting the sandalwood or the vetiver. The jasmine is there, sort of. On the Caron site it is mentioned that this perfume house loves it's orange blossom absolutes, it's petitgrains, it's orange waters, it's orange extracts...and, after a paper test with both narcisse noir and bland, I would have to agree 100%! I am SO glad I bought a discovery set and did not buy the full size because I definitely would have wanted the vintage which did have narcissus in it, and not the new formula. It does leave me wondering why Caron kept name "Narcisse noir"...after removing the narcissus. But, I guess they had their reasons....?

Let's agree to disagree here. I bought a discovery set of 5ml to get enough perfume and time to really evaluate the perfums being a big Caron fan. Narcisse noir 2021 is IMHO a sandalwood pure and simple! a very good one if you like sandalwood. semlling of authentic mysore kind, very soapy, piercing and linear sandalwood. No flower blossom or narcissus for me. Very very disapointed.

powdery but much more mature. it leans very masculine. it’s incredibly loud it’s one of the very few powdery scents i’ve actually enjoyed. quality is obv gorg u can smell how luxurious it is even without knowing it’s caron

I find this version one of the most unpleasant perfumes. No notes separation, no development, no elegance. Just an unpleasantly persistent, soapy, old-fashioned smell.