Black XS (2018)

It's funny how some don't like this cologne. Because, as a people pleaser - it succeeds. I have many different types of colognes (niche, designer, clones, etc) and when I have people smell several - Paco Rabanne Black XS always gets favorable reactions. I've never seen anyone blindly "not like it". My nose isn't as cultured as some. It's difficult for me to identify one scent over another. But as a combo, I just love it. It's soft, but dark and sweet. Not too much citrus, but enough. Yeah, I smell a little strawberry, but it isn't strong. (it's not strong like Green Apple is strong in Layton). The original version of this cologne was a near G.O.A.T., and this latest version (2018) is still great. There are some colognes I like more, but not many. I sprayed it on this morning, and my wife commented, "Oh, I love that one, you don't wear it enough."

Having not gotten the chance to smell the original I can rate this scent for what it is, not what it used to be. Opens up with a blast of sweet orange, mandarin and lime. The description of orange soda+sour gummy worms is pretty spot on. After a few hours the top notes take a step back and the praline comes through which is where I think this fragrance really shines. Overall a pretty fun scent that is very different to what Paco usually brings to the table, and one that I reach for quite a bit more than I expected. Performance is not close to being as bad as people make it out to be, it does the job just fine, but I get that it's not as loud as other Paco's. If I had to have only one scent would I go for Black XS? Probably not, but it's a fun addition to my collection, and at a decent price.

Had the original back in high school and girls used to absolutely love it. Recently saw it again half price and bought some. After not smelling it for a good 10 years Its probably 85-90% of how I remember it, crazy how the mind and memory work. People with more knowledge than me have said its not the same as the original and I will probably agree, but its close enough. I cant put my nose on what it is I love so much about this. The sage/cardamon maybe? It lasts fairly well. 4 sprays on body and half a spray on my shirt. 6 hours later and was still getting small whiffs of it. (Much better than pure xs in the blue bottle, smell hardly lasts and is very weak to me) Skin scent is also great. Good for romantic nights.

You can tell the slight difference in the reformulation, but for me it's for the better, I always liked Black XS but the old version had just too much of something.. this one is just more polite on the nose. I get like a nice fresh blast of almost green apple on me..& it just reminds me of a slightly more masculine version of the women's D&G light blue, absolutely in love everyone says suitable more for fall/winter but idk all the citrus & fruit smell I get I could totally see this being okay for year round, not super sweet on me & like the softness, debating if I want a bottle now..hmm..

Well since it's my favourite fragrance ever I had to have it in my life again. After reading about the bad performance I was waiting for PR to bless us with an EDP or something like that but I guess it ain't happening. Anyway I'm glad to say that i does not perform worse than the previous formulation that I used to own around 2015-16. The smell to me is the same., so I'm quite satisfied, still I'd love to have a formulation having the power of Pure XS Night, yeah I'm that kinda guy :)

This newer version smells about 80% similar to the original 2005 version. The original was sweeter,more dense smelling,less citrus and with noticeable "praline" note. This version is like watered down,more citrus,and instead of the praline it smells fruity. The fruit note smells like pineapple. It reminds me of the original but this is like a fresh version for the spring and summer. Not good that they reformulate the fragrances,1 Million is also watered down.

excellent skin scents! i wore this under tshirt sprayed on shoulder and chest and had blazer on, could smell this on and off up to 12hrs mark., and people even compliment how good i smells after 9hrs at work. wonder how crazy when others say they cant smell this after 5mins. i always had other layers of frags at different spots like neck, back of arms and chest/shoulder, but any frags i sprayed on shoulder/chest area would be the strongest and long lasting.

Really good perfume. I smelt this off my friend and I feel like the Lemon and citrus notes are really misleading I do not smell them whatsoever, but non the less one of the best sweet fragrances I've smelt. The longevity is really good, my friend sprayed it in the morning and 8 or so hours later I could still smell it but that's only if I went close to him, I couldn't really smell it off the air. Overall really good perfume, highly recommend. 9/10

Nice looking bottle update, I guess, but they cut the balls off of this fragrance sadly. Black XS used to have a long lasting dark strawberry incense aroma to it, almost jammy in it's density. This version has no depth, it has more citrus, and almost no gourmand feel to it anymore. This is a neutered dismissal of the Black XS line by Paco Rabanne as they try to push Phantom, Invictus, and One Million down our throats. What fools.

Not going to give it a review, just passing by to say how this is my favourite fragrance ever, it got me into fragrances and even tho I'm getting older I still love it to death. Just waiting for an edp version with at least normal if not great performance. I don't know what those guys at Paco Rabanne are waiting for...

A very nice dark gourmand "Night" version of Light Blue for Women by the same perfumer, Olivier Cresp. It's basically a choco liqueur accord fragrance with the famous juicy Light Bue citrus note on top. I find it unisex because it's purely gourmand and of course also because of the Light Blue connection.

Great smell.. have that Creed Aventus vibe.. BUT it lasts like 30 mins TOPS.. (one spray). AT first very powerful, like i said have that Aventus vibe...at the beginning, but then... fades...and like water disappears. Costs A LOT for 20min smell. It is realy great smell and nice blend..but weak as f....

It smells same like the old one I have found an old nearly empty bottle of Black XS which I bought around 2010 and I can say it's the same... I can't say anything about longevity beacuse I have only tried the new one at Debenhams, but the first version was a beast, lasted at least 10 hours...

Black XS is my new favourite fragrance. Super sweet but not overpowering, smells like strawberry and citrus and light woods. Not a commanding scent, but one that attracts instead. Unisex leaning with that strawberry note but just smells so good on anyone. Very safe blind buy.

I was a lucky teenager back then. I bought it while the stores were putting it onto the shelves for the first time. Now I bought it again.. exactly as I remember. Instead of two sprays I do eight but it is still fantastic and not outdated at all.

I love the mix of rosewood and ebony tree 😍😍 with a bright sweetness. Longevity gets better the longer this fragrance matures. The scent is very noticeable and complemented by people around you. Light and bright enough to be used in summer.

On what planet is this considered a Fall and Winter fragrance? This gives me Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue Pour Femme vibes more than anything else. There are some sweet woods underneath, but this is all about the citrus and sage to my nose.

I bought it. I want to like it because it smells very good. Its poor performance and low projection, disappoints me. It doesn't matter if you spray yourself 30 times, it just seems to vanishes away almost immediately (tear).

“ There are too many good frags in this category to waste money on this.” What category? Strawberry for men? Name one. Also, the old Rock style bottle is still produced in France!

nucna olí la piña, un citrico dulce y ligeramente amaderado, uno de mis diseñadores favoritos y el daily perfecto si quieres un perfume crowd pleasing qie te de cumplidos