Black XS for Her

This is by far the prettiest gourmand fragrance that I had the pleasure of smelling! It's a strange way of describing it, but it is really pretty! Like the most beautiful desert ever, it's a black forest cake! It starts with peppery notes along with a sour kind of berry, and patchouli; and gradually develops into a much nicer, warmer, and happier scent. The middle notes that I get to on my skin after an hour are dark chocolate, vanilla, and cherry, wafts of roses, with a hint of the nicest patchouli I have ever smelled! It's like even patchouli cannot be harsh to this beautiful creature! Have you ever had some of those Lindt Excellence Cherry Intense? It's a Dark chocolate bar with cherry filling inside, and the middle and base notes of black xs for her smell exactly like the taste of those chocolates. It's not overly bitter, and it's not overly sweet, it's not too jammy, and it's not too powdery; it's just the perfect amount of deliciousness. When it gets to the base notes I encounter with a sourness again but this time it's more of a tamarind kind of sourness along with cocoa, vanilla, and a few berries. I don't now what Massoia wood smells like so I cannot comment on that, but the middle and the base notes sure do have a vaguely woody quality to them. To me, this is a fairly feminine frag rance for a young but relatively sophisticated girl. I think it's a perfect fall scent but wearable in all seasons as long as it's not too cold or too hot. It's very cozy and comfortable. The only complaint I have is the sillage which is moderate to soft on my skin. I want to be able to smell this all the time, and It would be awesome if it were stronger. The longevity on fabric can be up to 12 hours, but on my skin, it lasts about 4-5 hours.

This is the original 2007 version before it got reformulated. I've had a 50ml bottle of this and it's still going strong. I dread the day when I finish it and have to try the reformulation. This was one of the first fragrances that made me fall in love with perfumes. I still wear this on days when I'm depressed as it's an instant mood lifter yet slightly sad too for me. It's so nostalgic of the 2000's pre-covid days when I was still allowed to dress up gothic and go to concerts like Evanescence without crazy mandates. On me this lasts forever and 3 sprays is enough. Smells of everything I love. Roses, cocoa, and vanilla but with a dark twist. It's very sweet but the earthy notes give it a slight masculine edge and prevent it from going into these days "smells like every other generic fruitchouli" territory. Back when everyone still smoked cigarettes instead of vaping, the scent would mix well with the tobacco too. Sillage is amazing for hours, then dries down to a pleasant vanilla skin scent. I remember going out on dates and hugging my ex who would always say the scent remained on his shirt or pillow and remind him of me the next day <3 I remember my mum gifting me a bottle of this on one of my 20-something birthdays. Back when she still knew what I liked and times were good. I immediately fell in love with the beautiful bottle with a rose on it and still keep it in the original box. I'm 34 now and refuse to grow up. I love that the 90s-2000s are back in style and I still have this. Whenever I'm sad I spritz a bit of this, listen to my favourite 2000s Spotify playlists, and hope for better days ahead. Some people will say this is only for teens-20s but I think fragrance is timeless.

I fell in love with this fragrance back in 2010. I bought it at the airport, before leaving London, and I cherished ever since. I was my signature scent! It's a rock n roll scent, seductive, warm, sweet but spicy, intoxicating, with red fruits, rose, vanilla, some fresh pepper and a solid base of patchouli, amber, tonka bean, aromatic woods. It was the smoky eyes+little black dress+leather jacket of perfumes, and I would always wear it during concerts. It got really strong as the years passed (I tried to save it for special occasions!) I wanted to buy a fresh bottle... but it was nowhere to be found... until a few years ago! Despite the joy of being able to wear it again, I gotta admit that the new formula isn't exactly as it used to be. Now it's too woody and leathery on the dry down, and it's stronger, while the old formula would stay warm and sweet, and would leave an impeccable lingering fragrance on jackets (for days!). My preference now shifted towards either cozy/spicy vanilla perfumes or clean airy fragrances (lol), but for a night out I still reach out to Black XS sometimes; I never go overboard and I layer it with Bare Vanilla body spray (not the fragrance) by Victoria's Secret for a cozier vibe, or with a tiny bit of Strawberry Poundcake by Bath and Body Works if I want some more sweetness/red fruits. If they fixed the formula, I would *run* to buy it again! Please Paco Rabanne, please don't forget about it! ❤️

Sparkling CRANBERRY & CHOCOLATE. This beauty has been reformulated to death. Originally signed by perfumers Emilie Bevierre-Coppermann and Mark Buxton, performance now requires several months of dark storage after first sprays (develops to average or slightly above average). Opens with a burst of sparkly cranberry patchouli that sweetens onto a cacao & rose heart resting on a massoia wood & patchouli base. This isn't a dupe of anything that I've smelt, but it has an early 2000s patchouli vibe, and passing reminders for me of Euphoria Calvin Klein and the Angel range by Mugler. Overall: with average or slightly above average performance after storage, this beauty will have a nostalgic vibe for many noses. Enjoy! Contrast to Maa Arwaak Rasasi: This is a dupe, but they aren't totally identical but when compared side by side, MA has a slight pencil shaving note on the skin initially. As they dry down they become more and more identical. Update 02/01/25: Sprayed this on this morning. It's gotten a little stronger, but I still sprayed 3 times to the back of my hand, although most things I usually spray once. I think what makes it seem light, or one of the things, is that the cranberry isn't a piercing red fruit note, and this is actually a good thing for me. Sillage is soft but present, and I get a nice chocolate-cake-patchouli in the drydown. If you're looking for a beast, this won't be it, but it is lovely.

Its amazing how one note can make such a difference in the drydown, here its sandalwood vs patchouli. I much prefer the smoth milky effect of the sandalwood in the edp but the patch in this really does give it its holding power and projection. It oddly does remind me a little of Rebl fleur! not what i was expecting at all, but i think its the patch/ berry combo that does it I much prefer this though, the cocoa, spiciness and vanilla are really beautiful and I got a tester so the lasting power is really quite good. I like the edp a lot more but this just performs better with a few differences Update: I've really been wearing this a lot lately, and I find it has different characteristics depending on the weather. I personally love it in the geat, all the spicy notes intensify and it gets a lovely velvety chocolate note to it. In cool weather it's a lot softer and sweeter, but it always lasts a long time. I find it's one of those scents that; to sniff where I've sprayed it on my wrist it, it seems to npt last but then all day I get whafts of it all around me on my clothes and in my hair so it does last. I've been looking for the L' excess flanker and can only find it in one store after I got a sample and quite liked it, but I actually think I prefer this tbh, it doesn't have the overly sweet grape-y note .

I remember the first time I smelt this. After class I found myself in Tel Aviv Dizingoff Center in the Super Pharm branch store. I saw this impressive looking bottle that was cherry - wine color but had a slight feel of rubbery finish. I made a fist and sprayed it heavily on my clenched fingers. The liquid was very thick and almost oily. A SUPER magnetizing tasty rich scent of cherries on BBQ. I know now the fire was the pink pepper and there's no cherries in this at all but all I got was magnificently masculine hypnotizing grilled cherries with cherry syrup and spice. My first thought was "Wow I wish this was a women's frag I'd buy it right now." I didn't realize from the classic barbershop design and strong sheer saturated smell that it wasn't a men's frag. Spicy oily cherries on the remains of a bonfire is the first thing I got from it - yet being super round super perfectly blended sheer and not incensey. Needless to say I'v used ten bottles of it until they reformulated it into bland nothingness. It was HEAVILY COMPLIMENTED with "W O W YOU SMELL GOOD!" I think it had this very rare characteristic that is so hard to create of something that is bitter juicy and elegant but still sheer with no yucky old powder or incense. Longevity was eternal. Don't bother with the new formula.

I got this perfume as a wedding gift by my big brother. The ideal gift for a newly married girl, it really takes me back to the early days of my marriage. It smelled just so hot. We got married in winter, so perfect it was. And although I used it liberally back then, and instilled every memory with it, I found how costly it was just recently. It is MYSTERIOUS, deep and complicated. Now when I see the notes, I recognize there are cranberries over desserts. The fragrance is loud and so just so sensual. A trivia attached to it: I conceived my daughter while in this perfume. And I save it for special days and moments. Wearing it sparingly. Once when my sister was visiting me, when she was leaving the next day, she spritzed a bit of this beauty on her. And my baby girl would not come away from her. Smelling the perfume on her, she thought it was her Mama, LOL. That's when I realized how powerfuland important a signature fragrance is! I can never afford a bottle of this. SO I am on the look out for similar fragrances. Any suggestions? I have found Dark Night by Estiara is a smell alike yet cheap. The notes match too almost. But I am a little sceptic of it being a new perfume brand.

Ugh. Okay. So I purchased this the other day with the lotion. And because on paper, it smelled really good. Like a berry vanilla shampoo. But as saying goes, it goes differently on skin. I tried applying a single spray on both wrists. I get very sweet red currants and cranberries and sugar. Soon enough, it'll settle down into a dirty, disgusting, wet mop-like smell with some chocolate vanilla seeping through. IT'S ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL. The mop-like smell turns dark woody afterwards and plays along with the richness of vanilla. I tried spraying twice, thrice-- meh. Bad idea. Became so annoyingly sweet and cloying bordering headache territory. Like the scent of ballpen/marker ink. I think what lacks is the resinous feel. I prefer this with incense or tobacco or styrax-- since nothing calms down the sweetness in this. It's just sweet-bland like cherry chocolate pudding with too much water. Silage is definitely heavy, longevity is good. I also tried layering this with YSL Opium and oh gosh it's heavenly. EDIT: It smells like wet earth and cherry bubblegum lol. It's quite linear and the cranberry note doesn't fade easily. I guess, it needs more spices.

My very first 'real' perfume and one that will forever be my signature scent despite the now-rising costs of the EDT (which in my opinion is superior to the EDP). It isn't an easy fragrance to describe... definite elements of sweetness, yet with a spicy flair and heavy enough to feel far more ethereal than edible. It reminds me of late nights, rock concerts and rich velvet. Lasts amazingly well too, I can smell it on collars of coats not worn for nearly a week. Black XS isn't childish by any means, but it's also not overly mature or old lady-ish like a lot of the darker and heavier perfumes I've tried, most of which would honestly smell ridiculous on someone my age. A good choice for a young woman who is interested in alternative fashion and the darker things in life, but who still wants to smell 'good' without being overwhelming. If you like younger Gothic men, this seems to attract them rather reliably... I even met one who wore it himself. Certainly not for everyone, but from my experience, those who like it truly adore it. The bottle is beautiful too, in my opinion.

My older cousin wore this in 2007 when it was released and for a couple of years... I remember percieving it as a dark and dirty scent, but with a round a creamy sweetness cocooning it, quite a particular scent profile that still holds originality till this day. I got a smaller bottle in xmas 2009 (I was 11) from my parents, I actually didn't even asked for it but they decided to offer me and I wore it continuously and exclusively till it was gone (only 2 to 3 sprays). My most vivid memory from this scent was sniffing my wrist while waiting in the school canteen line and thinking "wowww how vanillic the dry down is after all that initial sour and dark smell". I longed for that beautiful dark vanilla dry down everytime I wore it. The current edp formulation (2018) doesn't have that dirty vanilla, it doesn't have patchouli listed as a note so that's probably why the dirty kick is gone and also it lacks the creamy cocooning effect of the original edt. It was my first designer perfume and will always hold a dear space in my heart and in my olfactory journey ❤️

I have just bought this from Kruidvat which is a local drugstore here in the Netherlands so I am sure this is genuine. This is a very light scent. I am also someone who does not like strong perfume but I call this light. Usually I spray perfumes 1 or 2 times. This I sprayed 3 times and it is still not too strong. It starts to me with shower fresh smell. Very fresh, pleasant and not overly sweet at all. After a couple of hours I get the lovely chocolatey scent, again not cloying but more like a skinscent. The bottle looks like youre going to get an overly sweet teenage fragrance but this is a beauty. I feel absolutely zero resemblance to Angel which I strongly dislike. Also compared to Lady Million Privee this is less sweet and less cloying. I prefer this because I feel it is more unique. I am curious to see how this juice develops when it stays in the bottle like previous reviewer advised. I could not test this because it was not available anywhere. This was blind buy and zero regrets. This is love. I want to get the eau de parfum version to compare.

Review is for my own reference - LOVE at first spray! At first I get peppery and sweet rose notes. She's a sassy bold lady, yet still femme. On the dry down I smell more of a woody pepper and slight sweetness. I can understand that not everyone would like this, bc its a very unisex peppery woody scent, but I really like it. It's an EDT so I worry the lasting power wont be there, and the silage isn't that great. Fragrantica says its a Floral Woody Musk, but the package say Fruity Floral Woody fragrance. I wish this was cheaper to buy, even on discount websites it's pricey ($80 for 100ml). If I could get it for $50 or less i would buy, buy there are other scents that take priority for buying. It's a really nice rocker femme scent <3 I had a feeling I would like this by the bottle. I also love Lancome's Midnight Rose Tresor, that perfume is more sweet and less pepper, but it's a beautiful rose without being too old or floral. I prefer the dry-down woodsy notes of 007, and I prefer the fruitiness or Black XS PR, really hard to choose between the two!!

This one.. Is extremely fun to wear. It's daring, hot, and sexy. The fragrance itself says, "Come here baby.. I am bold, and I'm not gonna be easy on you, but don't worry, I can be sweet too.." :D I like to wear this whenever I want to appear a bit more "daring". To be very daring and sophisticated, I'd go for Enigma, but this is for something casual and less "dangerous", like watching soccer-game on a cafe full of males. Spiciously sweet. Got the pink pepper, cacao, and vanilla at most. Lasts for about 7-8 hours. Sillage is not massive, but generally noticeable. Quite a head-turner and earn loads of compliments (from both males and females). Boyfriend loves this on me, but he hates it as at the same time as it's some kind of boys magnet too. (Single ladies, pay attention) Definitely for evening wear, though on cold days it's also very wearable for the "warm" feeling. Don't wear it on days when the sun shines brightly. Gonna be so wrong. So what are you waiting for? Bring out that denim jacket, mini skirt, and let's have some fun!

Dear Ladies, Please listen to the opinion of a man regarding this. it is SEXY SEXY SEXY. I have bought this perfume to my ex girlfriend a few years ago. She once mentioned this, and I have bought it following her words. She was very happy. This is a great sweet, yet spicy fragrance for women. Whenever I smell this on the street I remember her. The power of smells is great. And ladies, if you want to smell nice use this. This is absolutely gorgeous. This is of course evening smell, but could work in winter, if you want to warm up a bit. It is spicy, sexy and sweet. This how a good girl gone bad should smell. But in a good way. 9/10 for womens perfume. Would never buy this for my future wife/girlfriend due to the memories mentioned. But I must say, all others - go for it. Pure sensuality and sexual energy in a bottle.

I am not sure why lately most designers are just getting rid of fragrances that are a hit. I have been trying to get a hold of all my loved fragrances that I used when I was younger and quite a few of them have been discontinued. Crazy thing is when I read the comments here everyone seems to be pretty sad about it. I got a hold of the EDP (the current version) and to me it smells really bad. It's cloying and I can't see how this could be a good replacement for the original one. Anyways, it's a sweet but not overpowering fragrance. Very long lasting, I used to work at nightclubs when I was young and I could still smell it on my clothing after 10 hours of spraying it on before going to work. If someone is thinking about purchasing this you should. It's way better than the new one.

[Finished and repurchased full 80ml bottle. Usage in all year around high humidity tropical climate near sea breeze.] Purchased this perfume as I was in love with male version of black xs which is sexy and seductive all year around for all age. Luckily the female version of black xs carried the exact same vibe. Just like the bottle, it is dark, not gourmand, more seductive and 'badass' type of rebelling scent. Great for those who wants a unique and original vanilla. It does not smell cheap but not in an elegant way. I would say the elegant sibling of this would be hypnotic poison. This scent will linger around you as a deep spicy and citrus vanilla. Perfectly blended and so beautiful. I've used this all season, all year around. Love smelling on others and on myself.

I really liked this fragrance when I first purchased it, I could smell red berries the most, then some cocoa. It didn't last and went straight to a clean musk with a tiny bit of patchouli within 1 hour. This was surprisingly my boyfriend's favorite out of all my fragrances, I'm not sure which note he really enjoyed. I was hoping the cocoa note would be stronger on me but sadly it was mostly red berries. I do like this but just because it doesn't last I find myself using it less and less, I wouldn't really repurchase. Update June 4th 2018: This is my boyfriend's favorite out of ALL the fragrances I own! It's a really nice fragrance but it turns to musk too fast for me to enjoy, I'll just search for a new dark chocolatey scent.

Such a beautiful fragrance. The one that inspired my love for fragrances to begin with! It reminds me of being a teenager. Those cold autumn/winter days. Scarves, leather jackets, ripped skinny jeans. Absolutely stunning. It is intoxicating, but not in an annoying way. Blended perfectly on my skin, created this sweet-spicy coat. I've always received compliments while wearing this. On me it was warm and cozy. It's sweet, but rebellious. Truly a gem. Maybe, I'm biased, because this holds so much memories and wonderful moments from my life. Would I wear it now? Maybe. But I have a strong association with my teenage years and now I prefer more mature perfumes. However, I truly think the original XS is the one and only!

Gosh I miss this fragrance. I purchased one from an airport in Ireland. It smelled so floral but spicy and delicious. I have tried the other formulation of this and it does not come close to this 2007 formula. I will forever keep my eyes open for a sealed and real deal bottle of Black XS. To me, this was balanced enough to wear literally at any time. Since I bought this back when I was young and had not gotten into collecting fragrances or rotating what I wear, I guess I would say this was my signature scent for years. It reminds me of Valentine's day...particularly a candlelit dinner. The roses on the table and chocolates swimming in and out and the flirtatious vibes in the room being palpable.

This is my second review of this fragrance (sorry, I can't help it) I once said that this fragrance is playful and sexy. Well, that part I will not change. But I recently wore this on a formal evening event. Something that I never did before. I received lots and lots of compliments, about how good I smell. Surprisingly, Black XS can also work for formal event. Still sophisticated. Still not your regular evening fragrance. And still draws so much attention (and even in a very good way) This fragrance is always be my first head-turner option. The one I'd pick to get attention. Spicy cocoa and vanilla that lasts and blooms? Could never go wrong. Pair it with your evening dress!