Nombre Noir

Black Number/Nombre Noir "eau" edition (eta 1981) The First Lutens. A review that has been a few months in the making, research and wearing. How does one convey what a unicorn is, feels, and smells like if the others have never heard or experienced it? I will attempt a rudimentary review of it, from a visual-technical and a separate olfactory experience. The conundrum of Nombre Noir or translated as "Black Number" as you never quite get the same wearing twice- even a disappearance. NN is a double helix design of 4 damascones that give this scent complexity and depth alongside osmanthus and hedione that amps up and puts a light sparkling overlay upon the scent. Its structure creates the backdrop of two main themes simultaneously- A study in light and dark, all the while the story actually haunts us in reverse some say or bloom to decay as the story returns to the soil upon nightfall. The complexity of the fragrance makes the notes weave in and out of each other. Its behavior is only seen again in the original Magie Noire EDT. I believe it shares at least (one maybe two) damascones. Prelude by Balenciaga shares the same damascone that gives it is transparency. All three fragrances were released in similar time frames. However, these were turned into 3 distinct fragrances, so to say this is saying they all shared the same blond hair and two of them blue eyes. My opinion for what its worth: A green apple balsamic opening that does or doesnt have aldehydes. Its not a usual aldehyde but more of a light sparkle or breeze of a chilly mountaintop air. Tobacco, rosewood and bergamot enter the story.A dry woodyness (hello lutens trademark cedar note) and a mix of osmanthus, honeyed rose,plum and a sour note that dances in and out. This is the first 15 minutes. A rapid development or more accurately a horizontal opening between the top of the double helix design. A strange violet note, but its not a candied or other violet note (I have experienced) surfaces with a slight spice. Rose, transparent jasmine bloom with orris and the earthy base seeps in as the rose returns to the ground. Darkness descends with the hum of a smoky resin and amimalic whisp of musk. The decay (noir) notes are always a subtext and always present throughout the journey as if looking upon the underside of this rose is permanently tainted dark. (opening tobacco note, plum, spices, earth as it tells its Noir story) Simultaneously, the "light" of aldehydes, honeyed rose, apple, osamthmus, jasmine (with the help of hedione) are in balanced symphony with the darker or "noir" notes concurrently. It retains its lightness and suppleness much in step with Japanese aesthetics. (which hasnt been echoed since NN for Lutens) The rose presented in NN is an Oragami Rose, like light rice paper folded in many ways displaying its paper facets, only the rose morphs from a rich jammy,fruity, honeyed rose, a metallic rose, a green rose, and a dirty rose. Lutens revisits this polarity of light and dark in La Religieuse. Some say the rose echoes from NN in Rose de Nuit, the osmanthus apricot suede in Daim Blond, and the woods developed into Feminite du Bois. It seems a few of his fragrances are echoes of parts/ideas created within the Nombre Noir ideal- a big bang theory of sorts for Lutens."Black Number" serves as the genesis to his cannon of fragrances. A fitting beginning for a complex man that lives in the shadows. Addendum: To understand NN, Study the classic 80s rose chypre. Magie Noire edt for its fruity, sour bright damascone rose, Montana Parfum de Peau Edt for its damascone rose with tobacco leather decay garbage note and even Encre Noire for its vetiver wet moss base and osmanthus in the vein of either a osmanthus soliflore or the note in Daim Blond. It is a damascone rose chypre, but it is well modulated as it unfolds and betters all mentioned. My correspondence with SL company regarding NN.. Dear Suzanne, Thank you for your patience. Please find below the answer to your question regarding "Nombre noir": « Nombre noir » refers to the golden ratio (« Nombre d’or » in French) which, on the aesthetic level, is the "perfect" number defining the criteria of harmony and perfection. The packaging of the bottle being entirely black on black, Mr. Lutens naturally named it "Black" number (black is his favorite color). In addition, Mr. Lutens liked the play on word with OMBRE (shadow), since he defined himself as "The man of the shadow". Best regards. 12/31/22 update: Ive been wearing NN for 3 days. Its given me a chance to reflect on it. First, if you experience a acrid bitter top thats the aldehyde degredation. Sharp dark and woody is damascone damage. I know this as my bottle is degrading. I have a mini where its still bright and fruity on top in decent condition. It was a balanced marvel. It had latest and greatest damascones. It gave such a 3d faux realism, Id claim holographic. The new aromachemicals 2022 now are a shabby disappointment, sharp and flat. If you are going to chase this unicorn into 2023 and beyond, prepare yourself its going to be probably degraded. Sample but to buy a full bottle at an astronomical price is super risky.

Nonstop rumours, exaggerations and renderings, give Nombre Noir a legendary touch that other classics lack. Nombre Noir is the best representative work of Serge Lutens' black aesthetics, a fluorescent rose in the style of Gothic aesthetics, dark and deep, very dramatic. Its petals are composed of shimmering shimmers, and the bright red blood-like silk roses are set against a black totem-printed background, which is beautiful from a distance. Taking the opera metaphor, Nombre Noir kicked off with the cry of a strong aldehyde fragrance. The dried and green geraniums, coriander, and bergamot together opened a huge green and bright net. It was covered with transparent green. Leaving a gap, roses and ylang-ylang are looming, and the mysterious and eerie atmosphere is interspersed. The fixed motive repeatedly triggers the melody, and the rose is ready to play. You can clearly smell black currant, plum, violet. The contradiction of Nombre Noir is obvious, the non-conservative classic-- opens the theme trend common in the modern perfume industry-- In particular, it is the reference standard for the type of rose fragrance (chypre rose) of Une Rose. Frederic Malle's Une Rose, Portrait of a Lady seems to be taken from Nombre Noir. Fragments of Nombre Noir can be broken down, it is so detailed that each part can stand alone as a fragrance, and that list includes Gucci L'Arte di Gucci, Paco La Nuit, Estée Lauder Knowing. The core of Nombre Noir consists of Hedion, linalool and a large amount of photosensitive damascone (synthetic aroma chemicals extracted from damask rose absolute, specifically the aroma of plum and rosewood), adding a little to make the perfume appear waxy, luster. Damascus rose is the chief, the unique black acid fragrance of ylang-ylang combined with lipid apricot-flavored osmanthus absolute oil, beeswax honey is sweet, the rose is still rich and pure, and the orris root causes Nombre Noir to instantly pale (not powdery), and the gorgeous rose will change from Velvet transforms into a metallic texture, hard and strong. Tonka bean is full of smoky aroma, with the aroma of berries that are ripe to rotten, damascone is always present, the effect is more obvious, mildly spicy eugenol, mellow and intoxicating rose, smooth and smooth musk leather and beastly rough The patchouli and oak moss have distinct layers. Serge Lutens loves the base combination of cedar and sandalwood, but fortunately in 1992 Shiseido continued this structure -- cedar was designated as an important component of Feminite du Bois. The muffled tunes have a seductive magic power. Dressed up like a witch, with a dramatic face, it's hard for me to spy on her true face. I would like to call Nombre Noir a girl with a thousand faces in the fragrance world. It is the black figure that lingers in the theater. I remembered the beauty of real existence, when the film was rewinding, there were black and white images in front of my eyes, and the negatives flashed one by one, one was Serge Lutens Rose de nuit, another was Guerlain Parure, stay longer, Zoomed in, blurred, and looking closely, a pink cloud is Guerlain Nahema. Looking closer, it looks like Lancôme Magie Noire, Guerlain Chamade. The achievements of myths are always accidental.

My impression is based on a sample I ordered recently from the US. I remember someone had said in a blog it is a typical rose chypre of its age (80s). I think it will be a gross injustice to rate this as typical perfume of any order or age. If there is one word to describe this scent it will be 'perfection'. Everything about it is just right.Firstly bears hallmark of classical french perfumery, eg. one may decipher classical air of Tabac Blond in opening. But then that's where comparison with the rest stops. There is no struggle in appreciating its beauty nor it is so trivial it can be easily forgotten. There is rose in this - but rose with a iota of medicinal quality- it bears resemblance to expensive fresh rose water stored in crisp metal bottle for some time. Rose here is not heady, nor light, nor spicy nor playful- it is rose like no other. But afterall rose is just the core of the whole structure Nombre Noir is built upon. It feels every note there, top to bottom, is contriving to enhance rosiness in its own way , yet not spoiling the marriage of other notes that goes on at the same time. There is prune, and there is very very tiny tobacco (almost inperceptible) and there is this noir theme that tames the whole combination from creeping into fresher flowery domain. It must be damascones that do this trick for Nombre Noir. There is a definite plasticky , lipsticky dimension to this as well- and Nombre Noir does not smell natural at all. Yet this is a kind of synthetic scent that one will adore much better than natural rose- it is perfectly well balanced. If perfumes had a kingdom, Nombre Noir will live somewhere in the palace of the king- opinions may vary if it is the king or queen or something else of all the perfumes. Having smelled 150+ perfumes ( pretty small number must admit) - I was expecting a rose afterall when I ordered sample - but I am very happy Nombre Noir lives up to its fame...and is superior to any perfume that I sniffed.

I recently acquired a bottle of Nombre Noir parfum in a swap with a generous fragrance friend. In hindsight, it feels like divine intervention—that I happened to chat up someone who owned this unicorn, the nonchalance with which she offered, “Nombre Noir? Oh yeah, it’s up for swap.” When the package arrived on my doorstep, I gleefully dug into the box, still with a sense of disbelief that THIS could actually be happening. Let me start with the packaging. Gorgeous—the box, the bottle (its design, its color, the carefully etched NOMBRE NOIR on its face). There’s even a small black wand attached in the cap, allowing you to gently glide the scent onto skin. Flawless aesthetics. Now, the scent itself. Again, gorgeous. Deep, dark, with a green, woody heart, loaded with damascones, accented with honey and osmanthus. Very serious with a profile that harkens to the darkest red wine. Even with modest application (I must stretch this 15 mL bottle as far I can!), the scent affixes to skin for several hours, wafts hitting the nose with every movement. Incredible perfume, though I find fault in the grossly exaggerated hyperbole that “critics” have attributed to it. Great, but not AHHH BEST PERFUME EVER CREATED OF ALL TIME SEISMIC EVENT ON PAR WITH THE BIG BANG AHHH. In contrast to others, I don’t find Nombre Noir all that similar to Rose de Nuit. I love them both, but Rose de Nuit is more honeyed, quite musky, and a little “pissy.” If related, they are second cousins, not sisters. If you can get your hands on this elusive scent, I highly recommend you do. With that said, though, I would never shell out the high price this sells for on eBay—sometimes over $2000! But you do you. Enjoy!

Over the years, I've sampled various iterations of Nombre Noir, owning a mini and then 14ml EDP, and sampling the pure parfum, all in various states of freshness. Nombre Noir feels to me like one of those beautiful, slightly green-floral-oily rose-inflected chypres like Rive Gauche and Calandre with a big wollop of fruit, jam, wine, and tobacco on top (clearly the damascones/damascenone). While it is totally different in feel in many ways to the "canonical" Lutens (Feminite du Bois, Chergui, Ambre Sultan), it is very Lutensian in that it takes some element of a natural ingredient (i.e. the menthol in Tubereuse Criminelle, carrot/root in Iris Silver Mist) and saturates it exponentially. In this case, damask rose is the central star, and the perfumer amped up those fruity, damascone-aspects to impressively high levels! The overall effect is like someone took Calandre and replaced the common rose note with this weird, neon-red, almost alien super-rose. Sounds strange, but I overall find it a lovely and well-balanced fragrance. Other jammy roses do exist today, but they generally seem situated in fruity florals/fruitchoulis that don't have the 1970's green chypre sensibility that this fragrance does. I don't think Nombre Noir feels dated, though. The saturated fruity rose is a novel update to that classic structure and I so wish someone would recreate something like this! I like Rose de Nuit, but don't think it smells similar--the chypre accord of that one actually feels more fusty and dated (I love it though--no offense to it!) than this more green, sporty iteration.

This is indeed a stunning perfume. I have one small bottle that I cherish and store carefully. The juice is a great example of ingredients that are balanced to damn near perfection. It reminds me of another great discontinued perfume - Envol by Ted Lapidus. Soft/sharp/floral/musky/green and every facet in harmony. It's fantastic in construction (and price, if you can find it). I realise it is unlikely I will ever find another bottle unless I re-mortgage, but it is indeed worth the investment if you can afford it, not because of it's rarity but because of it's beautiful composition. Is it the best perfume I have ever had the fortune to smell? Well, no, don't believe the hype but it's pretty close to perfume nirvana.

Enjoying just a smear on the back of my hand... luckily, my little 4ml seems intact... luminous heart... it soars above everything else. I wish I had more... so there is a part of myself stopping the rest of me from liking it too much. But I do. It is beautiful indeed.

I happened to sample an old 4ml vial of Loris Azzaro Acteur - Its opening is same Rose as that of Nombre Noir opening but sans latter's depth. But those who are curious how NN smells, closest you get , at least in opening minutes - is definitely Acteur.

Please try layering Shiseido's "inoui" with "Nombre noir". It's worth a try.

How I got this is a bit of an odd story - I'm still wondering if it was too good to be true. I made an online deal with someone for a pre-barcode Eau de Private Collection (this is another mystery I've yet to demystify). When I opened the package, I was surprised to see this packed in there. I'm only about six months into my deeper fragrance journey and honestly hadn't known of the gothic fairytale that is Nombre Noir. Did a bit of reading about its background, dropped my jaw a few times, and finally tested it when I recovered from my shock. One of my favourite perfumes is the vintage Magie Noire and I was a little confused when Nombre Noir started to smell like it. Magie Noire feels richer, dirtier, earthier - this one, more floral and fruity. I'm not really picking up the supposed osmanthus note. As it continues to dry down, the plumminess becomes more evident, as if it's been mixed in with a tiny dash of Dior's Poison Esprit de Parfum. A good perfume and great conversational fodder but I wouldnt have shelled out 4-digits for this, so I guess it's a good thing I got this for free!

I put this on the other day to describe to someone in the forum and figured I may as well do a proper review of it. I limit myself as to how much I'll spend on one fragrance so when I came across a miniature EDP at a reasonable price I decided to purchase it to see if the fuss was accurate. It opens with a gorgeous damask rose that is sadly very fleeting, as that soon starts to blend with carnation, osmanthus and geranium, developing a lipstick character with a touch of fruitiness from the high damascone content. When the base comes out it gets a bit unisex. In the final stages the orris root appears and it takes on a more powdery vibe. It's an evening fragrance to be sure but not so dark as to out-goth vintage Poison. It could easily pass for a contemporary fragrance nowadays. Is it a good perfume? Very much so. Is it one of the best ever made? Not in my opinion, though I do quite like it.

"Ballet" by Yellow Magic Orchestra (1981) Listen to that song and read the lyrics. After reading the story behind this perfume, and all the reviews surrounding it, I had to smell it for myself. Unfortunately, the tiny bottle I ordered on ebay had damaged top notes like acetone and cheap vodka. But after the damaged parts calmed down, the lower notes were indeed mentally stimulating. It's hard to put into words. For now I just recommend listening to the song above.

I finally am testing the legendary Nombre Noir (after buying a vial from the wonderful Texas seller). It starts out a rose/violet married to a compellingly bitter bergamot + aldehyde. After a couple minutes, the acidic sharp facet fades and for the next several hours, a cosmetic, powdery rose/violet dominates. I'm glad to say that this unicorn fragrance is not a love for me, my little sample will last me the rest of my life so no need to fork over a big chunk of my savings for a bottle. This is one fragrance that is, IMO, not as beautiful or mind-blowing for its actual scent as it is for its sad and salacious history: the remaining bottles being destroyed/steamrolled....the perfumer supposedly committing suicide.... Whether either of these events truly happened, or whether they are apocryphal/legendary, who can say?

Oh my my! How fukn exciting! (Excuse my swearing, it's a 'one off' here at fragrantica) but I just bought myself a unicorn! Yes yes, the elusive and ridiculously priced, Nombre Noir is now coming my way I recently paid $29 per ml and purchased 2ml in the way of a decant from trusted seller in Texas! Several 4ml minis listed on Ebay with price tags of up to $135AUD. Scored my boxed mini for less than $50 so consider myself quite lucky. Now all I've left to do is find a black bottle edition in the 15ml or above. I LOVE that opaque black flacon as pictured on this page. **edit (1/4/2017) My unicorn arrived from France in its mini 4ml bottle Shaking with anticipation, I opened it to FINALLY get a whiff of the world's most iconic perfume. Having so much to live up to, was it all it was meant to be? The first thing I noticed was the relieving realisation that it was in fact, still good. No unstable notes at all which is amazing, considering its 35 years old opens with a aldehyde blast, essential part of a scent that the era demanded. With over 18 notes, what else can I detect? Well there's a lovely rose, the Damascones I imagine, now banned and will never be used in perfume again, thanks to the powers that be (IFRA) The citrus is apparent in the opening, with the many florals coming thru in the heart, the jasmine winning the race to my nose, and then the warm musk, tonka bean and sandalwood shining thru in the base. Honestly, the fragrance isn't worthy of the hype surrounding it. The STORY of Nombre Noir as tragic as it is, is what makes the fragrance so iconic. I wonder if the other reviewers would rate it so highly if they didn't know what it was or about the story behind it and it's unobtainable status. All in all, I'm proud to own this perfume but only because of how rare it is. Yes I would happily wear it but it's not my favourite scent. Not even in my top 20 frags. NN is a unicorn, yes. It's for the collector. I have a one off, 1ml decant avaliable to anyone in Australia only, and would be happy to swap for something of similar value. ($30 it owes me) reasonable considering some places like Surrender to Chance are charing up to $80AUD for a small sample!

As a diehard Serge Lutens fan and considering Luca Turin called it one of the 5 best Perfumes ever created AND considering its rarity, I had to get a 4 ml Mini and tried it out today. I must say, I am completely underwhelmed. It's an okay Chypre, no doubt about it. I get a very agreeable rosy plummy cedary accord with a tad of jasmine, a hint of vanilla (tonca) and may be - but only just - a tiny bit of smoke. All in all quite nice. Very disappointing projection and extremely disappointing longevity for a Serge Lutens, though. "Kafka" in her blog mentions the high amount of Damascenes used that disintegrate under the influence of oxygen. Could that be the reason? A very Japanese idea, perhaps, to create such a fleeting perfume that starts to destroy itself once the bottle is opened and more and more subjected to oxygen. At the time when it was created it also was very avant garde in its notes and composition. A trendsetter created by a genius, no doubt. , Since then, SL did Feminite du Bois, which was much more stunning, especially in its first version sold by Shiseido in the purple bottle and has been reformulated since then into a still recognisable but much thinner water - and, most importantly, the Paris Exclusive of Rose de Nuit (bell bottle, also in my collection), that shares most of the accords of Nombre Noir in an amplified way, plus an animalic note that seems to be missing in Nombre Noir. Again, this direct descendent of Nombre Noir is much better in my opinion. Don't bother with the latter, especially given the high price due to its rarity - I would suggest Rose de Nuit, which is a more intense Nombre Noir, wearing fur.

One of the reasons Nombre Noir will never be made again even by clone companies is that it has approximately 20x the IFRA limit for rose ketones making it banned in Europe for sale. Not that you couldn't just make it yourself or even sell it in the US and other countries, but at 20x the limit you are in serious liability territory for causing an allergic reaction in the general public. On the other hand, rose ketones smell sooooo good. That's the way the cookie crumbles. Anyways, it's not that complicated, lots of Phenylethyl alcohol or real rose oil, Coumarin (over the IFRA limit), and Benzaldehyde (also over the IFRA limit). If you do have some genuine Nombre Noir remaining in your stash, do the world a HUGE favor and find a professional perfumer online or on Basenotes DIY, send them a 2ml sample (It will not be returned) and ask them to send it out for a GCMS analysis... or two, and share the report with the world. The amounts I listed above are just approximations; the GCMS report would give almost exact amounts, allowing Nombre Noir to live on in some form forever.

I smelled a sample on (my) skin. Given this perfume is highly praised and almost a myth, expectations were high - and were not fulfilled. (But read on.) Damascenone and Damascones I can smell very well, but I suspect that I'm somewhat hyposmic to lactonic compounds. Since some references to Nombre Noir include milky (i.e. lactonic notes) I might miss something. Also the sample might not have aged very well, but this I am not able to tell. At least it did not smell vile - which it would if the aldehydes were oxidised. To my nose Nombre Noir is a classical Chypre very much in the style of non-vintage Mitsuko: not overly adehydic, the chypre theme tamed with lactones, a nice gesamtkunstwerk. To that comes a balanced rosy top note, which is not very fluorescent (damscones) but not sweet (phenylethanol) or fatty-green (rose oxide) either. Unfortunately it doesn't last, so that you end up with some kind of Mitsuko drydown. So it is indeed a nice fragrance, but to me it was no revelation - at least not this sample.

From the story behind it i just had high hopes for this blend! it's not as Luca Turin states of being "one of the five great perfumes of the world". Don't get me wrong, but this blend is just cute and never among the best blends of all time! It reminds me allot of lighter version Gucci 3 edt with it's mix of oakmoss, geranium, carnations, rosewood, coriander, sandalwood, aldehyde, bit of amber, & honey. It's like a variation of another blend and i believe it's behind Gucci 3 inspiration blend. It does fit it's era in the ending of 70s and beginning of 80s. Cute but not overwhelming beauty as been described.

RED LIPSTICK - POWDERY MAKEUP AND SHOULDERS THAT CAN CUT THROUGH SMOKE. Get a mini flacon and adore the relic that it is, its a gorgeous time capsule fragrance that takes you right back to 1982 packed full of dramatic damascones and wonderful waves of osmanthus. Truly fabulously designed flacon that echoes now in Serge Lutens Gratte-Ciel range. This is true glamour at its finest.

I tried this one thanks to my acquaintance who is collecting rare and vintage perfumes. It is quite similar to Rose de Nuit by Serge Lutens, but more Chypre way - with oakmoss and herbs.

A like but not a love. When it comes to rose scents in my collection, I think La Fille de Berlin is better.