Black for Her (Eau de Parfum) by Kenneth Cole

Bottle Design:
Brosse

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Black for Her Kenneth Cole 2004 Eau de Parfum

6.8 / 10 122 Ratings

A perfume by Kenneth Cole for women, released in 2004. The scent is floral-fresh. It is being marketed by Parlux Ltd..
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Main accords

Floral

Fresh

Woody

Sweet

Citrus

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Violet

Citrus fruits

Heart Notes

Lily of the valley

White blossoms

Hyacinth

Lotus

Tuberose

Ylang-ylang Iris

Iris

Jasmine

Magnolia

Base Notes

Musk

Sandalwood Amber

Amber

Perfumer

Amandine Clerc-Marie

Ratings

Scent

6.8122 Ratings

Longevity

7.189 Ratings

Sillage

6.283 Ratings

Bottle

6.389 Ratings

Value for money

8.315 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 05/04/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Black for Her Body Mist

Fahrenheit 32 Eau de Toilette

Fleurance Parfum

Dahlia Divin Eau Initiale

Style by Night

Tiaré delle Indie

Reviews

13 in-depth fragrance descriptions

05/10/2012

5Scent 7.5Longevity 7.5Sillage

Sherapop
1240 Reviews

Sherapop

2

A kinder, gentler--albeit rubbery--musky-magnolia mélange

Confession: I bought Kenneth Cole's BLACK scent unsniffed in a gift set solely because of the packaging. The slick black cylinder may have reminded me of the FRACAS parallelopiped... "Could this be a cousin?" I perhaps wistfully wondered. Alas, it was not to be. I wore BLACK once and then proceeded to banish it to the back of my armoire. But why?

BLACK opens with a somewhat off-putting synthetic, rubbery scent which reminds me very much of the smell of tires, evoking in my mind images of Alligator Alley in the Florida everglades, where in the deepest heat of the summer tires routinely explode. Their stringy carapaces are left behind and serve as explicit warnings to other drivers similarly inclined to put the pedal to the metal...

Fortunately, the rubbery, not very pleasant opening is relatively fleeting, and what follows and abides is a musky magnolia layer very similar to the drydown of RUMEUR. This is good news for those who prefer not to suffer through the chemical industry factory fumes that are the opening of RUMEUR. You can safely skip it altogether and use BLACK instead, if you're after that musky-magnolia mélange.

Although, I won't wear BLACK often, I do like the drydown--which is longlasting with good sillage in the edp--and will perhaps be more tolerant of its opening now, having experienced RUMEUR, which makes tire aura seem like the breath of the gods...

02/27/2012

7Scent 5Longevity 5Sillage

MariellaMmmh
215 Reviews

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MariellaMmmh

Top Review 15

The Sheep in Wolf's Clothing

The color "black" is the color that swallows all light (no, I'm not talking about a heavy drinker, that's a different topic! ;-D).
In our culture, it is the color of mourning and death.
Everything that dies in nature eventually turns black.

And now comes Black for Her - quite possibly the least black perfume I can imagine!
A fragrance creation with this title evokes associations in me like dark, mystical, woody, heavy, etc. However, this little scent is anything but that! It is GREEN, floral, and fresh, like a walk through a blooming, sunlit spring meadow. You can even hear the birds chirping when you have the scent in your nose - and possibly a bleating sheep...

On my skin, I can't perceive anything opulent and heavy, just light flowers and green freshness. The top note is the freshest, then it becomes more floral in the heart, and finally, it turns slightly woody at the end, but still remains floral.

THE scent for the upcoming spring! Thank you Schnuffi for the pleasure! :D

04/29/2013

7Scent

Shamis
47 Reviews

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Shamis

Top Review 14

Black for ME!

Who doesn't know those nice little signs in foreign bathrooms? "Used... while sitting," you read there, usually illustrated by a corresponding picture. I always thought I didn't need something like that. Found those signs silly. But now I want one after all. Mine should say: "Hands off the Black!"

Until now, I had trust in my guests. But I hadn't yet had "Black." This dark bottle really stands out among all my "pastels." And then this "for her"... Surely, it could mean anyone. One could just as well translate it to "Tester" or "Treat me." No, "Black" is not "for her." It is "just for me!"

Since I've never experienced this absolute "not-wanting-to-share" feeling with fragrances (a spritz of one of my scents is actually a minor offense, a kind of counterpart to petty theft), I am pondering. Is there a kind of bottle spirit living in the heart of the dark flacon, sneaking to my bed at night and making my selfishness bloom in new ways? Well, at least this spirit seems to be bound to "Black," because with all my other scents, I remain generous.

However, I don't even use "Black" particularly often and will probably never empty the bottle completely. But I often and gladly smell the flacon. The scent still appears opulent and intensely floral, and before my inner eye, a beautiful old theater comes to mind. With a red velvet curtain and ladies in evening gowns. Or a ballroom. Something special indeed. And therefore, nothing for everyday life.

However, once sprayed, this impression dissipates a bit. At first, I recognize a mix of violet and, hmm, grass. It reminds me a little of the perfume oils that used to be sold at flea markets. Then the scent retreats a bit and remains noticeable but discreet. Still, I don't want to waste it in mundane everyday life.

Now I've seen that my noble "Black" is currently on offer at Rossmann. But that doesn't diminish my greed. I'm just thinking about adding to my little sign: "Testing is done at Rossmann!"

08/25/2024

8Scent 6Longevity 6Sillage

Parma
278 Reviews

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Parma

Top Review 11

White

'Black for Her' is an oxymoron in bottle form. Why? Because the scent has nothing of Blackness. Nothing dark, heavy, or deep. Instead, it is almost the absolute opposite. A fresh green lily of the valley scent. It doesn’t get much cleaner or more innocent than this. Qualitatively at a good designer level. Slightly artificial and without strong character peaks. But still with a clear identity. A friendly, quiet impression maker.

It reminds me in its consistency and structure of Donna Karan's 'Be Delicious', albeit with somewhat higher quality ingredients. That fresh green, transparent lightness. Achieved through the use of a spherical, slightly moist musk that gives the scent a hint of hair shampoo and fresh, not quite dry laundry. Here, instead of the Karan apple note, combined with the initially marginally dominant scent profile of a black currant. Slightly sour fruity-citrusy, noticeably green and subtly watery. In the middle, a metallic lily of the valley shines, gently leaning towards grassy ivy - but not strict in it, rather showing a friendly demeanor through the carefully dosed shampoo-laundry musk and a thoughtfully measured, sweet floral note. Sometimes I catch myself even getting the impression of an unripe, artificial fig. Due to the green-moist and minimally herb-fruity texture. It is also the quality that gives the scent its uniqueness. And in interplay with the slightly quirky lily of the valley, a clear identity. Gentle strength. This correlates with its skin scent property and the manageable perception of about three to four hours.

For me, it is overall a wonderfully casual, clean lily of the valley scent that is very pleasantly balanced, not too sweet and not too herb-green. Very pleasing in mid-tonality, gently underscoring the personality and thus a surprising contrast to the name. Why this was chosen remains a mystery to me. Except perhaps that the American designer Kenneth Cole sees such a clean, understated scent as the ideal combination for a black outfit. By the way, it was designed in 2004 by Firmenich perfumer Amandine Clerc-Marie, whose most famous scents are probably Chloé (EdP) and Angel (EdT). Due to the simple yet clever scent profile and its more than solid quality, it is completely understandable to me why it is still produced, despite the change of distributor - from Lancaster to Parlux (who are known for having celebrity scents in their portfolio). However, I must say in comparison that the Parlux version (recognizable by the completely black bottle; the one tested for this review was produced on 22.05.2023 and was brand new) has noticeably lost quality and scent character. It now seems, although it is still a rather close-to-skin scent, penetrating due to a differently used creamy musk that obscures too much of the profile of the other notes. Unfortunately, this is hardly significant, as the interesting citrus note has much less weight and comes across as one-dimensional and cleansing. The lily of the valley note is stripped of all grassiness and seems rubbery. Similarities are present, but the Lancaster edition (recognizable by the transparent cap and the white square with label print; the version underlying this review was produced on 06.09.2007 or 2017 - due to the repetition of the codes every ten years, it is not more precisely determinable for me) is more expressive, independent, and clearly more valuable. I can imagine that people who like scents in the style of Donna Karan's 'Be Delicious' or Issey Miyake's 'A Scent' would also find something to appreciate in the Lancaster edition. In that version, at least from my perspective, a worthwhile look for lily of the valley lovers (like me).

12/16/2014

8Scent

pudelbonzo
2405 Reviews

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pudelbonzo

Very helpful Review 10

bright dark

Today I discovered Black for Her at an incredibly low price at Rossi.
I actually just wanted to buy a fragrance for a good friend, but the test spray of Black taught me otherwise.

I have rarely encountered such a distinct, natural violet in a fragrance.
It has "gone in root and branch" into the bottle - and emits a rather herb-green, rather than sweetly modest scent.
The violet in the evening air - very expressive and romantic.
The impressive hyacinth meaningfully mingles with it, giving Black a floral echo..
The dark iris also describes an evening mood, where the white flowers shine bright like the full moon.

The scent is a peculiar blend of bright dark.

I see a slender female figure gracefully walking through the dark night park, clad in a floor-length white dress.
Her black hair wafts around her pale delicate face and falls like a curtain over her flower-white dress.
In the diffuse moonlight, her eyes shine like sapphires.
Soft music drifts over from the pavilion, and the woman unconsciously takes a few light-footed dance steps.

A mystical - poetic atmosphere - and I think of Hyacinths by Storm:

Hyacinths

Far music echoes; yet here is silent night,
With slumber fragrance the plants breathe on me.
I have always, always thought of you;
I want to sleep, but you must dance.

It does not stop, it rushes without cease;
The candles burn and the violins scream,
The ranks divide and close again,
And all glow; but you are pale.

And you must dance; foreign arms embrace
Your heart; oh do not suffer violence!
I see your white dress flying by
And your light, tender figure. - -

And sweetly flowing, the scent of the night
And dreamier from the chalice of the plants.
I have always, always thought of you;
I want to sleep, but you must dance.

A scent like a poem - to be read on full moon nights at the open window.

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