Magie Noire Lancôme 1978 Eau de Toilette

How wonderful it used to be once upon a time! Even now it's not bad, just more diluted, definitely oak moss was removed from the list of ingredients. The original formula of Magie Noir is phenomenal, heavy, mysterious, full of colors and very elegant. At first it is very compact and dense, but after the first moment that seems a bit harsh, unfolds slowly until the mixture becomes smooth and velvety in the base.
It starts quite grassy and aromatic and has from the start much charisma. A strong and vital smell, moist, almost cold. I am sorry for do not feel tuberose, rose instead is perceptible and take a breath with almost ethereal daffodil flowers over an animal-spice mixture. Flower power decreases over time and remains a hot mixture of resin and powdered spices. It is a perfume for strong women but with gentle soul

Grimoires and wands. Potions and philtres. Enchantments and charms. Spells and incantations. Imprecations and anathemas. Allure and enthrallment. Metanoia and lethe. Arcane and occult. Mesmerising and narcotic. Soporific and empyreal. The nemesis of light, the triumph of darkness.
Pernicious and wrecking for Hermione Granger. Salubrious and hale for Bellatrix Lestrange.
One to pulverise Harry Potter and his likes. One to resurrect Lord Voldemort, only with a full-blown nose this time so as to inhale even the faintest waft of its bewitching nefariousness.
Now kneel before the Queen of Fiends...

This stuff makes me want to run out and have unprotected reckless sex with the guy you don't take home to mother even if I am way too old for such nonsense. A sex bomb of a fragrance. Luscious.

I considered Magie Noir to be one of my favourite perfumes of all time so what was I thinking when I decided that because I was so fed up with all my niche perfume sampling disasters that this would be safe blind buy (blind buy in the sense that I had not tried the reformulation). I set myself up for disappointment and disappointment I got; I only have myself to blame.

I am not usually so unforgiving but right here right now I feel pretty cross that my son (I asked for it for my birthday) dolloped down £37.50 (are they selling this off as it is on offer everywhere?) for this bitter, soapy, watery mess.

Old Magie Noir - spicey, woody, oakmoss, rich, deep, dry.
New Magie Noir - bitter, soapy, hyacinth and narcissus.

Maybe it is the way I smell some of the newer aroma chemicals but I don't call this Magie Noir.

Old Magie Noir - develops as it wears on my skin.
New Magie Noir - almost linear.

Old Magie Noir - blackcurrant done right.
New Magie Noir - a very pissy blackcurrant that wears for hours and hours, and dominates all else.

Old Magie Noir - sweet animalic musks.
New Magie Noir - no discernible animalic notes.

Again, all of this is on my skin and of course on someone else or to someone else this new version of the perfume may behave well.

For the opening I get a rather bitter soap with a sherberty bergamot, hyacinth and narcissus. It is a very high pitched perfume that does not develop to reveal base notes on me; there seems to be a lot of an artificial citrus smell. I don't get any sweet animal notes, don't find it spicey, and, most surprisingly, I don't detect any oak moss. The pissy blackcurrant kicks in around the 10 minute mark and that, as they say, is that.

Extremely harsh, strong, acrid, overpowering. Lasts well over 16 hours on me.

Yep, altogether super disappointed with this so I am going to write in indelible ink on my brain, 'Don't you ever buy a reformulation of an old love without sampling it first ever again. Just don't!'.

To add insult to injury after a half hour or so it makes my skin itch and triggers migraine with nausea. It's going back. Thank goodness it was bought from a good quality department store with a no questions asked return policy.

Eua de toilette purchased October 2016

Magie Noire was never a top fragrance choice for me. Through the years, it has become a cult classic, so I decided to revisit it and purchased a vintage bottle. I've worn it in two seasons before I've written this review, so I can feel I am accurately assessing my thoughts.
Back when it was first released, I wasn't a huge fan of this or any of Lancome's perfumes. But with all of the accolades surrounding it, I decided to give it a go again to see what the hoopla is all about.
It's definitely a cooler weather perfume. Wearing it above 55 degrees is nauseating. I've discovered that is one of it's flaws and perhaps why some absolutely abhor it. The temperature outside (or inside) must be cool enough for this perfume to work properly. This is a very strange potion.
Its aroma wafts and wanes around you, circling its fumes in layers of clouds that hypnotize and entice and mesmerize. How do perfumes create such images? Some scents hit head-on with no looking back, some sit in a corner of a room expectantly, hoping for attention, and others are classics that need no introduction because they are simply elegant members of a family. But Magie Noire swirls around, dances and sings, appears light and floral one moment then impacts hard and deep as a chypre floral that's just very complex. This is not a try it once to decide if you like it perfume. It changes with the seasons, your moods and the climate. It's been called a witch's brew and the moniker fits it well. Although there are many that wear this, only a few can truly pull it off successfully. It's must be worn with an attitude, from the base of your soul , with determination. Heavy on spices and woods, burning with incense and myrhh, musky with patchouli and wrapped in a tight package with a civet's tail, this might or might not be for you. It is a Seductress' perfume, an Enchantress' fragrance, it will bewitch those around you if you are the Femme Fatale wearing it.
Certainly not an everyday perfume, and definitely not an office fragrance, Magie Noire is wonderful for an evening soiree or a tete-a-tete supper. This is a strong perfume to use on your pulse points and let the heat of your skin bring it to its fire.
Rita Hayworth, Sophia Loren, and Bridgette Bardot could all wear this perfume easily.
Radiates strongly if you're not careful and lasts for hours and hours.