Fragrance Notes
Bleu Noir
What makes Narciso Rodriguez Bleu Noir Parfum worth the attention of anyone who already owns the rest of the line is suede, a material that takes the house signature somewhere softer and more tactile.
Bergamot opens it briefly, clean and lightly bitter, and then iris comes through: dry, cool, powdery, the grey and slightly austere material that gives a fragrance its sense of expense. Tonka bean sits beneath it, and here it is used for its soft nutty warmth rather than for sweetness, closer to marzipan left in a tin than to anything sugary. Suede follows, which smells less like a hide than like the inside of a glove, powdery and matte, and musk ties the whole thing to the skin.
Five materials, so it is a short composition and behaves like one. There is no dramatic turn an hour in; what changes is the volume. As a parfum it carries a high oil concentration, which here does not mean a loud scent but a long one, sitting close and lasting through a day and into an evening.
It suits cold weather and after dark, it reads unisex despite the line being aimed at men, and it is the most refined of the three Bleu Noir bottles rather than the strongest. One spray at the collar is the way to wear it. Sonia Constant composed it. Suede and iris together also make it the most old fashioned of the three in feel, in the sense that it brings a tailor's shop to mind rather than a gym.
Behind the name is an American house founded in 1997, whose designer opened his own New York atelier in 2001 after four years directing womenswear at Loewe. Beaute Prestige International runs the fragrance business under licence. Its founder grew up in New Jersey, the child of Cuban immigrants.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
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