.

Post by Portia

.

Hi there Vintage Vamps,

A while back I stumbled across someone’s Sale Document in Facebook Fragrance Friends and on the list were some lovely fragrances that I really wanted to try in their vintage form. One in particular was the last couple of ml of a Caron scent that was, and still is, based around one of my favourite notes Narcissus, it is Narcisse Noir…

Narcisse Noir by Caron 1911

Narcisse Noir by Ernest Daltroff

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: African orange flower, narcissus
Heart: Jasmine, orange, tincture of rose
Base: Vetyver, musk, sandalwood

Narcisse Noir opens with a lovely soapy orange blossom curled around narcissus. Not the potent feral narcissus of the absolue, here it is softened and sweetened, draped elegantly over lashings of musks and sweet smooth and creamy sandalwood. This is OLD! because I can smell real animal musk. Yes there are some sweet flowers in the heart but they seem to be only ornaments to the narcissus, sandalwood and musk.

Normally I wear Narcisse Noir and just let myself float freely on a cloud of its loveliness. It’s weird trying to parse notes of something that I have had so much enjoyment out of as a whole and finished creation.

Photo Stolen Flickr

The heart gives me a hint of indolic skank but nothing that would upset the vicar (sadly) and orange does make an appearance, it’s a juicy and pithy orange quite rounded and I had never noticed it before today’s wear. Narcisse Noir is much more multifaceted that I ever thought, light, shade and nuance that wearing as a fragrance just doesn’t show. Even a fruity rose rears its head, not a loud one but when I look for it after reading a note list it’s there.

Basically the fragrance then takes hours to dry down. Instead of making great changes it smooths and creams its way to a hum that just shimmers above my skin making me smell divinely better than I really do.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Further reading: Now Smell This and Yesterday’s Perfume
Galaxy Perfumes has EdT $85/50ml (the only bottle I could find online not on eBay or Amazon)
Surrender To Chance has samples from $3/ml

Did you ever spend time with Narcisse Noir? Will you miss it when it’s gone?
Portia xx