That's why MN is perfect for me.

Red lipstick is a must! I stumbled onto this fragrance through a sample in Vogue magazine in 1984.

Her earthy herbs and spices are powerful and unapologetic. I wore the reformulated version from a store display yesterday and it was Magie Noire, but without a beautiful residual sweetness (Jasmine?) I recently got a sample of vintage EDT and I fell in love as soon as the scent hit my skin. Metanoia and lethe. It is not to be confused with Magie, an ambery floral fragrance from the same brand. Seeing that Lancome has more or less relaunched it, I decided to revisit Magie Noire the other day at my local perfume counter. It has 31 notes and I don't care for that many ingredients in one perfume. The initial spritz of Magie Noire is a strong one with warm spices. I have no idea what the reformulation smells like so can't compare, but I'd probably be disappointed, so what I have remaining in my vintage bottle is like liquid gold. It's a strong perfume. I can't believe how much I love this one, and how little I've heard about this one. 4.09

Bewitching Magie Noire in French Black Magic' Beautiful memorable Chypre if you like Oakmoss Civet Raspberry Honey and Spices this is IT! Magie Noire was there to restore the mystery at large so as did its predecessor, Mitsouko. Men love her and want to get closer wondering what that exotic sexy thing is drawing them in. Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor. Or bittergreenness. My mother had this, when I was a child... Love this scent from childhood ♥. Great sillage and longevity. But it smelled like a man's cologne, very masculine. I received a sample of this and randomly selected it out of my "mountain" and had no idea what to expect because I hadn't looked at reviews or notes or anything, I just knew that this was a vintage scent and had no idea of if mine was the older formulation or not. This is just what I have been looking for! The tension between the sensations that they produce is what gives Magie Noire its sustained illusion of something that is yet to happen. I am glad it is still available, and at non-luxury market prices. Very intense and 'heavy' in my opinion.

Does it still exists? As long as Magie came back, like being fashionably late to her own party, I could forgive the new notes. I smell myrrh myrrh myrrh. From reading about the evolution of Magie Noire from 1978 until 2011, I think that it has always been a grab-bag of a perfume. Looking back, I have had the same bottle for almost 7 years and can be considered still full. Unfortunately I can’t get behind what they’ve done with it now especially when I go back and sniff the original. Truly a wonderful purchase… best wishes to you!

Why? But when this perfume wanders in space, (since I can remember myself), I do not envision a dynamic independent woman, but my tender, adored mother.

March 6, 2011 at 8:45pm Reply, Greg: Magie !!! But after a few wears, I'm starting to understand its beauty. The old formula was my very favorite perfume of all time, this new formula is still nice but lacks much of what made the old fornmula great. Can anyone tell me? Very earthy, exotic, a bit spicy, but also becomes soft, warm and comfortable.

It should be in the repertoire of every serious perfumista, though. Since she was a teen... She wears it non-stop, day and night, always and everywhere! 80s shoulder pads boss. Stretching my imagination a bit..I can go as far as incense and narcissus. I keep reading all the reviews here trying to picture the scent. Top notes are Galbanum, Cassis, Cassia, Hiacynth, Bulgarian Rose, Raspberry and Bergamot; middle notes are Honey, Narcissus, Cedar, Orris Root, Ylang-Ylang, Tuberose, Jasmine and Lily-of-the-Valley; base notes are Oakmoss, Spices, Civet, Incense, Patchouli, Amber, Sandalwood, Myrrh, Vetiver and Musk. This is what I call a transseasonal fragrance...good in the colder months, but could be worn on a chilly spring day. Once sprayed, the notes are sharper, bit metallic, strong in a weird way and different from the original one. I wore it in the '80s, because a coworker had it on .

But now....it really stinks on my skin. A bottle of Samhain, the festival that marks the beginning of winter, when the door to the underworld is ajar, and the fruits of the harvest are eaten with the dead. It simply projects a powerful aura of confidence and strength, and this is what I find special about it. My other favourite part is the paprika or chili note that goes on in it, that is quite unique and fascinating. Big, classic, complex, somewhat "dark" chypre. This perfume is just beautiful. Magie Noire is distinctly memorable (which one hopes for when seeking a signature fragrance to buy). January 10, 2011 at 9:47am Reply, Olfactoria: To my shame I have to confess, that I never smelled Magie Noire. @Duskfall ...what a perfect review. I might have run out and not been able to buy any right away and just sort of wandered off. Nothing unique, except perhaps the bottle design.

It is unique, along with a few others from that time, like Donna Karan signature, and Chanel 19. Perfume lovers: 579945 So now, I am on a quest to find a replacement, that can make me fall in love with it the way MN did.

You can change it to ScentScelf in your profile or you can just sign in with name, email address and url for your blog. I keep coming up with a combination of Yourh Dew, Tabu and Aromatics Elixir in my imagination. I did not try it for a long time and then one day I thought I would give it another chance. Why put something so inferior on the market? If I had known then what I know now, I would certainly hoarded them in storage. It was always very unusual and bewitching. Magie Noire by Lancome is a Chypre Floral fragrance for women. sad…sad… I hope and pray they REMAKE all of the Magie products…the best smelling fragrance in the world!!! BUT try the vintage one, if you have the posibility, and you ll be mesmerized. January 10, 2011 at 5:13pm Reply, Victoria: V, it is probable also that the civet in those formulations might have been natural. To me the opening is galbanum, oakmoss and myrrh which makes the composition already warm and approachable, the heart is a slightly honeyed explosion of herbs and flowers, in drydown I get again myrrh, cassis, narcissus and raspberry, a bit of patchouli. I'm back in heaven once again. It's what fragrance is supposed to smell like. Read about this perfume in other languages: Deutsch, Español, Français, Italiano, Русский, Polski, Português, Ελληνικά, 汉语, Nederlands, Srpski, Română, العربية, Українська, Монгол, עברית. Luxurious and timeless, not dated. Is it too leathery or too aldehydic for you? Magie Noire is one of the most beautiful perfumes I ever smelled , one of the few ones which have cast a spell on me . I had my own bottle of Magie Noire in the 70s in Edinburgh when I was a student ( probably EDT) and also loved it.

I hate to moan about reformulations because it's pretty pointless, but in this context it's hard to avoid. I use to love its bitterness. No more kid or girly stuff, it was right to the sultry, heady stuff for a few years after that. I must say that it has lost lots of the "magie" part and settled for a less unique and less significant statement that it used to bring along, which at the bottom line is more in accordance with the nowadays tastes. Sample source: my own 1980s bottle of the parfum and 1990s version of the EDT. LOVE. My mother got it as a gift in the 80's when I was a little girl. If anyone has any suggestions for me, please let me know.

Not bad, but the original for me lasted until the next day. January 10, 2011 at 2:42pm Reply, Victoria: That sounds like a beautiful memory and a great association. This is quite a big departure from my usual Angel, Opium, Angel Muse or Tobacco Vanille I wear. There is something disquiet, that discourages and fascinates at the same time. I don't wear it in the summer. I love to wear this – makes me feel I can take on anything, it gives me confidence – who knew a perfume could do that! Magie Noire must have been some dark, rough brew used by medieval witches to bring down kings or where Cleopatra dissolved her pearls invoking one of those ancient godess-priestesses of the helenic world with the power to rise and stamp out men, turning flasks of honey of every good intention, curdling them with malice and offering its fermented fruit hexed with some long-lost sorcery to Ulysses and his … Smell as good as Poison and also Opium by Yves Saint Laurent. I remember it smelling divine! I wanted it again but I can't afford the vintage bottles so I bought a 2018 bottle that said l'eau de toilette and I'm so happy because it smells very good. Green fragrances were typically seen as being for young women - Jontue and Anais Anais are good examples - but here it's done in a sensual, womanly way. The longevity is above-average. Unfortunately, my adopted mother (some 45+ years my senior) decided she really loved it and started wearing it; as a result, I stopped!