Black juices, ebony-like bottles, night scores … Peculiar, not that festal, the black wave that storms these year-end perfumes vacillates between the need to revive olfactory delicacy and the fascination for hell’s scents …A new cosmetic trend, explained by Ariane Le Fèbvre.
Black market …
Be it from the “niche perfumery", or renowned luxury brands, everyone seems to have passed the word around, from Chanel (Coco Noir) to Guerlain (La Petite Robe Noire), from Serge Lutens (Une Voix Noire) to Givenchy (Dahlia Noir Édition Limitée Couture), including Lolita Lempicka (Illusions Noires Premier Parfum Eau de Minuit), Tom Ford (Jardin Noir Private Blend programme, after Black Orchid last year) or Gucci (Gucci Guilty Black for women, available on January 23) … Let us not forget Fame (Lady Gaga), claimed as the first black juice (called "Black Fluid", so much more beautiful).
Even men join the movement: Ambre Noir, by Yves Rocher, and Gucci Guilty Black for men are to be launched in January. A kind of crazing darkness spreads out on the perfumery market this winter. But what do they all have in common with this black colour?
The Avenue of Dusk …
“Black is the haven of all colours,”
Gaston Bachelard, a French philosopher, wrote. Universal, timeless and sexless, it is also the “safe bet” of the marketing departments for this holiday season.
An inventiveness shortage? No, as black, a recurrent issue in perfumery since Narcisse Noir, by Caron, in 1911, is …
