Bulgari Black (1998)
by Bulgari

Rubber tires, hot black roofing tar/pavement, and sweet, smokey vanilla. Surprisingly sexy and wearable, however I don't enjoy smelling like tar. Very strong stuff and not for the faint hearted. One of those fragrances you might like if you love the smell of a busy urban city like New York, especially when there's lots of construction and road-paving going on. (If you live in Montreal like I do, you'll know the smell of fresh pavement quite well, all the while wondering why we still have so many potholes!)

Some say this is similar to Dzing, but I personally don't see any resemblance. I'm sure there is something similar to Bulgari Black out there, but I can't think of anything else very much like it (in my limited fragrance experience).

7/10

Bulgari Black starts off with a warm, almost rice pudding note. It is a velvety fragrance and though it is apparently for men, I could easily imagine wearing it myself. As it dries down there is a very faint rubber/leather smell which I really only found by having read about those notes. If I hadn’t, I don’t know that I would have detected them as they are not dominant notes in the composition. The best way I can describe Bulgari Black is that it is a soft yet translucent, vanilla musk fragrance with a mild hint of coconut, cinnamon and powder. Which doesn’t do it a lot of justice as Bulgari Black really is much more stylish and modern than these words indicate. It also reminds me a good deal of a current favorite of mine – Le Labo Aldehyde 44. And finally, no question about it, that is one sexy little bottle!

Per The Perfumed Court, here are the notes for Bulgari Black: black tea, rosewood, bergamot, cedar, oakmoss, vanilla, amber, sandalwood and musk.

Delightful powdery vanilla with the occasional and unpredictable waft of burn rubber.

I am slowly beginning to appreciate fragrances of works of art. Like art, scents can be appealing because they are beautiful, enjoyable, innovative, provocative, or just interesting.

With this analogy, Bulgari Black is the Robert Mapplethorpe of the fragrance world. Often downright crude and disgusting but never dull... always pushing the boundaries of the tolerance of the person trying to appreciate it. I can appreciate this scent for its interesting elements but have no desire to ever again have it on my skin, just as I wouldn't want Mapplethorpe's work in my living room.

Loving that sexy bottle, not loving the smoky bonfire smell. It's rubbery and just too much. One for the fetish clubs, perhaps?

I am not a huge fan of Bvlgari scents but this one blended very nicely. Spicy and lasts very long.

From my time working as an SA at the frag dept at a prominent local mall, i was educated that the black was meant to represent "black tea". however personally i find that aspect wanting. this is a mob of a scent with absymal longevity and sillage or dry down what have you. id be honest that it took me sometime to acquire some fondness and im glad i did. Bvlgari has yet to disappoint with the male specific range(discounting the unisex ones) with the very forgivable marine flanker of teh aqua fame and the notte version of the blu homme. i believe ive yet to finish a bottle of this for somme 7-8 years now, mainly due to the lack of suitable occassions. I would however NOT suggest a lady wear this, it is simply a scent that in all essence is supremely male specific. Any lady wearing this is most certain to be repulsing a stalker.