The “tire suit” from the Thierry Mugler Spring/Summer 1997 Haute Couture.

“ The genius of Bulgari Black was the shifting of what sexiness could be… away from iconic fumes like opulent Shalimar and dandy Knize Ten to the cruel darkness of zen-chic black tea and industrial-fetish rubber, a degree away from raw skin contact to something kinky.” – Ermano Picco

 

 Bulgari Black Original Advertisement “Designed for Men and Women”…. early gender fluidity

Eighteen months ago my CaFleureBon colleague, Editor Ermano Picco, wrote am intriguing and comprehensive article about Bulgari Black for CaFleureBon Modern Masterpieces. Today, for the Saturday Night Classics series, I am doing my own test drive and it’s both a classic AND a Masterpiece, as my nose is decidedly more sophisticated and experienced than it was when the fragrance was introduced in 1998.

Burning Rubber.  Photo via Pixabay ©

My first encounter with Bulgari Black, some twenty years ago, was definitely a surprise.  I was initially put off by what I perceived to be references to rubber, plastics and burning resins, not expecting to find the odors of an auto-parts store (or a new car) in a bottle of perfume. It’s not that the smell was bad. On the contrary, it was quite beautiful, but I had never before given a thought to anointing my person with a bouquet of new tires, flowers, fruit, leather, plastic and asphalt. When master perfumer Annick Mernardo, the genius who brought us the mesmerizing Dior Hypnotic Poison (among so many other beauties), created Bulgari Black, she opened a new chapter in the story of scent, offering the world a fresh approach to the perception and enjoyment of fragrance.

Bulgari Black Bottle with Tire Treads. Photo by Gail Gross ©

It has been a long time since I last reached for Bulgari Black. After searching through my stash, I finally located the vintage tire shaped bottle and was fully prepared for a test drive and for the rubbery, new car experience I remembered so well.  Surprisingly in 2020, 1998’s Bulgari Black, while still edgy, futuristic and nose popping, seemed much less potent and radical than it did at the end of the 20th century.  The olfactive pioneering of Annick Mernardo successfully inspired a myriad of powerful perfumes that have effectively broadened my smelly horizons. My first impressions of industrial rubber and plastic have, today, taken a back seat to deep, smoky Lapsang Souchang tea, to the cinnamon and balsam of styrax, to vanilla, leather and the mouthwatering tang of sweet bergamot. 

A Little Bit Goth.  Photo via Pixabay – cut and recolored by Gail.

 In the twenty-two years since the introduction of Bulgari Black, I have come to appreciate, if not crave, the imagined and real odors of night flying bats, libraries, wet pavement and pudenda. The original Bulgari Black holds up well to these newer fragrances. A bit Goth, seasoned with a pinch of perfume-porn and a dash of the Daytona 500, Bulgari Black remains a classic, trendsetting, what you would expect from a niche fragrance that continues to challenge our minds and noses with select olfactory wonders of the world around us. In 2020 I find that instead of being an unusual scent to be worn only on occasion, Bulgari Black is now a perfume for everyday and everywhere. What was once revolutionary is now a wonderfully wearable Saturday Night Classic.

Notes:  Bergamot, black tea, jasmine, cedarwood,  sandalwood, leather, amber, musk, vanilla and resins. 

Bulgari Black was sadly discontinued in 2017, but remains available at fragrancex.com and other online retailers for around $26 US.

Gail Gross – Senior Editor

Have you worn a perfume during your own fragrance journey and revisit it years later? Was your experience like Gail’s?