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rimvydas – :
Update 10/18/18 – This perfume feels like the high end version, extreme, better and more refined Mugler Pure Wood by heart and dry down. But the close to skin smell reminded me of the rare and great classic Cristobal pour Homme by Balenciaga. Super sensual, superb essence.
Review:
This will be my first experience in the Bvlgari Man In Black line. My Bvlgari Man in Black Essence bottle looks so cool and artsy. Better looking, texture and feel, in real than in photos. Worthy of being a limited edition not just by it’s presentation but even by it’s stunning aroma.
Initial blast is boozy mix with spices and faint dusty floral note. Booze and spices to leave a stunning “I am here and take me seriously” scent impression.
Then by the heart, the booze is slowly fading, the dusty floral kept escalating to build up comfort and toned down the spices while the guaiac wood is starting to reveal it’s sweet and alluring character.
A sensual cocoa and soft leathery vibe are manifesting at this stage.
By the dry down, with the resin and musk supporting the spices and woody oriental notes, the dusty floral and dominant spices were dying away and what was left was somewhat creamy, bittersweet woody gourmand with soft leather undertone.
The wearer may not notice but projection was a killer in 4 sprays (skin and clothes). Longevity seems average, but no, the skin scent lasts for more than 10 hours.
Impressive beginning, glorious heart and magnetic/sexy dry down smell. The trip was worth it. Guaranteed compliments from both sexes. Best for dates, partying, formal and outdoor functions. Suitable for Fall and Winter. Highly recommended if you can still find it.
Scent: 9 out of 10
Bottle: 10 out of 10
denor – :
Carlos from Brooklyn Fragrance Lover said that only 3000 bottles were made. But I have the feeling it are way more than that, because it is available at many discounters in Europe. Current prices are around €60/100ml.
Fragboy Stewie said that Essence and the original are almost identical in scent, but just the bottle design is different. I normally trust his nose, but I guess even the best noses can be wrong once in a while. I think he has to try them out once more, because you almost instantly smell that they are different.
I compared it head to head with the original MIB. They are ‘quite’ similar in the opening (read: they have the same vibe), but Essence is much more potent and the drydown goes into a different direction. In Essence the spices and the woods have been turned up significantly and there is a faint cocoa note. Essence is much drier, less sweet and the booziness is fainter. I do not get the musk and the florals.
I am selling my original MIB bottle, because of performance issues. I read that people are getting mixed performance with the original. Essence however, does not have any performance issues, at all!
I need to wear it a few more times, before I can give this a rating. I think the scent has to grow on me.
ewstigney – :
Awesome cacao note. So delicious!
In a hot and humid weather, it lasted about 6 hours on my skin and in a controlled climate about 8 hours.
Projection is solid for 3-4 hours.
My top favorite is the MIB All Blacks followed by the Essence, Black Orient and original MIB.
Fully recommended!
Hyligan – :
After one opinion given 8 months ago, I do have a slightly different position now:
– The Fragrantica listed notes are wrong. One of my favourite notes is Orris and this frangrance contains a lot of it, but it’s not listed. Cocoa is not listed as well.
– This fragrance is superb – signature fragrance material for me!!
– I don’t consider the flask tacky any more. I really like it now
– Less Oud than Orient (actualy MIB Essence does not have Oud), more Orris Than MIB and Orient, less spices than Mib and Orient, same booze as in MIB, …
For me it’s better than MIB and Orient. I own the 3 of them. All of them are fantastic but I really prefer this one…. it’s a gorgeous dark fragrance, probably the best I have ever used!
Whenever I will rank a top 20, those 3 fragrances will have a place in the list.
sensor77 – :
essence vs orient???? longevity/sillage?? Looking at 1
igor1893 – :
لا أنصح بشراء هذا العطر
الأداء سي جدا وغير ملحوظ وفر فلوسك
limited edition if you are a collector add it to your collection but performance is so weak
SANN – :
Close to man in black but more leathery. I also smell a little bit chocolat in this one, which is absent in the “regular” Man in Black.
Maksim_goremykin – :
An aside…. its a bogolanfini design from Mali! Love it.
toyt – :
Fantastic perfume
The best and most sophisticated in the line IMO.
It mysteriously deserves the name it carries “Black Essence” .
It is truely the black ,but not a dark one.
It rolls such a black ink that draws your secret stories over the air around you and let others getting a glance of your hidden black essence…
Amazing sillage and longevity.
ViVa Alberto Morillas
ViVa Bvlgari
ethernomo – :
I am now wearing this elegant perfume, it is sexy first and then it’s musculine, like tom ford’s black orchid but with significant pepper, good sillage for the first two hours and good longevity. It’s truly gentleman choice
priora927 – :
It smells of Tonka Bean and cinnamon to me. Quite sweet and not original. I find it pleasant though.
monstrohed – :
Nose Alberto Morillas does it again! This is an incredible, sophisticated, and sexy perfume. For me it contains gourmand and spicy notes that are truly addictive. Love, love this perfume!
ohsasha – :
Nice oriental fragrance, perfect for winter time.
Tussligneenub – :
It is beautiful fragrance.
Similar to the original Man in Black in the boozy opening but I get more leather and darkness here.
It is definitely a more mature flanker.
evellStalo – :
Nothing groundbreaking or completely different from the original. I like it but I find the original richer, thicker and better smelling. It aslo carries some DNA from the original MIB. Not for me but it’s good.
fedkinroman – :
I went to the same high school with the bottle designer Laolu in Ilorin, Nigeria!
Would buy it out of solidarity!
I have used the Man In Black…nothing special
urdnas – :
Remarkably similar to the original (about 90%). A bit less sweet, and leans more toward the Black Orient direction of spicy, burnt wood. Sits right between the two, so maybe a redundant purchase if you have either. I don’t really get the floral notes that everyone has upvoted – they come across more like tobacco to me (in agreement with someone else’s suggestion of Chopard Oud Malaki). A great scent in its own right though.
Fuck_you – :
Only had a quick sniff in Harrods, so can’t get into much of details. it’s slightly different to the original Man In Black. It’s spicier, less woody & floral. Not animalic at all but quite spicy. If the original Man In Black is like milk chocolate(50%), this one is like dark chocolate but 65% only.
bloodlawer – :
it’s Oud Malaki by Chopard , but softer … poor longevity and soft sillage
gromsp – :
vimeo.com/224047991 (promo video)
Curious how much of a floral note and or how animalic this one is vs the beloved original.
Bvlgari did a fantastic job with the oud based Orient version and fresher Cologne version.
gal4on0k – :
I want this one. But seems like it’s still not available in any internet shop?
It would look good in my bathroom cabinet next to it’s siblings Man in Black and Man Black Orient.
ds7cr933 – :
I thought the original bottle was kitsch. I like this one.
Phoenix966 – :
Bottle art is ugly and does not match the Bvlgari ethos.
acad2008 – :
This is a limited Edition (EDP), supposed to be only 3000 bottles.
But on how much I saw it in my country alone, I doubt that ….
Do not know if there is some kind of number on the box/bottle for this.
Notes as showed on Douglas:
Top: sweet rum en bitter orange;
Heart: black cacaobean;
Base: iris absolu, ebonywood and tonkabean.
It is a bit darker version of the original, with some cacao in the middle.
I think the picture on top is the back-side of the bottle.
Xeroxahorv – :
Bvlgari Man In Black is one of my top 5 fragrances.
This flanker is signed by Mr. Alberto Morillas.
Looks very interesting 🙂 I am really eager to know something about this juice or even to try it on me.
The fragrance itself is gorgeous but so far I only smelled it in paper strips.
For the time being I find the flask a bit kitsch. The original bottle is a temple of sobriety and – in my opinion – the most beautiful perfume flask in the market.