There isn’t a time or place, in my view, where it would be out of place. Work, date night, casual, formal, summer, winter, whatever – Bleu Noir EDP is a Swiss Army knife kind of a fragrance that will work most anytime and anywhere. Similar Fragrances If you’re a fan of the Narciso Rodriquez For Him Blue Noir range, you’ll love the familiar musky heart and sensual yet sophisticated pairings. Compared to the Narcisco Rodriquez Eau de Parfum the Parfum boasts more animalistic, leathery notes without the familiar spicy pink pepper start. Eau de Toilette fans can explore a new scent profile with a more refreshing citrus start rather than the spicy wintery spices; the base is cooler with a smoky leatheriness instead of the more familiar warmer woody facets. Bleu Noir EDP creates a very pleasant but restrained aura around you, which in my book is the best kind of projection. This won’t announce your present at forty paces like Dior Sauvage, but anyone who gets close will not fail to get a whiff. Value For Money For Him Bleu Noir EDP doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it wasn’t really setting out to. This woody-musky-fougèreish DNA has been done before, and will likely seem somewhat familiar to most. This fragrance isn’t “out there” in any way. But the distinguishing factor here is the quality of the composition and blending. Bleu Noir EDP is not a “beast mode” fragrance and shouldn’t be considered as such. However, I find its performance to be more than acceptable. Projection & Sillage

American design house Narciso Rodriguez, of course, is no exception. Their Bleu Noir line was initiated in 2015 with the release of For Him Bleu Noir Eau de Toilette as a flanker to the original For Him. Bleu Noir now has two flankers of its own, one of which, Bleu Noir Eau de Parfum, is the subject of this review. We believe that fragrance doesn’t have a gender – any fans of musky, sexy scents can enjoy this Parfum. For those looking for increased longevity, simply amp up the sprays. If you usually do two or three sprays, try four or five. If you usually do four or five, try six or seven. This is not likely to choke anyone out or cause offense to any but the most sensitive of noses. Fans will instantly recognise the iconic bottle shape. But for the first time, the Bleu Noir is dressed in an elegant blue outer lacquering, without interior lacquering for a slightly translucent touch. The matte navy cap adds the final luxurious touch, whilst the deep colour expresses its mystery and intensity. As a Parfum, the scent is the highest fragrance concentration, lasting between 6 to 8 hours on the skin – it’s the strongest of the collection.

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The drydown, which begins shortly after the opening and remains mostly the same throughout, is dominated by smooth musk, and a rich chord of warm woods and amber. Déclaration is a complex composition, rich and spicy and woody and dirty and full of twists and turns. By comparison, Bleu Noir EDP is an exceedingly simple fragrance, in the best way. Trim Déclaration of all its sharp edges, smooth it over and round it out, and you’ll be in the ballpark of what Bleu Noir EDP smells like. For Him Bleu Noir Eau de Parfum has very good lasting power for a fragrance of its genre. With four to five sprays on both clothes and skin, I get around eight hours of solid longevity.

A few weeks ago we talked about the association between scent and colour, and how a fragrance can showcase a vast array of shades and effects. One brand that seems to think of colour when it creates perfume is Narciso Rodriguez. For their original fragrance, they created the olfactory equivalent of pink satin, whilst NARCISO was an ode to the nude tones of beige and their masculine For Him is as grey as a scent can be. It’s not just the power of suggestion in the shades of the bottles either, these scents all have a distinct hue making the Narciso Rodriguez collection one of the most finely tuned out there. Overall, the bottle for Bleu Noir EDP is quite handsome and feels very well done. Performance LongevityAs often as I’ve mentioned other “blue” fragrances such as Bleu de Chanel or Sauvage in this review, For Him Bleu Noir Eau de Parfum doesn’t really smell like any of them.