Hey Perfume Posse People, Reglisse Noir means Black Licorice and Canada’s Jessica Buchanan, who mixes her high-tech chemicals with organic naturals and biodegradable musks, has created a beautiful homage to one of my favourite candies. A licorice as if seen in a sub-continental Indian’s dream of European fragrance. Even if you are a licorice in fragrance hater you may well be able to wear this particular scent.
Reglisse Noire by Jessica Buchanan for 1000 Flowers 2010
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: White pepper, ozone, mint, shiso leaf
Heart: Black licorice, star anise, ginger, cocoa
Base: Musk, patchouli, vanilla, vetiver
Straight out of the gate Reglisse Noir gives a luscious licorice note tempered by the icy blast of mint and cool wash of arctic air. Sweet and aloof and surprisingly quiet. Though I am fully fragrant it’s not a big scent, and it is done with very little of the sugar that seems ubiquitous in modern perfumery. This is the greenest gourmand I’ve ever smelt.
Photo Stolen Wikipedia
The heart of Reglisse Noir is the dry sweetness of expensive licorice and lightly surrounded by vanilla/chocolate, though this hardly covers the range of flavours I can smell. There’s a spiciness that brings to mind a market in Northern India, sweet and spicy and full of life. Sometimes when I open a new sari sent from India this smell floats out and lingers while I sew the garment I’m creating, it’s a heavenly melange of sweet, spice, sweat and dusty dry earth.
What I smell, if I take Reglisse Noir at nose value, is expensive and exotic. The calm and still composure of the very best that money can buy: no fanfare, just pure sweet luxury. The patchouli is an added depth to the chocolate and I think it’s the vetiver that keeps the whole fragrance feeling dry and crisp till it fades and is gone .
Photo Stolen Flickr
I could imagine Reglisse Noir keeping you composed under pressure, stiffening your back in adversity and pouring oil over troubled waters. The fragrance will give you exactly the aloof, refined and sophisticated air so many of us strive to maintain, or even achieve in my case. A softly spoken whisper that borders sweet and cool, and in the other sense of the word is very cool.
Further reading: Perfume Posse and Olfactoria’s Travels
1000 Flowers has $70/30ml and a sample set
Have you tried Reglisse Noir? What hits your licorice spot, or are you mortally afraid of the note?
Portia xx
Hello Portia, Thank you for this lovely review! And I have enjoyed reading the comments as well. When you speak about Reglisse smelling expensive and of luxury, I think that is due to the very high % of naturals in the formula. (much higher than mainstream fragrances). There is lots of vetiver oil, bergamot oil, fennel, star anise, patchouli, cedarwood, and others that give a depth and richness that synthetics just can’t do on their own. And in regard to distribution: Indie Scents in Canada is always a good source, and otherwise, we do ship worldwide from Grasse. Also, yes, I am working on a new collection that will be really fun, showcasing naturals from the Mediterranean region. I’ve got an Indiegogo campaign active for the next 10 days for anyone who would like to preorder samples or full size bottles. So thank you once again Portia, and to all of you who are fans of Reglisse! Wishing you all a wonderful season! xo
Hey there Jessica! WOW! Thanks for coming and commenting. Good luck with the IndieGogo.
Portia xx
I love Reglisse Noire. There are some scents that are similar like the Etro, but to me they are a bit too much like Sambuca The Reglisse Noire is great in the winter, and it blends well with vanilla and cocoa scents
Heya imapirate007,
Sambuca! There’s a word I’ve not used in decades. OMG! MY head hurts thinking of the litres I’ve sculled of it. AAAARRGGHHHH! Happy and tortured memories come flooding back.
Portia xx
I really should get a bottle of this. I have a sample and absolutely love it. I didn’t like the taste of licorice until fairly recently, but I do like it in perfume. (I tried some salted licorice from Germany (I think).. it was salted with ammonium chloride.. very weird stuff but I kind of liked it)
Reglisse Noire is very different from Lolita Lempicka, and I like both. RN is dryer and less sweet. The first time I smelled it, I almost read the licorice note as iris for some reason.
Your description of getting sari fabric sounds amazing. Sari fabrics are so gorgeous. I have a sewing machine but don’t really know how to use it.
Hi there Jennifer Counts,
Excellent summary of the differences. How interesting that the licorice came off as iris, I’m going to grab my sample and look for it.
You can do an evening course in sewing. The basics are very easy to get, mastery takes practice. It is one of the simplest creative outlets. Patchwork is a particularly fine way to teach yourself sewing too. Lots of little straight seams.
Portia xx
Put some on this morning after I read this post – it’s more discreet and elegant than it might sound to the non-candy crowd, although I don’t wear it too often. BTW, is 1000 Flowers still having distribution problems? It’s been hard to buy even in Canada.
Hey AnnieA,
Yes, exactly. Not a modern candy frag at all.
I’m not sure exactly but the 1000 Flowers website sends to the world.
Portia xx
I went through my 15ml bottle of this one. Loved it. I’m a black licorice fan so this was a home run for me when I bought it blind.
SNAP Poodle,
I’m so glad we both agree on this baby. Considering how stitched up and elegant Reglisse Noire is it’s amazing how versatile too. Totally wearable, and beautifully interesting.
Portia xx
This sounds really tempting. I love black licorice and black jelly beans (which are really more anise than licorice). Don’t have any licorice fragrances, though.
Hey there Sapphire,
I remember coming across Star Anise in my last partner’s cooking. He would put it in the curry right towards the end of its simmer and suddenly the whole cacophany of scents would come together and be so beautiful. It was like a magic trick.
Portia xx
I can’t bear the taste of licorice so this probably won’t appeal to me. I did own Lolita Lempicka and I traded it away. Strangely, Jesus del Pozo In Black has licorice in the base and I like that one. À chacun son goût!
Hey Queen Cupcake.
Thanks for dropping by. Licorice is polarising. So much else to choose from though. Yes, if we all had the same likes……
Portia xx
Hi Portia,
This is one of my favorites as well. I often get different notes each time I wear it. You’re absolutely right that it’s not a licorice-y fragrance in the way one might think, that ‘thread’ (haha, sewing talk) runs through the fragrance the whole time, but there’s also mint and anise and ozone and vanilla and chocolate and vetiver and patch and musk that all come out at times. I own a couple of 15 ml bottles and finally bought a larger refill bottle. I think Jessica is really talented – watch for her!!
xox
Hi SpringPansy,
Yes to everything.
Jessica has been busy after her initial splash in the blogs etc creating an extremely fine line of fragrance. I was hoping to get to Canada next year to meet her but it looks like my itinerary is F U L L.
Maybe 2017?
Portia xx
Can you get to Grasse instead? I think she lives in France now!
Sadly we are only in France for 3 days this year so Paris gets all our time. One day we will calmly trip the way to Grasse. One day.
Portia xx
Howdy, dear! I think I have a sample somewhere ’round here and I need to dig it up. Don’t much like the taste of black licorice (although I do enjoy those long, red twisty ones) but find the note can really work nicely in a perfume. What I’m mortally afraid of is … that atomizer bulb on the Reglisse! Those things strike deadly fear into my heart! Sure hope the bottle comes with a regular cap as well.
Hey Ann,
I bought the 15ml which is a splash bottle, it has been decanted into a 5ml atomiser that I gave to a mate and a 10ml for me. Most things I’ll never need more than 10ml but there is a LOT of air in it now. It may be that I’ll need another 15ml.
Portia xx
This goes on my must try list. While I like the taste of black licorice, I love it in perfumes – have you tried Kerosene Black Vines, Portia? I mix it with a shot of extra musk (Kiehls) and it’s very fun to wear. How wonderful it must be to sew with sari fabrics! My family excels in fabric arts for generations until I came along, I used to just about hyperventilate threading a needle, it felt so fiddly.
Kerosene Black Vines lasted on me so well that I felt I never wanted to smell it again. Around 36 hours Rosarita313. LOVED it for the first 6 or 8.
Nowadays I’m so blind that threading the machine is done by memory and guess work, usually about the 3rd go.
Portia xx
I love Reglisse Noir! I only have a small sample that is almost gone… maybe I need a bottle! Even though I’m not really a licorice fan, although anise and fennel are things I enjoy in food. My favorite licorice memory doesn’t involve a perfume or eating it, but finding little stashes of “drop” all over our house and cars long after we hosted a series of Dutch students who were interning at the company where my husband worked.
What is “drop” Wendyb1063?
Portia x
Portia, it is a vile Dutch licorice
candy: http://www.thedutchtable.com/2011/05/whats-op-with-drop.html
Wendy x
HA HA HA! I’ll probably love it. HA HA HA! Thanks for sharing.
Portia xx
Licorice can be a tough one for me. I don’t like going about my day smelling like a black jelly bean. Especially since I have a family member that I don’t care for saying she liked them. But I can wear and enjoy the original Lolita Lempicka.
Hi Eldarwen22,
Lolita Lempicka is a genius frag, I love it too.
Is there any other licorice frag that you like?
Portia xx
I must admit I am one of those people who is mortally afraid of licorice in any form. Good to know I might still get on with this one, as I’m always hearing good things about it.
Portia, you sew as well? Is there no end to your talents?
What a bummer about the licorice aversion Tara. That goodness there are a multitude of other notes to keep you going.
Yes, I studied fashion after I stopped school. Worked in the industry for a couple of years but the work at my level was boring, repetitive and poorly paid. I had no fire in my belly about it until I started making theatre costumes, then drag. That was totally fun. Jin was complaining the other day that I’d not had a new costume in years except for some coats I had made in India. Maybe I’ll get back on the treadle.
Portia xx
Yes, make a new costume for London!
Um, probably not but maybe…….
Portia xx
My dearest memory of licorice is the taste of the original Stimorol chewing gum back in the eighties. We could buy it only in Duty Free Shops so I begged my father to buy me a huge box when he went to his business trips. No chewing gum ever has come close to it.
As for licorice fragrances, I fell for Etra Etro even before I realized I can smell licorice in it. It’s not listed in the notes but I suppose the mix of spices does it. I’ll try and find Reglisse Noir because your description of it sounds lovely.
Hey Neva,
I used to like licorice as a kid ONLY in the licorice allsorts that my Grandma always had in a jar. It wasn’t till early puberty that my tastes evolved top loving it in other ways.
Now I LOVE it.
Until now I’d not read that Etra has a licorice vibe, thanks for the news.
Portia xx
I’ve had this on my wishlist to sample for quite a while now. I was that kid who would eat the other’s black jelly bean rejects, happily. And my faves are the soft Australian kind (Kookabura sp?) tho those wheels are looking tasty.
The only licorice-y fragrance I have is Lolita Lempicka and it’s one of my comfort scents year round. How would you compare the 2? I do like the cooling aspect of that note. Thanks for reminding me about this one and for your review!
Hey ElisaP,
Reglisse Noir is absolutely polar opposite in feel to Lolita Lempicka. It’s a serious look at licorice, a cool and calming elegance compared to the fun, wit and charm of LL. Both fabulous, entirely different.
Portia xx