Petale Noir

Pleasant and much lighter than L'Agent. I can definitely detect some similarities between the two, but for me Pétale Noir doesn't have the same depth or intoxicating quality. There's nothing I particularly dislike about it — it just doesn't grab me. Nice enough, but I'd probably choose something else.

Just an fyi to anyone looking at this, the Fragrantica notes are a little bit off. Here's the official list, as advertised on the packaging of my genuine and original tester: Top: Mandarin, Water Lily, Bergamot, Magnolia Middle: Rose Absolute, Ylang Ylang, Neroli, Orris Base: Sandalwood, Cedarwood, Vetiver, Amber To me, it smells like a lovely and romantic scent. It's mainly just soft aquatic florals with a bit of powderiness (with a hint of sweetness; almost like smelling powdered sugar from marshmallows faintly in the air, but not in a synthetic way; everything is very natural smelling) in addition to some light musk and gentle woodiness to balance things out. The very beginning reminded me of parma violets sweets with a clean soapiness to it. There's something so beautiful about this scent that makes me keep going back to spraying my wrists (probably the dreamy water lily). It's very playful in an innocent and sensual way. Very pretty and feminine! It makes me think of a picture of delicate water nymphs in a magical garden setting with beautiful water and greenery around. It's something you imagine your 'muse' smelling or looking like. I really cannot understand anyone saying that there are heavy notes such as leather or any sort of smokiness in here, let alone any sort of embodiment of "death" or "decay". I guess it just goes to show that people will smell what you tell them it will smell like. The name is subsequently not very fitting; there is nothing "noir" (black) here; quite the opposite actually. It's very gentle, feminine, soft, even a bit linear which I quite like because it means you're mainly just on the magic of the lovely florals. It would be perfect for spring or summer when it's not too hot, but also even in winter I think it would be so enveloping and magical.

Well, I was just at the point of decluttering this one because I never reach for it. Then I read Fragrant Lily's review (5th one down from me) and reversed course. "The fragrance perfectly presents the whole dramatic picture of life in the most dynamic way." Can't sell something that does THAT. Front of the pack now, my plan is to wear it a lot this fall until I understand how it does this. Birth, love, death, decay, all in a pink bottle. Sign me up.

25 notes. Love that. Miss when everything and the kitchen sink was the norm in perfumery. The results here are unique, beautiful, sexy, balanced & fabulously non-linear. One of the few hard core floral scents I own. Petale Noir is superficially demure but a dominatrix at her core. A literal FAFO fragrance. Apparently discontinued. Henry Rose Flora Carnivora is an alternative. Same botanical structure but absent of the cigarette smoke & animalic musk softly swirling around the base of Petale Noir. I don't pull this one out often, but when I do, I'm truly grateful it's in my collection.

Smells like funeral flowers and I'm all for it 😍😍😍

OMG!!! This page is not doing enough to the beauty of Petale Noir! This is a sexy, mysterious veil 😍 it's a floral bouquet shrouded in leathery smokiness, my goodness! Soooo goooooood! Reminds me of section also doesn't do it justice. To be Petale Noir reminds only of Suede Pony by BoySmells and a little bit of a cross of Britney Curious and Gres Cabochard.. If you're not a friend with florals which have a vintage twist, don't even approach Petale Noir. There's a very clear vintage musk approach but I love it. Smoky white floral what's not to love.

Not my favorite from AP. I expected more mystery, going by many a note, but i just got "green". It is wet flower garden and freshly cut green grass. Nothing special nor unique, has been done to death. I have quite a few from AP and this is a first one to leave me wanting.

Absolutely outstanding, proposing a riddle scent. It never reveals its mystery straight away. It's like a good wine, needs time to be appreciated. A conspicuous combination of all sorts of opposites is whimsically kaleidoscopic: the tender magnolia vibes are mixed with the animalistic leather notes, the young and fresh rose goes together with the vintage ylang-ylang, seemingly incompatible aquatic and mossy accords frame the composition. The fragrance perfectly presents the whole dramatic picture of life in the most dynamic way. It starts with the tender bloom of flowers of all seasons where the summer and spring variety of petals pops like champagne and then suddenly it overwhelms with the resins and heavy mossy notes. I would compare it with the two-faced ancient Janus one part of whose face is the clean neroli and the other one - the dirty leather. The scent is light and celestial and, in the same time, massive and rough. It's a real masterpiece, unfortunately, underrated

Oh, I don’t know where to start. I am a newbie collector so I started buying samples after a few not so great blind buys. 😅 And I’m so glad I didn’t blind buy this. I not just dislike this one, I straight up hate it. I feel sick from this smell. No idea which note or notes are responsible for the very old granny smell. Also smells like hard soap. I might try it later on again, but for now, it’s a hell no. 😷

A predictable, delicate floral with a summery vibe due to the magnolia and lotus. The texture is watery and volumptuous like a ripe fruit. It's not as dry and powdery as a I expected. I also can't detect any oakmoss or tobacco leaf. The drydown is a little flat and wispy, despite spraying a copious amount. It's a little non-descript and un-inspiring with no detectable concept or theme. Just a bunch of summer florals stewed together with a chemically, synthetic leather and altogether kind of resembles cucumber. I wish it had been a dy, ashy tobacco with powdery hyacinth and lily and an earthy oakmoss and animalic leather.....like a beautiful, delicate woman who was also a chain smoker with a luxurious handbag which she spilled her powder compact into.....that's what I was expecting lol so I'm very underwhelmed. Husband said ..... "No, its rubbish".

So vintage ! I can wear this to go to the temple 🤣 Maybe I can also share this perfume to my grandma 👵

I am finally ready to admit the truth about how I feel about this one; here's my review before I rehome it. I've owned Petale Noir for maybe eight years as part of my robust collection of Agent Provocateur fragrances (some of which are among my absolute favorite scents). It shares some of the same sexy, unabashed, neo-vintage, unique DNA of other AP frags. However, there's some important differences. Like an actual vintage perfume, Petale Noir has A LOT of notes. Its composition is complex, and probably extra sensitive to the wearer's chemistry--as seems to be the case for a lot of vintage perfumes. It has the musky, powdery, vetiver, labdanum base that I LOVE. It has the ylang-ylang, rose, osmanthus, etc. filling out the middle. However, violet leaf (I think is the culprit) dominates the top notes. It cuts through the intoxicating, resinous, essence with something sharp and green--it's jarring. On the drydown, the violet leaf relaxes just a bit, but then evolves into something aldehydic. The green, aldehydic element in this otherwise great fragrance is impossible to ignore. I realize that aldehydes aren't in the notes, but something in the way the notes mix and settle create a similar experience. Petale Noir is not a bad fragrance by any means. I can definitely see why people would like it. But for folks like me who cannot wear certain notes like aldehydes, it may not work. Ultimately, fragrances should make the wearer feel more confident/sexy/powerful/etc. It doesn't do that for me, sadly. So, it shall find a new home where it will be appreciated for what it is.

Dont but it! Dont deplete the market of this one please. Nuff said. I'm not telling you how good this is.

Britney Spears’ Curious grew up, took up smoking, started dressing up in vintage clothes and listening to old torch songs. A coming of age scent.

So the first thing I’ll say is that it is completely remarkable that I didn’t run and scrub this off immediately. If I had seen the number of floral notes before I tried the sample, I might never have tried it at all. But let’s get to the interesting part… I actually enjoyed a floral perfume despite normally avoiding florals entirely. A friend passed the sample to me and it is a reminder to keep an open mind. Some impressions from other reviewers that I agree with: There is bitterness here, a vintage quality, power while the scent lasts but its life is very brief on me. It IS almost like the flowers are dying, and hence a sad perfume… and I usually go for happy scents. Another thing that surprises me is that so many people find the non floral elements prominent enough to call it something other than floral. I perceived no tobacco no fruit no leather— nope, pretty much just magically tolerable flowers and maybe a hint of cedar Anyway the perfume world is a weird place where interesting adventure happens. This was fun for me but I would not purchase the scent.

AP Petale Noir is a truly "WOW!!!" fragrance, to my nose! it's unlike a LOT of things, and LIKE very few; very unusual! I didn't really know what to think or say about it, at first, and usually I'm at no loss for words! But here, I turn to another Fragrantica reviewer, who.am.i.you, who said, Petale Noir is a "gorgeous magnolia leather tobacco fragrance (has that been done before?) .... a cigar wrapped in white flowers ..."! It's "bitter flowers," as Enigmatic Scent put it, a "flowerish leather ... a bit indolic, as if flowers started dying ...." (reviewer 4 x 4), with "an intriguingly murky element" (dsty). It has an old school, vintage feel, even if it was blended in 2012. Unusual flowers, leather, tobacco, bitterness, murkiness, vintage vibes -- EXACTLY my cup of tea! Thank you to those folks who so clearly identified what I love about it. <3 I tried it next to one of the perfumes it's frequently compared to above, Anais Anais, and well, nope, not much alike at all, to my nose, nor to Cacharel Eden. So I tried it next to the original Agent Provocateur (it resembles it a bit, but just in the chypre-like opening, and after that, not so much) and next to Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds (!), because there's a sort of medicinal note that reminds me of my childhood dentist (who I loved so it's a positive memory). Finally, I got out my magnolia collection, and that was the only thing Petale Noir was really similar to: Britany Spears Curious (but that one's super clean), Guerlain Idylle, and most of all, Lanvin Rumeur. Yes, that's what it most resembles in my current collection, at least -- Rumeur. Nonetheless, Rumeur is sweeter at the base, while Petale Noir is bitter. Mmmmmmm...! Petale Noir is just SO original and I completely love it. It has that wonderful play of opposites that many of the best, most complex perfumes have: the young and fresh + the mature and almost over-ripe, the light, cleanness of the flowers + the earthy, animal quality of the leather, the metallic, almost medicinal note that comes from I-have-no-idea-what + the dirty sweetness of the tobacco leaf. I'm so impressed with every single Agent Provocateur perfume I've ever tried and now have quite a little collection: Petale Noir, the original, Maitresse, L'Agent, and Blue Satin.

If I look below I wonder if I have another perfume because PH or not, skin or not I find it hard to believe that a perfume that is by definition an earthy one can ends up smelling aquatic or "sweet boudoir", even if it has in theory aquatic notes. Is one to have a note and smell as a wet ground for example, and other to smell "aquatic" itself. This can be easily confused with a Patou's perfumes, but it has a note that Patou avoids, namely tobacco, I admit that I would never have thought that a brand that makes lingerie can produce such a thing, because it has nothing to do with the image of a woman in lingerie, thanks Heaven for that. All the madness with this perfume started when I found it in the boutique from where I buy my wonders, I heard about AP, not a fan, Triumph&Eres forever sorry, anyway but I knew it was a British lingerie brand but one that goes more on the American subsidiary, still I bought it whiteout test it because of the box, stupid reason but true, the box is very charming. I didn't expect much from it sincerely, so I didn't test immediately when I arrived home but when I did...fantastic, it's a Sublime by Patou with something, probably the ylang, from 1000 Patou and a tobacco, but not any, a mentholated one. I'm not a fan of tobacco, I always thought that if you want to smell as tobacco you don't need expensive perfume, just go and stay next to some who smoke, if you don't much better because the smell will practically stick to you after, so no, not for me, but in some perfumes doesn't bother me. In this case the tobacco base is proeminent but still soft, you can feel it but is a light mentholated one like those fancy Vogue cigarette from years ago, under its light rise a very green earthy wet smell, like a wild pasture after a torrential rain, shy from behind emerges a very beautiful lotus and ylang and maybe some neroli, sincerely the other flowers are absent for my nose, but I feel a citrus shadow, some violet leaf and a hint of suede indeed. The scent is not at all like Anais, Anais is a white floral by definition this one not. One over all, I like it a lot and I see this being wore to a business dark green velvet outfit, but the longevity kills me slowly just 30 minutes on clothes and on skin seconds probably, sooo I will try some tricks to make it last longer, but unfortunately this takes from the pleasure of the perfume ritual.

A transparent floral-aquatic. I smell mostly magnolia and lotus. I wear it when I want to feel like a young sprite frolicking into the woods of the world. A bright and very feminine scent in a beautiful bottle, too. I love Agent Provocateur perfumes.

How is this such a pretty little floral but still naughty and sexy as heck?! THIS is the AP I love. Very beautiful, a little bit of a vintage-feel, and did I mention that's it's sexy? Because it's sexy. Yow.

This is my favourite of the agent provocateur perfumes and the one I receive the most spontaneous compliments about. Despite the many notes listed, it reads as a fresh, uncomplicated ''rose bud in the morning dew'' scent on me and is green and fresh without any particularly woody notes and, on me, no smokiness. It is an innocent, light rosebud perfume that is nevertheless mature enough to be worn by an older woman and has none of the overly sweet, artificial notes of so many modern rose perfumes. The only issue for me is one of longevity as it does not last long on my skin. A very pretty springtime perfume for night or day.

This one is a pass for me. Reminds me of an old cologne my gran used to have on her bedside table. I don’t like Anais Anais and this one has similarities to it. Got it for Christmas quite a few years ago and everytime I try I know why I don’t like it. Quite a bit of Hyacinth overpowering everything. I don’t feel it’s sultry or sexy. Heavy floral, headache stuff for me. The original agent provocateur is lovely, but this one is a big no from me

A very confusing first wear. It almost feels like a soliflore, which is hard to believe when looking at the listed notes. A cooling white floral. There's something very nostalgic, almost melancholically beautiful about it for me. But I want that leather and tobacco, so I'll keep trying it out in different conditions. Not meek but has a transparency that makes it quite wearable. Tenacious without being too too showy. Bottle is gorgeous, probably my favourite from AP so far. Edit: The opening specifically is breezy, fruity and dryly sweet. I feel a little bit of smokiness coming through. Very bright.

This is quite a strong scent.... for me, Autumn or Winter. A bit too heavy for summer. I have to be in a certain mood to wear this. I do really like it, it's different. A long leather boots and stockings scent.... quite adult and sexy. I quite like 'heavy' scents. A bit of an old school oriental vintage vibe. A smoky musk with a touch of rose. I don't usually like rose, but it works well with this.

I love the top notes, at first spray. I wish this would stay and dance around my skin and clothes forever... But I have to keep spraying and keep spraying.. It doesn't stay on my skin at all. So, I spray very generously on my clothes. (Mostly my pajamas and bathrobe lately)... Yeah, it's the year of the pandemic! But that aside, because this is about PERFUME, I spray spray spray on my fuzzy pink bathroom and I try different types of fabric because it seems like this fades on clothing too.. I don't know, maybe I've got that olfactory fatigue going on with this scent (after the first glorious spray arrives and fades away). UGH. For now, I can't even describe the scent. I need to take a break from it. I'll try again. For now though, this isn't cutting it for me. A beautiful fragrance but no staying power whatsoever and so so so very weak. But again, it might be my nose... who knows! In the meantime, I've revisited the original Agent Provocateur. Well, not the original formulation (I WISH!), but you know what I mean. And I'm much happier with this vs. the Petale Noir, for reasons said above. Has anyone had a better time with the Petale Noir in regards to it staying even for 5 minutes on your skin? EDIT: She may not last long... but this turned out to be one of my most used/reached for little fragrances. And especially, now that she's a rare find, it seems.. I cherish my Petal Noire. (whether she lasts long or not). She's beautiful. One word, 'lotus flower'. She's all lotus flower, on me. Feminine, almost aquatic, sweet floral. Almost like the smell of sweet pea, to my nose.

This smells better on my clothes than on my skin.. Didnt like it at first and had to wash it off my arm. But the whiffs afterwards from the scent on my clothes was Ok.. Old school? Well, I imagined smelling deodorant from my mothers armpit 😅

I really liked this one! It has a very specific vibe I can't put my finger on. Maybe it's a bit old school? I wore it a lot, but ended up giving it to my best friend because for some reason it just reminded me of her, and it fit her much better. It's a bright, "white" scent, clean but not so much, with a tobacco note. Like if there was flavored tobacco used in a hookah or something? For summer nights maybe? Very eccentric madame.

So this was a blind buy for me - I recently purchased it as I wanted to try something new as a daytime wear for summer. When you first spray it, you get a rather overwhelming waft of powdery florals and bitter citrus which can be somewhat nauseating in larger doses. Fortunately, once it dries down, it's a very pleasant lovechild of Chanel's Coco Noir and Cacharel's Eden, both of which I'm a fan of. I like it. I'm not obsessed with it, but I certainly do not regret buying it. Will I repurchase it again? No. But I am enjoying it enough.

This is the best formulated perfume ever! I absolutely love it! I am on my 3rd bottle, this is a perfume for life! If you like, floral/woody/oriental scents you will definitely enjoy this one. I love to wear it during spring and summer, it's like walking to a fields full of flowers and greenery.I also adore the bottle

I love AP perfumes (not all, some I hate) and this one is one of my favourites. It is very well blended, the notes do not fall apart and you feel the whole accord together. As many already said it is flowerish leather. It is a bit indolic, as if flowers started dying. It has a tobacco vibe, not cigarettes, but tobacco leaves. You need to try to understand, as it is hard to say from the notes above. I am now on medication which makes me feeling nauseous, and most perfumes just add to it. Can not use gourmand, vanilla, amber, most of musk, neroli, flowers and anything sweet. I am surprised that Petale Noir actually makes me feeling better. It is not sweet or heavy. Also, it is not "happy" perfume. It is calm and even a bit sad perfume.

This is a very sexy, leathery floral, a bit spicy. It is a non-conform, unusual and great scent. I use it regularly.