[Review] Black Baccara perfume & ritual oils

  

• Shop name: Black Baccara
• Location: Cranston, Rhode Island
• Known for: Handmade and woman-owned scents, jewelry, and vintage items with an antique and gothic flair; cruelty-free and mostly vegan 

 

TL;DR: I enjoyed testing my Black Baccara scents and was impressed by the beautiful presentation. Many of these scents are not my style, but I found a few that I quite enjoyed, though none were worthy of full sizes to me. Here is more about how I test scents.

 

Scents

 

🖤1983

(This soft and unusual blend is rooted in orris and tobacco giving way to lime and hints of strawberries. In the background, an amber musk keeps the blend unusual and soft, evoking memories of the odd and fruity perfumes of the decade.)

This was really interesting. It's definitely heavy on the juicy strawberries and warm amber musk, and the lime and orris just smell like another layer that's bright but soft. I think the description of "fruity and slightly floral musk" sounds pretty spot-on.

Longevity: 7.5+ hours

 

 

🖤Ectoplasm

(Aroma palette is fruity and floral. Highlights include violet, sugar, grape, oud, and fog machine.)

Immediately, it's very bright purple violets with that sweet & sour tang they have. Someone once said violets smell like SweeTarts, and I can't not smell that now. When I sniff up closer, I catch a whiff of something else - Play-Doh? Paper? Plastic? It smells slightly different every time but settles into violet + a little bit of copy paper in the background. It stayed strong for the first hour or so that I paid attention, but it faded before I remember to smell it again.

Longevity: Gone by morning. <10 hours

 

 

🖤Goddess of Light

(This effervescent blend evokes swirling white veils, sparks of rainbow light, and otherworldly mystery. An orange, lime, strawberry, and vanilla accord gives this blend a fresh and fizzy aura reminiscent of freshly poured cola. On the dry down, the effervescence settles into a soft and mysterious fruit and vanilla hybrid. This uniquely uplifting blend is a clean, sparkling, fruity scent with an otherworldly flair.)

The initial scent of this is definitely fresh orange (mandarin, I'd guess) and what smells a little bit like lemon cleaner. There is a fruity and powdery aspect, too, almost like Smarties. After a few minutes, I start to smell something darker and almost woody, which I think now is the cola. Smelling again after eight hours, it remains a dry, fruity orange and woody cola. The cola/wood hangs out faintly for another 10 hours or so.

Longevity: 20+ hours

 

 

🖤Mermaid Potion

(A bouquet of ozone and marine notes create a strong ocean base upon which lemon verbena and juicy grapefruit dance together to uplift the darker sea notes. Still, the blend remains on the darker side, with a dusting of vanilla bean peeking through on the dry down to lend a slight softness to the citrus whispers. A unique, bold oceanic blend fit for any mermaid.)

The best word to describe this at the beginning is 'juicy'. It's very fruity and drips with sweetness, though it was hard to nail down the notes. I guessed it was something tropical but was too focused on that to identify the ocean notes (though I can see the ozone being part of it now). I had guessed papaya as the fruit, but it definitely was just the airy tang + citrus mixed. It dries down to be a sweet vanilla bean that is soft and subtle. I like this a lot, and the imagery from the name is an added bonus!

 

Going back and smelling again, I can tell that the ozone was present with the fruit-forward bit at the beginning. The ozone gave a slight freshness that enhanced the fruit and kept it from being too one-dimensional. The ocean notes come out later with the vanilla, creating a vanilla that is barely salty and a little bit aquatic. It's nice.

Longevity: 7+ hours

 

 

 

🖤Papa Legba

(For this blend, we wanted to replicate some of Papa Legba’s favorite offerings. This blend is both spicy and sweet and contains notes of cinnamon bark, rum, and candy with faint wisps of butter, cedar wood, and popcorn lingering in the background. This is a comforting, unusual and spicy gourmand.)

I wanted to like this more than I did. Initially, it's very hot from the cinnamon, and there is a little bit of something else that I almost thought was another spice. Looking at the notes, I think it was cedar wood. The smell of spice and wood pieces reminds me of holiday potpourri or a sweet and spicy toothpaste. After awhile, it's mostly the butter, which smells curdled, and I can detect a little bit of the popcorn.

Longevity: 8+ hours

 

 

🖤Poisoned Pudding

(A table is set by a baroness who invites you to join her in a luscious banquet. In the center of the table sits a large silver bowl filled with alabaster pudding. The poison apple of puddings, it looks enchanting, yet there seems to be something dark beneath the surface.This intoxicating blend is both delicious and slightly sinister. Marshmallow and chocolate swirl together before being dusted by vanilla and benzoin. The faintest hint of butter lingers in the background draped with touches of fire and roots. This blend is a mouthwatering dessert with an added dash of something wicked.)

This smells like the best version of chocolate pudding. It starts out as a sweet, lightly powdery chocolate pudding until it starts to morph after about 10 minutes. It becomes creamy and buttery, with the vanilla/benzoin combo showing up the longer you sniff. I'm sure the other things are in there, but it's a little bit difficult to tell. It's not overly sweet, so that may be some of those alleged dark notes. Overall, it's a very decadent, fancy chocolate pudding with much more depth and interest than I expected.

Longevity: 6.5+ hours

 

 

🖤Pumpkin King

(This blend is a spicy, smoky gourmand which begins with spiced pumpkin and reveals melted candy corn, smoldering flames, and damp tree bark on the dry down. Not your typical gourmand, this blend is the perfect potion for those who enjoy their sugar with a bit of darkness.)

This is a scent where I do smell most of the notes mentioned - immediately after it dries, it smells like the spiced insides of a pumpkin, warm in a way that smells cooked to me. The smoky fire is equally present but not overpowering, and there is something damp and atmospheric lingering just behind. That must be the tree bark. After several hours, I smell something sweet and syrupy, which can only be the melted candy corn. This is not my style but is very evocative and done well.

Longevity: 6+ hours

 

🖤Sea Horses

(This fresh and clean oceanic blend is anchored by fresh, salty ocean spray augmented by hints of lime, coriander, and white grapefruit. This is a soft, light, and unusual aquatic reminiscent of crisp ocean air.)

This is a nice aquatic scent, though it’s hard to pull out many specific parts. The ocean spray is dominant with the lime peeking out as well. I’m not familiar with white grapefruit, but there is definitely an unusual fruity note that keeps the blend fresh and light overall.

Testing again, this one has to go. There is a very astringent and medicinal note that I absolutely hate. The salty air is the only redeeming thing. I think it's the damn coriander. UGH. Brb, scrubbing.

Longevity: 8+ hours

 

 

🖤Strawberry Moon

(Strawberry leaf, wild strawberry powder, tonka bean, strawberry quartz chips, plant-based biodegradable glitter, fractionated coconut oil. )

First, to be fair, this is not marketed as a perfume oil. This is the only scent sold as a ritual oil, meant for anointing the body or ritual tools. This smells really good, like fresh strawberry juice or Jell-O. It doesn't really seem like it's meant to last long, but it is really nice and juicy.

Longevity: <6 hours

 

 

🖤Unicorn Grove

(Aroma palette is fruity and fresh. Highlights include lemon, lime, warm spun sugar, thick caramel swirls, strawberries, and pink lemonade.)

Hmm, interesting. This is very bubbly and citrusy, like a lemon-lime soda and something else - maybe strawberry? It also has a powdery note that is very slight and reminds me of Pez.

 

Longevity: <8 hours

 

 

🖤Wilde

(Inspired by the mystery and decadence of one of our favorite writers, Wilde is an enchanting and timeless cologne. This blend is anchored by two interpretations of bay rum tinged with cloves that lift it to a beautiful spiciness. As this blend dries down, it reveals a gorgeous cardamom sweetness, which sugars the bay rum ever so slightly. Hints of tobacco and leather linger in the background, adding an aura of mystery to the brew.)

The bay rum read as cooked oranges to my nose, with a ton of cloves. That's all that I smelled for awhile - clove and what I thought was orange. It smelled very holiday-appropriate to me. After six hours or so, it is much more faint. There is a nondescript, slightly more clean smell that I think is the leather.

Longevity: 6.5+ hours

 

 

🖤Winter Witch

(This enchanting and soothing blend begins with a deep, rich cognac enhanced by cardamom and slivers of almonds. On the dry down, peeks of spicy cloves emerge as the cognac slowly turns to a phantom and gives way to Vetiver. This complex, warm, spicy, and earthy blend also features hints of anise and fennel to create a comforting and timeless brew that warms beautifully with and wears close to the skin. It settles into a captivatingly warm, earthy, and slightly spicy aroma.)

I didn't like this. It has to be the vetiver that I was smelling - I got the fresh and clean cognac and a bit of warm and earthy anise/fennel, but that vetiver is so sharp and green. I smelled the almond, too, in the way that it sometimes smells like berries or fruit. It smelled like it had gone off to me, but I think vetiver is supposed to smell like that. It does what it says - After several hours, it has settled into an earthy situation that was kinda spicy, I guess. It's not spicy in the traditional sense. It's spicy like herbs are. I don't know how to describe this all, truly.

Longevity: 8+ hours

 

Thoughts

 

These were fun to test! I had been hearing about Black Baccara for long enough that it caught my attention, and it was fun to try out a new-to-me shop. I made my purchase in 2019 and do not recall any issues. The scents were not my style overall, but that's okay. The longevity was good, too, and I liked the labels! Simple and easy to read while fitting the brand aesthetic. I significantly prefer a shorter tag like this to the very long one that can curl around the vial more than once (you all know who you are)!

Overall, I am keeping Mermaid Potion and Poisoned Pudding as samples and have destashed the rest. I am not closely following Black Baccara but would not be opposed to trying them again!

Updated November 22: I am adding my success rate to all brand reviews from now on! It should be fun to see where all of the perfume houses lie. Success ratio refers to how many I love and keep vs. how many I've tried.

Success rate:  2/12 or ~17%

See below for a few more photos!

 

This is the outer packaging for my order. So cute!

 

The samples came in this cute tin.

I love the presentation of this oil. So pretty.

Strawberry Moon has particulate that you need so shake up. I love the way it looks in the bottle.