Angelique Noire 幽夜白芷

I love this scent, and I’m actively considering buying a larger size. It seems this fragrance is far more polarizing that I had thought given the positive reviews I’d read and my own personal experience with it. I agree that angelica may cross over from green into bitter territory, depending on who’s wearing it (Angelique Noire smells quite different on my skin versus on my friends’). For me, the angelica and pear give a soft freshness that balances the vanilla so nicely. I wore it to a formal event in a country that had a reputation for disliking overly strong scents, and I was told several times that *I* smelled so nice. It lasts for around 5-6 hours (wish it had more longevity for the price), and others can smell it without being choked out. It’s subtler and less aromatic than Eau Duelle, so if you like the idea of a green, unsweetened vanilla that’s less resinous, it may be worthwhile to get a sample of Angelique Noire. Definitely not a safe blind buy, though!

As a lover of all (or, in any case, most) green botanical fragrances, I also have a weak spot for high quality gourmands and well-made, photorealistic vanillas. Angelique Noire is my dream come true. It is deceptively named, as there's nothing even slightly black or somber about it. Guerlain claims it was inspired by the Tchaikovsky ballet, Swan Lake, about the tragic struggle between pure love and dark deception. If the duality of the human soul is the inspiration, AN repels all that is shadowy with a masterpiece of bittersweet, herbal Angelica root, tart, cool pear, and sweet jasmine juxtaposed against a deeply rich, warm, creamy vanilla. It is wonderful all year long, but is especially beautiful during the sunny spring and summer months.

An absolutely stunning fragrance. It took me a few months after buying my sample to give it a chance as I was comparing it to Diptyque Eau Duelle EDT, my fave of the moment, and finding it too different/somehow lacking. I put it away then on impulse tried it again and took it on holiday. Something about this scent got under my skin and into my brain and I fell hard in love with it. A week after my holiday, my 2ml sample exhausted, I bought a 100ml bottle. The colour of my 2025 bottle is lighter than the 2023 sample I had, so I think it will take time for it to deepen into the vanilla heaven I have become used to. But it has become my signature fragrance, and I am completely obsessed. I love it so much. I have found The One.

I am a vanilla lover. I am not a green lover. But after fully trying Lilyphéa, with its initial blast of snapped stems that blossomed into a beautiful, creamy vanilla, I decided to give other green vanillas a fair shot. On skin, Angelique Noire starts aggressively green, as if you've spent the day picking thousands of summer weeds with bare hands now imbued with their bitter scent. But just like with Lilyphea, this greenness (mostly) dies down in a few minutes and leaves behind a very elegant and elevated vanilla. It does stay green, but in a way that makes me feel balanced and sophisticated.

Absolutely beautiful. I won’t buy it because the vanilla half is so otherworldly and elegant, it just doesn’t suit my jeans and tee shirt lifestyle. But my goodness, they really succeeded in creating two equally glorious renditions of green angelica flower in the opening and a luminous vanilla in the drydown. I was immediately smitten by the tangy green banana peel and sweet grass notes in the intro. Only to find the transition into vanilla like a dance of ivory silk scarves billowing in the night sky. Sorry for the poetry but this beauty demands flowery descriptions. 5 out of 5.