Scented Review: Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire EDP (EN)

Hello beauties ❤

Today’s post is scented review on one of the Guerlain’s iconic perfumes - La Petite Robe Noire or Little Black Dress ❤This scent is among Guerlain’s bestselling perfumes and it has a lot of flankers too (for those of you who aren’t familiar with this term, flanker is perfume that is released after the original and they share the same DNA, but the flanker has some different notes added/removed) and its quite recognizable.

I remember I first tried Little Black Dress in 2012, right after the release and I immediately asked to receive as my birthday gift – back in the days I didn’t have a whole perfume collection and I only got such expensive perfumes as gifts for special occasions 😊 Back then I like the EDT version of La Petite Robe Noire more – the sour cherries there are lighter and fresher and it just felt more girly than the EDP version which is much sweeter, with more alcohol-y sour cherries and almonds, like they are on amaretto or sour cherry liqueur, suitable for older woman. Today, nearly 10 years late the EDP is scent right out my alley, it fits me and I find the EDT more boring. La petite Robe noire in concentrations EDT and EDP are two different scents – keep this in mind.

History:

La Petite Robe Noire by Guerlain is amber-vanilla fragrance, launched in 2012.  It is created by Thiery Wasser – my favourite perfumer! I’m obsessed with his perfumes and I even attended one of his lives with @guerlain last year in Instagram, where he spoke about his love for Bulgarian rose ❤

Description:

 Top notes: sour cherry, almond, red berries (red currant, red blueberry)

 Middle notes: licorice, Bulgarian rose, red rose, tea leaves

 Base notes: vanilla, Tonka bean, star anise, patchouli, iris

  Development on my skin: 

Even if I wasn’t familiar with the self only by looking at the notes I’ll be 100% sure that I’ll love it at first sniff – everything above is among my favourite notes so their mix can’t be disappointing ❤

On my skin La Petite Robe Noire EDP is sour cherry liquer, marzipan almonds with some licorice, velvet red rose petals with a bit of soft vanilla, earthy patchouli and powdery iris with Tonka bean ❤

Right after spraying the scent feels really alcoholic and bitter, because of the combination almond & licorice, it evens resemblances cough syrup at some point, plus the bergamot adds some additional sharpness to the initial spray. This sharp alcoholic beginning does not last long and some liquierish sour cherries, sweet almonds, tangly licorice and velvet Bulgarian rose petals are appearing ❤ If I have to describe the Little Black Dress with just one word, this word would be luxurious scent – sour cherries, almonds, roses, licorice, vanilla, patchouli, Tonka bean – those are all dominant and even aggressive notes but combined together they work really good in this scent. La Petite Robe Noire isn’t perfume to wear with jeans, T-shirt and sneakers, neither with messy bun and no-makeup-makeup, noo! La Petite Robe Noire requests for bold appearance – leather, fur, bold accessories, heavy jewelry, flawless makeup, high heels, nothing negligée or shy, no! Ironically most of the times I’m wearing Little Black Dress isn’t when I’m pairing it with little black dress, but with high heels, leather trousers,  choker, faux fur coat, smokey eyes/bold makeup in general and voluminous blowout – it just feels right to finish my look with few spritzes of this sour cherry-almond mix that’ll leave massive trail behind me to remind that a bold woman with bold personality was there 😉

La Petite Robe Noire isn’t linear scent – after the alcoholic beginning is gone there is detectable Bulgarian rose note, accompanied by tangly licorice, sour cherries and sweet almonds.  Licorice is often disliked by many because its scent reminds of cough syrup, but I like it – I can’t stand sickly sweet or gourmand vanilla-caramel scents, but I like the bitter sweetnes (like in Schweppes) so I have a few licorice perfumes in my collection:

❤ Lanvin ME EDP

Lanvin ME has similar vibe to La Petite Robe Noire but here instead of sour cherries we are having blueberries, licorice is also presented and Bulgarian rose too, however instead of almonds we are having some sandalwood for warmth. These two are like sisters. Review on ME you can read here

❤ Lolita Lempicka Lolita EDP 

Lolita is like the bigger sister of La Petite Robe Noire – here we have also generous amount of licorice, but instead of sour cherries there are cherries and tons of powdery violets which are missing in La Petite Robe Noire, so by Lolita they make the scent a bit  more sophisticated. Review on Lolita you can read here

In the base La Petite Robe Noire reveals smoky-sweet Tonka bean, soft and non-gourmand vanilla, earthy patchouli and powdery iris – beautiful blend ❤ Here’s how the scent stays until the end but keep in mind the sour cherries and the almonds are detectable during the whole development. Little Black Dress is complex scent that has intensive development and all of the notes are quite strong & dominant but blend perfect together. La Petite Robe Noire is luxurious, sumptuous, aggressive scent which won’t suit ladies that can’t or doesn’t want to have bold appearance.

Packaging:

Bottle is true masterpiece! It has massive ombre glass that graduates from pink to black, it has engraved black dress on it, it has beautiful ribbon with the brand name on the neck and stamped Guerlain logo on the sprayer ❤ I find not only the perfumes design remarkable, but the whole campaign behind the La Petite Robe Noire franchise – in fact it’s my favourite advertise I’ve ever seen. Here is the link to check the teaser, in case you are interested:

PUB Guerlain - La petite robe noire - YouTube

Storage:

EDP version is available in 30, 50 and 75 ml bottles – I own the smallest and the biggest.

Season appropriate:

Autumn & winter. In the cold winter the sour cherries are sweet & liquorish, the almonds have that Christmas marzipan feeling and the vanilla is soft and non-gourmand. In hot weather the sour cherries are getting too bitter and the scent itself is so strong that it might get overwhelming. I feel like this scent is festive and it develops best in cold weather ❤

Time appropriate:

I truly enjoy hardcore perfumes with great lasting power & sillage so I tend to wear La Petite Robe Noire as daytime and nighttime perfume, but most people think is more acceptable as night time perfume due the dominant liquier-ish sour cherries and almond notes, plus the high sillage.

Longevity:

Amazing! In the pre-pandemic times I applied 3-4 spritzes in the mornings and at work during the whole day I was told that there is “sour cherries scented cloud around me” and that my perfume stays even in the elevator after I left. Throughout the whole day I can feel my perfume being detectable on my skin and even after I take a shower I can still feel it. I even got some complaints that my perfume is too strong and overwhelming (not that I care about it – I’m #capricorn 😀) so the longevity & sillage are very, very strong.

La Petite Robe Noire is truly an opulent perfume – luxurious, sumptuous, charming and so sweet! It’s hat the best development & performance in cold weather, where is the warm sour cherries and almonds hug you and leave sweet trail after you, to remind your presence. It smells on liquier-ish sour cherries, marzipan almonds, tarty licorice and warm vanilla ❤

Which is your favourite winter perfume?

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Kisses, Preslava ❤