This fragrance was launched in 2010 and to be honest, I've never paid much attention to it until I received a sample with my Yves Rocher order. On the box it claims that this scent is 'addictive blend of strength and gentleness' and although these descriptions seems often a bit redundant to me (how for God's sake can you describe a scent with such qualities??), this actually is a perfect description of Vanille Noire.
Vanille Noire is designed by perfumer Jacques Cavallier who was born into a French family of perfumers and studied perfumery in Grasse. He designed perfumes such as Nu d'Yves Saint Laurent, Stella by Stella McCartney, Bvlgari Pour Homme or Givenchy Hot Couture and apparently his knowledge and style could be compared to Karl Lagerfeld in fashion.
This perfume is created from three types of black vanilla, mandarin orange, mimosa flowers and cedar wood, which are pretty much the notes that you can smell. It is more of a heavy perfume for evening rather than for a daytime. I would say it is sensual and really sweet, but not fruity cheerful sweet, it is rather dark classy wooden sweet. The EDP stays on my skin for whole day/night and the intensity fades away really slowly. I don't think that there are many perfumes around with such a specific vanilla scent on this luxurious side (most of the ones I know are rather on the sweet playful side), therefore I would like to think that this scent is quite unique and rare.
You can buy this perfume from Yves Rocher website for £30 for 50ml bottle (currently this is a sale price) or pop into a shop if they are in your country (Czech Republic has got a few). I really do recommend to try it first though, because it is a really specific scent and might not suite everyone!
Have you tried this or any other Yves Rocher perfume before?