La Nuit Paco Rabanne for women

Just received my La Nuit! God, was I scared the first seconds when I tested it! It really is Tabu sprayed on a horse, but I just can't stand Tabu. Seconds later, Tabu left the house and came the honeyed rose like the one in Gucci L'Arte. Things started to make sense. It was like a very hot summer day in the farm when the flowers are starting to close and you can smell the animals in the barn! It is dark, it is evil, it smells dangerous, like some cruel animal is on heat and on the hunt! Amazing smell and indeed the most animalic scent I ever tried. Could be a masculine perfume. I'm delighted, but still a little scared. This smells like danger!

I must say that after all the reviews, I experienced some trepidation regarding this perfume. I thought better of it and bought a bottle.My instincts towards certain tastes never fails to let me down.
The first application was somewhat cautious,I received a modest puff of fragrance which emanated from my wrist. It was pleasant I thought,but was that all? I couldn't discern the character of the fragrance so I waited 15 minutes and thought to hell with it!
I splashed myself with a more generous application and low and behold,the genie was uncorked. A haze of hesperidic notes unfurled all radiating a warmth and shimmering. It must be said that it feels like a sort of a leathery animalic Coco,Chanel variant(in the Parfum concentration anyway)with it's complex and rich bouquet of mimosa, passionfruit, neroli,aldehydes,roses,jasmine all dancing on the skin.
The initial similarities are deceiving however, as the fragrance evolves along a different path. The smouldering notes die down to a quiet murmur and dusk sets on the skin. It then become a dry,refined and sensual skin scent based on cedar, moss, labdanum and civet providing the finale.
I would recommend this for any leather/animalic perfume lover. It's not as scary as it's made out to be(if Bandit and it's upstart, Cabochard troubles you, then please give it a miss)And guys, please consider this as a option as it gives the second impression of heat on skin. Very sexy!

I tried this twice. The first time it was animalic and sensual, subtle, and did not smell dated at all.

However, the second try betrayed my nose with an assault of cauliflower aroma marinating in the sweat of a dog's paw pads. It kind of smelled like an 80s perfume that expired along with corn chips, dirty fur, and rotten vegetables thrown into the horrid cocktail.

I guess it's one of those "skin chemistry is everything" lessons we all eventually learn. Or maybe the sample expired.

After reading Assiduosity's review below, I couldn't resist ordering a sample of La Nuit. I don't have the artistry to do it proper justice in this post, but I can say that it is magnificent. This is classified as chypre/floral, but I think it is also distinctly oriental. I loooooove this fragrance. Right out of the gate (or sprayer), I get sweet honey, leather, rose...as it dries down the cedar & woods come into view; then - horrors - the spiciness starts blooming on my skin, and at that point I am afraid that it is becoming monstrous and too much for me to handle. Spicy fragrances do that on me. :-( But then, the civet arrives. Once we're in full swing the civet & honey perform their animalic magic, and the spiciness retreats to a more respectful distance, allowing the rose to shine again. I thoroughly enjoy animalic notes in perfumery. To me, they make a perfume smell more authentic, sexier of course, and add irresitible mystique. I suppose that's because I am of generation that grew up smelling and wearing perfumes with animalic bases. The thing about these animalic based fragrances is that the faintest whiff makes its point. No need to be heavy handed. The sweet honey stays consistently in the foreground on my skin, while various other notes play peekaboo, coming forward and backward – rose, jasmine, leather, cedar and camphory woods (patchouli?), aromatic spice, civet & oakmoss combined - that dusty funk. And amid all the advancing and retreating aromas is a sweet pure floral innocence, exactly as described in the review below. I like this fragrance SO much more than Coco. It keeps my interest - no, commands it. It is a very sexy fragrance, perfect for night time sorcery. I’m actually sampling it on a gray, sleety day spent indoors, and that’ll do, too.

Paco Rabanne's La Nuit is a perfume of the night, almost sacrilegious in its animalistic sexual intensity.

It is a fragrance both feral and fecal, given mediaeval epic length and grandeur by a structure of heavy moss-frosted wooden lintels.

And yet, at it's heart there is a powerful rose. Which, at first appearing innocent, is too revealed to be both knowing and corruptible.

This is a scent of labour and war like aggression taken from the brink of actual violence by the be-stilling force of a floral feminine aspect.

Sadly lost to us for now, out of print and unregarded. As long as original manuscripts exist its mythic status can only grow.

So that tiresome modern question? Male or female?

I suggest you go read your sagas for the Witch and the Knight play equal parts in this story and should in this scent too.

My brief adventure with La Nuit- (vintage EDT)

Peppy Le Pew perched on top of a tree trunk, airing his beauty for the whole world to see. Between the brand and cheesy bottle; one may not expect a whole lot. My confrontation with La Nuit; I am rather impressed and no longer in dubiety with house of Paco Rabanne.

I have to agree with this fragrance being very animalic. It is the most animalic fragrance I have encountered sniffing thus far. I do believe that La Nuit is for those with acquired taste. Not that this is not a gorgeous fragrance or well done; it flat out will not appeal to the masses.

La Nuit is in your face, high class skank bomb. I vividly picture Crella Devil or even possibly Miranda Priestly wearing this. The dismissal of only using one-selves stare, nor even gesture. Just that brief cold glance as if you are not even valuable enough to waste one word on.

One goes about their function. La Nuit having such high anamlistic quality, that aside. I find La Nuit perceptibly reminding me of classic vintage Fendi (which also came out in 85); a certain trend in perfumery in the eighties. La Nuit is a mossy and anmalic Fendi. As far as scent, to me both share a strong relation. If you like La Nuit, you will probably like Fendi.

The oak moss in La Nuit is very legitimate, more so then any oak moss I have picked off a tree myself. The moss puts off such apparent mossy (organic like) powder, on top of very realistic leather and woody notes. It comes off irky, almost deathly in a way; (pre-death) right before being attacked by a wild animal, that or beat to death with Crella Devil's fur coat. I am getting a slightly nutty quality from the pepper and honey. The patchouli and rose are both well blended and not a front player, I believe enhancing the other notes. Honey to round, not too sweet nor sticky.

Notes being so legitimate and perfumer having worked with the pallet so nicely. I don't find anything particularly screechy, but just loud in style. An extremely good example of animalic eighties powerhouse. La Nuit is worth trying for the experience alone. Like I said; acquired taste. I myself even have to be in the mood to wear this, nor would I force a mass of people to put up with this on me. As it is so anmalic, towards a certain point I had to take a full shower because I just felt so dirty; there was no way I was going grocery shopping in this fragrance. Maybe try a christmas dinner over top of royal carpet at the Ritz.

Longevity- Nothing lacking here, I got an easy 12+ hours out of this fragrance.

Projection- As like a true classic, I had on one spray and it filled the whole room. Little goes a long way; be conservative while on the town and bathe when at home.

Note- Reviews are always subject to change based on change of weather or change to my skin chemistry.

What a beautiful mastery of rose this is. It (The vintage EDP) opens with a sweet spicy honeyed herbal quality that is difficult to describe. The fruit emerges, always smelling overripe. For a very long time after that, a beautiful wilted rose scent (Gulkand, if you're familiar with it) mingles with a very animalic spicy fruity middle. After many hours when it is perhaps its best, a stunning and almost completely unadorned animal base knocks your socks off. I can't think of anything more animalic than this fragrance. In addition to all of the pretty animalic notes, there is a huge civet note that adds a hint of decay. This is death interpreted beautifully through perfume.

The most animalic perfume ever - Turin was right. Utterly perfect. This should be purchased by anyone who is serious about their appreciation of perfumery.

This one could go on my short list of favorites, (as opposed to my lengthy list of favorites)! On me, this is a sexy, elegant classic. It really has the elements that would carry you through the day and night, and any scenario in between. At times it was oh so sweet, then that would drop back and the civet would come to the forefront. The notes play like an intricate waltz, always beautiful and uplifting.

People are so bloody stupid and have no taste. This scent should never have gone out of production. It is SEXY and still somehow, elegant.

Sex in a bottle. "Akats" is right: it's right for the very private occasions. From all the pefumes I use this smell is a typicall "bed smell" and I'm so lucky, that I managed to hunt it :) The smell of a hunter...

I bought an Edp also, and I was surprised to find it more to an oriental edge. As someone said, it is a bit like great orientals as Opium and Cinnabar. This is sweet. Animalic. Oh yes... civet is powerful here. I can easily smell the moss, leather and honey after the first 10 minutes, mixed with patchouli, wood and some pepper. No bitterness, no harshness. The smell retains always its animalic sweetness, but in a subtle way. I don't think it as overpowering, unless you overdo it when spraying it. The fragrance melts into your skin after one hour and soon becomes very soft and gentle. To be honest, I love it but I don't think that I can wear this in the morning. I will keep it for special occasions or my private pleasure. It is a fantastic smell but not for an everyday use.

I'm a fan of JEAN GUICHARD: he has made perfumes that I love too much: "Obsession", "LouLou", "Eden", "Montana Parfum de Peau" ...
Finally, when I received "LA NUIT" EAU DE PARFUM (untested) from FragranceX, I sprayed it on my wrist and I absolutely loved it immediately: strong, wonderful, fantastic, longlasting and very good sillage. This is the only Paco Rabanne' perfume I'm in love: I'm so sad it is discontinued ...

Very classic, very strong, very good stuff. It reminds me of the very spicy classics like Opium, Youth Dew, etc. but a bit sweeter. It could come off rather old worn by a conservative person, but very alluring worn by a 'spicy', on-the-make lass or even lad. Well priced these days.

Definitely a winter scent..goes on powerfully strong but mellows out. How I judge longevity is I spray perfumes on at night and if they are still on me when I wake up then it has good longevity. This one did not pass my test but that's okay because this perfume would be too much if it wore on for hours and hours. Overall, this is a stunning combination of notes and should only be worn by adults over 30. This is not a girly girl perfume...it is for a very confident adult.

In my opinion it's reminiscent of 'Cinnabar' or maybe 'Opium' although until the drydown I detect a tar note that I'm not nuts about. After that it's lovely. I don't know if I'll try to source another bottle though - I'll use what I have and then leave it to the true devotees.

This opened my eyes to the beauty of 80s fragrances. I admit that it is a little dated but still so much better than most scents on the market today.

It's loud and brash. The opening of aldehydic dirty rose soon settles down to a heavy dose of civet. Along the way a few of the other notes add depth; honey, moss, leather. It has spectacular longevity and sillage (I have the edt).

If you want something filthy goregous for those certain nights out then La Nuit is perfect.

Junto a Armani femme, Coco y Fendi ... La Nuit completa el cuarteto de LO MEJOR DE LOS 80s en este estilo, nocturno, dulce y embriagante cuan brandy o posima... lamentablemente nunca mas se encontro... una gran fragancia

EXQUISITE.

So strange a year ago this was nowhere to be found. I finally got a bottle. I do love it. I put on befoe bed last night and it lasted through this afternoon. The civet is the total base without ruining it. I get the honey--amber--jasmine and a hint of the leather. The more i
I wear this, the more I adore. Completely a grown up scent and I think only you can be one to understand the complexity of it. I am huge PR fan and this just ups the collection. I know it is not being made anymore but I am curious if anyone knows how so many bottles can be found when I searched quite furiously last year and the prices were $70-80 an ounce. I just got one for half that. Anyway, get it while you can.

feeling like I'm part of the cast from THE HUNGER...

So classy for the night ! It remember me my 90 s.
Is it possible to find it in France ? Paradoxicaly it is discontnued in the country of Paco Rabanne !!!

This EdT is a strong, musky, floral-oriental chypre that smells like it was made in the 80s - and so it was, but it’s not a big, agressive floral. It’s much softer, mossier, and muskier than the typical 80s offering. I’m a sucker for this sort of strong-but-soft perfume, so it was pretty much love at first sniff.

The first thing I smelled was aldehydes, mixed florals and a mixed bouquet of musks along with the hint of a base that’s a cross between amber and oakmoss-chypre. As it dries down I smell a little of the honeyed rose and peach-plum that others describe, along with patchouli and sandalwood. At this point the sillage is gorgeous. Nothing stands out particularly, with all of it blending together beautifully to produce an amped-up version of a classic chypre. If you’re a lover of floral orientals and/or vintage chypres, it’s definitely worth a try.

This is totally not my kind of scent, but since so many of you Ladies like it, I have to let you know that it recently reappeared in Superpharm pharmacy network in Poland for a ridiculous price of 50 PLN/30ml which is an equivalent of ca. 10 EUR. Hope some of you will be able to make a trip to PL soon, or use your contats to get it. Good luck!

To read other people’s impressions of La Nuit, it is a scent of nostalgia, or something symbolic of an era (the late 70s, it seems, even though it was released in 1985.) I love that scent allows us to make these connections, whether highly personal or shared. To me, La Nuit is evocative of 2007 when I first smelled it. I never got the ‘takes me back’ thing. And having come up in mid 80s New York, believe me I yearn for those good old, bad old 70s. 70s New York was arcadia to the Reagan/AIDS scary 80s.

But I don’t get any of that from La Nuit. It’s the end product of a series of olfactive associations. Start with honey and civet. Honey registers to the nose as richness and starts to smell like piss as it gets concentrated. ( I know this from the comb from the hive that grew in our ceiling last summer.) Civet smells anal and then seems spicy /floral in dilution. Turn the volume up and down on these things and you get a range of strong olfactory ideas.

Set these two on the other principal notes, rose and leather, and the whole thing starts sliding back and forth between wholesome and jaded. Honey brings out the sweet and fruity elements of the rose; civet makes rose arid, spicy and hot. Honey makes leather rich and lavish; civet gives leather the nose-feel of sandpaper.

La Nuit allows others to relish the connection to an era. To me, the associations are a little more abstract. Isn’t it great that a perfume can do this to us?

Aah! My Precious. You are finally mine.

Your siblings (Metal and Calandre) and I have been waiting. Waiting for your much anticipated arrival for many many long years.

Are you the most beautiful daughter? Maybe.

My love for your sisters is sacred so you must learn to share the limelight My Sweet.

For now relax and enjoy your rank and position Dearest La Nuit as I am utterly under your spell you bewitchingly mesmerizing minx.

Too manly smells Antaeus -

Not the way I want a women to smell like.

This is the night in a bottle! It may be the ultimate gothic vamp perfume ever created. To be sprayed at sunset only! The first 20 minutes after sprayng, it seems so innocent, and then it becomes as dark and mysterious as the night. It projects like a vampires cape and at dawn disappears.

This is a chypre directly decended from Mitsouko. Granted her grandchild dresses in leather skirts, listens to Bauhaus, wears dark eyliner/lipstick, is drop dead beautiful and is really a man. That is La Nuit for me.

The composition is feminine, yet very rough, nearly androgynous. Roses, honey, leather, waxy, butter, peaches, almost too much oakmoss and lots of civet. Yes, I will stress this is a sex bomb. No innocent flirting here. It means business.

This will go down in perfume history as one of the strangest and most provocativly beautiful creations ever. Sadly its discontinued. Perhaps it was too naughty? I think it was just too avant gard for most. By todays moral fragrance standards-XXX contraband! There is still some to be found on E-bay for you curiosity seekers. Its worth the search!

Fruity very animalistic chypre.

Smells like sex. Cat in heat!! The best of Paco Rabanne forever!!!

This smells very sexy. There is something in the opening that reminded me of the bitter green smell of tomato leaves. Then the glowing sweetness of a fresh rose at dusk that has spent all day being warmed by the sun. Something about the rose also reminds me of tomato, this time that voluptuous acidic smell of sliced tomato that to me all real roses have. I can definitely smell powdery old leather with a whisper of tobacco. La Nuit smolders and glows darkly on the skin! I think the sex or sweat note that people get actually smells more like the scent of dried saliva on warmed up skin. Weird, I know, but a very vivid impression. Virginal because of the true real rose but quite libertine because of the other impressions detailed above. Makes me think of think of someone who has just been initiated into the carnal by some passionate and skillful lover and is now has a profound understanding of herself. So rich! I wish more perfume was like this.

I recently purchased a 30ml of EDP of "La Nuit" and now i want more! A lot more!!!! Because this is an absolute stunner to my nose! I an madly in love!!!
Quite sharp in the beginning and a bit too powderly it very quickly settles down and transforms into amazingly attractive scent, one of the best-best i have ever tried! It is dirty sexy, boundaries-free, seductive, animalistic, a bit agressive and vulgar even, "Femme-fatale" like.... Everything what i really like. To me this is THE best Paco Rabanne scent ever creatued up to date! Dirty rose, leather, honey.... pure SEX indeed!! "she´s a man-eater...." this fragrance says, but not screams. She is flirting a lot, but never crosses the line though...
Very long lasting and i can´t stop smelling myself!
In one word, if you haven´t tried it yet, don´t even think about passing this one by!

Update: so strange, but while on my skin it is a stunner, on my friends skin it smells horrible and mud like! I guess it is a chemistry thing indeed.

No....
E' estremamente maschile,non potrei mai indossarlo.Ho sognato di provarlo da tanto tempo,ma quando l'ho provato,ho avuto una grandissima delusione.Sento benissimo il muschio di quercia naturale che non riesco sopportare che mi fa venire la nausea(preferisco quello sintetico veramente).Ho il decant 10 ml edp,chi lo vuole-scrivetemi.
Translation from Italian:
No,it's a very masculine perfume,I couldn't to wear it never. I had a dream to find it and try ,but once I get it I had only a big delusion.I feel well a natural oak moss that make me almost seek if it's in enormous amount.
I had a possibility to buy it here in TK Maxx (UK) 100 ml for 5 pounds,but I left it there for someone stronger than me :)

It is worth to trip all over each other on
ebay for "old" chypre lovers!!!!

Top Notes: Bergamot, Lemon, Tangerine, Myrtle, Cardamom, Artemesia (Armoise)
Heart Notes: Jasmine, Rose, Pepper, Peach
Base Notes: Cedarwood, Leather, Patchouli, Oakmoss, Anamilic note civet

and who knows what else?!

It is so good it could easily be a Balenciaga, if it was not a Bandit soaked in honeyed-rose actually!

The leather note is promising but it falls
short due to the green note drydown but it's not merely a disappointment as it seems it becomes more warmer with the presence of amber and spiciness of rose
the drydown is almost like an homage to the 1845 release of Creed's FLEURS DE BULGARIE with it's warm amberic rose scent
but La nuit is more of a modern edgier
and yet less abuse-of-the-power of Bandit or a cigar smoked room like decadence of habanita, La nuit has an
reserved iciness an inner calm that bandit and habanita can't compare with
almost translucent of your soul and of
the namesake La Nuit.

Every scent tells a story every note
that a perfumer puts in each bottle has
a meaning to his or her life story or an
influence to the perfumer and everyone
has their own interpratation of what
conjures in their minds,

Perhaps for me maybe this is an metaphor
of why there's a heavy greenish opening
it has to do with the dominant worldly
woman and naive school girl sheltered and experienced and the two main notes
exemplifies well like the Leather represent the dominant woman and sexuality' and the
greenish note is the school girl yearning wistfully for her.

This is perfume is about repressed desires and a repressed sexuality in a
Bottle.

I will be blunt. La Nuit doesn't smell like a perfume to my nose, it just smells like most sweaty, animalic, bittersweet skin-to-skin sex.

I just loove La Nuit. One of the sexiest fragrances I ever had. Citrus and basil in the topnotes turnes into a heart of sweet honeyed happy roses. So far just a pretty good rose.

However, within half an hour the singing and joyful rosescent transforms itself into the most dark and whispering overblown rose, dripping of dark honey and... It's like a pulse that turns on that keeps asking you for more. And more. All thanks to the oakmoss, woods. leather and animalistic notes that now enters the heart.

La Nuit is one of the best come-hithers ever made, and I prefer La Nuit over L'Arte de Gucci eventhough it isn't half as sophisticated as L'Arte. Why? Because it is twice as naughty and consequently sexier.

Try it and give it some time of wearing. You will not be dissappointed. You will love it.

Aldehydes, plums and honeyed amber. It reminds me powerfully of the scents popular in the 1980s. It's nice, but this in not my type of scent. Heavy 80s style orientals wear me, not the other way around

A very strong perfume, I got it as a birthday present in my early 20s.
It gave me a headaque. so I never used it that much.

hi, j, (suffering disociative personality disorder as i do, you know me by another name - 4gooddogz etc.) i bought this after reading your comment, tho' it's great when there's a consensus of opinion, like here.

i adore chypres. it's amazing that a perfume type with a very basic defining feature can be done so differently.

and this one is spectacular. the top notes suggested a gentle floral, but in a garden w/bee hives (lovely) and gently fertilized with horse manure. i love that smell. ok, each to her/his/its own. mostly the floral thing.

but florals in general make me glad i discovered perfume very recently, and i would have died of boredom before jacque coty came along.

unlike almost every perfume, the flowers are still blooming. but the drydown has been well on for about 45 mins. it's the lightest chypre i've ever met, but it is, w/out any doubt, a chypre.

usually you get the flowers before or after the sex. this is indeed sexy. maybe it will get raunchy, and i don't get sex on a stick at all.

but i do get crumpled sheets, and that intimate scent that crumpled the sheets in the first place. it's just that he ran out naked into the garden just as i dozed off about 15 minutes ago, and now he's back with some lovely, gentle frangranced flowers that he tried to arrange but ended up bundling up in a damp paper towel bound w/an elastic band he which he found in the miscellaneous drawer - you know,the one jam packed w/odds and ends that never shuts all the way.

it's sex with romance. and he's definitely going to call back. if he sends flowers, thank God he will intuitively send anything but roses, bless his heart.

i can't wait to meet him, but, on the other hand, i don't think he can live up to my la nuit fantasy.

SEN-BLOODY-SATIONAL. i'm going to ebay right now to pick up 3.4 oz for $107, so i can make decants for my fr... me.

j, i can send you some if you're out. you've been great. so i'll only charge a quick thank you.

what a great perfume. anyone who wants a 20 ml decant, just let me know. there won't be many, because i've been known to go through an oz or 2 of a new fave in one day, what with respray alone, and then mixing experiments.

i just love this stuff. once again, something on my top 5 list just got bounced. don't you love it when that happens?

I paid 12 bucks for a sealed unopened box of this stuff. Skanky, but good.

I HAD to have this, scent unsmelt, after having read a heated discussion about it on Luca Turin's old blog site where someone, probably Luca, described the scent as being reminiscent of mare sweat. It certainly is evocative of something very animal and pheromonal. It is wonderful, but use with caution.

Finally I managed to get few drops of this gorgeous fragrance! This is as fantastic as the very first time I tried this. I was a teenager when this was launched, and my best friend got this as a gift, I can still remember where we were when I tried this the very first time.

For years I've been looking for this.
( Wonder why they don't relaunch these fragrances people know allready...I quess that you could use eventually less money for the marketing also..)

This felt almost too strong at first, but at the same time I couldn't get enough of this. Animalic and leathery knockout, with a light honey in the beginning. This is a truly captivating Perfume, rich, and deep, and very very Sexy.

Dropdead gorgeous.

This really is a shame it's no longer made. Blatant, brilliant sex on a stick.

I'll get this notes on this to you ASAP-it's my all-time FAVE. Also, around the same time, PR created Tenere for men-I swear it's the same base, just with a little tweaking of the heart notes. It's very good.