What does midnight in Paris smell like? In spring and summer, the warm atmosphere heightens the scents of grass, earth, and flowers in the gardens; aromas of food and drink waft from bistros and cafes. Year-round one smells cigarette smoke, exhaust fumes, cologne on passersby …and dog turds. I don’t remember midnight in Paris smelling like tonka beans, but judging by Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight in Paris Pour Homme, tonka beans perfume the Seine, the fountains, the air.
Tonka bean is on the verge of becoming the “new violet leaf” in men’s fragrances; it’s everywhere. I bought some tonka beans (Dipteryx odorata) from a local herbal apothecary and perfumery so I could smell the real thing (1 oz of tonka beans costs around $2.50). Tonka beans smell a lot like (musky-nutty) vanilla and are used in the making of desserts as well as in perfumes (when I smell tonka beans I think of nougats, frostings, sweet syrups, custards). In the U.S., tonka beans, which contain coumarin, have been banned from use in foods since 1954 due to their blood-thinning properties, but that hasn’t stopped chefs from using the fragrant beans.
Midnight in Paris Pour Homme is billed as a “floral-leather” fragrance and it was developed by perfumers Olivier Polge and Domitille Bertier. Midnight in Paris’ notes include black lily of the valley accord, bergamot, citron, matcha green tea, styrax/benzoin, tonka bean and incense.
Like an old-fashioned fireworks display, Midnight in Paris presents all its thrills at once. There are initial sparks of bright, fumy citrus, a streamer of styrax mixing with bursts of tonka bean, a glimmer of green tea, and then a tiny cinder of wood. (Any black lily of the valley accord is invisible in the glare of the other notes — and where’s the leather?)
All Midnight in Paris’ notes fade quickly, save one: tonka bean, and it’s this note that makes Midnight in Paris smell like lots of other fragrances on the market. Midnight in Paris smells good (I like the aroma of tonka beans) but it’s unexceptional, something midnight in Paris never is — at least for a Francophile like me.
Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight in Paris Pour Homme is available in 75 and 125 ml Eau de Toilette ($75/95) and 125 ml Eau de Parfum ($115); I’ve not tried the Eau de Parfum — the Eau de Toilette is strong enough for me.
Note: images of Paris [altered] and tonka bean [cropped] via Wikimedia Commons.
Amen, brother! Some of the commentators are hailing Midnight in Paris as one of the best mainstream fragrances to come out this year.
However I, like you, found it unexceptional. But I do love the imagery of midnight in Paris, because I love Paris at any time of the day!
violetnoir: me too!
Kevin, last week I would have agreed with your review 100%. It seemed to be a sort of powdery, vanillic comfort scent. I decided to keep it as a bedtime (for sleeping) scent. And then suddenly this week, out of nowhere…the leather hit. I don’t know if my nose was off last week, or if it was a change in chemistry etc., but this week, there was no denying the leather. Of course, mine is the edp, which could make a difference. Even with the leather, though, I’d agree with the “unexceptional but nice” rating.
boojum: I was hoping someone had tried the EdP and would comment…
Talk to Joe.. he got WAY more leather than I did.
Ah, dog turds in a European capital city. Poo-dar is a very useful thing from Paris to Athens and in-between. Your tonka/vanilla beans image looks suspiciously lumpy.
Wow – poo-dar. That’s great. Have any of you been to Grenada? The poo-dar would be off the meter, given that it is a whitewashed cement covered city with decorative brown piles that draw the eye everywhere. Tonka beans indeed!
No, not been to Grenada – at lease with all that white it would be easy to see!
Lmao! I’m glad I’m not the only one who gave those tonka beans a second, third and fourth glance after I read the “poo” reference.
Well, I for one, am very happy that Midnight in Paris left out the dog turd accord and replaced it with tonka beans that only look like dog turds.
Anns: HA! I can guarantee they smell super sweet though.
It was pointed out by my housemate that Kevin was being kind: that along with poo-dar, there’d be a waft of pissoir and falafel stands. For what it’s worth. Also, unrelatedly, their Cologne Noir is just fabulous; it’s better than L’Artisan’s Poivre Piquant, if you ask me. Lasts a lot longer, too. Great review. This IS my go-to blog for great writing. Thanks, Kevin!
mough: thanks…one of my favorite specific food smells on Parisian streets: pommes de terre frites!!!!!!!!!!
Kevin, thank you for another great review. Even though you were not blown away by this, you’ve made me want to try it anyway
It must be my mood today—I’m ready to be thrilled by just about anything!
Dee: in that mood…stay away from retail outlets of all sorts!
Oh, Kevin. The word “turds” is dangerously close to your enlarged tonka bean image for those of us in the habit of skimming…
Also–that bottle is the second near-copy of the Hermes Eau de Merveilles bottle I’ve seen in two weeks. Can’t remember the other one, but this is even closer. Gorgeous. But if I were Hermes I’d be quite upset.
sweetlife: many people have mistaken the bottles…at least online.
hi sweetlife: that was the new l’Occitane, see https://nstperfume.com/2010/11/02/loccitane-fleur-cherie-new-perfume/#comments. cheers, Wendy
WTF is black lily of the valley?? I did a google search and found nothing.
All that I keep thinking of is a DECAYED lily of the valley. Why would they want that note in a fragrance?
Miss K: must be some invented note…who knows!
Just so long as they’re the ones that are crazy, not me.
Fake black flowers or not, this sounds strangely compelling to me, in spite of all of the claims to the contrary. Maybe I just haven’t been tonka-ed out yet.
Miss K: visit the men’s perfume counters for your tonka fix…and you don’t need to pay VCA prices for good quality tonka scents: Givenchy Play Intense for men and Speziali Fiorentini Tè Nero (super similar to Midnight in Paris Pour Homme…for about $38!)
Now I need to do a side-by-side with the Te Nero; that didn’t occur to me at all. In fact, my first thought was FM L’Eau d’Hiver, until the leather finally showed up. A, if you’re interested and can send me an email to remind my lame self, I can send you samples of the VC&A and the Te Nero.
I have already had Play Intense, and it’s not tonka heavy oriented too. It’s more ambery, spicy, with a lot of coffee. I wouldn’t say it’s better than Midnight in Paris; in fact, it sounds more generic, altough good.
The LotV equivalent of black garlic?
Foandw oh my: let’s hope not! HA! Fermented lily of the valley does not sound pleasant … or possible.
For Black Lily of the valley, they explained in of the press releases that they just wanted to take the springish common place aroma of lily and give it a more night aspect. I think they have used a similar synthetic that is used to simulate lily in versace dreamer, which gives you a bright, creamy, lily accord, without the green edge.
I too have seen people lauding this. To be honest at that price point at would rather plump for what I consider to be easily the best fragrance release this year, which is Penhaligon’s Sartorial. That too contains tonka bean, but it is soooo well blended with everything else it is part of a beautifully crafted landscape it is not the star but part of a glorious constellation.
HDS: yes, tonka bean was better utilized in Sartorial…just a part of the composition…didn’t overtake everything.
What is black Lilly of the Valley?
Dilana: since it doesn’t exist in nature I’m assuming it was “invented” in the lab.
While I’m not that interested in this scent, you do have me interested in tonka beans now. You say they contain coumarin? While my mom was on chemo I had to inject her with that everyday, to prevent blood clots. I’m sure both of us would have preferred her eating something with tonka beans.
Jirish: most people (in Europe anyway) think tonka bean in food never is dangerous…but many chefs make “essences” or syrups (like vanilla extract) and a good deal of coumarin could be present then. If tonka bean foods taste as good as they smell I’d be addicted….
i smelled this fleetingly when passing through Harvey Nix…I was really surprised to find out it for for pour homme….but then again my 13 yr olds chocolate axe has similar powdery, comfy qualities. it was nice, but not enough to create a lemming!
I have a decant of the EDP which, having tried a spritz of the EDT, is even more base/tonka heavy. Having said that I find it leathery in the same way of Bulgari Black ie the tea note combined with the other notes suggests a well worn black leather jacket. But I agree, ultimately it is mostly about the tonka. I like Midnight in Paris alot and think it very chic but I prefer Bulgari Black or Tonka Imperiale depending on what I want. Thanks for the review, Kevin!
donanicola: you’re welcome.
i also noticed the rise of tonka beans in fragrances these days. not that i mind tho, since i really like that vanillic scent.
This one is a real masterpiece, love Midnight in Paris.
Hi Kevin, great review as always and yes, I had the same feelings as you on this one – nice, but meh, next.
Actually, the EDP is slightly more interesting the EDT decant I gave to my wife who happily wears it oblivious to the fact that it’s actually marketed to men which is not a surprise to me really. As soon as I sprayed some on myself my first thought was, “I smell like my mum!” who wears YSL Cinema, but I’m not sure if there’s any correlation in notes between them.
Ross: never smelled the Cinema…but good to know the Midnight EdP seems more interesting to most people who’ve tried it than the EdT. I’ll make sure to wear it next time I’m near a Neiman Marcus.
Ops, it seems that i pressed the post comment…
Hi Kevin!
I don’t think you did justice to Midnight in Paris. Which version have you tried? Edp or Edt one? I haven’t tried the Edt one, but the edp one is far from being a tonka bean centered fragrance. The tonka bean aroma has a nutty aspect, but i cannot see it so close of the vanilla accord. It’s more close, when used in great proportions, to the honey, caramel aroma. And Tonka Bean doesn’t seem like the predominant accord.
Midnight in Paris in EDP version is beautiful, elegant, complex, with a flawless execution from top to basenotes, without fillers or any accord that doesn’t seem to fit at the overall composition. It surprises me that a lot of people cannot see the lily accord in there, because it resembles Versace Dreamer, but less shocking and stellar. Then, you have a cuir close to Bvlgari Black or Dzing, but with a nice touch of citrus and tea notes. The base is not only tonka bean, in fact is much more vanilla and benzoin than tonka bean. Tonka bean doesn’t have the smoky, woody aroma that Midnight in Paris have. It’s just an elegant fragrance, that may be not so inspired, but it has a high quality and it’s far from the average launches. It has to be tasted more than one time, so you can notice all the little aspects that seems lost if you focus only on the leather and sweet base.
Hi, Rick. I only tried and wore the EdT…I have not come near the EdP (but will try it next time I have the chance…VCA scents are hard to come by in the U.S. compared to other brands) The Midnight EdT is almost pure tonka bean after the opening notes..and I say this with authority. I had a bowl of tonka beans with me as I smelled my Midnight in Paris-doused self!
Hi Kevin.
“Where’s the leather?”? Really? Gosh, to me this one is all about leather after a very powdery (in a good way) opening. I enjoy it, but I’m not sure powdery leather is something I’m really after. Still, it seems I get more out of it than you do. Sorry to hear the leather eluded you!
NB: Sorry, I’ll mention mine is the EdP, so as mentioned, that may explain the difference.
just got around trying it
and it smells like Kenzo L’Amour, but made slightly more masculine…