Mod Noir is the latest fragrance release from designer Marc Jacobs (through a licensing deal with Coty), and it's being billed as "bold, modern, unique – a chic juxtaposition of classic and contemporary." It was developed by perfumer Jean-Claude Delville, and its composition includes clementine, yuzu and green notes; waterlily, magnolia, gardenia and tuberose; and musk, orange blossom and nectarine. It's supposed to balance "sophisticated" and "lush" aspects with "dewy" and "sparkling" notes, just as its bottle contrasts black against white.
I don't think I've ever reviewed a Marc Jacobs fragrance here — Robin usually does the honors — but I've smelled most of them in stores, and I find them pleasant enough, but too safe and youthful for me to covet. Mod Noir, with its white-floral concept and its graphic bottle design, seems to skew a bit older than Lola or Dot, or most (if not all) of Jacobs's recent fragrances. It opens in a way that will seem non-threatening to the average perfume-shopper, with a splash of sweet citrus and some transparent green notes.
This dewy-fresh, fruity-leafy effect reminds me of various shampoos I've used, but fortunately it's not the entire story. It's followed by a honeyed floral that reminds me of mimosa (the kind also known as "pink silk tree"), which is a nice surprise. Mod Noir's heart is an airy duet of gardenia and tuberose; the tuberose isn't indolic, and the gardenia isn't particularly lush or creamy, but they're there, and not just as a generic swirl of "flowers." Mod Noir bloomed nicely on my skin on a warm, humid day, when the florals were most identifiable and the whole thing eventually wrapped up in a drop of vanilla cream and a very sheer musk. On another, cooler day, it felt a little flatter overall.
Mod Noir seems smartly positioned for women who used to wear Bath & Body Works scents like Butterfly Flower or Rainkissed Leaves and are now ready for something a little more perfume-like. Personally, I must admit that I just can't pull off a full-bodied tuberose or gardenia; I tend to choose mid-weight white florals like Guerlain Terracotta or Jo Malone Vintage Gardenia (or even the sadly discontinued Madonna Truth or Dare). Mod Noir is just enough gardenia, etc. for me, although it might seem flimsy to a devoted Fracas-lover.
One last thought about the packaging: according to Coty, Mod Noir's bottle "is inspired by Marc’s quirky, striped fashion prints and interplay of black and white in his iconic runway collections" — and, I'd add, by the decor of Sephora, where this fragrance is an "exclusive." The bottle is really the most "mod" thing about this product, and the Mod Noir ad visual is actually a throwback to the Op Art movement of the mid- to late-1960s. Back in the 60s, there were perfume ads that seized upon Op Art immediately — for example, Helena Rubinstein's Emotion — but the Mod Noir photo manages to avoid looking dated.
In short: Mod Noir is neither "mod" nor "noir," but it's a pretty white floral for warm-weather wear.
And here's a quickie poll question: What perfume do you think the mod girls were wearing in the 1960s? Something from Yardley? or Mary Quant or Yves Saint-Laurent? Feel free to imagine and comment!
Marc Jacobs Mod Noir is available in 30 ($70) and 50 ($90) ml Eau de Parfum and as a rollerball ($28).
I’m starting to think that brands just throw “noir” on the bottle to make the scent seem more chic or sophisticated. Or maybe more mature? I feel like it’s almost become completely meaningless. I smelled this in Sephora and pretty much felt the same as you – nice, white floral that is neither “mod” nor “noir”. At least it’s not another Daisy flanker, though they probably have one in the works
Annawilde, maybe “noir” has become a synonym for “chic” or “sophisticated” by now (for perfumes, at least) and has lost all its “dark/black” meaning?! — because this fragrance doesn’t even pretend to have the patchouli/woods/”oud” that are usually included when “noir” is added to the flanker name!
Well, I guess I was a mod girl in the 60s (yes, I’m really old now) and I wore Oh de London. I think I was convinced it would make me look like Jean Shrimpton, but it didn’t.
I was just thinking we need someone who was there to find out! And here you are! Were there any other fragrances that you knew your friends were wearing?
This is so great to hear! I love the visuals in the magazine ads for Oh de London. I was wondering whether or not it found its market. Now I know it did!
I think everyone on the West Coast wore patchouli, including me.
I love smelling patch when someone walks by!
I tried this one yesterday on a blotter and found it interesting enough to sniff for a while on paper but not enough to venture onto skin. Fine and pretty enough but not really attention-grabbing.
And all that hokum about the bottle design! OF COURSE it’s a tie-in with Sephora’s decor! For them to suggest it’s anything otherwise seems like a really thin story.
I’m so glad you agree. It coordinates *perfectly* with Sephora’s decor — and I don’t ever see stripes and think, “Oh yes, Marc Jacobs!”
EXACTLY.
And, something about the bold horizontal black and white stripes atop the more delicate frosted glass bottom drives my sensibilities bonkers. But that’s my problem
Have not yet tried the juice. Will give it a fair chance.
If the Mod gals in the 60s were wearing anything at all, I think it would be something like Bandit, Jicky, Cabochard, etc.
I bet lots of Mod girls would choose some kind of unisex cologne splash — yes! That would be very non-Victorian and stripped-down.
That idea just occurred to me. I love the idea of Jicky for a Mod evening out, actually!
This sounds nice – I like my big gardenias and tuberoses, but I enjoyed Truth Or Dare as well. I like the bottle and the visuals, too, possibly better than some actual op-art (too much Vasarely gives me a headache). I’m thinking that Mod girls would wear either something masculine and/or very modern, but I have no idea what was a modern perfume in the 60s.
I meant to put my Eau de Cologne comment here — I need some coffee! — but yes, something traditionally considered masculine would make lots of sense!
I was a teen in the sixties (yes, I’m old too!) and everything was Love. Love’s Baby Soft, especially. I didn’t care for it (I was an oriental girl even then) so I wore Tabu, Wind Song, and in summer, Jean Nate.
Love’s Baby Soft was still very popular in the 80s, too — staying power!!
The bottle screams Sephora! Perhaps a 60s mod gal would have worn YSL’s Y or Jean Nate.
I can picture both of those being in a mod girl’s bedroom/bathroom. Maybe the Jean Nate for everyday and the YSL for nights out!
I sampled this recently while looking for a present for my friend. She really likes floral scents. I thought it was pretty enough, but did not have the depth I know she would want.
I agree — it’s not a deep or multi-dimensional floral. It’s pretty, and it works well for summer, but I usually crave florals that are more spicy or powdery.
You’re right Jessica. Nothing in the bio suggests a mod or noir like vibe to it. This just seems like another honeyed gardenia fragrance with some retro design packaging to lure the consumer in.
Not a fan of the gardenia note but I do work with plants,trees and shrubs and wonder why the perfumers add a honey note to a flower that has enough natural sweetness. Talk about putting it in overdrive.
Yep. I can see a mod chick like Twiggy wearing something from Yardley. What was that one they had with the word ‘fire’ in it from the 60’s?
Ah ha! It was Yardley’s You’re The Fire.
Mod gals might have worn Oh!de London too!
Yardley! Yes. I bet some of the Faberges were popular, too.
From what I understand, Pete Townshend (a Boy Mod) liked to sniff / snort / sip 4711 when he grew a bit older and a trifle less mod-y and liked to don working men’s uniforms. (Frank N. Furter from RHPC was also a fan, so it’s certainly not mod-specific.)
Hah! My main perception of the Mods is based on “Quadrophenia,” so this is something that I’m interested in hearing.
There must be some truth behind the stereotype that American women are crazy about tuberose and gardenia scents. It seems like every time I ride the train or the bus, I encounter a cloud of one of them. I love the scent of real gardenias and tuberoses, but they make me slightly nauseous when I wear them in perfume form.
I’m not so familiar with scents from the Mod era, but the Mary Quant scents seem rather interesting. I would love to have smelled Spring Blossom or Country Garden!
Yes! And MQ scents called ‘A.M.’ and ‘P.M.’ came out in 1967 according to Basenotes. Their names make them sound quite mod-ish to me.
Oh, that is so contemporary and digital-sounding! Wish we could smell them.
Same here! She was such an important designer…and I bet her scents were pretty good too!
Mod girls would have been attracted to the new, so I imagine them in in Yves Saint Laurent (Y), Guy Laroche (Fidji) and Paco Rabanne (Calandre). If they could afford it that is. I imagine that many might not have taken perfume seriously enough to want to spend a lot on it. Hence the success of brands like Tuvaché.
I much enjoyed your link to your post about the Rubenstein perfume, and reading that, I finally understood the significance of the mod-inspired packaging that Guerlain brought out in the 60s – with the brown zigzags. (Not sure that I can post a link to an image, hope you know what I mean. )
That led to the thought that the French mod girl of means would surely have been wearing Chamade.
So true, the younger generation probably wouldn’t have splashed out on high-end fragrances (although I love the Chamade idea) — I’m guessing that the fun mass-market lines were popular.
I remember 4711 in the late 60s, but I’d love to think Mary Quant. I had Mary Quant eye shadow and loved all of her stuff… Got a sample of this at Sephora so will try on a warm day.
I remember the Mary Quant cosmetics line being reintroduced/relaunched about 12 years ago in NYC — but then what happened, I wonder? It disappeared. Wish I’d grabbed a few things.
Oh gosh. I turned 15 in 1970, so I’m straddling the line. Honestly, I can tell you about my experience, but it might be like talking about what hipsters wore in 2015 when it’s 2065. All over the map!
When I think of “mod” I think of fashion, architecture, home decor and graphics. The visual arts.
As far as self-expression and perfume was concerned, the beats were fading, flower power was erupting and we were exploring new ways of expression.
Yardley’s Oh! de London was major as the Shrimpton ads were gorgeous, and Yardley was a sponsor for Zefferelli’s Romeo and Juliet, which was spectacular and everone could deny the erotic as it was Shakespeare and therefore educational. In other words, we got to see it. The scent itself was innocent and bright which seemed to be something to aspire to.
We stole from our mothers, our fathers and our boyfriends.
The more sophisticated in my crowd wore Miss Dior and Diorissimo. The (so-called) sluts wore Tigress and Tabu. Emeraude, L’Origan, Love’s, Wind Song, Heaven Sent, Canoe, Brut, and patchouli oil were all among the popular scents. There were so many more, even then.
Come to think of it, that time wasn’t so different from what we have now. We certainly have more to choose from, but perhaps the idea is the same.
Oh I agree with Holly – I too was a young “mod” in the 60’s and I’d just like to add a couple to her list – lots of us wore Aqua Manda – remember the orange stuff?? Avon…very popular…Max Factor and the Guerlain’s and Chanel’s were almost too old ladyish to be worn by anyone under 25 but I remember falling in love with Miss Dior – it was bright sassy sophisticated and so so memorable….Oh I wish someone would do something of that calibre again! But the real mods wore Patchouli oil and in London you could catch whiffs of it from someone walking down the street – some of the older people thought it was “drugs”…..oh those were the days!
PS Just to add that my friend and I thought we were very daring when we wore our dad’s Old Spice!! It was lovely too…
I need to look up Aqua Manda! and you’re the second person to mention patchouli oil, and now I want to dab some on. I didn’t know that patchouli came into vogue before the later 60s (with the hippies, of course)!
Now I’m so glad that I asked that hypothetical question, and so happy that you and Kate are here to reply! Thank you. I love having this information. And I agree about Zefferelli’s Romeo and Juliet — so beautiful.
I was there – I switched around between Cabochard, Calandre, Diorissimo, and Shalimar (the last so not mod). Loved the Mary Quant cosmetics but didn’t wear much beyond mascara and lip gloss. Wore my red hair straight and fairly long, parted in the middle. Plaid shirts from Brooks Brothers and jeans. Not mod, not hippie.
I haven’t sniffed this yet, I love trying new versions of gardenia, so I’ll look for it. My sister was mod in the 60’s with here white patent leather gog boots & hot pants shorts.. she wore Dans La Nuit by Worth, and Rive Gauche by YSL.