Since its drop, Cé Noir has been met with mixed reviews — some enjoy it, others aren’t enthralled, and even more are glad that something they spent nearly $200 on without smelling has a nice scent. I’m not crazy in love. Here’s why.
Packaging
Cé Noir comes in a hefty box with a chrome silver slipcover embossed with the name of the fragrance. Remove it to reveal a white box with a silver mirror circle. Open that up, and nestled in its own holder, you’ll find the bottle.
The color of Beyonce’s Renaissance era is silver and Cé Noir is outfitted perfectly on theme. The bottle is fully chrome, with Art Deco-style architecture topped off by a half-moon cap. The back of the bottle has a small circular window, which Beyonce calls “the soul of the perfume,” so you can see the juice inside.
While the bottle itself has some good weight to it, the cap doesn’t feel as heavy, nor does the plastic stand the bottle is supposed to rest in when it’s displayed on your vanity. The stand, by the way, frivolous though it may seem, actually looks cool when it’s on display. I’m keeping it.
Longevity
For $200, you’d better be getting something with staying power and Cé Noir has that. When I wore it, I sprayed it on my clothes and my skin. The scent lasted almost a full work day for me, around seven hours. If you like scents that quickly evaporate (hey, some people are into that), this isn’t for you. When you wear Cé Noir, you’ll be smelling it all day long.
My Honest Thoughts
Upon first spritz, I smelled a heavy burst of citrus, sweet and tart, with a bouquet of roses just lingering in the background. As the clementine mellowed, the honey note is what stood out to my nose. It’s sweet, but not cloying. It’s like actual honey in that it adds flavor — as it would to your tea — to the overall scent.
Once Cé Noir dried down on my skin, I could smell the roses very distinctly and the sweetness of the honey lingered ever so slightly. It’s pleasant — and familiar. It instantly reminded me of Parfums de Marly’s best-selling Delina fragrance, though Beyonce’s is a little more punchy with the rose, which comes across a bit sharp and astringent to my nose with the clementine. Some Allure editors likened Cé Noir to Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s TikTok-famous Baccarat Rouge 540 in terms of sweetness.