Black Sugar by Aquolina (2013)

by: Dr. Marlen Elliot Harrison

This is another in a series of fragrance reviews that asks, “How does fragrance transcend gender?” Leave a comment below for your chance to receive a sample, shipped anywhere in the world, free!

Hello and welcome to “Gender Bender”, an exploration of aroma, gender and scented freedom. Though by no means do I personally prescribe to fragrance having a gender, sociocultural stereotypes about masculinity and femininity often prevail at the fragrance counters and are viewed as important distinctions for many fragrance fans. Join me as I explore some of my favorite 20th century masterpieces of perfumery in my quest to challenge marketing rhetoric and address the question, “How does fragrance transcend gender?”

Summary: Italy’s Aquolina enters into oud territory with this easily priced, perfectly unisex, creamy agarwood and vanilla offering. The entire composition is mysterious as it seems to blend elements that wouldn’t typically go together and as such seems genderless.

Perfumer: NA, please tell us in a comment below.

Try this if you like: Vanilla, buttercream, coconut, licorice; rubber, tires, vinyl, leather; smoke, agarwood/oud, myrrh, incense.

Reminds me of: Blue Sugar, Lolita Lempicka au Masculin, Bulgari Black, M. Micallef Vanille Aoud, Yohji Homme, Dior Eau Noire, Jacomo de Jacomo.

Pros & Cons: Another wonderful scent in a terrible bottle with even worse font. The packaging for these are downright awful and may lead some to think they are deodorant sprays for teens. But look beyond the surface and you’ll find an array of interesting offers from Aquolina; their Black Sugar is a surprising take on the original Pink Sugar confection, this time with the candied aspects toned down, the vanilla turned up and a Goodyear tire thrown in to turn it black. Reviews are rather positive for this one with many folks likening it to a gourmand version of Bulgari Black. Excellent longevity and hints of berries, smoke and licorice allow this oud scent to veer from the usual offerings. Don’t even think about this one if licorice, oud or rubber are a turn off.

Notes: “The composition of Black Sugar offers a union of amber, myrrh and oud, by combining them with sweet notes of vanilla and raspberry. The darker note introduced a blend of leather, incense and creamy sandalwood.” Fragrantica.com

Designer’s Description:NA

Number of times tested:5+ over the last 3 weeks.

Number of sprays applied for this review: 1 spray to the back of hand from a new bottle I purchasedonline at a discount site (ca. 2015).

Fragrance strength:Eau deToilette

Development: (Linear / Average / Complex): Black Sugar is indeed compelling as it seems to be a fragrance of opposites, none of which change much during its drydown. The opening is slightly overwhelming as there is nothing subtle about Black Sugar. The oud, leather, vanilla, myrrh and raspberry are the most prominent players here; I don’t get any sandalwood at all.

Longevity: (Short / Average / Long-lasting) Black Sugar has great longevity; I get a good 6-8 hours on my skin from only a few sprays.

Sillage: (A Little / Average / A Lot) This one needs to be applied with care; might not be the best choice for an office or close quarters.

Note about the packaging: An opaque black glass cylinder adorned with a gold vine motif housed in a similar, cylindrical paper carton.

Where can I buy it? Found online for as little as $20 USD for a 100ml EDT.

The Bottom Line: When Pink Sugar first launched, I sniffed it and then forgot it. “Cotton Candy in a bottle,” was my response, and yikes, that bottle! Having been a Comptoir Sud Pacifique fanatic, I had been deeply in love with Amour de Cacao and as such, overlooked Aquolina’s next big hit, Chocolovers, which offered an even worse bottle (red hearts adorned this one). A flurry of flankers later, Blue Sugarlaunched as Aquolina’s men’s scent. Reading allof the great reviews compelled me to acquire it but being strongly averse to licorice it just didn’t work for me. As such, I completely ignored all future launches from the Italian company. However, when one of my favorite Ebay sellers had a tester of Gold Sugar for $7, and in my quest to check out all things bargain-priced, I read through your reviews, dear Fragranticans, and figured it was a safe bet. Wow! Gold Sugar is WONDERFUL! I love vanilla and I love orange blossom and citrus, so it was an instant win for me; though again I was reminded of another CSP scent, Vanilla Citrus. But Aquolina wins points for its bargain-prices.

There is something about Aquolina’s vanilla note that is both delectably creamy, like a fresh vanilla-tinged whipped cream, yet at the same time slightly cloying and overly-sweet. When I kept seeing Black Sugar appear in the reviews here, and in light of my recent positive experience with Gold Sugar, I figured that a little wood and incense might balance the sweetness of Aquolina’s vanilla. My favorite review on the Black Sugar page was by Nataja where she suggested that it was “Better than any other smoky perfume,smells like cigars,sex,in a jazzy nightclub in Manhattan.” And that pretty much cinched my desire for a bottle. Oud, vanilla, jazzy nightclub: I’m in.

At first sniff I felt puzzled: there was my delectable vanilla; there was the somewhat bitter, petrol-edged oud; but there were other things going on. Smoke. Immediately I recalled the cypress and smoke of Jacomo de Jacomo. Rubber. It was like standing in the tire department at Sears department store. Berries. At the edge of the scent is a juicy sweetness. Incense. I was immediately reminded of my favorite Japanese agarwood incense. And licorice. Uh-oh, sad face : ( Licorice strikes again. If there is anything keeping me from all out loving this, it is the licorice note, not even listed in the composition/description. But Black Sugar is one of those scents that is now all over the auction sites for affordable prices and since so many folks are drawn to the major notes here – rubber, smoke, oud, vanilla, licorice – I thought it would be a fun recommendation for the gender bender column. I especially appreciated how Bigsly noted, “This is what I had hoped many "high end" designers would be like, instead of the trend we see, at least in "masculines," of mish-mash/pastiche scents that aren't much more interesting than deodorants.” Likewise, ChicagoTony wrote, “Whoever labels scents at Aquolina should be fired. This should be labeled as unisex as well asBlue Sugar. The opening is a bit hard to handle but the dry down is heavenly. The longer you wear it the more evident the berry and vanilla are. The darker notes really balance it out well making it acceptable for males also IMO.”

How about you? What have your experiences with Aquolina been like? Have you triedBlack Sugar? Have you found any of their other scents to be gender-bending? Tell us in a comment below!