Versace introduced Crystal Noir as a women's eau de parfum in 2004, and the perfumer behind it is Antoine Lie.

It opens on three spices at once: cardamom, pepper and ginger. The heart turns to flowers, with gardenia, peony and orange blossom, and the base settles on amber, musk and sandalwood, which is where most of the long wear comes from.

The family label leaves something out. Crystal Noir is sold as an amber floral, yet the first thing you meet is neither a flower nor amber. Three spices are stacked at the top, so the warmth and bite that one spice would give you arrive three times over, and the opening lands sharper than the word floral suggests. The flowers come second. The oriental side lives in the base, where amber and sandalwood keep everything close to the skin. And for all the Noir in its name, none of the nine listed notes is smoky. There is no oud and no incense anywhere in the pyramid.

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