A flanker to Lalique White from 2008:
Lalique celebrates the casual-chic elegance of today’s generation with a bracing, high-contrast fragrance, for a man who’s not afraid to embrace all of his facets and contradictions.
Intense. Magnetic. An icon for a new generation who’s not afraid to break the codes of classic masculinity.
Lalique White in Black fragrance notes
Head
- grapefruit, incense, italian bergamot
Heart
- patchouli, tolu balsam, ambroxan, vanilla, white cedarwood
Base
- cardamom, elemi, lavandin, pink peppercorn
Where to buy Lalique White in Black by Lalique

Eau de Parfum 125ml
$78.55*
*converted from GBP 62.25
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Latest Reviews of Lalique White in Black


The difference with this and Layton is that the Lalique is much more powdery soft and dryer sheet clean. A lot of what makes Layton so seductive and powerful isn't found in White in Black. For something more similar, Costume National I is where to look, both in scent and performance.
Not a bad scent at all, just not Layton. Also, performance is lacking as you'll need extra sprays to keep the fun of the opening going. Disappears after 3-4 hours.
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All that out of the way, Lalique White in Black is nice for what it tries to be, just like Ralph's Club by Ralph Lauren (2021) is nice for what it tries to be, or Montblanc Explorer Ultra Blue (2021) is nice for what it too, tries to be. Nice and fine by design; nothing exciting, nothing dangerous, nothing risky, or nothing to potentially spur challenge or rejection; White in Black is perhaps a more tongue-in-cheek way for Lalique to join this Borg collective of commericial muzac for the nose, saying "we're the same but still a little different than everyone else". The opening is spicy, with pink pepper popping alongside sweet citruses that set you up for the also-sweet lavandin, cardamom, and elemi heart. This smells a little like Layton in fits and starts but there is no apple or overt sugary feeling here, with spices and smoke instead making White in Black actually better and more "masculine". That is to say, White in Black smells about as masculine as any modern "tonkabacco" can, with a richness and smoke mixed with sweetness and a blob of synthetic spice. The base is this hinted tonka note, infused with woody-ambers, ambroxan, vanilla and tolu; I'm guessing the woody-ambers are covering the olibanum and cedar oil Lalique is saving money by not using. Lalique White in Black smells like a fragrance that wants to be a club banger if that club is wood floor gastropub with a wine bar and an open mic for amateur covers of "Wonderwall". Performance is good and decently long, plus this feels like a respectable evening or night out fragrance to contrast Lalique White's mostly office-friendly approach; Lalique "day" and Lalique "night" are these two used in tandem. I think White in Black has good cold weather potential too, and does what Carolina Herrera Bad Boy Le Parfum (2021) does without having the rough edges of the woody-ambers hanging their butts out like drunk college kids mooning you after a wild frat party.
Try as I might not be a cynical windbag nobody wants to read reviews from anymore, I can't help but feel like this may be the beginning of the "L'Oréalfication" of Lalique, meaning future baseline scents will become super samey and overtly commercial, while everything worth sniffing will require a loan taken out against your home equity to buy. I guess with income inequality being what it is, and drugstore brands vanished from shelves that once used to serve what are effectively the working poor (ones who scrimp to wear perfume at all like I used to), any brand selling perfumes at anything close to accessible price points (if $130+ USD for Lalique is to be considered accessible) must take this "low-cost high-yield" stratagem to satisfy increasingly bearish shareholders or private investors. L'Insoumis Ma Force (2018) was the signal fire nobody wanted to believe was hearalding this change, from boldly creative but wearable to obviously commercial; but having a sprinkle of that former creativity left in both it and Lalique White in Black may be enough to keep the real cynics from writing off Lalique as another in a long-line of "sold my soul to the company store" brands. The pitchforks and torches will come next if they ever start discontinuing the classics that made them such a bargain brand for the budding tastemaker, and I won't mention those because that'll jinx us all. Rounded, aromatic, sweet, and impeccably well-blended by Karine Dubreuil, Lalique White in Black at least does us the favor of being one of the more thoughtful commercial releases of 2021 that actually shows some attention to detail, something Lalique has been known for since they relied on glassmaking to pay the bills. I guess stuff like this is meant to pay the bills now. Sigh. Thumbs up