Soir de Paris (Evening in Paris)

This is for the original vintage. I have finally got my hands on a 1940s bottle of the real deal. With so many fakes although I knew I had the real bottle and box I have only now ventured to put the juice to the test. It's difficult to find any real clear info' on the notes of the original but as soon as I dared to open it I was hopeful. I have the Parfum. French not in English. This is it! Wafts out and stays around hovering without even applying so much as a precious drop. Everything people say about the nostalgia and sheer charisma is true. You are transported back to war time longing and desperate romance. Red red lipstick, powder, stockings and underlying sexual frisson. The earlier years from it's first creation in 1928 between the wars holds true for the emotional feel too. Glamour, the past horror of WW1, women asserting their power and confidence with the huge changes yet to come. All this in one tiny blue bottle. Now wearing it for the first hour: From what I can find through research there were originally some citrus in the top notes with aldehydic floral predominantly violet flitting in and out of jasmine, some kind of rose and down to an animal note with sandal or other wood softly in the base. It's so much more, complex but stable throughout. I think mine is too old to have kept the top notes totally so not in balance but it doesn't matter for what comes in immediately is rich, deep creamy seductive. A heady waft of old time Hollywood. Amazing for a fragrance 70 years old compared to today's vastly expensive offerings which will go off within a few years! Then something dark and deeply elusive but downright sexual. I've read speculation on dark carnation but it's more than that. Something pure animal here lurking and flitting. Probably one of the old forbidden real extracts. I don't know but we just don't get this in fragrances any more. For sure this blows C no 5 out of the water despite supposedly being of the same family. It's never sharp, acidic or asking time to adjust itself for it's next phase and stays constant in presence throughout. Takes no prisoners for sure but stays true despite many barely realised tantalising glimpses. Now I'm getting spice but even as my nose searches for it again it's gone. For a moment cinnamon then demurely settling into Muguet for a while before that dark sexy animal faint suggestive note comes back. This lady is definitely a bad bad flirt with the confidence that she holds an impeccable pedigree and is wholly in command. As has been said many times the astonishing thing is it's unchanging presence throughout. I'm stunned by the complexity and nuances however. More spice now but subtle within the lingering florals smoothly floating down into some gentle light woodsy tone laced with something I simply cannot define. Certainly not the vanilla which is poured with a heavy hand into so many base notes now including the reformulated joke they have made of Soir de Paris. They sold this for how much! I'm blown away. Thinking of what we have to pay for anything half decent now and all this from what was a cheap little scent. It makes me realise how very formulaic modern scents are. Boring, same , same, same. I bought this as a historical piece for my collection expecting very little but some powdery overhyped nostalgic floral pong. Oh how wrong I was. Worse though! I'm simply not going to be able to resist using it sometimes. Secret weapon? Yup. Those ladies definitely knew what they were doing dabbing a little of this behind their ears and knees..... ** Update**: Now about 2 years later and much detailed further research I can be sure this is not 1940s but actually the initial 1920s juice and bottle. My belief is that anything special or beautiful should be used not a museum piece although I do take great care of this. There are no top notes left at all so it kicks in with those heady powerful mid notes true to my initial take above and is in all respects exactly the same in the dry down. So this lady is about 84 years old. I've had Chanel that turned foul in a year or so! Perfume is so dilute now that we are not used to the real deal. You barely need a touch of this and you're scented for 24 hours. Just amazing!

This review is for the vintage 1940's to 1960's formulation. My love for Evening in Paris started when my mom was reading the VCS catalog. Upon finding the reissued 1990's bottle she mentioned her mother use to wear it when she was young and expressed an interest in smelling it again. I looked at the price and told her I was sure I could find one for a more reasonable price and asked her to let me shop around first. So started a long journey during which I discovered fragrantica. I found out about the vintage and new version and how people felt about both. I also stumbled upon the reason I quit wearing perfume for so long. I didn't know about reformulations and changing trends with Synthetics and stuff like that! I thought I had just become allergic or something. At any rate I started buying all the full and almost full bottles of Evening in Paris parfum, EDC and EDT I could find for a good price on ebay, hoping to come across the one my mom remembered. Some of the bottles had turned and were a bit off to my nose but they all still dried down nicely. Evening in Paris seems to age well. However I do notice differences even in the ones that haven't gone off. For example the older 40's cologne is muskier and gentler whereas the 60's one is sweeter. Does anyone else notice this? The difference is subtle and may just be age. I did find the one my mom remembered. It was the 1960's eau de toilette with a pointed gold cap and it smelled heavenly! After that I was left with like 7 other bottles but by this time I was so taken with this fragrance it hardly seemed enough! This is now my signature scent although my official favorite is Shaikhah. Evening in Paris is a completely different lady! She is soft, sweet and sexy. It's is so nice and comforting that I wear it to bed. It's also the scent responsible for my wearing perfume again! As for the notes, one place listed them as follows: Top Notes Bergamot, Violet; Middle Notes Linden, Clover, Lilac, Rose, Jasmine; Base notes Vetiver, Styrax. (PS Styrax is almost never used anymore I can't fathom why.) I don't know if these notes are correct but they are closer than the ones listed above (IMO). I think it may also have some amber and vanilla because it's just so Va Va VA VOOM!! I imagine so many mothers back in the day going to the Five-and-Dime with their daughters to get them their very first perfume! The young girl full of excitement at this milestone in her life would go up to the perfume counter or aisle and at once be drawn to the beautiful cobalt blue bottle. Taking a sniff she turns to her mom busy testing other bottles and sheepishly ask "may I have this one?" "Absolutely NOT!" This day she would have to settle for the more "appropriate" scent that her mom will ok. I am so over-the-moon for the old Evening in Paris. I can't get enough! I think it's obvious why this was so popular!

I managed to find a set of three vintage bottles on Ebay, and judging by the label shape these are from the 1940s. As soon as I opened the packaging, a faint powdery and floral smell wafted around me. I hadn't even opened the bottles and I was already enjoying the smell. Two of the (very beautiful) bottles were the cologne, and one was the toilette. I opened the bottles one by one and smelled each for a few moments. I was worried, because my first thoughts were "bitter dish soap." But of course, trying it on made me think otherwise. It wasn't bitter dish soap at all. It was elegant, and warm, and powdery, like I had originally thought. I couldn't help but smile as I took in the softness of it. Nostalgia enveloped me, and something inside me told me that I had smelled the perfume before. It must have been long, long ago, but I can still remember it. I can barely wrap my head around the thought that 70 years ago, someone was smelling this exact same scent from this exact same bottle. Not all perfumes age well, but Evening in Paris certainly retained every bit of glory and grace it was created to have. The smell is, as I said before, elegant. Some people may mistake "elegant" for "grandmotherly", but the difference is that elegance is timeless. It saddens me to know that this fragrance was reformulated for its relaunch. This is a classic, well blended scent that represents a less cynical time. If you can, get a vintage version instead of the newer version (Or get both.) All people should be given a chance to experience this. There's a perfect amount of every soft, flowery note, and just the right hint of musk and amber that trails off.

Here's my review for the 1oz wee bottle I bought on ebay, probably 1960s or older. Reminded me of no.5 more than anything, but that's not too surprising considering its maker. It's not a dupe but there's shared DNA. More sweet powder and very purple flowery, less animalics and aldehydes. Like the impression of the smell of a woman who used Chanel soap and powder, now you perceive her lovely sillage as she passes the table you're sitting at in Montmartre. Smells like the era between world wars, that's for certain. Makes me nostalgic for a time I never knew. For those who smell "only powder," that might be because many cosmetics and body powders from the last century eventually came to be formulated with scents that were popular and common from their respective times. It's why Coty L'Origan smells like your grandma's cheek. (Mine for sure!💛) She might have worn White Shoulders or Shalimar. But if she used Coty Airspun face powder between 1940-now, guess what, it's scented with Coty's most popular perfume from the time of its invention--L'Origan. (It used to come in all sorts of Coty scents. Bourjois was an earlier model of this marketing/formulation strategy.) My point isn't to admonish anyone. Just that "powder" is scented, and your cultural perceptions may vary. Like with suntan lotion!

As a child (back in the Pleistocene era) I remember thinking this was the most beautiful scent I had ever smelled. Someone gave me one of those little dime store bottles of it as a gift and I was entranced! The TV commercials only reinforced my absolute adoration for the fragrance and I saved my allowance money so I could buy one of the gift sets that had the powder in it, too. It was one of the scents that set me on the path to being a perfume freak. Fast forward 50 years and I found a bottle on a website for hard-to-find, old fashioned items. I bought it and fell in love all over again, mostly with the memory of what it meant to me a a little girl. I lavished it on, wore it day and night and after a few years, used that bottle up. A couple of years ago, I bought another bottle on an online off-price site and ::GASP!:: It was NOT the same! I'm crushed! I know this is--or was--a simple, uncomplicated powdery floral and not everyone's cup of tea, but I LOVE florals, this one among many, and I feel as if I've lost an old friend from childhood.

I also smell aldehydes in this version. I think the original version, which we used to buy for Mom as a gift at Woolworth's, was also somewhat aldehydic.(There does not seem to be a huge difference between the two versions.)It's not listed as a note, however, and is soon taken over by the powdery and slightly sweet violets and iris. On me it smells like make-up, in a pleasantly old-fashioned way. The drydown is a little musky with a hint of lily of the valley. This scent is more of my Mom's style, as she was not fond of gourmands and men's scents, which are my preference. However, it a nice way to feel close to her spirit, and it is a wonderful scent for a date in an upscale restaurant. There is a very ladylike (but not "stuffy") aura to Evening in Paris. The longevity is impressive, although the sillage is on the low side of moderate. This is almost a "skin scent". Update: The more I wear Evening in Paris, the more I love the drydown.

A dear friend bought me a mostly full one-ounce bottle (pre-1969 I surmise) from an estate sale yesterday, and I'm wearing it now. It doesn't really remind me very much of L'Heure Bleue, although there is a candied-violets-iris-aniseed accord that is similar to that one. I have no way of knowing if the juice is still "good" because I don't know how it was stored--probably not all that carefully, since it was a drugstore brand--but it smells good to me. It's surprisingly strong for an EDT--almost extrait strength, really, so maybe it has become more concentrated over the decades. The cobalt-glass bottle is gorgeous and heavy, and the little medal screw-on stopper is very sweet and reminds me a bit of onion-dome roofs. I posted a photo on Fragram a little while ago if you are curious about the bottle or formulation. Someday I will try to smell a more recent formulation to see how it compares.

Today I just received a vintage version of this and I also have the new version...I can tell you the two are night and day. They smell nothing alike. The new one smells of very powdery synthetic ingredients, and the vintage is smooth, pure perfection. I get a bit of L'Heure Bleue from the mid notes, it comes into it's own in the drydown just lovely. This is a gorgeous blend of powdery violet and iris with peach and sandalwood. This is a night by the light of the silvery moon, pure romance, a rendezvous with a dream... But when at last, my dream comes true...I'll have a rendezvous with you Sitting with him on a park bench, the moon reflecting on the water. Two swans silhouetted in the moonlight, violin music in the background, He reaches in for a kiss...their eyes meet...love is in the air This is an evening in Paris

I found a 1.6oz EDP bottle at the Thrift store today, a totally blind for $2.99 that was all taped up. In the car, I sprayed it on a tissue for test and it was just awful, metallic and synthetic, like the E Lauder Silver I tried a few months back. But wait... Fast forward a couple hours; I am home and try this on my wrist now, my actual body and Voila! it is totally different than what I smelled in the car! It is, after all, a lovely smooth soft floral that dries down ever so pleasantly with sandalwood and amber. It even smells a bit gourmand. Charming. While it may not make my top 10, I will certainly enjoy this sometimes, and the beautiful cobalt bottle will look great on my dresser. Lesson of the day: don't judge until you have tried it on your body!

Nostalgia made me buy this. I'm in my fifties, and I remember seeing little bottles of this in the five and dime store. Yes kids, you could actually buy things with these coins without adding the shrinking, nearly microscopic fiat paper currency. We picked up minis of the parfum and EDC online. The scent is just lovely and brings back an enormous wash of memories. I'm surprised to find the drydown reminds me of a Lotus Oil I picked up in the early 70s. I have a vast collection of Lotus ranging from Egypt, India, etc., and that warm, mysterious floral note is hiding in the original formula. From what I'm reading, I wouldn't dare buy any reformulated scents. Nothing is made right anymore. Vintage is just a code name for acceptable quailty.

** Update from previous vintage review SAME BOTTLE!**: Now about 2 years later and much detailed further research I can be sure this is not 1940s but actually the initial 1920s juice and bottle. My belief is that anything special or beautiful should be used not a museum piece although I do take great care of this. There are no top notes left at all so it kicks in with those heady powerful mid notes true to my initial take in 2011 review and is in all respects exactly the same in the dry down. So this lady is about 84 years old. I've had Chanel that turned foul in a year or so! Perfume is so dilute now that we are not used to the real deal. You barely need a touch of this and you're scented for 24 hours. Just amazing! Oct 11 20

I bought SDP or Evening in Paris for my mother on mothers day. She has not given any impression of any change, though it was about 40 years ago that she wore it. I had to try it once before giving it up. The flower and fruity notes blended so well I was more than impressed that the powder dry down was subtle and did not impede the light lusciousness of flower and friut with a feathering of sandal and vanilla. I will be more than happy once I've purchased my own bottle. I am an avid avoider of powdery dry downs but was not overwhelmed by said powder of this alluring scent. It has a way of casually twining about you, lifting your senses and spirits without offending anyone else, who senses it as well. Opal

Review of the current modern version of Evening in Paris : First of all, this version is NOTHING like the vintage versions. This modern scent should have had a completely different name. This current version is sweet, fruity, very slightly powdery, pretty, and fresh. It reminds me of Elizabeth Arden Red Door Revealed, and a little bit less fruity, more gentle softer version of Elizabeth Taylor Diamonds and Rubies. This current formula lasts about 6 hours on my skin, with moderate to soft projection, fading to a very close to skin scent after the first hour. I love it, even though it's an entirely different perfume from the real Evening in Paris.

I kept getting this confused with Midnight in Paris from Van Cleef and Arpels and was very upset, but finally I've found my beloved! My mother used to have a really lovely body powder and luxury puff set of Evening in Paris bought very cheaply from TJ Maxx, and it was the most divine thing I'd ever smelled. It's just so sultry. When I smell it I think of silk and gorgeous women in furs and slinky gowns. I think of the Roaring 20's. I think of art deco and pin curls. One of my very favorite scents. I'm interested to try new vs. old bottles of EiP.

I grew up with my mother wearing Evening in Paris and I liked it well enough as a child. Years later I find this in the Vermont Country Store catalog and I buy it. It is wonderful! I don't really recollect how Evening in Paris smelled as a child, but this is a wonderful violet scent. I also found a glass stopper bottle of this at a flea market as well. Now I've been buying vintage Evening in Paris at antique stores, on line and at flea markets and each one smells different....not sure which is the true Evening in Paris I would smell as a child.

The original Soir de Paris is the most divine heavenly thing! I remember it from my mother wearing it when I was young (in the 50's and early 60's), and I loved it on her!! It was so wonderful!!!! I loved breathing her in - she just smelled divine!!! She only ever had one bottle of it, which she treasured, and only wore on special occasions, and the biggest thrill of my life was to be given a tiny dab of it by her, once in a while!!! Oh I was thrilled, and in seventh heaven then!!!

I have the Cologne version. This fragrance smells very strong and very sweet.... If that makes any sense It is my favorite vintage fragrance ever. I am not sure when the cologne came out can anyone let me know please. Anyways this fragrance is great for a night out and really is a sweet floral. the main floral note is Violet's and Powdery because of the Iris. Anyone who finds this please buy it, it is so worth the money.

Just loved it when I was a little girl in the 1960s. Can't stand the reformulated version. Costs too much and smells not much more impressive than household air freshener. I wish the vintage one would reappear by magic. I would buy lots of it. Speaking of household and air-fresheners, I read somewhere that more than 85% of the world's fragrance output goes into household detergents and other cleaning materials!

My mom once told me that when she was a little girl in the 60's, she bought a teensy bottle of Evening in Paris for her mother, for Christmas. She said "I just knew my mom would know how much I loved her when she opened up that box." I immediately had to go and buy a teensy bottle. I think every perfume lover should own some of this sweet, storied perfume. 💙

this was my very first big girl perfume when i was younger lol......i remember that dark blue bottle - the scent was just beautiful.............loved it then..........still love it now.....probably cuz violet is one of the ingredients & thats my fav scent & it seems like on me thats what i smell the most :):) and i love how its very powdery too :)