Paris

So glad to see this long discontinued beauty finally added to the base. If any perfume could be called, "hopelessly romantic" this is it. The predominant notes of violet, lilac, hyacinth, and heliotrope make "Paris" one of the softest, most feminine fragrances ever. Makes you long for the days when Coty made exquisite perfumes and was not just a pimp for second rate smell alike celebrity junk. Coty should definitely consider reissuing this one.

This is a seriously great perfume, as others have stated, the double note is lilac and rose, and does it work wonderfully! If I were to smell this blind, I would guess it was by Tom Ford, at least from my exposure to Rose Prick and a few others. It’s not similar to any of them, but it has the spirit. My example is a decant from a 30’s bottle of EDP so it may be different from the more recent versions.

I have the tulip bottle with the metal cap that says Paris parfum de toilette. I'm 99% sure it's the same fragrance as the pictured eau de toilette, just in a slightly higher concentration. My bottle has strong lilac and heliotrope notes. The fragrance seems to be strongest in the heat of summer. It is a lovely floral.

My review is for the 1930s-40s formula. (It's difficult to tell from the bottle since Coty used the same model bottles for so long.) Overall impression and notes : The lilac, heliotrope, and ylang ylang are most noticeable to me. The florals here are almost fragile. I imagine people would treat you with more kindness if you wore it in public because it gives a nearly heartbreaking impression. It shimmers from the aldehydes and is nearly identical to Coty's 1930s formula Lilas Blanc, but with less citrus, less aldehydes, and the ylang ylang added in. There's also a hint of fern/coumarin in the base and the dry down has a bit more vanilla. The vanilla is almost imperceptible, though. It seems to share some of the base of Fougerie au Crepuscule, but is so much more delicate that they can't be compared. It does have a slightly vintage style, but doesn't smell nearly as dated as Grossmith White Fire, for example. I wouldn't say this is as extraordinary as some others find it. But, overall, it's pretty, inoffensive, and not so strong that you can't wear it to work. It's a classic and was so popular for a reason. It's a lovely, shimmering floral, with a focus on lilac, and low in synthetics. It layers beautifully with other perfumes as well. It's very wearable, even now, a century later. The longevity is best for the perfume and it lasts very significantly longer on clothing and paper. Days as opposed to hours. If you're used to the performance of synthetics where you can taste it for days if you're not noseblind to perfume, you'll find this disappointing. But that's just an indicator you need to either scale back on scent or take a break for a while in order to truly appreciate this creation. Overall the vintage bottles out there have aged well, so if you're looking at one, it's a roughly 75% that it hasn't gone rancid or warped beyond recognition. Try to avoid the bottles with rubber safety stoppers to avoid evaporation. The early plastic ones are fine, but the rubber seals have usually degraded and given that stereotypical latex scent to the perfume - in a big way.

Paris made full use of the synthetic materials and bases available at the time. As Coty's bestseller in the 1930s, it was sold for a long time, but it did not have much influence on later perfumes. Paris is an evolved from Houbigant Quelques Fleurs, It is not an innovative, revolutionary perfume, It's a standard aldehydic floral perfume. It has a floral composition of carnation-lilac, rose, ylang ylang and hyacinth, a musk and vanilla base, and a powdery touch that recognizes the presence of heliotrope and iris, Paris smells good, even if it might be considered outdated a hundred years from now.