Beyond Paradise

This is my first day with this perfume and I've been in a swoony state on several occasions. I immediately got faint banana and strong honeysuckle, with a haze of orange blossom rapidly appearing. Honeysuckle and orange blossom are amongst my favourite out-in-the-world scents, so I was transfixed to the evolving notes and detected a languid and honeyed Hyacinth and a hot-house orchid within minutes. There were other scents I couldn't place, which may have been the orris root (not yet sure what this smells like... is there an orris-root based perfume anyone can recommend?) At this stage I was astonished by the similarities to Tommy Girl, which I reviewed a few days ago. Two Honeysuckles within days of each other! As the perfume unfolded, I could detect faint Spikenard essential oil and woody scents which I can't untangle and name. Perhaps some jasmine, a bit of musk as time passed... but the Honeysuckle dominated and remained in the centre of my attention for hours. This is a warm, complex floral wash of purple and white, which delights me. I haven't been able to shake my association with Tommy Girl and, later, J'Adore... so, later in the day I sprayed all three on various sections of myself as well as on cotton make-up wipes (dry, unscented) and did a comparison. All three fragrances are similar and lo! They are all by Calice Becker! No wonder they remind me of each other... My comparison hasn't ended yet (into my 2nd hour) but so far I love them all and would rate them as BEST Beyond Paradise (marvellous complexity) 2nd Place J'Adore 3rd Place Tommy Girl. I have all three and will enjoy each, but will probably only replace Beyond Paradise when my bottles are finished. I've discovered I'm a Calice Becker fan...

When I first smelled BP out of a tester of the old rainbow bottle I thought it was horrid. It had a huge aquatic top note, as I remember it, and in those days I hated all aquatics although I've since come to a moderate appreciation of them. Recently I happened upon a mini spray of the old bottle in a thrift shop but the perfume's top notes are ruined so I can't test my reaction any more. I do get the impression that it was once a heavier, stronger perfume than the current formulation, which I think may have been lightened and cleaned up a bit to conform with modern tastes. There is nothing very tropical in the note pyramid but undoubtedly there is a tropical feel to Beyond Paradise even without gardenia or coconut etc. I don't know how the perfumer did that bit here's a great deal going on in BP that is unrevealed by the note pyramid. At opening the new formulation has a breezy texture that I enjoy - yes, that aquatic note, dialed down a bit perhaps - but the perfume settles a little heavily, perhaps in order to invoke the oppressive atmosphere of the tropics. It is so abstract I cannot detect any of the individual notes but there is a skin-alike quality that on the right person would be amazing, I reckon. Overall BP is a like but not a love for me. Even though I am much more open to aquatics than in years gone by, I have to accept that they just don't jive with my skin.

I low-key love Beyond Paradise, especially on hot summer days -- it blooms fresh, clean, and floral. I get a ton of hyacinth and honeysuckle, very fresh and green. It's kind of in the same fresh-floral vein as Guerlain Chant d'Aromes or Elizabeth Arden Splendor. I didn't discover BP till about 10 years ago because, at its time of release, I was a devoted chypre and floral aldehydes lover and pooh-poohed more aquatic scents. In fact, I've never smelled it in the original round, blue/iridescent bottle! I'm sad to find that it's been fully discontinued; there seem to be no bottles even of this reissued jus on the market (I actually got mine at Ross, I think, about 5-7 years ago). I will enjoy it fully on these beautiful summer days.

To me this is all about the honeysuckle and jasmine. I love both of those so this has always been a love for me. I liked the original, but the recent formulation wowed me even more! I love tropical perfumes that are drenched in gardenia and coconut notes, but this one does indeed capture the essence of “paradise” without smelling like a bottle of tanning lotion. Think of this as the fragrance of vacationing in the south of France instead of spring break partying in Florida.

I had this perfume in the original bottle (as shown in the "reminds me of" - that's because it's still that fragrance but in new packaging). Cool, warm, tropical, lush, absolutely fantastic. It lasts and lasts and easily transports you away. A holiday in a bottle! Cannot stand this new shape, cheapy bottle, it's almost an insult. The original, pear-shaped, tropical coloured bottle reflected the contents perfectly.

I blind bought this and I am so glad I did. I love Hyacinth and i have bought many other perfumes hoping to get that scent and I never could smell it or it was so light it would disappear in seconds. This is beautiful, full springtime floral with the hyacinth actually being dominant. There is something that gives it a tropical edge, I think it must be the orchid. I love it!

A fantasy garden of transparent, dewy tropical flowers in the Estee Lauder style. Excellent performance and radiance yet somehow manages to feel effortless and sheer. I love wearing this on overcast, wistful summer days.

My wife smells amazing in this. Not sure what the original smelled like, but this is sexy as hell: Loads of hyacinth, green notes, and a little spice.

Beautiful floral fantasy of hyacinth, honeysuckle and jasmine. Maybe I am influenced by the original ad but it does smell like a tropical paradise to me. Sweet white florals in a humid climate. I still remember the very first time I smelled it on a perfumed magazine page one of my friends brought to school. It was the most beautiful scent I had ever smelled. Maybe it stood out form the Avons every one was wearing at the time. We had an elegant and trendy teacher who wore it as a signature scent and I was secretly very jealous. I guess it does have a lightly nostalgic or old fashioned feel, if 2003 counts as old fashion, which I personally love. I don't know what took me so long to buy a bottle now but I am glad I did. Even after the 100s of perfumes I have tested and wore over the years this is still one of the most beautiful perfumes I have ever smelled. I have decided this will be my wedding perfume and will look at getting a couple of back ups as I am terrified it might get discontinued. I would say Beyond Paradise and Gucci Bloom are all I want and need for spring and summer. It is a shame they changed the bottle, and I would have loved to have the old rainbow coloured one, but I kind of like the minimalist simplicity of the new one. Not sure if it had been reformulated but longevity and sillage is pretty good on this one.

Not many wears this scent, probably because after such a nice design Estée Lauder made this perfume look like a third category body mist, shame on the company... however, the scent is same old and beautiful. I’ve got this bottle today when I discovered it is actually the same old teardrop shaped colourful beyond paradise ❤️ I didn’t smell it for 15 years and due to COVID I couldn’t even sample it so I blind bought it! No regrets... it’s a very unique scent! It played on my mind for the past 10 years so it has to be something good right?! Floral scent with a twist of something I cannot describe, it’s nothing like any other perfume on the market... needs to be tested, and you might not fall in love with it straight away but give a few weeks and you’ll see... price wise it’s cheap and they only sell (as far as I know) perfumes so it last long! Great scent if you need something which wouldn’t turn your stomach, something floral instead of fruity sweet ones

I love the hyacinth at the beginning! Jasmine unfolds after that and for a while it’s a bit chemical-y and too strong for me. But I enjoy it as it becomes subtler. Plus, the rainbow teardrop bottle looks gorgeous on my dresser!

I'd consider this a youthful fragrance. The first smell put me off a lot, I was even repiulsed for about 15 minutes by how strong the florals are. After smelling it on me I actually like it, because the fruitiness starts becoming noticable as the chemicals tone down. It isn't a bathroom kind of floral either, it reminds me of a summer vacation.

Something in it makes me want to take a step back. It's a very strong note, and the overall feel I get is chemical smell. I don't want to take the joy from of those who like this perfume. It's just what I feel about it. I like hyacinth, but this is not a scent for me.

Blind bought the new one and am massively disappointed. Smells of nothing. Vaguely Fruity Pebbles on the first spray, and then nothing at all after 2 hours.

This perfume was originally sold in a distinctive rainbow bottle, which gave you an idea of what to expect from the fragrance. Beyond Paradise is so intensely tropical that the fragrance from the near colourless juice within the new simple, nondescript bottle is almost startling. I think of Beyond Paradise as the most recent truly great Estee Lauder perfume. Yes, Sensuous (2008) and Modern Muse (2013) have launched almost ten flankers between them, but to my mind none of them are particularly impressive. Estee Lauder has not recently given us anything nearly as good as the greats of the past, and the exceptions strengthen my argument. Pure White Linen (2006) is a flanker, a modern interpretation of the original White Linen (1978) and Bronze Goddess (2008) is really a Tom Ford fragrance (see previous post). Further evidence of Beyond Paradise's greatness: rather than being discontinued, it’s now sold alongside other classic Lauder fragrances. Beyond Paradise is a tropical masterpiece. When you do consider the individual notes, with the exception of plum blossom and the white flowers (orange blossom, jasmine, honeysuckle) the rest of the notes (eden’s mist, jubuticaba, mahonia, melaleuca/paperbark, zebrano wood) are so completely unfamiliar to me that I have no idea what they are or what they look like because I live in a temperate climate. This is why I prefer “tropical” as a description over “exotic.” Familiarity with some thing depends on your environment and perspective. But the individual notes don’t really matter, it’s the overall impression they create. Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez describe this perfectly as “a portrait of a gorgeously fresh, fictional, ideal tropical flower.” (Perfumes: The Guide 2008) Although this fragrance is distinctly tropical, like all Estee Lauder fragrances (with the exception of Bronze Goddess) it still embodies the upper middle class ideal of American beauty. Imagine the ideal Estee Lauder woman (athletic, well groomed, and wealthy) on vacation at an expensive resort in Hawaii or the Maldives. That’s the spirit of Beyond Paradise.

Another Estee Lauder masterpiece. I got the one in the new packaging. I gifted it to my mom because she loves white floral scents and her Very Hollywood had gone bad, so I wanted to escape the heady gardenia of it, but keep it white floral and jasmine dominant. This is not tropical at all, while some reviews describe it as such. This is a beautiful traditional white floral fragrance, along the lines of Gucci Bloom without the tuberose, Modern Muse (greener, but similar honeysuckle, jasmine) and Narciso Rodriguez. That kind of genre. This is not heady though, it is lighter, airy and smells alittle different on every person. On me, having dry skin it smells more crisp and greener, just like a garden full of jasmine and other white flowers. On my mom who has darker oily skin it becomes creamy, not as crisp, less green, and the projection of just one spray is phenomenal. This perfume really blooms on oily skin types and thus works amazing in the heat while staying fresh - we were doing yard work in 90 degrees weather and it smelled intoxicating. I kept grabbing her arm to smell it. Also it is very potent cuz it was still on her after a shower and projected, kinda like Donna Nautilus at this point due to the residue of orchid and jasmine (common notes). Safe blind buy if you like fresh, white floral scents, perfect for summer.

Rather than being tropical, this smells like a white floral jasmine and honeysuckle bomb, with hints of purple floral hyacinth. For more tropical I was expecting fruity notes of papaya or other flowers like ylang-ylang. I was looking for a good honeysuckle note perfume and was also browsing Burberry London. So glad I went with this one instead. The jasmine note in this is so indolic that it’s trippy. Solar, trippy, happy. I guess this is a good scent to wear to my wedding. On me the longevity is only 2.5 hours max, but I don’t mind re-applying. I consider this a staple white floral scent in my collection with Drop D’Issey and I’ll definitely stock up on a second bottle when I use my first up. Edit: I now own a second bottle of the old formula for backup and I will be comparing the two.

I do not regret getting this. It was on my wishlist for a long time but it is so expensive so I was hesitant. It is hard to come by so I had to blind buy. It is completely different to Pleasures, which I also love. This is lusher and creamier fragrance and it reminds me of Versace Jeans Couture which I had 20 years ago and also White Jeans. I am surprised that more people do not notice the resemblance. I am happy that I have this because I really was missing those 2 fragrances but they are now discontinued. I was also hesitant because people described this as tropical and I was afraid it would be wrong kind of tropical like Escada or Tommy Bahama which are unbearable to me. Luckily this has nothing in common with those. This is thick buttery fragrance and I love it.

For anyone wondering the clear bottle version has also just been discontinued like the original. I just got a clear bottle version and immediately sent it back. What a let down. I had wanted this perfume for years cuz Madonna promoted it in 2003 and I finally took the plunge. The initial smell is kind of sharp with a hint of playdoh, and it never changes. Then as others have commented, not even 30 minutes later it’s already a skin scent. I can see why this was discontinued and if this smells close to the original like they say, I can’t imagine how people liked this back then either, pretty bottle or not.

Beyond Paradise is a heady fantasy floral. It has a tropical vibe but it isn't completely tropical. The hyacinth is very prominent in the beginning but this becomes honeysuckle fragrance in the heart. Tangy fruits linger in the background. This can be a bit overwhelming so I will not be adding it to my collection but if you like honeysuckle fragrances and don't want to buy Gucci Bloom because of the prominent tuberose note in those perfumes give Beyond Paradise a try. It is a very nice honeysuckle perfume w/ fruity vibe. This is a very vibrant and bright perfume for sure, heady as well.

This isn’t how I remembered the first edition. I feel like the first edition was a little fresher/aquatic? This smells a little dated and too floral. Really should be ‘Beyond Grandma’s Garden’ as there’s nothing paradise leaning about this. It’s not a bad fragrance, can be really pleasant and feminine on the right person but it’s a no for me.

Apparently La Rives Swing the Song is similar...