Parure

@blkleather_redlace, @eunicemichelle, Ok, so here is what I know from a reliable source at Guerlain (this goes years back): Parure was “adjusted” over time still before it landed in the bee bottle. However, the levels of some restricted materials (not only oak moss) contained in the formula were allegedly so high that it could never comply with very strict norms which were about to be implemented. Since Parure was a very special fragrance to Jean Paul Guerlain, which he created for his mother, he personally undertook to reformulate. But his attempts were not able to produce a result without changing the fragrance beyond recognition, which he wouldn’t approve of. This in combination with rather low sales (Parure had never been a bestseller) was a reason to discontinue the fragrance. I don’t think the costs of reformulation have anything to do with the decision. After all, companies like Guerlain keep reformulating and adjusting their fragrances for many reasons all the time, the costs of which are calculated into each bottle of fragrance you buy. Also, I’m absolutely convinced ( but that’s just my opinion) that if it was any other fragrance, they would have probably approved a mediocre reformulation as acceptable and left it on the market. But Parure was a different story because of the personal attachment of JPG, so he had the final say. I love Parure and cherish my last bottle of it. Sometimes I think I would prefer to have a reformulated version rather than nothing. But I also admit I get very frustrated with botched reformulations, so perhaps it’s still better to have a good memory of the fragrance not ruined by a clumsy attempt to keep it alive at any cost.

Soft verdant hues, watercolor rose, distant hay bales, a periwinkle color sky, this is what I feel as Parure EDT opens on my skin. A few minutes in, I am reminded of wisteria and their scent, sweet and musky, and of labdanum and their powdery, fragrant golden chains. Echoes of mimosa, Poet's narcissus, and iris soon after fold in. It feels the way that distant chimes sound, ringing in a shadowy lilac and twilight plum, headed towards an enchanted forest. The deep, rounded sonority of the florals are heartbreaking, much like the timbre from a flugelhorn or an oboe, baroque in design. They slowly melt into a tawny leather, oakmoss, and Guerlinade, pensive, yet sensual. Pink roses fade into a forest haze, a warm glow, like foxfire, illuminating the forest floor as the horizon. Parure proves to me that it is such a profound chypre that it may have been a bit too much for the ordinary world to handle. Intellectual, yet tacitly erotic, it picks up where Mitsouko left off and amplifies the verve to a new level of complexity. Parure is a wonder and a chypre for the die-hard chypre lover.

I find this stately chypre a plummy leathery version of Nahema even though many have reviewed its similarity to Mitsouko. It is complex and full of contrasts. It is tangy with a smidgen of sweetness from the plum and rose, brightened by citrus but darkened by leather, patchouli and incense, noticeable lilac but woodsy in the dry down. While Barbara Herman thinks it is the perfect warm-weather fragrance, for me, its richness makes it a great dark floral for fall when the weather is warm during the day and cool at night. According to Monsieur Guerlain ~ Jean-Paul Guerlain stated that he created Parure for his mother, who loved jewelry, out of childhood memories of her elegance. The characteristic scent of balsamic resins, at once velvety like cinnamon and enigmatically smoky-woody, is closely linked to antiquity's perfumes and incense, and Jean-Paul Guerlain further explained that his olfactive vision for Parure was inspired by the riches of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb.~ Vintage parfum review.

If the world should end and three perfumes had to saved, I would choose PARURE, 1000 and FRACAS - in this order. Parure is one of the most magnificent scents ever made, it is perfect in every aspect and has no fault of any sort. I see it has been compared to others but for me this is truly unique. I am not aware of any other scent resembling Parure in any way. It is too complex to be appropriately described: it's chypre with a touch of fruit, it's woody with a touch of flowers. It's the epitome of what a Great Scent should be: complex without being too much, opulent without being aggressive or overwhelming, elegant without being banal or too understated. I really can't see why this has been discontinued even though a sales person at Guerlain whispered me that a bottle every now and then surfaces on the counter desk and soon it disappears. Maybe to be saved for future generations so they can enjoy this masterpiece.

This is SOOooooooooo good! I was gifted a sample of this by a dear friend here at Fragrantica ( thanks, hon! ) which I then took with me on vacation. At first I was Pleased with this fragrant creation. After an entire week of Generous Application I'm in Love. :) There is a way in which this seems to me very close indeed to the same Guerlain aura as Mitsouko, but the reviewer who stated it's lack of peach is correct. I don't miss it, even though my nose detects no fruit whatsoever. Oakmoss is now considered such a "dangerous" substance that Guerlain cannot properly reformulate her. To discontinue this beauty is perhaps the most respectful choice. But!!!! In the final analysis, PLEASE do try Parure if she crosses your path. Guerlain lovers will not be disappointed by her oh-so-special charm!

Edt review Achingly beautiful scent. The more you wear it she opens up her beauty. Its complex, aloof, warm sensual, and stunning. Moments are different with the notes that envelop you. Body warmth coaxes her secrets into bloom. I've never quite experienced anything like it. You think maybe Y by YSL or Givenchy III but no she is a cut above. I was eating dinner and suddenly this beautiful scent enveloped me and I knew suddenly it was Parure. Guerlain said his mother wore it, and it shows maturity, complexity, feminine, and only the very best. A stunner. If I attempt to say what it smells like, I will not do it justice. The musty green start is rough, like a woman that guards her heart. But once the heart opens..she is magnificent. oh the lilac and spicy drydown...best in the fall/winter

Parure is, in fact, my favourite Guerlain of all time. Even Shalimar, Mitsouko, and the other greats can't touch it for me. I have contacted Guerlain asking them to reissue Parure in some form... I recommend anyone who also wants to see it return do the same! For those who haven't smelled this, the greatest of discontinued fragrances, it's an incredibly lush plum chypre with heavy oriental undertones. Sweet and flippant, it bathes everything around it in a haze of rosy purple, with an enchanted forest drydown that makes me want to die and wake up there. It belongs in the Guerlain collection alongside Chamade and Nahema.

I read somewhere that the creator of this perfume was inspired by his wife, who he had divorced a few years earlier--he said his inspiration had been the idea of "icy flowers"--sweet, fragrant and yet cold and distantly elegant. I think he achieved this perfectly. I remember seeing a rare TV ad for this scent in the late 70's,that featured Katherine and Heathcliff meeting on a moor and kissing passionately--a fitting metaphor for an intense but failed relationship. It is elegant, feminine and emotionally unavailable. I love that kind of complexity in a fragrance!

Guerlain Parure (1975) - soft leather chypre - The sadly discontinued creation of #jeanpaulguerlain that has a place in their legendary classics. At the top, I get greenish hues, cut grass, hay, and stone fruits akin to Chamade. As it develops, it transitions to a complex floral accord - soft, powdery, radiant. I get a mixture of Rose, Jasmine, Mimosa, and Iris. This beauty doesn’t stop there - the drydown comes across as a leathery chypre that is Oakmoss heavy. I also get a warm amber Signature of the Guerlinade.

Yes, too bad it's so difficult to find it. IMO it would have deserved a better fortune when launched, maybe it was too avant garde, as all Guerlain perfumes are. Parure is pure perfection bottled, absolutely wonderful, elegant. I bought my first Parure when I was 15 and it's among the very few that I still love to wear after so many years. I use to describe Parure as Mitsouko's Little Sister. The Guerlain Marketing Direction should do something to avoid this oblivion, totally undeserved oblivion

Even if they are both Guerlain chypre perfumes,Parure never had the status Mitsouko has which is a shame. Luca Turin thinks Mitsou is the best perfume ever created and many people care about his opinion. Before it was discontinued and actress Kim Cattrall complained about it, Parure was not a very popular perfume, considered old fashioned.I have no doubt that the cost of making a good reformulation of it was a reason why it was discontinued. Too bad for those who love it.

Thierry Wasser, Perfumer in chief at Guerlain was asked a few years ago if Parure could be commercialised again. His annwer was no. The reason why it has been discontinued was because it not comply with IFRA norms, I understood that they tried a reformulation but it did not work, it had nothing to with the original. IFRA should disappear, One can dream .

Masterpiece indeed. I've got a 100 ml bottle from June 1978. Since the bottle is opaque, it's hard to tell how much is left, but there is at least 50 ml remaining. Strong, long lasting, beautiful, perfect. If anyone is interested, PM me.

A totally unigue perfume that cannot be compared to anything ever created. So no, it's nothing like Mitsouko. Wearing Parure is like entering a beautiful dream. A perfectly blended floral with a clean, crystal clearness. A masterpiece.

Dear Guerlain, if you read this PLEASE bring Parure back as a limited edition in “exceptional pieces” line. I’ll buy all the bottles... of course only if Ms. Cattrall doesn’t manage to grab them before I do...

So earthy at the opening so heavenly rosy at the drydown. In two words; A precious gem! And you don't need any other adornment (=parure) when you wear this.

I would consider it a floral version of Mitsouko. A touch of aldehyde, which settles down to pure exquisitness.

this reminded me of a spring summer garden after a rain storm , wish they still made it

Hello everyone, I want to let you know that if you go to Etsy.com, look for Nunzio's Discoveries by ODONA, they have a vintage Parure edt that they recently listed for sale (they put it up on Thursday) and I checked just now June 14 at 8am, CT (US) and it's still there. They find lots of beautiful vintages; they also have a vintage Chant d'Aromes edc and Shalimar edc just listed, amongst others. I bought my vintage Anais Anais from them and they are great people to do business with. I just wanted to mention them. I am not connected to them in any way at all. I'm just a fellow perfume fan sharing a little gem of a source.

Reviewing the vintage EDT. Parure is opulent, sweet, feminine, and green. In the opening I get a lot of orris and a little oakmoss and green notes. The drydown is sweeter, with a dewy rose, narcissus, and sweet plum. A testament to Guerlain's workmanship but not to its trendsetting ability. It came out too late; it's very 30s/40s/50s in style. This perfume is more a summation of some of the good that was in perfume from the decades before it than any kind of groundbreaking creation. However, it's a must-have for vintage perfume lovers.

not a bitter sharp chypre but sweet and warm up front and odd, not like Shalimar but different in that way unlike any other fragrance; dries down very soft, very dry, little woody, floral and soapy; as it dries down, the oakmoss comes forward and takes over so I like it less and less; I have the vintage, not the one in this bottle

A classic chypre, here Guerlain hints towards Dior (classics). This, on me, is like Chamade put onto a soft vanilla base (hint of Shalimar base). Review is for a vintage eau de toilette, think an eau de parfum would have more depth. I like it best on the long dry down when the vanilla comes out more and the perfume becomes a bit rounder, softer. I have an 80% full 93ml edt in a gold flacon for sale for connoisseurs or an exchange to vintage Nahema....!

Today on a cool autumn day it is thin and sharp and the oakmoss, mein gott in himmel the oakmoss is ... I frankly can't stand it. On a warm summer day, it is outstanding. When I first sprayed it on I could smell both Chamade and Vol de Nuit. Thirty minutes later, Nahema peeks through (a little foreshadowing since Nahema was born in '79). About an hour later, it's fresh pink roses and Guerlinade. What persists 24 hours later is a rose and vetiver dry down identical to my beloved vintage Chanel N°19. This review is of the 100mL EdT and most likely from the late eighties. Despite it's age, the top notes are intact.

The signature scent is an obsolete model of perfume use. It was the perfume you mated with and wore exclusively day in, day out. If your perfume was discontinued or fatally reformulated, you were out of luck. I read often about the drawbacks of so many perfume releases each year. Creativity and exploration in commercial perfumery is stifled by market needs, narrow margins and short time frames for success. The explosion of 'niche' is impossible to keep up with without curation. Each year, hundreds of launches are aimed at the same fat middle of the bell curve. 25 years ago the dilemma was simply a dozen men's perfumes that tried to copy Davidoff Coolwater’s success after the fact. Today it’s hundreds of concurrent launches that all smell like Bleu de Chanel, each following the same model of risk management. iTania Sanchez’s analysis that Chanel 5 wasn't successful due to marketing but to quality isn’t applicable to new perfumes. Half of those hundreds of simultaneous fragrances don't smell any worse or much different than Bleu. The quality, innovation or artistry of the product are the least important variables in the equation. Branding and marketing are the deciding factors and Chanel wins through PR power and prowess alone. The lifelong signature fragrance has become a losing prospect. Perhaps a better model is to swim out a bit further and let the tide carry you. I don’t mean to Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Wall at Sephora. But investigate a bit. Interested in oud? You’ll have hundreds to choose from. Don't like oud? Try one of the throngs of translucent incense perfumes. Rose is having a moment these days and there are some gorgeous Rose perfumes. Why not try one of those? Even a genre as tired as for the Fruity Floral has been tested by evolution for long enough that there are some solid choices. If you never step into the same river twice, maybe this constant flow of new perfumes isn't a bad thing. I can't think of any given time in the past 20 years when there haven't been a good number of exceptional perfumes available. I'm thrilled that Guerlain seem to have found a way to resurrect Mitsouko. But if it had simply gone the way, I would have shed a tear and moved on. This attitude is not ahistorical. There lineages, traditions and movements in perfumery that continue whether historical icons remain extant or not. We reminisce about signature fragrances when we talk about dear old Gran who wore Arpège and Grand-dad who used to wear Caron pour un Homme. Forget the arcadian past and ask yourself, would anyone be better off still wearing Giorgio every day rather than having discovered Carnal Flower? What if your boss still wore Opium rather than l’Air du Désert Marocain? The choices are there if you chose to act. Investigate new entries in a genre that you’ve like in the past. Discover something completely new. Follow a perfumer whose work you’ve admired. There’s a lot of perfume bliss to be followed these days *** But back to Guerlain Parure and the value of the new. A large decant of the discontinued but coveted Parure was sent to me by a generous friend who has a particularly good ability to read perfume. I think there was some degree of test implied in the gift. What would I do with Parure? Thinking about the river of new releases has influenced my take on Parure. From a market perspective, novelty has come to be a universally positive attribute. It has a value beyond mere goodness. If new is good, then newer is better. The latest is the greatest. Oy, did Parure missed the boat. Parure was released in 1975, composed by Jean-Paul Guerlain. For perspective, Guerlain released Chant d’Aromes, a prim powdery floral in 1962, Chamade, an exquisitely powerful green floral from 1969 and Nahema, an over-the-top disco queen in 1979. How is it possible that Parure is so much more in the mold of Chant d’Aromes than Nahema? I don’t think Parure was intended to be retro. It was simply behind the times and was released into a market that had already had many similar fragrances for years. Aldehydic floral chypres: Paco Rabanne Calandre (1969), YSL Rive Gauche (1970). Green powdery chypres: Estée Lauder Private Collection (1973), Weil de Weil (1971). The more emancipated green fragrances had left the dainty green floral aldehyde behind. By emancipated, I mean taking the lead like Aromatics Elixir (1971), carefree like Revlon Charlie (1973), or active and engaged like Estée Lauder Aliage (1972). For god’s sake, 25-30 years prior women were wearing Rochas Femme (1943), Robert Piguet Bandit (1944) and Miss Dior (1947). These perfumes were erotic, some tacitly, others blatantly. They highlighted the sensuality of the body. By comparison, Parure suggested as much distance from the body as a perfume can make. Parure was intended for a woman who closed the drawing room doors before the Summer of Love started and still hadn’t opened them in 1975. Even the name, “Parure” which means both a matched set of jewelry and, simply, finery, shows how out of step this perfume was in 1975. But that was then. As a homo in 2014, I reclaim Parure. Its dynamics are delicate and balanced just so. Removed from the context of the retiring bourgeoise of the mid 1970s, it is a soft floral chypre with fruity elements that, after 15 years of syrupy tactless fruity florals, seem subtle and sexy. Appropriating staid perfumes that were well designed but fundamentally conservative and making them a bit come-hither breathes life into them. God, it's great to be queer.

Fragrance Review For Parure Guerlain Top Notes Citruses Bergamot Fruit Notes Plum Green Notes Middle Notes Narcissus Lilac Orris Root Jasmine Lily of the Valley Rose Base Notes Spices Leather Amber Patchouli Oak Moss French Perfume At It's Finest Released in '75, Parure is a vintage beauty and a sort of mixture of old and new from the house of Guerlain. This is a bit like at least 2 fragrances from their line over the years: Mitsuoko, Shalimar & Chamade. While not exactly dupes of any of those fragrances this is a beautiful nostalgic woman's perfume made up of French perfume staple notes, and some newer ones for the mid-70's. This is hard to find even when you're a vintage collector because it's been discontinued though they are out there somewhere. I found mine in the wardrobe of my French girlfriend Lysette who still had remnants of this perfume in her own collection. I took a whiff and wore a bit on my wrist. Smells divine. Lacking in aldehydes or powder notes this was an early fruity floral. It's evocative of spring and summer, of youth, of Maypoles and lovely girls in bows, ribbons, dresses, and no worries. This is a very pretty scent which would be hard to duplicate today because while some of the top and middle notes of fruits and florals can be achieved through perfumery the base notes would be harder to pull off especially the oak moss and the green notes that can be pretty strong. I dislike to classify fragrances but this appears to be a rare breed of fruity chypre. Smells elegant sophisticated youthful and sweet without being cloying. It has a charm that can only come from the French. It's a summer party in Cannes or St. Tropez, where a young girl who is all of 19 or 20 has charmed everyone in sight and she dances to her heart's content. She has the pick of any man she wants. She wears Emilio Pucci fashions and flower power prints, headbands, capri pants, shorts, wiggle dresses and cocktail dresses. It's a charmer of a perfume. Parure opens with a fresh delicious orange flavor and fruit notes of rich plum juice. To me the plum is more pronounced than the citrus though they are well balanced. Instantly it freshens you and makes you feel like partying. The fresh fruit opening is very different than some of the Guerlains and because of the green notes that appear it turns into a Mitsouko fairly soon but it doesn't get too powdery. Sweet florals emerge from the heart including narcissus, heady Grasse jasmine, Bulgarian rose, lilac, iris and lily of the valley. The lily of the valley green-floral note is at variance with the powdery iris. Beautifully floral and feminine, with a ripe plum always present through the performance. Sweet and girly for '75 though mature by today's standards. A spiciness develops after the flowers start to fade. The dry notes are progressively greener and darker. There's moss and plenty of it. This is the real deal. Green moss that hangs on trees and covers the floors of deep woods. The scent is also herbal with patchouli and provides this scent with a decidedly unisex body as it dries. There's leather and musk and a deep resinous amber. The dry down is warmer and cozier autumnal. Smells like the spring and autumn in one single performance. I wish that Guerlain noses would recreate this scent even with the oak moss and or bring this back. There are a number of people including myself who would go out and buy this if it was available in stores today. I am so bummed I live in a time when fragrances don't even try to smell like the classics, have no sillage, no staying power, and no real perfume. This was enchanting. Totally enchanting. I hope the eBay splash minis are not bad. Anyways just my thoughts on what I smelled coming from a vintage '75 bottle. Ah, perfume! Come back Perfume!

I have a vintage bottle of Parure, a 1996 EDT. I've worn it a half dozen times, and I feel I am still just getting to know it. The EDT lasts and lasts, with a development and depth that engages my attention throughout the day. Parure has been called backward-looking and stodgy, and I just don't get this assessment. To me, Parure takes classic floral aldehydes such as Joy, No. 5 and Madame Rochas, brushes off the powder, leaves the poor little civet and its glands alone, and adds dewy fruit and rich spice tones. Parure has the good bone structure of a chypre, with the holy trinity accord of bergamot, labdanum, and oakmoss all present and accounted for (with styrax and damascones standing in for the labdanum, perhaps), but Parure doesn't feel like a chypre, because it has so many gorgeous florals and fruits layered on top. Parure opens refreshingly, with great Old School bergamot and some bitter green herbs (sage, some say) that transition smoothly into the oakmoss. Parure’s dry opening and basenotes are soon countered by the emergence of a rich and fleshy fruit that is certainly different from the classic perfume peachiness of Mitsouko, Femme, Que Sais Je?, et. al. So we will call this fruitiness “plum’”, but once again, perfume fruit never smells like fresh fruit to me, perhaps it is closer to plum preserves? No matter, I love the way Parure’s plumminess blends with the roses to give it rich rose presence--like a velvety and wine dark Gallica rose. Parure turns sweeter as the plum note appears and then its flowers bloom in profusion...roses, lilac, jasmine. In its middle and late development, Parure is all about deep toned roses and cinnamon scented plum pudding, but I never find it heavy or cloying. The roses in Parure continue to waft when I brush against my clothes throughout the day. As you can tell, I adore Parure. If college tuition bills didn't loom on the horizon, I would order one of the original crystal parfum flacons right now and fondle it obsessively, like Gollum with his ring, for the rest of my days

My introduction to Guerlains Parure in the 70's was purchased in San Francisco at the now defunct store, I. Magnin. A purchase with no regrets. Upon my first application, my initial response was this is ethereal, its heaven in a bottle. Vintage Parure is a mixed bag of greatness. The fruity opening, with plenty of plum in the forefront, blends to perfection with the citrus lemony bergomot and a smidgen of green notes The heart brings on a lushness from the rose (a wearable rose) as the sentimental sweetness of the jonquil combined with the jasmine and lily of the valley bring out a reminder of old time glamour. The scrumptious dry down with it's leather, loads of oak moss and a jot of patchouli equates to a "boom boom pow" scent that can be so "now" as well as so happening in 3008! It's nostalgic, it's now, it's futuristic, it's timeless! Parure has been discontinued. Why Guerlain pulled this wonder in a bottle off the market is beyond my comprehension . It is scarcely available and with an intense search it can be found. The remains in my blue glass stopper bottle in EDP is all but gone so my quest to own another bottle of this classic, long wearing fabulous mood elevating fragrance has just begun. Parure is a perfume adventure not to be ignored. Upshot: Upscale---all the way!

Parure is a really lovely Guerlain creation that reminds me of Ode without the musky civet thing. Green and rosy with oakmoss and a subtle spiciness, Parure is one of the best Guerlains I have tried. I have a montre of eau de cologne with a gold cone-shaped screwtop, probably late 70's - early 80's vintage. I really like wearing Parure. It smells wonderful throughout the day. I read that Parure's creation was inspired by the treasures of King Tut, which were a major topic of interest in 1975 when it was released. I saw a beautiful spray cannister for Parure on Ebay that had a lovely faience green herringbone/tile-like pattern. The perfume bottle, on the other hand, seems very abstract and Brancusi-like and unconnected to the Tut theme but is still very classy. I wore and LOVED Vivre by Molyneaux and EL Private Collection in high school and bought some of each recently to retry them. Parure is the same type of 70's green floral chypre but sweeter and more subtle than vintage Vivre's lily of the valley dominant scent or the current formulation of Private Collection, which is overpoweringly strong.

On a hunt to get my paws on this, I first bidded and won an empty flacon of Parure-ok the bottle is beautiful but totally deviod of any scent. Second time I bought an unlabeled bottle which I'm not too sure about-will have to do a wrist by wrist comparison. Third time is a charm, this is the real deal and it's stunning. Parure is a complex and deep chypre. Starts off gentle with the plum, citrus and green, nice and easy. A bit later things get shaken up with the orris but are tamed with hints of florals such as lilac, rose and jasmine. For the dry down there's more spice combined with the earthy patchouli, lots of moss and leathery notes and a bit of amber. Amazing, at this stage it's sultry and seductive, warm and inviting. Something a femme fatal would wear. Shame on Guerlain for discontinuing this. From what I've tried from their line, Parure is a stand-out perfume compared to the others. Of course Mitsouko, Jicky, Shalimar, Vol De Nuit (to name only a few-I could go on and on) are beauties, but Parure is different and I've not found anything similar in Guerlain's current offerings.

If you're looking for Parure, then you probably want to know how it's aged and if it's worth securing a vintage bottle. My review is for a bottle of the EdT with a lot number from 1985. Parure has aged much better than I hoped. The notes in chypres tend to sour quickly, but Parure's substantial middle and bottom notes are fully intact. The citrus in the top note is gone which is to be expected since citrus is always the first note to go. However, the plum is still there in the top note. Parure remains what it always was - an adornment for a woman secure in her womanliness. There is no coy sugar and there's no sexy animalic. There is the unmistakable Guerlain-ness with its characteristic complexity of notes that are balanced perfectly as the perfume ages on your skin. Parure gets compared to Mitsouko and Nahema, but neither one is an especially close comparison even with the shared notes. Both are too friendly and pleasing. Parure is aloof and aristocratic. Parure is one of the great lost gems.

Does anyone have a good email address/addresses for Guerlain executives? This is my letter to them...& if we could get a bunch of people to get the message out that’d be great. Dear___ I am writing on behalf of myself and many many other people I have come into contact with on fragrance groups such as on Facebook and Fragrantica , to ask that you PLEASE consider remaking - the same formulation not a new version of - PARURE (4.37 on Fragrantica btw:-)) It was the loveliest fragrance ever and I am not the only one who feels this way. Despite the marketing advice that women just want sweet fragrances these days, I can attest to the fact that women of all ages appreciate oak moss and the other notes in Chypre fragrances. Parure is beautiful and it would sell well and it would be wonderful if Guerlain would start making it again! Thank you kindly for your consideration.

I have loved this perfume since its launch. Out of all the great Guerlain perfumes, this is my favourite. I could never understand why it was withdrawn until I spoke with Guerlain earlier this year. EU regulations specify the amount of rare natural essences which can be used in the production of any perfume. Sadly, Parure was the only one in the range which didn't work with the revised formula. To quote Guerlain 'it lost it's heart' Therefor the decision was made to withdraw the perfume from the market.I still manage to buy it on-line from various sellers, but dread the day when I can no longer get anymore.

MASTERPIECE.... I remember back in the early 80's working at the Guerlain counter at Bonwit &Teller. First sniffings of the Guerlain greats !! How many times I had boxes of Parure in my hands...!!!!!!!....and never bought one?! I guess I was spoiled,since I could wear which ever scent I wished...a different one everyday...lol...since it was "my job"....to smell them and to sell them. Recently purchased a decant from online...and oh....how I swooned again at the sheer magnificence of Parure!! I MUST own a bottle before I meet my maker........ One of my Top 5 scents ever for sure.....

I have so good memories about this monster... My aunt used to wear it; she was so chic, sophisticated, warm and distant at the same pace. PLEASE, if anyone find something similar to replace it, write it down here or PM me. I don't agree that it is similar to Mitsouko, neither Aromatics. Aside oakmoss, they're completely different. The first seconds of Vol de Nuit remind me Parure, but it lasts only a clin d'oeil... Chant d'Aromes would be a possible similar fragrance?

I agree with Ms. Rochambeau the there is a distinct relationship with Mitsouko. That wacky oakmoss! It'll nail you every time. But where Mitsouko is warm and come-hither, Parure is distant and noli me tangere. Parure is green with rose and something that smells like iris, always a chilly scent. Parure is a shapely ghost, the tasteful remnant of a thousand departed perfumes. Wear it if you're hoping for an early end to your evening.

Mitsouko with plum instead of peach, but even with the similarities, it's worth having on its own...if you can find it. For lovers of oakmoss, it's the first note out of the bottle, so it's no wonder for me why it was discontinued. I managed to find a full bottle of the EDT and a tiny 1/2 full mini of pure parfum a while back on ebay at a reasonable price (forget that now) and I use them both sparingly.

Just bought a bottle of vintage Parure, and what I dread has happened: I am loving a long-discontinued, usually obscenely priced, vintage fragrance. I love oakmoss, and right now I reek of it. Must. Not. Make. This. Signature. Scent. I'll update when I get to know Parure better, but I just got it and I am truly entranced. Not for folks who don't love chypres and oakmoss though -- save your money!

Just received and tested a vintage mini I bought and... it smells almost exactly like the vintage Mitsouko I have lol. It’s a *touch* airier and a smidgen less spicy, but I kind of see why it wasn’t kept in the line-up, as it’s a bit redundant. But still—a very nice and complex Guerlain scent. Edit: Finish is a bit muskier/aldehydic

I'm never sure how to review discontinued fragrances, because really, what's the point. The only question to answer is should you lay the funds out for a sample of this. Yes you should. And when you're done with your sample, call up Guerlain and complain loudly. I would buy this stunning classic in a heartbeat.

I just don't believe that Parure can't be reformulated properly. Mitsouko was (don't argue with me on that because I have bottles from all different time periods). Other brands are getting along without oakmoss. This can be done. I suspect LVMH just doesn't want it done. Perhaps because of cost.

The entire composition its grassy, earthy deepness, and full of complexity with a Beautiful citric/Chypre opening. But after a while.... this smell exactly like the Vintage Miss Dior Cologne, and I love Miss Dior, but Parure doesn't add anything new. I feel a little disappointed about this one.

I am very happy because today I received this masterpiece from Claudia...thank you my dear friend you don't know how I am excited to add Parure to my perfume collection! I find some similiarities with La Perla classica and also with Aromatic elisir...

This went on gorgeous for me, then dry down rapidly became disastrous. There's a note in the final combination that smells exactly like medicated foot powder and between that and the plum notes, it smelled too old fashioned on me and just too old.

Top notes gone all too fast. What's left is Mitsouko minus the peach. It could be almost any chypre base at this point. Like tessture, I get a medicinal smell at the end, which usually signifies oakmoss on my skin.

I love this fragrance ...It reminds me of Paris. I find it soft and feminine and the longevity is what it should be - lasting! Is there anyone who knows of a fragrance that smells close to Parure?

This was my mom’s favorite perfume in the 80s, a decade before I was born. I wish I could smell it.

Gorgeous, very feminine chypre with a distinct plum note and rich floral heart.

So is the new formulation not worth buying? Is it even for purchase still?

i have never smelled this one but something about it makes me want it!!

Sorry, forgot to login. Previous " guest " reviev is from me.