Monaco

I first smelled this perfume while working with an elegant older lady. The moment she walked into the store, the air was filled with a beautiful, powdery scent that turned heads wherever she passed. ❤️ She was so graceful — brightly colored nails, a classic Chanel-style pearl necklace — carefully browsing the shelves. I couldn’t resist approaching her and said, “Dear, you smell absolutely amazing. Would you mind telling me what perfume you’re wearing?” She smiled and replied, “Everyone tells me that! I can’t smell it anymore myself — I guess I’ve gotten used to it.” And then she said: “Monaco.” I was shocked — Monaco? I had never heard of this fragrance before. Curiosity got the best of me, and I went down a rabbit hole on Google until I finally found this hidden gem. I ordered it from Amazon for only £5! To say I was impressed is an understatement. It smells incredible for the price — soft, powdery, and deeply feminine. It suited her perfectly. The scent took me back to my childhood, reminding me of a cream my mother used to wear. There’s something deeply nostalgic and comforting about it. An absolute treasure — elegant, timeless, and affordable.❤️

I have never smelled Paris, but just from reading the scent profile of Paris I wanted to try its dupe Monaco. Interestingly in the original Paris listing there are hyacinths mentioned, whilst here there are not. However I DO smell the hyacinths in Monaco as well. Basically I found that the scent pyramid of Paris fits Monaco better than the actual scent pyramid of Monaco on it's page here. So if you want to know the perfume pyramid of Monaco, then go on the Paris page and you'd be better informed. How does Monaco smell like? If I have to explain it with a scene: It smells like a Parisian flower market in spring. It's outdoors and early morning. You can smell spring flowers (hyacinths, lilies, violets, geraniums, mimosas, nasturtiums, to name a few) and you can also smell their green stems and leaves. It's fresh outside and a little cold still. You can smell the newspapers being put out. You can smell Paris slowly awaking and getting ready for its people. I think that this perfume is absolutely beautiful. I have no idea how the actual Paris smells, but Monaco smells wonderful. I'm very happy with my £5 bottle.

This was a complete blind buy for me and I really like it. It reminds me of a perfume I once stole from my grandma when I was in high school, but this one is a bit fresher, and a bit "younger", if you will. I can smell the rose but the violet really shines through - and it's a beautiful fresh, juicy violet. I wouldn't say it's sexy per se, but it definitely makes me feel very feminine (although I'm a big believer in the fact that perfume is genderless!) It's quite strong and noticeable, but it's such a soft scent that it never bothers me, and it lasts quite long on me. It definitely agrees with my skin. The bottle of course is nothing special, but I really LOVE the graphics on the box! Very vintage looking and sophisticated, it's definitely going in my scrapbook. It's my second perfume from Milton Lloyd and it's definitely not the last. I've got my eyes on Chique.

Love it. A really close dupe of YSL Paris- original formulation. I've been wearing this all day since it arrived and can't stop sniffing my wrist. It so takes me back to the Paris of the 80's when everyone in the office was wearing it along with their power suits and curly perms. Incredible longevity. I love the powdery notes that mingle very pleasingly with freshly cut roses and Sandalwood. It bears no resemblance to the reformulated, jarring offering from YSL and at £4.95 a bottle. Are you kidding? I'm going to be telling the odd little white lie if asked what I'm wearing and I don't care! Of course it's Paris. Milton LLoyd does it again. Thank you so much, keep on delivering these delightful dupes. My second favourite ML now to 'Chacal'. Treat yourself without breaking the bank!

Lulalilly, if you want to wear this and love it, for goodness sake IGNORE what your friends say and think about your choices, and just enjoy a wonderful, wonderful perfume for it's own sake and for your own pleasure, not theirs's! There is nothing wrong with being an individual rather than one of a herd who blindly follow the latest perfume trend. If they mock you for choosing something timeless rather than a generic sweetie smell, then you have to wonder whether they are friendships worth cultivating IMO.

Wow! I knew I liked it and that it's a quality scent from the first spray. Nice fine mist too, I wish more perfume bottles had nozzles like that. It has lovely retro vibe, definately old fashioned and "grandma scent" for many, but I don't mind! I don't own YSL Paris nor do I remember exactly how that is, but I remember liking it as a child in the 90's, so I thought I'd give this one a try. I'm glad I did!

So happy to discover this beauty! I always have been ravishing for YSL Paris EDP, but having 150 bottles of fume I did not want to spent additional 60 € for a bottle, I don't reach so often for. Thank you Milton, I love you!!! This is even better than Paris EDP, and my new winter favorite! Jumping around, yeah yeah....

As close to the original YSL Paris as you can ever get (without a time machine) Apparently even Paris doesn't smell like Paris anymore so this is the one to get. Such a wonderful and dramatic fragrance. Truly lives up to the name of that mesmerising city of romantic dreams and giddy adventure.

This is a lovely, cheap treasure and a spot-on dupe of Paris by YSL, that as a kid I used to see (and steal a spray or two from) on my grandma and aunts toilette shelf. I dearly remember that heavy floral and soapy fragrance and I felt the urge to keep the memory alive, but it would have been risky to splurge on the real deal - their one was already vintage and had its time to age even more - so I opted for the next best option: I bought Monaco. - Compared to my memory of Paris. Monaco is obviously a bit sharper on the inital floral part, but the fragrance is so close that it immediately brings me back in my grandma house. I think that this sharper note is due not only to the different age and formulation of the fragrances, but also to the peculiar spray system provided by Milton Lloyd, basically an "hairspray" no stop atomization, that enhances the top notes with a little cloud of fragrance in the air, no matter how quick and close you spray it. Be prepared and wait patiently a few minutes until it settles down, because it gets rounder and sweeter, just as much as the original Paris that I vividly remember. Overall, the difference is so minimal and undetectable to my nose that, since every fragrance takes a bit of a turn on different skins, Monaco can totally pass as a perfect dupe of Paris. - The scent The violet and the rose do bring their powdery notes, but they're not depressing grey-purple, they're spicy, oriental even, a bit soapy. Carnation manages to keep a wet fresh vibe, preventing the floral and spicy scent to go completely dry. The balanced sweetness that comes from the drydown gives roundness to this alluring, feminine fragrance. This is like you've washed yourself with an amber soap, done with the most precious oriental spices, gold sprinkles and powdery flowers petals. It is vintage, it has that soapy vibe that some may call "grandma fragrance", but it's way more wearable than most classic vintages I know (easily winning over Chanel n.5). - Use Monaco is a fragrance for a grown up (25-30+) and elegant woman. I tought that this would have been a great winter fragrance, excellent for formal or professional events, but I just discovered that it warms beautifully with summer heat. It doesn't get overpowering nor sharper, it just gets a bit sweeter and that's how I prefer it to be. I think I actually prefer this as a spring/summer scent. It is office friendly but you need to spray short and just a few (2 for work, 4 for open air free time).

I've changed my mind about this. I didn't like it at first as it reminded me of CK Eternity, which I hate, but it's grown on me. It's much sweeter than Eternity with a nice parma violet smell. They're similar, same perfumer who made Eternity and Paris, but this is loads better. Powdery violet and rose but airy and light. I can actually smell the vanilla, or just something sweet in general, in this but I don't get any of it in Eternity even though it's listed. It's like Paris was a perfected version of it and this is obviously a good copy. It's really strong aswell. I used it as a room spray for a couple of days and that's what made me start to like it. I'm not exaggerating when I say it lingered in the air for over three days after the last time I sprayed it in my living room. I kept getting whiffs of a gorgeous violet smell. It's almost like a more floral and less gourmand Insolence. They'd probably layer together well. I like to wear it for bed and I'll probably wear it whenever I A) get bored of gourmands again and B) when I'm wearing a floaty dress. I go through phases of what kind of perfume I'm obsessed with and I've not long gotten back into sweet ones but I'll definitely end up craving something like this at some point. I'm glad I bought this and Vogue now. They're both great. I've got Night Flower and plan to get Miss Tutu aswell. Milton Lloyd are fantastic, especially for the price of them. They smell way more expensive than they are. I think it'd be perfect for spring and summer.

I’ve sprayed vintage Paris on one wrist and Monaco on the other. So what are the similarities and what are the differences? Well on first sniff they smell very similar, a beautiful bouquet of flowers, fresh and zingy with musky depths. Where they differ is in the dry down, and here I much prefer the vintage Paris. Monaco leans more sharply into carnation and spices, whereas the lush rose and violet sing out clearly in Paris. I love that airy powdery floriental sweetness, whereas Monaco grows increasingly dense and strangely onion smelling the longer it’s on my skin. Of course it’s cheaper to buy Monaco, but given that vintage bottles can be easily found for a bargain on eBay (in the UK) I’ll be sticking with my beloved old Paris.

This smell definitely reminds me of some other higher end perfume that I’ve tried, but I don’t remember which one. In the first 15-30min, smell is overwhelming and heavy, but after that settles down significantly. To me it smells old fashioned. Now, after 4 hours since I’ve applied it, I can smell it on my skin when my arms are close to my face and my husband says he can smell it also, but only when I stand right next to him. I haven’t applied it on my clothes, though. For the money invested I must say performance is excellent! I would wear this perfume in Autumn and Winter and definitely not in the office. I like the smell and will use it this autumn and winter, but for now I don’t think I will reorder it.

I've never smelled the original Paris by YSL, but if it's anything like this then it must be amazing. Monaco to me smells like Parma violet sweets mingled with roses. It's a beautiful, feminine, elegant, slightly powdery and soapy clean scent. If you wear this, you will be noticed. Use sparingly though as it's powerful. Now this might not be for everyone, as some might say it smells like something an old lady would wear - that's likely because it's a strong floral, soapy and powdery. But I don't care what others think, I really like it! Try it for yourself and see if it's your kind of scent or not, what have you got to lose?

My mum wore YSL Paris in the 80s. When I wore this in front of her she immediately asked if I was wearing Paris, so I would say it’s a pretty close dupe. It’s very fresh and clean, sweet violets and roses. Doesn’t have great longevity on the skin (can’t expect too much for the price) but lasts days on clothing. It’s really nice, a very pretty perfume.

I've never smelled Paris, but I adore this. What I'm also getting is a huge similarity with Flower by Kenzo. If a perfume has violets then it's a winner for me, and this rose and violet is luscious. Will be putting this back on my re-order list with Amazon, as it's going to get a lot of wearings this summer.

I don't know if its my skin or my nose, but I don't get most of this listed notes. On me, this is a close dupe for Bronnely Blue Poppy, its a huge 1980's floral -civet - opium. Silage and longevity are huge. Top notes; lily of the valley, almond Middle; violet, civet Drydown; clean soap, poppy.

I get dupes for perfumes I had in the past but have been reformulated and don't quite smell the same, or dupes for perfumes that I like but wouldn't indulge in a whole bottle. I really like this one, and trying it against the reformulated original I would go as far as to say I prefer it.

this is like my 15th Milton Lloyd purchase. I had paris back in 1994 and yes this is how I remember it. its quite strong so 1 squirt behind each ear is enouth for many hours. Im very pleased with this one

Spring flower bouquet with spicy carnations thrown in. Perfect spring fragrance. EdT longevity when needed the most is pathetic. It only stays on dry skins such as wrists, neck...

I wore Paris regularly during the 1980s and loved it. The problem was so did millions of other women! So I abandoned it for some of the old Guerlain masterpieces: Après l'Ondée, l'Heure Bleue, and Mitsouko. I still love those, but about 5 years ago I had a hankering for a rose perfume and ordered a bottle of YSL Paris. But it was Oh-so disappointing! I guess it was those darned IFRE regulations: reformulated Paris is a very pale imitation of the original. So I forgot about it, until I found myself behind somebody wearing 1980s vintage Paris in a queue at the bank. At least I could have sworn she was: until she told me it was in fact Monaco. Well, I'm on my 7th bottle of this gem now, and, trust me, it's my much-loved 1980s Paris. I simply cannot tell the difference. Monaco is FAR superior in every way to what passes for Paris today: silage and longevity are excellent. I'm thrilled to have discovered it, as a Paris-lover, but I think younger women who won't have my memories will enjoy Monaco in its own right.