Athalia

This was my second PDM fragrance. I got delina for the first time this past Valentine from my husband, and received a sample of Athalia. Upon first spray on my skin, I just KNEW I had to have it. I got an amazing deal on mecari from a seller who was getting rid of it because she didn’t like orange blossom. I absolutely adore orange blossom, so compared to buying it brand new at 375$ I paid 180$ and it was the best 180$ I’ve ever spent. Out of my entire collection, I reach for Athalia the most. There is something so sensual and sexy about Athalia, I just can’t seem to stop grabbing her. I can spray her about 5-6 times on wrists, chest, neck, behind ears, and I can still smell her 6 hours into the day. This is a very sultry and powdery Orris root/iris/orange blossom/musk bomb and I love it! I would not recommend this for the younger crowd, but 30 and up? Absolutely! I’m 34 and Athalia is perfect for me. I feel extremely confident and sexy when wearing this. Athalia matches my personality. One chick on here said Athalia is cold, unfriendly, and like a dominatrix on her day off and I completely agree lol. I am cold, unfriendly, and could be a dominatrix if I wanted to be because I’m an alpha female. Although Athalia is very feminine, alpha females can get away with it as well because I do. No everyone in the room will not smell you, but if someone hugs you and comes close they will breathe you in and their eyes will roll back lol. My husband loves this on me. It’s definitely a sexy time fragrance. It has a lipsticky quality about that drives me wild in a good way. This is probably one of the best fragrances I’ve ever had my nose on. I have never smelled anything like her. I would love some recommendations on more fragrances like her with the mixture of iris/orris root/orange blossom/musk/ and incense. The incense in Athalia sits beautifully on my skin to the point I can’t get enough. The bottle is super luxe and so fitting for such a fragrance. I believe I will always own a bottle because I just love her that much!

To me, this smells so far removed from what Parfums de Marly fragrances smell like that I have a hard time believing it is part of their feminine lineup (smell wise). It smells very dusty/powdery with absolutely no hint of sweetness at all (you know, just to balance the blend a bit). To me, this smells like a rich old lady wearing her mink fur coat. She has her hair and makeup done at the Salon, she doesn’t mess around! Watch out! Cranky old lady is on the prowl! You get my drift... If you crave a better Iris blend, may I suggest: • Ibitira by Xerjoff It’s a great Iris scent that is very well blended; it’s feminine, floral, powdery, sweet but not too sweet, woodsy but not overly so and it has a touch of smokiness but just a touch. A masterpiece IMHO ; ) • Infusion d’Iris by Prada This is a beautiful fragrance as well. It’s very mild and longevity is rather short/poor but my goodness, what a beauty!!! To recap, Athalia by Parfums de Marly is: • not a good blend (no balance in the notes) • definitely not for everyone (this is more of a cold B!*ch perfume) • longevity is mild, 3-4 hours max. • Stunning bottle as usual, Parfums de Marly has their visual team at the top of their game... • way way waaaaay too pricey for what it is...

I was talked into this by a salesperson after we had bonded over scents. He raved about this and said it was his favorite. I was covered with perfume at that point, so I had to smell this one on the tester. He said if I didn't like it I could always bring it back. The next day I sprayed some on my wrist and I was horrified and had to scrub it off. There was something in it I couldn't tolerate. It absolutely terrible. Days passed and I missed the return window. I kept the packaging and decided to sell it on ebay. I was in the middle of posting it when I decided to try it one more time. It's fabulous on me now. Why does that happen‽ It's a very sophisticated, 30-40 something rich-bitch old money scent. The amber, musk, and animalic notes make the powder too gritty to be a so-called grandmother scent. It's not tame or sweet. It's velvety, which could be the cashmeran. It smells slightly creamy as well. It's like a creamy, velvety hug from someone who just bought a quirky little Basquiat to hang in the half bath next to the ballroom. I would try this at the perfume counter 2-3 times before purchasing. I don't know how this fragrance ended up doing a 180 on my skin, but I'm delighted I didn't sell it.

This is quite nice. Inoffensive and pleasant. Not too strong. All season compatible. The opening reminds me a bit of Safanad with a little more iris/powder and then is has this slightly animalic thing going on in the background for about the first hour. When the animalic thing dissipates, and it completely does, I get a powdery, soft, orange blossomy, clean floral. Dry down is VERY similar to BDK Rouge Smoking with more floral/iris. I am an iris junkie and Prada Infusion D'Iris was my very first dive into Iris. This is somewhat similar. Infusion D'Iris is all powder. This is much more floral IMO. For the price, not sure it is full bottle worthy especially since I already have Rouge Smoking, Infusion D'Iris and Safanad. But this would be a nice daily wearable, if you like the powdery vibe. UPDATE: It completely grew on me. Bought the full bottle - found a deal on a tester - and I don't regret it :) So comforting and soft. Definitely similar to Rouge Smoking only much sweeter and floral, as I mentioned above.

You know that older woman who is still hot, but not in a Housewives way, in an authentic way? Like, she's physically just as fine as a Bravolebrity but managed it without the surgery or Botox, AND has a fun personality? And she could cougar all those hot bearded Millennials? This is who I HOPE to be in another 10-15 years... and this is how I imagine this scent! Ha ha, the MILF scent! Sorry to be so crass, but isn't this the point of paying so much for perfume? To attract? I love the musk in here messing up the floral. I hate cheesy destroy-your-wedding-dress photos, but it does look like fun... and that's what the musk is doing in this floral. Not pristine like the popular Delina. I actually had a friend named Delina who tried to steal my college bf... it didn't work. Where PdM's Delina is too prissy and prudish, Athalia has the depth, humor, and sexiness to know how to keep her man! This is old soul perfume!

I think Athalia is quite unisex, and I agree with the comparison with Prada Infusion d'Iris, because it has the same silky, smooth and powdery iris, and also in the same vein as Bvlgari Eau de Bleu. However I feel that the orange blossom is quite ever present. In that sense, the opening of Athalia and Safanad shares some similarities, but while Safanad goes all creamy with the orange blossom, Athalia adds the iris and incense and musk that makes the overall scent feels clean and powdery. This can also transcribed as grandma-ish though. All in all, this is a soft scent, it's not something that you wear to garner attention, it's something that hug and engulfed you like a cloud around you. Something that you can easily wear during the pandemic where you have to be at home most of the time. Athalia has a good longevity with moderate to soft silage and projection on me.

No doubt, this smells like Prada Infusion D'Iris, but much sweeter. I had both Infusion d'Iris and Prada Candy, and this smells like a perfect combination of the two. I was considering restocking both of those, but I bought this instead. It's the best of both worlds! The florals are obvious, and the base is sweet and warm. It smells a bit more complex than the notes listed here. That bottle is going to be perfect displayed in my gothic bathroom. In fact, it was the bottle that forced me to try this in store. I was expecting something dark and mysterious, but I got floral and sweet instead. It was exactly what I needed, though, so no disappointment here. I'm happy with how long it lasts, and the sillage is great. I'll definitely buy this one repeatedly.

I recently bought the discovery set and I really like Athalia. There was an image that came to mind when I smelled this. Ok hear me out. Does anyone remember Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie when she goes to the Buddhist monastery? If I could place a fragrance on that scene, Athalia would be it. On the initial spray, I smell the incense and then as it dries down I get the iris and orange blossom. One thing that I was expecting was a lipstick iris which thankfully I do not get that. This perfume is very calming to me. I love it but the only thing that I was a little disappointed about was that I wanted the incense to last longer throughout the fragrance. The perfume becomes a skin scent after about 30 mins on my skin. Still, I would rank this an 8/10.

The scent is as luxurious as the price, but I'm not getting a satisfying sillage and longevity from french perfumes at all these days. It's very smoky and woody and yeh it's not ur typical cute and young girly perfume ofc. What would u expect? But it's so dark and mysterious and also very comforting and classy. The beginning is bitter and smoky but as the middle notes come, the smoke lingers and the woods and iris become a little bit sweeter. I get some bitter almond too for some reason. Then after a couple of hours there is cashmaran and musk with the leftovers of some iris and bitterness of classy smoky woods. Gives major boss lady vibes and you won't find many people wearing it. I'm 20 and I'm head over heels for it.

And here I am, 3 years after my previous review on Athalia to eat my words and say that I was wrong!!! Athalia is indeed beautiful🖤🖤🖤 This is on the dry side, which is probably why people say it is a “cold” scent but really, it isn’t cold at all, in fact, the ambery notes make it quite warm in the dry down. No, it’s a dry scent. The iris and orange blossom notes are dry. But it’s so pretty and different from the other Parfums de Marly fragrances!! I love this fragrance and I waited a long time to add it to my collection because I did not want to fork out $$$... I finally found an excellent deal last week from someone who was decluttering it and I am so happpppyyyyyyy🖤🖤🖤✨✨✨✨✨ Happy Friday the 13th y’all 😂

I received this today after obsessing about it during my last trip to London. Smelled it for the first time at Harrod's and could not stop thinking about it. It is very similar to Prada Infusion d'Iris (2007) but there is an incense note in the drydown that gives Athalia an edge. Very powdery, mature (but not grandma vibes) and subtle but not a skin scent. I get very little orange blossom in the opening (I also have PDM Safanad and that one is pure orange blossom). This is my second favorite from the house (Safanad is my first). Definitely a cold weather scent but could be layered with Jo Malone's orange blossom for a spring scent. Overall, a gorgeous scent!

This is such a trip to memory lane: this smells exactly like my grandmother. She always used the same brand of body talcum powder and the classic Chanel no 5 EDT. For some reason, Athalia smells very close to that combo. Edit: I did end up buying it, first as a 10 ml in a discovery set, then as a full size bottle. You just don't spend that much money in a fragrance of it doesn't speak to you to a deeper level. It's just the perfect powdery iris, a delightful concoction of wood, amber and florals with just enough vanilla to round up the edges and boost the feminine appeal of the scent. Sits very close to skin but the lasting power is good.

Wow! This is mind blowing sexy, confident, magnetizing, dark and seductive! It was a love from first sniff. This is a “bad bitch” perfume, a boss lady, a classy seductress in a suit...This adds up so much character for me when I wear it This is a perfect note combo...I definitely get bitter orange, incense, orange blossom and iris...and they all rest on musky vanilla base...I don’t get much powder It is blended to the perfection, iris is main player for me and I love it Like with all PDM perfumes, performance is great, 8+ hours on skin and projection at least arm length It’s a love for me! Can be worn anytime and season, any occasion

This opens as a lovely feminine iris but very very soft and delicate, not necessarily in a good way for the almost offensive niche price. It dries down into a distinct plastic smell, almost like a child’s doll. Out of all the women’s PdM fragrances I’ve tried, there’s a bit of refinement and elegance hiding in there compared to the overly juvenile other PdM offerings such as Cassili, Meliora, Safanad. But still quite a poor niche offering due to the lack of substance, complexity and projection/sillage. Save your money, there’s so many great powdery iris fragrances out there actually worth exploring.

To me this is the victorian heroine perfum. I picture Jane Eyre, Catherine Earnshaw, it's a bit gothic (as in gothic literature), very indulgent to my dreamy, romantic, introvert, head in the clouds self. However it's not a sexy perfume. Depending on the person, I think they might find it the sort of perfume one would describe as "smells like my grandmother". I personally love it but I don't think it's a crowd pleaser. It is very soothing, however. And this kind of scent, to me, feels like it's not gonna last long so it is surprisingly long lasting. Worth the price tag? Not sure, maybe.

I LOVE this perfume. It's so dark, gloomy and gothic, and the blend between Iris and Incense works like magic. This is the girl you see on the street in a cloudy day wearing a long black dress and black lipstick. I do get the comparisons with "old lady smell", but i think I like what everyone calls old lady smell. It's comforting. It's that black fuzzy scarf you wear in winter. I think "old lady scents" to me remind me more of 19th century glory, or an 18th century Anne Radcliffe heroine in a gothic book. Absolutely in love with this fragrance.

Athalia feels like it could belong in Prada’s lineup — that signature iris, and bottle in black. It's refined, powdery, and quietly powerful. The iris here is smooth and slightly cold, wrapped in elegance and mystery. There’s something magnetic about it. I can’t get enough. It’s like the darker, moodier sister of Prada Infusion d’Iris — still soft, but with more depth and presence. Classy and confident, yet not loud. A scent that lingers without shouting. Perfect for when you want to feel composed, elegant, and just a bit untouchable.

I agree with others who said that this is what a sophisticated lady in the 90s would wear with their red lips, volume hair, power suit and confidence to match. Think CEO or woman who comes from generational wealth. It definitely has a vintage vibe to it. It is classy and confident without being loud. It is powdery Iris with hints of fresh orange blossom. It is not overly sweet or cloying. I feel this is suitable for all occasions. This is not girly, immature or juvenile. It's refined, understated and classy.

Amazing fragrance blended to perfection in a typical for PDM way. I find it similar to Trussardi's Aperitivo Milanese but the orange blossom in Athalia makes it more luxurious. It is very strong at first, almost fills out the room but then it's tamed to a very classy and mannered lady scent. I like both phases though because it's so well-made. I hate all comments about it being an old lady fragrance. What in the old-lady-aldehydes-hell you found in here? Athalia is a beautiful, top-tier fragrance! Period!

I love this because it's like a blast from the past and reminds me very much of my teenage years. Anyone who wore Vanderbilt by Gloria Vanderbilt back in the day will find Athalia very similar and that's why I love it. However (and beautiful bottle aside) Vanderbilt is ten times cheaper and slightly more nuanced. Longevity and silage are both strong. I'm not sure it would sit well with younger ladies. Thankfully I'm nearly 50 now and I DGAF! 🤪 Definitely one to sample first and not a safe blind buy.