Athénaïs

Stunning start to finish. Bold and intense, Athénaïs opens with the glow of orange blossom, like golden hour unfurling on the skin. Bergamot and yuzu give it a flirty citrus sparkle, though rich vanillic amber in the base already peaks through, lending the composition a voluptuous, and a touch moody, depth. This is what strikes me about Athénaïs first—this scent is unexpectedly full of contrasts, juxtaposing the glow of citruses with the creamy florals and darker, resinous tones. I’m seeing polarized opinions online, and I get why some might find Athénaïs challenging. The orange blossom presents a boozy, almost animalic facet—think Calvados note in Amouage’s Overture—giving the scent a sultry boudoir vibe. Amber wreathes everything in its dark, moody shadows, while yuzu and neroli illuminate Athénaïs’ floral heart, making for a chiaroscuro-like effect. Personally, I love this brooding yet simultaneously alluring opening and only wish it lasted further into the scent. Gradually, the shadows lift, drawing us into the heart of balmy jasmine that cushions orange blossom, layering in a velvety plushness. This rests on a foundation of tonka bean and vanilla—elegant, smooth, with a gourmand richness dramatized by glittering spiced inclusions. On my skin, Athénaïs takes several hours to unfurl, settling into a gorgeous candied floral—spiced and steeped in a creamy, albeit not edible, vanilla. There’s the same candied motif threaded throughout that I love in Stellar Times and Safanad, almost like spun sugar wrapping the blooms and giving them a subtly gourmand aura. So if you enjoy bold and intentional florals dressed in elegance but not overly sweet, this one’s so worth a sniff. @mytopnotes on IG

After finishing a 5ml sample from Scent Split, I knew I needed Athénaïs in my collection. I’m naturally drawn to orange blossom fragrances, and this one is easily among the most beautifully crafted I’ve tried. While many orange blossom fragrances lose their citrus sparkle within minutes, Athénaïs does the opposite. The citrus notes take center stage and stay there for hours. The opening is a bright, sparkling burst of citrus that feels like summer on the skin. It’s uplifting, elegant, and surprisingly long‐lasting. As it settles, the citrus is accompanied by smooth, creamy blend of vanilla, jasmine, orange blossom and tonka. What I appreciate most is that the base never becomes too sweet or heavy. Instead, it stays airy, fresh, and feminine from start to finish. Athénaïs has great projection and last about six hours on the skin. It is a huge compliment getter. I believe this is a safe blind buy.

I’m loving this! I’m puzzled by all the negative reviews this has received on social media. This is anything, but boring and generic to my nose. This opens with a fresh, bright citrus. In the mid I get a translucent neroli with a slight sweetness of orange blossom. The orange blossom is not heavy, I believe it’s the neroli that balances it and makes it soft, clean and airy. The base is soft and warm with PDM DNA. In my opinion this doesn’t remind me of any of the fragrances listed below, to me it stands on its own. If you like the two Valaya’s, I would be shocked if you didn’t like this. This is perfectly blended, great for spring and summer and has great longevity. This is sunshine bottled up🌼Fragrance is so subjective, but if you love PDM perfumes, I would defiantly recommend trying this one out!

Am I tripping or does this smell like Memo Sintra? As soon as I sprayed it, it instantly reminded me of Sintra. I don’t know why these companies keep making dupes. It’s becoming annoying like I’m not paying a niche price for copycat syndrome. It’s like none of these companies have their own mind. Got me wanting to make a fragrance, although I did before and it was fire, but yeah, this fragrance is super overhyped. But It does smells good, but it’s not worth the price tag. It kind of smells like Oriana and Love Don’t Be Shy mixed together. That’s the same exact thing as Memo Sintra. 🙄 Maybe in six months it will change, so I’m gonna let it sit for six months to a year. Oh yeah it’s very feminine. I don’t see no man wearing this at all so don’t listen to those votes.

To my nose, this smells nothing like Paradoxe (I smelled side by side today). This is much more citrusy and fizzy; I get SO much citrus. Super bright vibrant citrus. It's a completely different category from Safanad (relieved... was so worried this was a replacement). This doesn't have the same smooth sweet roundness. This is fizzy, light, zesty, with a TOUCH of the orange blossom sweetness. I barely get any tonka. This is almost like a jasmine-infused aperol spritz to my nose. Do not understand how people think this is a Paradoxe dupe, but that's what makes fragrance cool :) super subjective.

I was expecting a safand take this is not thankgod so safand is still very valid in the line and I love safand. I prefer safand. This is lovely it’s neroli forward I like this note so image but you need to like neroli. And orange blosso, In the mid and dry down you get more creamy vanilla and powdery notes. And a warmth from the amber it’s a lovely scent. Unfortunately I’m someone like many that tink they should lower the price to meet the male prices other wise there just extorting the female market. I’m glad I have it in my collection though don’t get me wrong.

I tried Athenias many times before I purchased a bottle! I even bought a travel spray of Prada Paradox because so many people said they smelled similar. I did not enjoy Prada Paradox. I had to scrub it off. I do recognize the shared notes, however, Athenias is not nearly as sharp. I encourage you to truly wear this beautiful perfume before rushing to conclusions or comparisons. I find it to be refreshing, smooth, and sweet- but not tooth achingly so. Athenias sits beautifully in the PDM lineup, and would layer well with many of her sisters!

I absolutely adore this perfume! I ordered a discovery set from the PDM website and chose Athenais as a free sample since it wasn't included in the discovery set. I hated all of them (Delina rosee was okay) except for Athenais, which I fell in love with from first spritz! The opening is sparkling and fruity and the drydown is softly sweet, very slightly powdery. It feels fun but sophisticated. Literally lasts all day if I spray over body oil/body cream. Highly compared to Prada Paradox (intense), but they smell completely different on me.

I adore this fragrance. I recognize the similarities with Prada Paradoxe but such designer frags have that commercialized, hotel-like designer DNA that niche brands are able to circumvent entirely. On my skin, Athénaïs is like summer in the south of France. Neroli essential oils, sun kissed, bouillabaisse by the water, gelato and promenade en soirée. Completely evolves into a vacation. My only gripe is that it doesn't last very long, and turns into a skin scent after 2-3 hrs.

It’s been a while since I’ve smelled Paradoxe, but I do remember not liking it at all. It’s the smell that hangs around in a Douglas store. Strong and screechy headache inducing mish mash of white florals. This fragrance is a lot more refined and gentle. Lovely wafts as you go about your day, not intrusive at all. Just a beautiful presence. Summer in a bottle. Golden hour at the beach. Top of my wish list.

I absolutely fell in love with this when I smelled it at the mall, BUT I refused to pay full price. The only other PDM that I have is Althair, which I love. I just am not a fan of the others, they are too sweet. This though, it is so beautiful and the bottle is amazing. I was lucky enough to purchase this for 48% off plus I had some coupons so I paid under $150...I can't wait for it to arrive !

Ican't stop sniffing my wrist since yesterday, when I bought this bautifule perfune. Since Valaya I did'nt like or love enything from this brand but Atheneis is an instant love for me. It is my summery orange blossdom pefune, not too heavy but still vannilla and very feminin and lingers around all day wit a beautifle white floral scent. Sillage is medium but lasts all day.

Test it out today at Nieman Marcus. What a beautiful, warm dry down! A little Mon Boudoir vibe. the dry down reminds me of that from Ormand Jayne's Levant but Athenais is more assertive and stronger. It is interesting to pair the innocence of neroli with the voluptuousness of vanilla and amber.... I think I might go for the full bottle... Cries my wallet LOL

I tryed it in a niche store and this is a must have for me. Thanks God it'ts nothing to do with Prada Paradoxe! Yes, it has orange blossom and vanilla but in the very sofisticated way of Marly with lots of high quality ingredients. The sillage is medium to big and longevity is at least 7-8 hours on me. Tomorrow I go back to buy a whole bottle.

This is a beautiful scent and one of my favorite non-gourmand scents in my collection at the moment. Scents fade fast on my skin, but I was still catching lil bits of this scent on me at night! Can't wait to wear this in warm weather and see how I feel about it. As someone who owns this and Paradoxe, I don't think this is the same as Paradoxe.

This has become my favorite PDM perfume, especially for spring and summer. A lot say it smells exactly like Prada Paradox intense. I do think there’s similarities but the orange blossom is the difference for me. I think when you initially spray you immediately get the neroli and bergamot but the dry down is different. Love it.

This is not my usual kind of scent, but I tried a sample and it is beautiful. I imagine this would be stunning on a summer evening. The orange blossom, jasmine and vanilla are lovely together. It’s not the most complex or original scent, but I love it. I won’t be buying it though. £270 for 75ml is outright extortion.

Love this! Super light, fresh and feminine. Bought a full size after a decant. Super safe for office wear. Not quite a skin scent but not a big projector etiher... which i like bc i feel like this frag hits a sweet spot. This could easily be a spring/summer signature scent.

This first time I tried this I did not like it. I must not have waited for the dry down. The next 2 times I smelled it I absolutely loved it. Both stores were sold out. This perfumes beauty is in the dry down, absolutely beautiful! I highly recommend.

This image beautifully captures a feminine and realistic scene of stepping into a garden bursting with neroli and jasmine sambac. It evokes memories of my mother’s garden. The dry down reveals mahonial, leaving a subtle Blanche Bête shadow.