Papilio

I first tried my sample last week and was super disappointed to quickly fall in love with it, then find that there’s not an even remotely reasonable way to get my hands on this scent, price-wise. Trying it again today I’m getting a very distinct cigarette note (not tobacco) that will allow me to “let it go.” That being said, this is a masterpiece besides the cigarette. It’s the perfect feminine woody scent I’ve been searching for for years. Distinctly woody but with enough florals to make it feminine. Love the complexity of all the other notes too. I can’t pick them out specifically, they just come together perfectly. This is unique but gorgeous. Absolutely divine.

Both I(male) and the lady who works in the perfume shop I go to did not like this perfume. It has a designer smell. Fruity, floral and very sweet. Yes, everything can be unisex but, this one for me, is a typical women's perfume. Apart from the discontinued 'M', there's nothing I like from this brand.

Papilio, the new perfume from Puredistance Master Perfumes, was launched on September 15, 2023. It replaces Antonia within the Magnificent XII Collection, which is Puredistance's main perfume collection, always maintaining a selection of 12 perfumes. Antonia now becomes part of the Private Collection. Papilio’s fragrance was created by Nathalie Feisthauer and the project began in 2020, when Jan, sitting in his home in Ameland and surrounded by nature, observed butterflies dancing in the air. Immediately, he found himself thinking about the entire process of metamorphosis – from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly – and felt that PAPILIO (Latin for butterfly) should be a new perfume for Puredistance Master Perfumes. Following the House's quality standard, always in Pure Parfum Extrait concentration, Papilio contains 25% extract. The olfactory pyramid lists bergamot at the top; Magnolia, neroli, carrot seeds, iris, lily of the valley, hedione, and heliotrope, in the heart; Cedar, vetiver, amyris, ambroxan, opoponax, benzoin, vanilla, peach, ambrette seeds, cashmere, and Muscenone, in the base. And the fragrance was designed to be just like that: complex, not at all minimalist. The perfumer's intention was to add layers, thinking about the countless color combinations of butterflies, representing the different forms of beauty, with the aim of embracing their real nature. On the skin, Papilio is multifaceted and unfolds between flowers, woods, and leather. The fragrance opens with a delicate floral-green mist with a slightly earthy effect, where the brightness of the neroli is muffled by smoky nuances. It is not an explosive fragrance, with a lot of projection. There is a softness in revealing small facets of magnolia and peach, which seem to be contained by a wooden dome built by artisans. It is easy to notice the presence of cedar and resins, as if the latter formed a shiny varnish with brown tones, like caramel. However, on my skin tones of tobacco and leather stand out, which can be obtained from ambrette seeds, known for generating a high-quality vegetal musk. But it's not a raw or animalic smell, especially because the cashmere molecule gives it a silkiness during the dry down. Finally, I feel a lot of balsamic content from the amyris note and an elaborate result enveloped by a thin layer of vanilla, not at all sweet. In fact, Papilio is quite surprising, in a way. I say this because the colors used in the packaging and the launch material reveal a natural femininity, normally attributed to the butterfly. But the fragrance is perfectly unisex! I really liked the result. The fragrance exudes refinement and lasts for more than eight hours on the skin. It brings a lot of the DNA proposed by the brand and deserves to be recognized and tested by all those passionate about the niche segment. Papilio really is like a butterfly: the longer you look, the more you see.

Will also add some thoughts. Opens quite fruity with some floral tones. I think the notes I'm getting are peach and magnolia. But as it dries, the powdery tones amp from the ambrette and there is also a very prominent creamy earthiness in this profile, that might be the woody notes mixing with the carrot. There's also a very noticeable nutty/almondy feel to this fragrance, a bit like that Caron fragrance or the vibes spotable in Pegasus Exclusif from Marly. Overall, the scent has a fairly non-modern feel to it. It has some soapy edges that in my opinion give it a vintage Guerlain vibe, dare I say chypre vibe. I will note that the blend quality is high. Performance leans poor; especially for longevity. Value, to me, is overpriced even with the blend quality / naturals used. This at least has a feminine lean, but could also be outright feminine.

I've written a review before, but I want to revisit it because I don't understand the source of the negative feedback surrounding Papilio. We all have different tastes, but, as for me, Papilio has been one of my favorite fragrances for almost a year now. Its elegance, modernity, style, soulfulness, tactfulness, quality, and excellent longevity are all in one bottle. Even as a Tom Ford fan, I often think that if I had to keep just one fragrance from my collection, it would be Papilio. Its longevity is impressive; even after a quick wash, the scent remained on my shirt. I use it sparingly, just once or twice a week, since I have two 17.5 ml bottles that I’m saving. Once they run out, I’ll definitely be purchasing a larger bottle. I’m very grateful to Puredistance for this perfect fragrance match for me.