Metal

When I asked for this in a swap, I expected something very "metallic", futuristic or "shiny"...what I got was a pleasant surprise indeed! Aldehydes and galbanum greeted me with an airy and green embrace. Basil keeps it fresh, as opposed to just the resiny scent of the galbanum. Just enough citrus and fresh hyacinth keep this airy and crisp, with a hint of innocent sensuality. The heart of flowers is very well-blended, with the tender ones (muguet, jasmine and cyclamen) keeping the "power" flowers from taking over (rose, tuberose, ylang) while a cool steely iris provides the perfect fulcrum for this springlike see-saw. This was released in 1979, huh? This has all of the class of a vintage, without the "volume" of most fragrances from that era. PR Metal is a truly elegant floral perfume that lasts, without becoming cloying or tiresome. The drydown: slightly soapy with REAL oakmoss and vetiver...powdery and rife with green loveliness. Amber and musk? Musk, perhaps...white, but nice. Amber, maybe a hint of real ambergris-I find nothing overly oriental here. Just a beautiful clean finish to a lovely opening and beautiful bouquet-like heart. Sillage: good Longevity: very good Overall: 3.75/5 As far as the Press Release on this scent goes: Joyful and bright...Yeah! Girly and sweet...not so much. I am a man and wear this scent. If you like fresh (NOT aquatic) green tinted scents with flowers and a nice clean dry finish; then this is for you, regardless of whether you wear pants or a dress. I do, however like metallic accessories, maybe THAT is why PRM and I get on so well!

Exquisite fragrance ! Metal is intense, dry, vivid, cutting, clear, dewy, lofty, refined, and -a touch herbacous. This is an extremely "modern" scent, and simultaneously, such a natural, true, classic, pure floral! The written description of notes here in the database varies greatly from the pictures of notes shown. I must agree more with the photo description of notes. The Aldehydes are a magnificent but small touch; not heavy or prominent, as in other perfumes; yet adding so much enjoyment and pleasure. There is a whisper of Galbanum mixing in with blooming fresh white flowers. The Cyclamen, and Iris, add a sense of playfulness to the white flower notes. The Ylang Ylang, Amber, Sandalwood, Musk, and Oak Moss give the perfume depth and weight so that it just does not disappear. One can enjoy all the flowers from a far with good sillage, and appreciate the excellent base when moving in close to the skin.

Metal opens with fresh galbanum green--a refined green, though, not as sharp and acidic as Silences. The basil is there adding a herb freshness. This is very early Spring, when bits of unmelted snow still linger in the shaded parts of the garden. True hyacinth scent follows the green, and then the lily of the valley unfolds with the jasmine. The heart is a beautifully balanced floral, with the Iris adding depth. The drydown retains a brightness mellowed by amber and woods, and of course oakmoss. This is a delightful fragrance, chic and complex--definitely bottle-worthy.

One of the greatest scents in the entire history of perfumery and, in its heyday, very reasonably priced. Predictably, it's now extremely hard to find. But, it seems it's all about profits -- the bottom line on the balance sheet. Perfume houses will happily chuck out a scent regardless of its long and faithful following. They're only after numbers, big numbers worldwide and that can only be possible with bland, plastic scents that smell like supermarket shower-gels and don't make too bold a statement. R.I.P Metal. I will miss you very much.

I can't believe I am finally reviewing this post haste due to overlooking how wonderful this fragrance truly is to me. This is a true, old skool chypre floral that I humbly failed to realize its ultimate potential until much later. This frag could have been seriously undermined as an ultimate chypre=dry-aldehyde-floral which stands on its own feet. It is sublime, but bursting with a deepening freshness that is a hard act to follow. . .. a true gem amongst the unpolished. I will always love it. P.S. Reminds me of Eau de Metal/Paco Rabanne

When I wear Metal, I just love (smelling) myself. For me, it is unlike anything else. It is not really green, not really flowery, not really soapy clean, but all of these at once and in perfect harmony. But - and I hate to confess this - in all these years (I use Metal for more than 10 years), I never had any compliments or questions what I was wearing. Maybe it is less perceptible and more to the skin than I think. For me, the sillage is good and the longevity as well. No need to reapply - it stays for at least 8-12 hours.

Just received a bottle today from a Canadian website and it is really quite nice. Once the aldehydes die down somewhat it's very very pretty. A little like Jacoma Silences which I also have. Will have to do a side by side comparison. Thumbs up ,and I was quite lucky to be able to still find it. BTW, someone mentioned Galbanum was not shown on the list, but it is covered in the green notes.

Jasmine rose vetiver oakmoss Beautiful, Green, crisp and creamy (in a clean way). Lovely scent, very unique, I've been using this since I was like 10 years old, my vintage Full bottle is three quarters Full, a little goes a looooong way, excellent sillage, not overpowering but it certainly stands it's ground among modern, regular frutichoulis and "gourmands". Absolute LOVE!

I was 10 years old when I first smelled this and fell in love. The first perfume I ever appreciated and requested for 1 for Christmas. I think it was the aldehydes and basil. It smelled fresh, floral and clean. Switched to eau de metal when i turned 16 and that was even better.

This can be cmpared to Babe from the 1970's...I have both. They are in the same family of gorgeousness. Too bad they don't make them like this anymore. If you can get your hands on a vintage of either one, you won't be disappointed. :)

Chat Lunatique described it well.... I like it-and I'm a vegetarian. It's bright, green, and it speaks on the skin. Not a meek one, not a seductive one, and not a piece of metal from the bandwagon. This is a leader's type of fragrance.

Along with Givenchy III, I do hope this doesn't become too impossible to obtain in the future. Very clean, confident, clear, dry and slightly masculine, definitely not girly.

Can't find this..It was my most favorite along with Calandre..That one has been reformulated..I wonder if this one still is available and unchanged?

This is lovely. I have a tiny mico mini so cute.Really unique and dry scent, but fresh at the same time. Men or women would like this.

Paco Rabanne --You MUST bring this back! And with its original formula..Please. I beg you!

Metal is a green-floral-lover's floral. It reminds me of firm healthy stems sharply snipped by a precise hands. Metal is the combination of green sap mixing with the rich dirt on the gardener's glove. The opening is dominated by green notes, very ozonic and invigorating. Smoothly, though, Metal sweetens and thickens into plush luminous flower petals. The most dominant flower to me is lily. But imagine an immaculately dressed professional woman, middle-aged peering out of her spectacles at the report on her desk. She has a lover, but none of the office knows that. Well, one day a flower is delivered to her at work. It scents the entire floor. There's talk, scandal, but she chooses to be tastefully cryptic about it. A grown-up love story. The closest perfume I would compare Metal to is YSL 'Y'. The green notes and florals in both are similar to my nose. The key difference, though, is that Y has a dry mossy feel to it whereas Metal is plush ripe and humid. I vaguely understand what Chat means with the 'oily' character in the heart. It doesn't remind me of meat persay, but it's moist. The texture . . . oozes . . . into your head when you smell it. Y, on the other hand, is dry, dry, and abrasive. The moss fairly hums in dry vibration at the bottom on the green florals. If Metal has a rounded and smooth-talking tongue, Y would be dry sarcasm. I toyed with the notion of buying a bottle, but in the end decided I prefer Y. It was a close call, though.

I actually found a bottle of the EdT sitting inside a box on my mom's vanity. She never wears perfume and the box was covered in dust so I decided to take it and give it a spin. On first spray it's very floral, definitely smell those aldehydes. I was worried since Aldehydes are harder for younger girls to pull off that I was gonna have to sit this one on a shelf and wait, but after a few moments it settled and was actually quite pleasant. I'm honestly not good at picking out notes so the overall basic picture I can give you is floral, with an almost lemon-ish kick to it. Overall, it's very lovely and I think you could honestly wear this at whatever occasion you choose, however I would err to the side of caution for extremely hot and humid days and say that cooler days would be best.

Hmmmm.... Interesting.... A water pinkish lily in an aldyhides lake. I can sense some lotus, water notes, and greeny aldyhides, ^ within seconds it turns quite tough oakmoss, aldehydes, rosy, lily of the valley, vetiver, and ylang. It has that greeny sourness to it that makes it slightly fresh yet heavy chypre. It begins airy for seconds then turns quite heavy within seconds as it settles down! maybe because of the age and the natural notes! but after all it's quite captivating. Btw, this is NEVER near "Grand Amour" by Annick Goutal! i wounder how come there are people who sense any similarity!!!! Weird!

Metal is a perfect summer perfume whether or not you are into the chypre style of perfumes. Sweet flowers mixed in with the tangy greens held together with amber and sandalwood. The oakmoss does it's thing by creating a fizziness and the aldehydes swirl everything around like a swizzle stick. The whole composition results in what is similar to live electricity jumping off the skin. You will feel clean and fresh and vivacious. Metal comes alive in warm weather!

This is the one I reached for on a beautiful day in March, when spring had suddenly arrived. A blast of green from the galbanum, then the lily of the valley and other flowers emerge. There are many excellent reviews here so I won't go on except to say - Spring in a bottle :)