Pure XS

#40 of My Fragrance Journey - Paco Rabanne Pure XS: A Smouldering Shiver in a Bottle The name says it all. Pure Excess. No subtle metaphors, no polite introductions. From the first spray, it's clear this isn't made for restraint. It's here to seduce. To provoke. To pull you in. The first hit? Ice-cold ginger. Sharp, fizzy, almost electric - like someone just poured chilled soda water over hot skin. Your pulse might skip a beat, a shiver running through you before you even know what's happening. For a moment, you hope it stays cool and crisp, but that's just the tease. Then the temperature starts to rise. Cinnamon slides in, wrapping around the ginger's edge like warm breath. There's something primal about it - that blend of spice and sweetness that feels alive, a little dangerous. Underneath, green sap and thyme keep things grounded, earthy, humane. The contrast is intoxicating - cold and hot, clean and dirty, innocence tangled with something darker. And then the real magic begins. The base. Vanilla - but not the kind that flirts with cookies or candles. No, this one's thick, dark, spiked with leather, liquor, and musk. Imagine the sensation of spilt bourbon on warm skin, with a hint of smoke still lingering in the air. It's sensual, magnetic, and just this side of sinful. As it dries down, a haze of myrrh and sugar dust lingers - soft, sweet, and faintly glowing. It's that aftertaste of a kiss, that whisper of warmth you don't want to fade. You can almost hear the crackle of static between two people standing too close. Pure XS isn't subtle. It doesn't whisper - it smoulders. It's a scent for nights that stretch too long, for glances that last a beat too long. It's confident, a little dramatic, and unapologetically sensual. Final Verdict: This isn't just a fragrance - it's a slow burn in a bottle. That dance between cool ginger and molten vanilla, between clean skin and sin - it's addictive. If you want something safe, look elsewhere. But if you want to smell like temptation itself - soft, hot, and impossible to forget - this is it.

I believe we should stop labeling perfumes female or male and just let people decide for themselves if they like it or not. I bought this perfume for my son 6 months ago (the flip cover version) because I really liked how it smelt. My wonderful son came home from University during the Christmas break and I presented it to him with Intenso by D&G. He just came home two days ago since he went back to school and he barely touched the Pure XS but almost halfway through with the Intenso. I gladly took the Pure XS and I wore it out yesterday and sprayed it on today when I got up in the morning. It has this fresh, aromatic opening that appeals to my senses. I use about 4 sprays and it dominates my senses for almost an hour before it calms down. Thankfully, it doesn’t give me a headache which I was worried about because of the liquor in it. I don’t think it is sweet like Stronger With You Intensely and it actually reminds me of it’s cousin One million but I find Pure XS to be more complicated and less sweet. I am a 46 year old woman who wears these scent profiles comfortably so I will say it is a great scent to share with my husband because he enjoys these types of scent profiles too. Sillage is moderate after an hour but longevity is good and you get whiffs of it for over 6 hours. I call this type a scent “an easy reach” for when you are not in the mood for anything too fancy yet want to smell great.

I have owned this one for a year now back in January, and now I feel like it deserve some words here. I have read some of the reviews below and I see it has created antagonistic feelings among people, and is either love or hate, no middle ground. For me it has grown very positively since I first tried it, and I gotta say this was a totally blind buy in my end, and has become one of my first choices for my nights out, and I have been complemented every time I wore it, and guys wanting to know what was I was wearing. So probably it has to do with the skin chemistry and the cologne ingredients, for me it has worked amazingly good with this one, that went from my liked to my loved ones. I've never been so good in describing notes of the fragrances, even that, I thing we all get different olfactory vibes all the time, but I can not argue that it has a loud opening, and it takes a while to go down, but for me it has been pleasant all the time, and by the time I get to the club, it just gets me compliments. I would say this is definitely a night cologne, and for cold weather. I do not recall wearing in the summer, and I might dare to do it discretely this summer just to see how the performance changes, but obliviously with fewer spritzes. Well good luck and stay fragrant. ;-)

@jasontallwood I find it quite interesting to "rave" so long about something being so bad, lol. Just because the bottle is blue/black, you went without hesitation and ordered it, expecting something similar to Acqua di Gio? And then you blame the fragrance for being different than you thought? I personally find that quite interesting. Even if you are under complete lockdown and cannot sample anything, if you had just took 2 minutes to look at the notes you would have known that this has vanilla and is at least a partially sweet scent. For me personally, I find quite the opposite as you do. This is the only Paco I have and the only one I found of the recent releases to have actual depth. I don't like the Night flanker, now that one is loud and very similar to Ultra Male which I am not fond of. Pure XS EdT on the other hand is a beautiful fragrance in my book and the only heavily sweet scent I own, but it is counterbalanced with fresh ginger and green notes exceptionally well. To close my review, I am wearing this to the office with 2 sprays :)

Has a Pure XS Night owner and lover, I had to have Pure XS also in my collection and the verdict is: It smells like Pure XS Night, but in a lighter way. The Myrr is the main note for both Pure XS and XS Night, but in Pure XS you can get the boozy vibe from the Liquor, while XS Night has the dark vibes of Cacao and the Caramel notes. Just because it smells lighter than the other doesn't mean it won't last longer, because IT DOES, for at least 8+ hours on skin. As for projection, I would say it's weaker than it's flanker it will last like 3 to 4 hours before it turns out into your own fragrance bubble. With all that said, they are both sweet seductive fragrances for fall and winter seasons. Another thing that I must mention and I'm grateful for Paco Rabanne to do it, and I'm pretty sure most people will agree with me, is that new bottles caps are no longer like zippo lighters, so when you remove the cap it comes off, like any other bottle..Yasss.