Parisienne

This one is so nice! I do find that it has a very sharp “acid / sour / powdery” opening, a blast that lasts just a few seconds but it ́s there and it makes my nose feel a little bit itchy. I would have believed this has a citrusy note but it doesn’t ... maybe it ́s the blackberry combined with the powderiness of the rose? I am not sure, but I understand that some people might not like that quick but sharp blast. However, once that thing fades, this is a truly delicate feminine and elegant rosy scent. A beautiful floral, worth enduring the initial sharpness. So beautiful !! This is very versatile, wearable for everyday use, to the office, to dinner with friends, to a romantic date, to a wedding I ́d even say.. though I do not think this has such a great performance to endure a wedding party hahaha, but it is elegant enough and beautiful enough. Appropriate for all year round, from winter to summer, during the day or during the night (you need to have at least one fragrance in your collection that is as wearable as this one). I do not find many people my age wearing this fragrance (I am currently 27)... most of girls my age (here in Argentina at least) are still wearing “teen-like” perfumes like DKNY be delicious and so on.. either that, or they are all wearing La vie e ́st belle.. so this one is not common in my social environment, and I always get compliments with it. Longevity: I like to say it ́s great but its more on the moderate side... 6 hours aprox. Sillage: starts with a sharp blast, and then it becomes moderate.. by the 2nd hour it sits closer to the skin. Bottle design: it ́s nice and simple.. I am not crazy about it but I don ́t hate it either haha. Do recommend it, might repurchase it.

I received a sample of this back in 2011-2012 and I vividly remember getting complimented on it. It stuck with me because prior to this scent I was only wearing Lolita Lempicka and I had people tell me it smelled bad (it doesn’t, it’s my favorite). But YSL Parisienne smells so high-class it’s no wonder I was complimented for it. I just recently ordered a 1oz. bottle of the original EDP and it smells exactly as I remembered: cold, synthetic, posh, rich-bitch-energy. It smells exactly like the inside of my mom’s old makeup bag, with powdery cosmetic residue lining the bottom of the cheap plasticky zippered pouch. Don’t let the connotation of “cheap” make you think this is a cheap smelling fragrance—it’s the opposite. Have you ever been able to find a perfume that can replicate that exact smell? Probably not. It’s unique, and it elicits a very distinct memory. I think most girls/women can relate to the excitement and mystery of the first time they found their mom’s makeup stash, and how grown up it made you feel to dust a little powder on your cheeks with the plasticky brush that came in the compact. This scent is the olfactory celebration of when girlhood turns to womanhood, and you go from candy smelling children’s cosmetics to rosy and powdery smelling adult cosmetics. It embraces the unnatural scents women encounter every day when putting on their face, and the melancholic reality of no longer being a little girl. Not for everyone. If you like more natural smelling fragrances, this is NOT for you. It is truly a synthetic masterpiece. Such a shame it’s been permanently discontinued and substituted for the rancid floral mess that is Mon Paris.

I found Parisienne EDP on a second hand webstore at a great price. I hadn't tried it before, but was interested enough to blind buy it. Being so late to the Parisienne party, it reminds me of later scents such as Black Perfecto EDP and especially Black Perfecto Florale EDT by Guerlain. Where BP and BPF start with a sour candied cherry note Parisienne instead leads with a tart raspberry blast (noted as blackberry and cranberry). The following dried roses are similar enough in all three, whereas the vinyl in Parisienne is compared with a smokey note in BP and BPF. They are all both girly and mature at the same time: the fruity-flowery playfulness subdued by the smoky-vinyl haze. Parisienne is a bit sharp, especially in the opening, a chemical feel to it like scented erasors or coloured markers. There is not that much of a woodsy base on me, rather a creamy skin scent after an hour or so. Its predecessor Paris is detectable, which is fun and reminds me of my teenage years (although I was a Poison girl back then). I am not sure Parisienne suits me now either, not that age matters, but rather where I am in life at the moment. After work and then house work I apply it sparingly to become someone else for a while.

Parisienne starts with a heavy dose of juicy, dark, sweet but not sugary blackberries, accompanied by rose and peony. I'm not a huge fan of violets and I smell some violet here after a while, but it's okay as it's not the center of attention and the berries keep it from becoming dusty and too retro. It just adds a powdery floral note. I also sense a hint of wood in the background. The perfume feels classic and feminine in a young, elegant way. So far I would call it a very pretty fruity/berry floral. The drydown is a bit more weird and interesting. It really does smell like the inside of a cosmetics bag, completely with face powder, liquid foundation and woody shavings from a lip liner. I wear make-up almost every day and enjoy it cause it makes me feel confident and comfortable, so this is a familiar, positive smell to me. I'm glad there's no old fashioned lipstick scent though, just a hint of rose. I like Parisienne, but it could really last a bit longer. After a few hours it becomes so weak, and I'm not one of those people who have problems with longevity all the time. I wish it could find the more intense flankers in a store and try them, but no such luck so far.

Berries and flowers with a french charm!!! I like this fragrance, despite it's very quiet and almost unnoticeable on me. Sour cranberry undertones is what I exactly like in it plus nice blackberry on pink peony background with tender pink roses. Romantic and impressive at the same time. But... YSL, please, make it stronger. Too quiet, despite I like everything except it in this fragrance. The bottle with YSL brings me back to my Paris journeys memorials. It's as luxury as this romantic city. High class! p.s. For this moment YSL is my favorite brand between luxuries perfume brands in general. It has french elegance and charm. Never overpowering, not depending if I like fragrance or not. p.p.s. And there is no vynil on me luckily:))) My father used to collect it, when he was young. I have enough of them at home. But it could be catchy: Paris, old famous french songs like Edith Piaf"s... Awesome!