Yves Saint Laurent Parisienne

...youthful and feminine, with a retro touch.



Yves Saint Laurent Paris is one of those '80s perfumes we now call “classic”. That anything dating from the '80s is considered a “classic” disconcerts me as much as when Jessica Simpson refers to “Old Hollywood”, and it turns out she means John Travolta and Debra Winger.

Nevertheless, the shedding of calendar pages continues ever apace, and perfumer Sophia Grojsman’s creation is now appreciated as one of the few A-ha-era perfumes that is still with us -- and still smells decent.

Loud and proud, '80s fragrances like Giorgio and Poison are more about declaration than seduction. With its bright lipstick rose and violet bouquet, Paris is pretty declarative, too, but with a lilt and swing that makes you smile. It’s as joyfully noisy as a stretch limo filled with bridesmaids.

And now Parisienne, composed by Grojsman along with Sophie Labbé, is here to capture the hearts and noses of the current crop of young‘uns.

As required by said young‘uns, it is a fruitchouli, as fruity as a migrant worker’s pick-up truck, as Carmen Miranda’s hat, as the Vatican Swiss Guard. Like, pretty fruity.

Paris’ signature rose is still featured amidst the berry jamboree, but I wonder how that will play with the kids. As one of my teen viewers recently commented regarding DKNY Be Delicious:
It just smelled like flowers on my skin!!
BLEH!!
I can't STAND flower smells!
And there I was thinking Be Delicious was all about the crisp, tart apple. As you can see, flowers are facing an uphill battle for the children of the new millennium. We’ll have to shred through a few more calendar pages before we discover whether Parisienne has the legs of her older sis, Paris.

Parisienne is available from Perfume.com and FragranceNet.com, starting at $37 for 30ml; Paris is available from FragranceNet.com starting at $33 for 30ml

Looking for a fragrance recommendation? Visit Fume Finder: the Katie Puckrik Smells fragrance app.

8 comments:

  1. I can see how Parisienne would fit as Paris's younger sister and I know what you mean about the retro touch. For some reason I found the opening powdery in an angry way, if powder could emote - it was like disgruntled purple talc.
    : - )
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  2. flittersniffer - "disgruntled purple talc" had me running to my Parisienne sample to see if it was as cross with me as it was with you. I wonder if it was the nail polish and so-called "stiletto heel in hot asphalt" accords that were bitching at you? Pleasantly-fashioned industrial chemicals are what I encounter at the top.

    I do like the idea of calling a spade a spade with the typically flowery listed notes copy: "This perfume is SUPPOSED to smell like the inside of a 14-year-old's bedroom after she paints her nails, sprays hair products, colors with marker pens, and...uh...asphalts her ceiling."
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  3. That cacophony of smells you list would certainly make me angry(!) and I think they will have contributed to my overall impression, though the powdery aspect and the purpleness were also pronounced. I must have another go next time I am in Boots. I had it on next to Idylle last time and do remember thinking at the time that Parisienne smelt much more "artificial".
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  4. Sorry, all I can say is "gesundheit"! (Juicy "kercher kercher kercher")
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  5. Oh no, thanks to y'all, I'm going right off my initial vaguely positive impression of Parisienne.

    Due to the avalanche of requests from my younger YouTube viewers for feedback on their beloved Lolas, Juicys, and Britney's, my nose is filled with all manner of chemical chaos. By comparison, Parisienne actually stacks up well: coherent, with a point of view. But there's no getting away from the smell of a teenage girl's room that permeates Parisienne.
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  6. My "Walk of Shame" perfume would be Christian Dior "Hypnotic Poison." I liked that it was young and sweet but sort of sexy, and men are supposed to be drawn to the smell of vanilla. It said "Eat me" in a barely legal yet quasi literal way and was wrapped up in the idea of the forbidden fruit/ poison apple packaging. I was wondering if you could suggest a slightly more mature compliment to this where the vanilla is turned down a notch or two.
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  7. Hi Katie，I have once tried this one in Paris, and I was immediately attracted to the fruity gourmand scent.But do you think Parisienne is too seductive to a high school girl?
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  8. Christa04, I think Parisienne would be lovely for a high school girl. Another really pretty rose/berry perfume is Miss Charming by Juliette Has a Gun.
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