Perfume Review of YSL Parisienne: Lacks Promised Vinyl

So let me answer the question that everyone is asking: Does YSL Parisienne live up to all the hype? After a summer full of leaked photos of Kate Moss in a YSL leather bodice ricocheting at lightening speed across the blogosphere, I can safely say that YSL Parisienne is all that and more.

Perfumistas anticipated the fall 2009 release of YSL Parisienne. But they bravely braced for possible disappointment. They suspected YSL Parisienne might be a slight revamp of YSL Paris, they suspected it might be another run-of-the-mill club night perfume, they also suspected that it might be a simple disappointment. But, but to the joy of perfumistas worldwide, YSL Parisienne is none of the above. YSL Parisienne certainly fulfills the all the hype that preceded it.

It is as floral and as sensual as the ads have suggested. But beyond all the wonder and fulfillment, YSL Parisienne boasts a wonderfully modest character.

YSL Parisienne begins like the color of its juice. The smell is pale, softly washed over and pink. YSL Parisienne opens like a fruity rose. Now it’s not a rose that’s smothered with cough-inducing patchouli and allergy-activating powdered notes. Parisienne is a light, berry-drenched rose that’s perfectly modern, yet it calls upon the dusky, smooth beauty of the original YSL Paris perfumes. Though many perfumistas may not feel the connection between YSL Parisienne and the original YSL Paris perfume, when smelling them side by side I cannot deny that YSL Parisienne captures the spirit of the original YSL Paris.

YSL Paris, originally released in 1983, is a sensual, powerful perfume that exudes feminine confidence in a quiet way. Quite different from the other heady, crazy perfumes of its time, YSL Paris created the attention-grabbing effect which was so popular in the 1980s in a softer, subtler, more cunning manner. YSL Parisienne, launched this fall, is like YSL Paris in this manner. YSL Parisienne is a refreshing revamp of the core character of YSL Paris—a woody, refreshing floral perfume. Parisienne takes the basic combination of rose, wood, powder and fruit, and revamps this classic floral. Parisienne modernizes this combination by adding more fruit and a softly smoldering base of woods.

Though it maintains the sensuality and sophistication of YSL Paris, YSL Parisienne is up-to-date and trendy. While making a nod to traditional florals (with rose notes, fruit notes, and powdered notes), YSL Parisienne is slightly more modern, youthful and tarted up for a sensual evening.

The initial rose note of YSL Parisienne is immediately joined by blackberry and cranberry notes. But once mixed with the floral, this berry note materializes as a complete copy of blackcurrant juice. The effect is light, but sweet and jammy. This fruity note makes the floral perfume smell, and almost taste, absolutely delicious.

Then in the dry down, the overt fruitiness dries back into the smoky, sweet rose. The floral character is enhanced by the soft mix of woods, patchouli and musk. The base is not too prominent, which seems perfectly suited for a younger audience, but neither is it completely nonexistent. The woody base raises this perfume to a confident level of maturity. Though the base doesn’t come across as overtly sensual or dirty, as medium dosage of woods combines with the subdued florals the overall effect is sexy and assertive.

This perfume is one of my favorites of this fall!

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