Yves Saint Laurent Parisienne: Paris Light

Hi everybody,

If I got to choose where I want to live and money were not a problem, I would choose to vivre à Paris. For some reasons, the City of Lights perks my interest and I for once would like to live there and eat cheese and croissant from a small platter (*smile*). However, the current currency exchange rate between the dollar and euro plus swine flu plus living expense say otherwise.

And then out of the bloom, I got a bottle of YSL Parisienne to play with. Talking about making my day, right? Before Parisienne, the only YSL perfume I have is "L'Homme", the male fragrance released in 2006. "L'Homme" is a very beautifully crafted perfume and sometimes when the temperature drops, I find myself applying a drop of it on my wrists.

Parisienne was crafted by Sophia Grosjman, the nose of the original YSL Paris, and Sophie Labbé. It is described as an "grand floral perfume with woody structure, luminous even in its mystery." This perfume, according to its creators, is "the perfume of ultra-femininty, warmed by the touch of the man who embraced her."  Kate Moss, a Londoner, was chosen as the face of YSL Parisienne.

"You were not born in Paris but Paris adopts you...

...because you know how to love, how to live"

YSL Parisienne

The bottle

YSL Parisienne composition:

• Top notes: vinyl, cranberry, blackberry
• Heart notes: Damas rose, violet, peony
• Base notes: patchouli, vetiver, sandalwood, and musk

 This perfume is really soft: in order to smell it, you need to be very near the person who wears it. On me, it opens up like a bouquet of flower that mixed with fruits. While the creators described the top notes as having a glossy, vinyl effect, it feels more sunny and cheerful on me as first. The berry notes are very pronounced and bright, I could not help but smile when I first tried Parisienne. About an hour later, the mysterious factor starts to kick in as patchouli and vetiver becomes more pronounced. I did not detect the heart notes or sandalwood and musk at all. Although this perfume smells like a whisper, the lasting power is not so bad as it lasts a whole day for me. Being an unobtrusive fragrance, it grows on me while not giving me a headache. I even wore it more than three times in a row, which is a record for perfumes.

Look what I found!

YSL Parisienne in Marie Claire, October '09 issue

If you've seen the original YSL Paris, you will notice how familiar Parisienne is. The light lavender multi-faceted glass bottle also reminds me of Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb. To some, Parisienne is not strong enough or provocative enough. However, to others who prefer their perfume not to precede their reputation, this perfume is perfect. To me, this is a nice perfume for daytime as it is feminine, mysterious, and soft. However, those whose body chemistry does not bind well with vetiver, patchouli, musk, and sandalwood (the base notes), you may skip this.

Price: $39 USD for 1.0 oz, $65 USD for 1.6 oz, and $85 USD for 3.0 oz at Yves Saint Laurent website or Sephora.

My rating: A

That's all for today, folks! What do you think about YSL Parisienne? Have you tried it? Would you like to try it? Comment, ok?

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