Yves Saint Laurent Parisienne: Perfume Review

I feel pretty, Oh, so pretty, I feel pretty and witty and bright! And I pity Any girl who isn't me tonight. I feel charming, Oh, so charming It's alarming how charming I feel! And so pretty That I hardly can believe I'm real. ... I feel stunning And entrancing, Feel like running and dancing for joy, For I'm loved By a pretty wonderful boy! Yves Saint Laurent's new Parisienne sings this songs, and it twirls, and it smiles, and it winks and it is so full of joy and so pleased with itself and the world that it might simply burst like a fantastic pink bubble and rain down in a myriad rose petals. Ah, so pretty!- I exclaimed the moment I smelled it. So romantic. So unashamedly feminine. So exactly like what I didn't know I really wanted. The ad... and I can't remember last time I liked an advertising this much... the concept of "the glamour and seductive allure of a Parisian woman" and the list of notes, "with a vinyl accord, said to add a modern twist to the fragrance and evoke the gloss, varnish or metal of a spike heel" (source) present the fragrance as a little more sensual, darker and edgier than it is on my skin. I repeat, I adore the advertising for Parisienne and I don't think that it clashes with the fragrance, but the smell, to me, would be represented even better by a lighter, brighter, girlier visuals like those for Miss Dior Cherie (another campaign that I love). The perfume had me at bonjour with its sweet-and-tangy accord of cranberry and rose. I have been looking for the mouthwatering sugary sourness in a perfume ever since I encountered it in Quel Amour. The Goutal's creation was a little too acidulated. I found some in Sophia Grojsman's earlier creation, 100% Love, but, although strikingly unique, it was ultimately too sweet. Parisienne strikes a perfect balance of sweetness and tartness. The airy tanginess of cranberry is enhanced by peony and vetiver, the sweetness of rose is underscored by blackberry, violet and sandalwood. The violet is another aspect of Parisienne that I enjoy; in fact, I think that it is the presence of the softly powdery note, vaguely evocative of lipsticks, powders and somehow, to me, of all things "French", that makes the perfume "Parisienne". And when violet is joined by a delicate hint of patchouli, the composition, although never, on me, achieving the vinyl edge, acquires that twilit, dusky, husky quality that is promised by the elegantly-suggestive commercial. In other words, girly as it is, Parisienne has depth. It is a proper perfume, with refined structure and the kind of harmonious complexity that is the testament to the talent of the creators. One always dreams of finding an unexpected gem among the multitude of new luxe releases, and once in a while the dream comes true. Fans of the aforementioned Quel Amour and 100% Love as well as of such Grojsman classics as- of course!- Paris and Beautiful, along with lovers of the retro-chic, flirty creations like Drole de Rose, Lipstick Rose and Le Pot Aux Roses, please, take note of Parisienne. I will leave you with the second commercial teaser for Parisienne, courtesy of YSL, click here for the first. The fragrance is expected to arrive in the US in September. Image source, models.com, YSL.

Perfume Review: Laura Biagiotti Sotto Voce

Remember the beginning of Meet Joe Black, when a voice is saying, yes, yes, as if answering William Parrish's unasked question? I have been hearing a voice like that too, only sometimes it whispers, yes, and sometimes, no. My question is probably different from Mr. Parrish's. I want to know if it is true what they say, that you can never go home again. Because it wouldn't be the same home, the same you. Because life should be a forward movement, not retrograde. But what if you are ready to make peace with the changes? And might it not be so that sometimes going back is actually a progress? How any of that soul-searching relates to perfume, you might justifiably ask. Well, I have been re-visiting a lot of old favorites that I never believed I would be able to love again. The last bastion standing was Sotto Voce, Laura Biagiotti's 1996 gem, now inexcusably discontinued. I used to wear it during most difficult years of my life so far, and it has become associated with so many different kinds of heartbreak that I did not dare to smell it for almost a decade. I remembered it as powdery and soft, an intimate whisper of a fragrance. Apparently it used to smell really good on me, because someone once wrote me a short poem inspired by it (the only love poem I ever got). This year I felt I was ready to meet Sotto Voce and see if it would be bearable for us to be together again. It never ceases to amaze me just how powerful our olfactory memories are. The first sniff of Sotto Voce in about ten years felt as if "someone hit me in the gut, taking my breath away for a moment". But the flood of associations, which swept over me when I smelled the softly spicy floral top notes of the perfume, passed, miraculously not carrying me away to a tragic end, like some sort of emotional tsunami, and I was...home. The creamy heart of tuberose, ylang ylang and slightly bitter heliotrope was as charmingly warm and downy-soft as I remembered. As before, sandalwood and vanilla were blended with delicate flowers to create an effect that was not quite woody and not quite floral, making Sotto Voce a scent escaping definitions and categorizations...a scent elusive and always, quietly, present, a soft aura of warmth, a tender and sensual skin scent...It was incredibly comforting to wear it again, like coming back to loving arms after long and unnecessary separation. However, parallels between perfume and life can only be drawn so far. You can come back to a perfume. Can you go home again? Sotto Voce is sometimes available on eBay, for rather ridiculous sums of money. The image is by Blaise Reutersward.