YSL Mon Paris Perfume

It’s coming to that time of year again, no not Christmas rather non stop over-the-top perfume advertising. I swear every year advertisers try to out do themselves to see who can come up with the most ridiculous and outlandish way to sell perfume. So I’m getting in early before the onslaught begins. I find perfumes one of the hardest things to review. There’s base notes, middle notes, and top/head notes. These notes describe the scents that can be smelled from first application and as the perfume wears. So top/head notes is the first spray and base notes is the scent as it’s just about to wear off (kind of like nuclear half-life). 

Then there’s chypre which I describe and first learned about in this review of Armani Si Intense. Then you have to be able to pick out all the different elements of the scent. It’s a complicated business. Ultimately though, scent is a very individual experience and one intricately linked with memories. I’ll try my best though to describe the relatively new YSL Mon Paris* perfume. 

YSL Mon Paris* tries to capture Paris as a lovers’ city: passion, seduction, lust. How does it do that? Well, it’s reformulated the classic chypre scent. Not only has one master perfumer had a hand in doing this but three. The traditional chypre structure has been turned on its head. Someone with much more experience than me may be able to detect this, as a regular consumer it’s a nice touch but unfortunately it’s lost on me. 

Back to the top notes/middle notes/base notes. Initially this is a very sweet, floral perfume. I thought it’d be too sweet for me but when the scents of jasmine and peony settle down to fruity middle notes I find it a much nicer scent, not that it’s not a nice scent to start with it’s just not what I would normally wear. I’d say it’s a very feminine fragrance and I tend to veer towards either masculine or unisex fragrances. It’s fresh and sensual without being to cloying but if you’re used to woodier notes this might not be for you. Finally, the base notes are more musky and more to my personal preference; there’s hints of patchouli, cedarwood and white musk. I’m impressed with the longevity of YSL Mon Paris; it lasts practically all day on me, transforming as it fades. 

The bottle it comes in is adorable with it’s very own little necktie and embossed with YSL’s logo. The perfume itself has been coloured a delicate pink. If you love sweet, floral and ‘feminine’ scents you should love YSL Mon Paris. Even if these scents aren’t your first choice it might still be worth a go to see how it settles on your skin as I was pleasantly surprised by how it develops on me and I’ve been wearing it pretty much everyday since I was sent it. 

YSL Mon Paris comes in three different sizes: 30ml, 50ml and 90ml and is available from YSL website here and other nationwide retailers.

What scents do you like in a perfume?

*PR Sample

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