Perfume Review: Parisienne L'Essentiel (Yves Saint Laurent)

Target Gender: Female; Price Bracket (Aus): High ($150/50ml). Category: Vinylic/Leathery Floral. YvesSaintLaurent (YSL) is a brand of L'Oreal.

This is not a review for Parisienne (EDP), Parisienne EDT, Parisienne L'Eau, Parisienne A L'Extreme or Parisienne Edition Singuliere. Review based on wrist and card samples.

Disclosure: No affiliation with any brand or store. 

The 50ml bottle.
The cap is golden in colour.

There is hardly any perfume with a more confusing name lineup in its sub-range (J'Adore from Dior comes to mind). Parisienne, which was itself the younger spawn of the venerable Paris, has itself spawned no less than 5 flankers, and a number of them don't smell anywhere like its siblings. Parisienne L'Essentiel happens to be one of them; YSL could have called this something else and it would have made practically no difference.

This is a mixed floral scent; it has both jasmine and rose, plus iris . The key note for this scent is the "vinylic" accord though. It's not quite a leather note, but does give feelings of plush luggage...it feels almost like what the scent of a highly polished vinylic-leather wallet or bag would be. It's quite a pleasantly different scent from the hordes of purely flowery ones. The base does have a leather note, but it's quite a dry one. It almost feels like smelling what Parisienne would be like, sprayed on top of a fresh-off-the-shelf Oroton handbag, minus the rose.

The top is berries and pink pepper (not anywhere near the sharpness of Elle though), as the berries sweeten and cut through the pepper. The middle is where the vinyl shows up, along with rose and iris. By the time it reaches the base, you'll be getting the scent of rose/iris mixed with dry leather, and vinyl. The leather and vinyl combine to give you a very handbag-esque note; almost like walking into a footwear/luggage store and sniffing their merchandise(!).

While the bottle says "Essence De Parfum", it is more of an "EDP Intense". Lasting power is very high; on my wrist it was detectable after about 9 hours. When not having to survive against dishwashing fluid and soap several times, it would go on for another couple of hours easily. Do be mindful though, that this one has very strong projection. It is not a skin-hugger, and unless you're moderate on the pump, it will leave you quite noticeable.

Ratings:
3.75/5...Strong lasting power, a very different scent, and a very chic one. 

Prices:

RRP: AU$150 for 50ml (original at launch; last seen at around $95 for residual stock, sometimes as low as $52)

UVP: 50ml $3/ml at RRP, as low as $1.04/ml for residual stock

Click for more information on UVP

Stockists: Only seen at David Jones since 2013. Most likely not stocked any more except for clearance, as it was a limited edition in Australia.