Yves Saint Laurent Parisienne: Vinyl Rose

The online buzz for the ad campaign kind of put me off – since when has arch-Brit Kate Moss represented “La Parisienne”? As far as I know, we still make them locally. And when the notes announce berries, rose and patchouli… The first combined with the third screams “Angel!” and sends me to the mattresses, as they say in The Godfather, ready to be mowed down by star-flacon wielding goons. As for rose and patchouli… Let’s say those mattresses still look mighty comfy. And Yves Saint Laurent perfumes have dropped off my radar ever since the late M. Saint Laurent stopped getting involved in them – that would be in 1993, when Yvresse (originally Champagne) was released.

But, but, but… The new Parisienne was authored by the queen of olfactory cleavage, Sophia Grojsman (along with Sophie Labbé), and that sly Russian puss has been known to play around with unusual accords, like the “clean laundry” note of her Outrageous for Frédéric Malle or the delightfully twisted chocolate-rose marriage of 100% Love for S-Perfume. And as Parisienne was said to feature a vinyl/varnish/”metal of a spiked heel” accord along with a touch of leather, well… Fruity floral or not, I had to poke my nose in it.

If you think you’ll come out smelling of pink patent leather Louboutins… You won’t (but it’s a thought). The “spiked heel” note is more cosmetic than kinky: the whiff you get from your mouth when you’ve piled on enough lip-gloss for your smile to shine like a brand-new Porsche. While it gives a playful, urban edge to the scent, it never veers into car showroom aromas.

The titanic core rose-violet Paris accord has been amped down, with a more transparent rose brightened with blackberry and cranberry – not particularly tart, more on the ripe-sugary, jammy side of the fruit spectrum. As a result, the violet is amped up with its powdery woody facets, bolstered by white musk (lots of it) and vetiver (a dollop), respectively. If you’d spilled a drop of Paris in your vinyl make-up bag, you might get Parisienne, and you’d have a mighty fine-smelling make-up bag.

For me, the berry-patchouli notes are a deal-breaker, but I’d love to smell that vinyl accord worked into something woodier, or maybe a tuberose… A patent leather tuberose. Now we’re talking kinky. Someone get word to Sophia, quickly.

Image: David Lynch for his Fetish exhibition with Christian Louboutin.