Paris Roses Enchantées – delicate and charming and feminine

Photo: perfumeniche

Ahh, 1983, what a year that was! Michael Jackson performed his moonwalk for the first time on the Motown 25 TV special; the lowest temperature on Earth was recorded in Vostok Station, Antarctica, at −89.2 °C, and Yves Saint Laurent launched his classic perfume called Paris. Say wha? Launching a perfume makes the list of events for 1983? Here on perfumeniche it does.

Inspired by the city he loved, Saint Laurent commissioned perfumer Sophia Grojsman to create a fragrance that expressed that love. Grojsman, known for her rose-based fragrances, created a real beauty here with a fruity opening and lush rose softened with violet at the heart, and it was BIG, just like everything was in the 80s. For a long time, it seemed like everyone was wearing it.

Flash forward to 2002. The Gucci Group, which acquired the YSL brand, introduced the first annual limited-edition flanker to Paris, called Paris Eau de Printemps, that year, followed by Paris Premieres Roses in 2003 and Paris Roses des Bois in 2004. These fragrances were special in their way, but they didn’t send any triggers to the purchasing department of my brain. Then, in 2005, Paris Roses Enchantées was launched, and bingo! We had a winner. I bought a bottle and bought another a few days later. It’s the only way around the ‘limited edition’ trap!

Paris Roses Enchantées opens with fragrant garden roses – the kind grown in public gardens in Paris. The ones that only bloom once a year, in spring, and for a while, their perfume fills the air. Orange blossom is here too, light, delicate, slightly citrusy and sweet. It’s joined by violet, which adds its own powdery, soft sweetness. As it blooms, the roses grow and become more bountiful. They link to a lovely, fruity apricot note and the spring smell of lilac. Another popular garden plant, Lily of the Valley, is green, watery, and aldehydic, which adds another floral dimension to the juice. The fruits and flowers seem to dance around the roses and create a beautiful floral bouquet that rests on a base of soft white musk and creamy sandalwood.

Spray it on your wrist, and it dries down to an armful of fresh spring flowers, that’s as delicate as spring yet with enough depth and dimension to break winter’s harsh spell.

Paris is one of my favourite fragrances, and I still wear it. But sometimes, I want a Paris of enchanted roses.

Check out Paris Roses Enchantées in our Shop.