Paloma Picasso

Down history lane #11 – Paloma Picasso After 1979’s Jean-Louis Scherrer, yet again i encounter an eponymous perfume. A perfume released in 1984 and named after a French jewelry designer and businesswoman, the daughter of Françoise Gilot and some guy called Pablo Picasso. According to her own words, said in some random lesser known newspaper called New York Post, its supposed to be a perfume intended for “strong women such as herself”. It would seem to me that Mrs. Picasso has no shortage in confidence but sometimes, only sometimes, such a mindset fits a person like a glove and instead of ruining their character, it defines it in a positive way. I’d be inclined to believe its true for her because her work is worthy of respect. She was a muse to Yves Saint Laurent, an inductee to the International Best Dressed Hall of Fame List. Her work is part of the collection of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History and Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History. Sheesh, she has done some things right that’s for sure. I can’t lie, her resume set a high standard for a perfume named after herself. Afterall, such a personality wouldn’t tie her name to a product she doesn’t hold in the highest regards. Ah yes, strong willed she is. Both Lady Paloma, and the perfume. I was expecting another floral chypre and it is. Only this time, contrary to Jean-Louis Scherrer and others in the vein, the animalics aren’t merely a mention but a cornerstone of the perfume. Infact, the animalics dominate the scent to the point that the florals, green and chypre elements are the ones hiding far in the background. All the heavy hitters are here: Civet, Castoreum, Oakmoss and most importantly, Musk. I admit i do not know how real musk smells like, nor would my gentle heart wish for an animal to be sacrificed for my curiosity. I don’t want to know how real musk smells like...well...i kinda do deep inside but i won’t go at much length to experience that. Still, in my imagination this is how real musk smells like. Dirty, furry, primal and well...animalic heh. The civet props up the musk indeed but to my nose the musk sits in front. This time, the musk Is not sweaty and bodily like in Muscs Koublai Khan for example. Instead there is a slightly medicinal, almost camphorous floral sitting beside it and its clearly of floral origins. Is it the carnation perhaps? In any case, its perfectly in harmony with the perfume, both scentwise and in thematic. Overall, in a way Paloma Picasso feels like a less masculine Lapidus Pour Homme, which i’ve just recently added to my collection. Not because they smell alike but they share the green elements and feature the same portrayal of power. A highlight of my recent testings and believe it or not, as much of a Serge Lutens fanboy as i am, i wouldn’t pay hundreds of euros for Muscs Koublai Khan while Paloma Picasso exists. I’ll go further and say this is what i wanted Chanel No. 5 to be. The one thing im not sure about, is that it might not quench my thirst for a bottle of Bal a Versailles, but, that remains to be seen.

Testing a pristine, full 1980s mini: I really really wanted to like this one. On paper I should. I fell in love with vintage Cabochard at first sniff. But on my skin, it goes in a completely different direction. On application it was astringent, medicinal and almost minty, bringing to mind the literal 80s-90s skincare staple SeaBreeze astringent toner, the one that was tinted amber. This not quite mint overwhelmed the rest of the notes for me until the late drydown. Occasionally I would smell the chypre underneath and like it, but I really had to search for it. There is some warmth there, it felt lived in and comfortable, like a 1990s home office filled with well loved inherited furniture and a large, stuffed leather armchair. The mintiness, for lack of a better word, pushes the overall vibe instead to being more of an early 20th century pharmacy. But the late drydown... On my skin it was wet dog. A freshly washed wet dog, but still wet dog. It's worth a revisit in a few months, to see if applying differently will give different results. But I'm skeptical that the not-mint will take enough of a backseat for me to truly appreciate her.

This is what I imagined Tom Ford Noir de Noir would smell like for some reason but was rather disappointed when I tried that one. This is the literal word "Gothic woman" made to be a smell It's a little skanky, it's definitely NOT for everyone, but it's so appealing for me, the vintage Patchouli and Animalic mix always makes fragrances attractive; same as in Givenchy Gentleman 1974 one of my favorite scents ever

I loved this original fragrance back in 1985. I was only 15, but I was addicted to high gloss. Fashion magazines and my mother would get me subscriptions for Christmas or my birthday, and of course they were loaded loaded with perfumeads and testers, and all kinds of stuff. It was awesome. I wish we could get back to that. But at the ripe old age of fifteen and sixteen I absolutely loved this fragrance.I don't know why it was.It's a very mature fragrance, but there was something about it.And of course, I see it for sale, and I do a little research and realize it is not even close to the same fragrance. I read the original fragrance. It had actual beaver and civet secretions. Well, we don't do that anymore. We Don 't squeeze civets for their secretions. Anymore, we have to rely on man made molecules, and they're just not the same. So many wonderful fragrances came out of the eighties, and they're all different now.... I guess it's true.All good things must come to an end. Thankfully, there's been a massive explosion of perfume and fragrance over the last 3 to 4 years. And now we are inundated with sicky.Sweet food combinations, candy combinations.If I smell one more iteration of yum bougie marshmallow, I might just be ill! Cupcake vanilla, like frosting or lattes, creamy and sicky sweet. I need a good fresh fragrance. I need a good floral fragrance and don't get me wrong. I have found quite a few really good fresh and floral scents thstviive and wear. I've also bought a few of these above mentioned trendy scents , but the reality is, I have probably only worn them, literally in the last three years, a total of five times. Give me the OG'S of YSL Paris, Paloma Piccaso, the ORIGINAL Dior Poison, the ORIGINAL Mugler Angel, the OG Fendi, the OG Opium....give me my animal Secretions and real ambergris, and oak moss...i would love a little more yesteryear mix in with the beautiful new fragrances that we are bombarded with!

Thrifted a bottle for $4! I was so excited to wear it, I immediately felt ashamed of what I thought was a modest 2 sprays in a public setting. I kept thinking “omg is that me” after getting a whiff. Smooth peppery opening, some soapy florals, an earthy base. Must be worn confidently this is a statement maker!

I love layering this with Lolita Lempicka or La Petite Robe Noire. I also agree with the reviewer who mentioned Hypnose, I've tried it and its great.

Paloma is the standard by which I measure all spicy evening perfumes against. My go-to since I used to sneak a few sprays from my mom’s dresser before hitting the pool hall in the late 90s. It’s a spicy, woody, complex, dark and seductive fragrance journey. As much as I try, I haven’t been able to find a better spicy evening fragrance since. Definitely not for a spring/summer or daytime choice. It’s definitely not blind buy safe for everyone. Some find the moss or animatic notes to be overpowering, but they are well blended and don’t stick out to me. I even had to concede that i’m probably proudly in my “vieja cuchi” era (thanks Daniel R), but I don’t care. I’ll love it as long as I live.

My friend sprayed this on my wrist before our physics lesson and it was so strong I was sniffing and sneezing whole lesson from how heavy it was. It completely cleared my sinus congestion though. That was my first encounter with this perfume. Super old-fashioned and heavy. This is what I imagine rockstars to smell like.

My fashionable grandma gave me a mini bottle of this along with some jewelry. I keep it in my jewelry box so it smells good when I open it.

I so wanted to have this perfume in early 2000', believed it was interesting, elegant and sophisticated. Unfortunately couldn't afford it as a poor student back in Poland, so I only enjoyed samples and with time simply forgot about it, busy with new discoveries like Allure from Chanel, Love, Chloe from Chloe and Dolce Vita from Dior, and many others. But lately I purchased a vintage 5 ml miniature and to be honest I'm quite disappointed. 1st definitely I grew to not like aldehydes and here they are quite prominent, suffocating to my nose. 2nd this perfume seems to be very inconsistent same on my skin and even in the bottle. Sometimes I can smell the rich, complex and heavy notes I remember from the past, but other times it just smells bad. Very bad, like it's spoiled (and maybe it really is?) or to make things worse, gives me repulsive impression of stinky, long time unwashed male armpit 🤢 I swear, I don't have anything like that in my collection and am scared even to open the bottle again, I happily managed to forget odours of this kind and for sure didn't miss them. I'm wondering, maybe it's because the animalistic notes of castoreum and civet? If yes, so I'm not a fan, definitely. Probably I'll give a try the newest version in the perfume shop, just to be sure my miniature isn't spoiled, but I'm very glad I didn't buy full size bottle, totally not my cup of tea at this stage of my life. A no from me. Edit: I opened the bottle again, out of curiosity, and today it smelled OK. Nothing I would like to wear, mostly because of the aldehydes, but at least no horrid stench seemed to be present. Great relief indeed.

I am so in love with this scent. It is honeyed thorny roses, dark woods, a slight soapiness, and pure drama. If Tom Ford sold this under the name Gothic Rose, everyone would call it a masterpiece, but because of its price or familiar associations with grandmas, it doesn't get the respect it deserves. Every time I wear it, I get tons of compliments. The key is not to overspray; it is potent, a presence. I layer it with Moonlight Patchouli and it becomes the most enveloping cloak—you'll levitate.

Loved wearing this to go out

I compare here a vintage bottle to one of too recently modern youth. Vintage Paloma Picasso is better than modern Paloma Piccasso in a similar way (but even more so) to how vintage Passion by Elizabeth Taylor is better than its own bizarre modern descendent. That is to say, much, much, better. The old version of Paloma Picasso was a dour, heavy, civet-dominated killjoy that mostly became popular because it smelled marginally better than the ever-present cigarette smoke constantly emitted by too many in the 1980s, namesake included. ..but this newer formula is so very much worse because that accord of artificial civet replacing the authentic stuff actually stinks like a thick cloud of stale cigarette smoke! Was that done as a kind of joke? Maybe that's what passes for French perfumier humor. Anyway, ...it's horrid. However, I'm still not willing to pay even the vintage PP too much of a compliment. For even in its past incarnation, it was a humourlessly over-civeted beast (but at least the real McCoy). There was always just too much anal gland secretion in Paloma, even in the old Paloma. PP's civet stench was (and is) strong enough to discolour and taint all other notes in the composition, especially the more delicate and refined ones that might otherwise be able to provide much need relief and variety. I don't want to have to try to smell around a wall of civet just to enjoy a perfume, ...though much less so still, a noxiously fake wall fo civet. Today, I was only inspired to revisit Paloma Picasso because I had just reviewed a vintage bottle of Lancome's Magie Noire, a scent with a superficially similar civet. ...However, I now feel the actual amount or it balance within the formula is fundamentally different. With Magie Noire, I was still able to fully experience a fascinating array of other notes (galbanum, cassis, rose, honey, spices, etc). Civet is definitely there, but it stays in its lane. Civet (real) will always be strong medicine that needs to be dosed carefully, yet I fully accept that there are many perfumes that have used it appropriately, even including Magie Noire, ...but Paloma Picasso is just demeaning trash with some namedropping and pseudo-sophisticated marketing fluff, ...and yes, the bottle is beautiful, I will give it that.

As a man in my early 20s most would be surprised to learn that this is the most attractive scent I have smelt on a woman to date. This doesn’t smell like marshmallows or super sweetened florals. This smells like a woman. It smells much richer and more ‘human’ than most lady perfumes you come across nowadays. Very sexy. More young women should opt for scents like this as opposed to the mass appealing slop of today.

My mother wore this when I was young, so when I wanted to wear perfume, I would just spray some of hers. She passed away in 1992 when I was in high school, and in college, a boyfriend of mine bought me a bottle. When I would wear it out (in the mid 90s), older men would approach me to tell my how good I smelled...LOL. I still have that bottle, and will keep it forever. I think it just smells like yuppies partying in the 80s. But I still love it, and I think this is where I get my love of bold rose, amber, musky fragrances.

(Review of a vintage EdP and a vintage EdT, both Parfums Paloma Picasso era pre-1990) This perfume is lewd. It’s got the bit-lip, swagger and gait of a night worker in leather wearing some enormous rose perfume. You do get to see some different sides of this singular, seedy personality in these two different concentrations though, but regardless of which one you spray on your person be ready for some raised eyebrows. In the EdT, immediately a rich honey note and a cloudy fecal civet note are playing upwards and not wanting to wait their turn, mixing and mingling with massive crystalline aldehydes, bitter and sour bergamot, and a cold pale green hyacinth. Rose and coriander quickly begin blooming with the tenacity of bonfire smoke. This rose is no wallflower; it is not jammy, sweet, demur, or prim and regal, it is vivid siren red with a sharp green edge. Part of this has to do with a geranium note very convincingly and specifically accenting the rose with a bitter, oily green and slightly lemony quality. The coriander is cooly woody and keeping the lights low. It takes a little time but the other florals eventually make their presence known in unison, but mostly behind the rose and coriander. The geranium departs before the florals even begin to lose staying power, giving more room to play for the jasmine. In the EdP, the honey and civet are not present in the opening but those enormous aldehydes, the bergamot, hyacinth, rose, and coriander are still present and accounted for but simply - and maybe obviously - more saturated and with greater detail. However, the heart is more rose forward in the EdP, and the tuberose and ylang-ylang are playing bigger roles. I definitely pull the tropical and creamy banana lean of ylang-ylang, and tuberose is its usual diva-self here, heady and energetic. With some time the honey begins to peak out from the base and augment some of the florals in the heart to give a distinct mimosa impression, but then it shifts backwards to the preceding notes. Neat trick. The dry down of the EdT is a classic stinky chypre done flawlessly. Mossy, civety, earthy from patchouli, and only slightly vanillic and resinous from the benzoin. The EdP does eventually approach nearly the same base as the EdT but it certainly leans more amber, focusing on honey, civet, woods, and benzoin with a noticeably smaller dose of oakmoss and patchouli - still a chypre, but more weight placed on some amberic notes. The leather intonations are subtle, like trying to smell the night worker’s leather jacket over their massive rose perfume; both concentrations are more civet-animalics and resins forwards, and only touches of materials vaguely like styrax or castoreum that could truly evoke leather. The EdT certainly arrives at its base faster than the EdP, as to be expected, but the EdP keeps its base surprisingly well hidden for a long time. It is reasonable to think of this either way, but it is very remarkable how long the EdP holds onto the floral heart or, versus, how fast the EdT dispenses it. What a marvelous piece of work Paloma Picasso is. If it weren’t for the obscenely bold character, you could almost call it elegant. There is a seamlessness and perfectly-judged blend to the composition that creates an exquisite and elegant texture… that you will notice from ten feet away, that is. For whatever elegance the composition has to its structure, that bold rose and those rumbling animalics plus a diffusiveness able to be detected by satellites can, at times, distract from the intricacies and luxuriousness. Wear this with confidence, because, if you don’t, it will be one of those perfumes that wears you.

I'm definitely not old enough for this fragrance. But! I mixed it with Lancôme Hypnôse edp. Ooooh, that's a combo! It turned out to be very beautiful, airy and most importantly - Paloma began to sound like sweet floral cashmere. 1 ml of Paloma Picasso top up 4 ml of Lancôme Hypnôse. Who will try - wait for it, you will definitely like it!!! ❤️🥰👌

My very bold & chic grandmother wore this in the 80s as successful New York bank area manager at a time when there were not many women leaders in the industry. I got my own bottle to remember this era of her life. Powersuits, pumps on her desk as she talked to her boss on the corded phone about her sales numbers, long painted nails, and a powerful independent drive. You could smell my grandma coming and smell her when she left. Bold, fearless & complex. She rather live her truth than be liked, just like this perfume.

Smells like horse. I grew up with horses, and this perfume smells exactly like them. It really doesn't smell like any of the listed notes to me, but instead conjures up the exact smell of being around horses - the coumarin-esque hay and straw underpinned by a strong urinous note, the leather of the tack room, the glycerine saddle soap, and of course, the smell of beautiful beast itself. There's even something slightly savory/alliaceous in there which reminds me of the garlic salt lick we used to give the ponies. The effect of all this pulled together is absolutely incredible and brings back such strong memories of many summers of mucking out and messing about on ponies. It's just gorgeous! If you like smelling like a cake, look elsewhere - this is not sweet, it's not cute, it's not girly, and it's not 'nice'. It's a wild stallion full of raw animal power and magnetism, and it takes a bold, assertive woman to get this and pull it off. And on this kind of woman, it's strikingly beautiful. This would also be attractive on the right kind of man, but I do think it's better on women. I have a mini vintage EDP which is incredible. I also have a later version, which has a stronger and more noticeably synthetic laundry musk at the base. The vintage is superb, but the reformulation is still very much worth owning. Still going for good reason - a masterpiece!

I can't stand this perfume. I think it stinks. It's got great longevity and silage though, because my friend wears it so I know. To me it smells old, way too complex, trying too hard, the complete opposite of fresh, clean and pleasant. Friend wears it for nostalgia though so there's that. Personally I'd avoid this perfume like the plague.

I get the dreaded nail polish aroma

My grandma used to wear this all the time and I used to think it was a very niche, expensive perfume but it isn’t. The complexity behind Paloma Picasso is beautiful. It’s definitely an elegant choice especially if you’re on a budget.

I just love this masterpiece. I was a child in the 80s, and I remember my aunt wearing it, with her big jewellery, big red hair, colourful scarves. She would come and give me a big hug and this is how she smelled. Free, creative, independent, mysterious, fun, stylish. But I’m going to say something completely heretic. I think I prefer the new version. In fact I get allergic reactions from vintage perfumes. The new formulation is equally wonderful but cleaner. I love the dry down so much.

Paloma Picasso EDP (Current Formula) I don’t know where to begin. 🤭 Well, I’ll start by sharing my olfactory experience with this new Paloma, and I say “new” because it differs notably from the original vintage formula from 1984.Here, I perceive less richness both in materials and in olfactory structure, especially in the animalic base. Paloma opens slightly green, citrusy, and floral (hyacinth, bergamot, and lemon). As is common in current reformulations, castoreum, civet, and oakmoss are absent; in their place, I detect a synthetic “civet” that briefly amplifies the floral bouquet in the opening. However, its intensity quickly diminishes and fades, giving way to a markedly powdery phase with a slightly ’80s air. At this point, a soft suede accord emerges, accompanied by a very faint honeyed sweetness. The base, dominated by synthetic/analog oakmoss and white musks, returns to that powdery character, though now with a slightly soapy nuance. On my skin, the drydown reveals a cleaner, more musky veil. And that’s it. It’s not bad, it’s a pretty fragrance that maintains the retro-Chypre structure, though with a cleaner approach, less animalic, and an overall more polished and linear feel. The vintage version, on the other hand, offers more complexity, more intensity, more expressive architecture. Its olfactory signature is unmistakable, evoking the luxury and boldness of the 1980s. The modern version of Paloma is accessible, less challenging, and in that process, it loses part of the “sensory journey” the original formula offers me. Still, a valid reinterpretation for the current era, but without the edge that once defined it.

Paloma Picasso, Vintage (Formula original, 1984) EdP 75ml For years I longed to add this emblematic piece to my collection! This perfume stands as one of the most solid examples of the chypre style of the 1980s. From the opening, Paloma Picasso reveals a complex structure with a distinctly marked, three-dimensional evolution. The first impression is of green and rosy nuances intertwined with citrus, spicy, and slightly aldehydic accords. The heart is composed of opulent, enveloping, and narcotic flowers. Among the roses and jasmine, carnation and hyacinth assert themselves with their spicy and green character, adding body and texture. At the same time, an unmistakable creamy softness from the ylang-ylang rounds out and smooths the edges. Meanwhile, its earthy base is built on woody notes and oakmoss. Its dark and persistent character is intensified by a leather accord, enriched with castoreum and civet, which lends great depth and an enveloping sensuality to the composition. It is an intense perfume, with great diffusion and substantivity. On my skin, just a few drops are enough. Its olfactory profile commands presence and conveys authority. In my opinion, it is not a versatile or discreet perfume, but it is a clear statement of style and sophistication! Without a doubt, it reflects the glamour of 1980s elegance at its finest!!

If this is a reformulation, i can't even begin to imagine the strength of the OG. This is some powerful stuff. And Soooooooo beautiful. I get full on 80s vibes from this. I never owned it back then but my memory tells me someone else did. It makes me feel like I'm in a packed mall at Giftmas. Now I'm going down a major nostalgia hole and I love it ! This one definitely isn't for shrinking violets lol

Vintage but the new formulation is not the same at all !!

Oggi la versione vintage di questo profumo sarebbe indicata per uomo. A me è sempre piaciuta, fin dal 1988, era il profumo di mia mamma. L'aroma l'ho gia descritto tempo fa, piccante e ricchissimo bouquet di erbe, radici,resine,muschi naturali, tabacco,zibetto,fiori estivi intensi etc. Ancora oggi l'ho usato ed è stupendo. Quelli che disprezzano i profumi veri come questo, probabilmente sono stati sottoposti al lavaggio del cervello moderno che impone spazzatura sintetica di vaniglia e oudh che li senti al supermercato, per strada,tutti uguali e nauseabondi, e credono che quello sia il profumo da scia. I produttori di profumi di adesso potrebbero anche smettere, tanto gli unici odori che sento per strada sono La vie est belle e un oudh scadente a buon mercato che riempie le stanze ma di certo non seduce.

Another great perfume killed by removal of vital ingredients, such as lyral and oakmoss absolute. Is IFRA to blame for imposing their prohibitions, or L'Oreal for yielding to these absolutely ridiculous mandates?

Fun to wear as a man. If you're a boring person, you'll hate it. If you take offense easily at being called boring because you think there's something sophisticated about the minutia of your dullness' particular oeuvre, you'll especially hate it. An oil slick of a chypre. Cold, sticky, and evocative of the brassy foil ashtrays you used to see in Burger Kings. If you're not so boring you're offended by the memory or the idea, you'll like it. If not, I'm sure you and your endless collection of gourmands are very happy together. It's got an edge to it, but almost any perfume is confrontational to someone. Seeking consensus is for cowards and that's why social proof can only ever go so far. Prove you're not boring and actually wear it more than once. Buy a bottle on discount. It's cheap. If you don't like it, you'll have this dark eye of Sauron to enjoy fearing until you're evicted or whatever.