Calandre

It's austere, like the bottle. Evokes soap that has no extra frills. It's okay... I'm experimenting with it as a layer for more florals.

A blind buy for me. I've been curious about Calandre for years and finally caved. Within minutes I noticed the resemblance to Rive Gauche and wondered if I'd made a mistake buying Calandre, because is it worth owning both? But actually I seldom wear Rive Gauche. RG is richer and more complex, assertive to the point of being aggressive. In Calandre, the powdery element softens the edges. Calandre is RG's easy-going cousin. Her style is casual, off-hand chic. She's a city girl but enjoys walks in the countryside, and loves rumpled linen shirts. RG is always in pressed cotton blouses and lashes herself to her office desk all day, chasing that promotion ...

Only tried this as the dozy, rude as fuck, passive aggressive, mean, General Franco-Spanish Hitler bitches at Primor, had put it in the men's section. Smells clean, has aldehydes, fresh, floral, something spicy. Turns green, still fresh, has white musk and becomes quite powdery. Something sweet, maybe honey? Effervescent and very feminine. Kinda ol'skool, mature, not that original. Clean nineties freshie, has a resemblance to Noa Cacharel. Rive Gauche! That's offensive, unless you mean the pathetic watery excuse they put in that iconic blue and black bottle, and still charge a premium for these days.

This is a very interesting scent from beginning to end. Opening is very powdery to me, specifically baby powder or grandmother’s powder puff. But it quickly disappears and drys down to a super soapy, just showered scent. Finally it settles in to a mellow ultra green scent that is still very clean, like some sort of green tea soap. I love this scent and feel very rich when I wear it!

Calandre is now my warm weather signature without a doubt. EA Green Tea was my decades-long choice as a blind reach before being supplanted by EA Eau Fraiche. What made the difference is the earthiness of Calandre. That was the missing puzzle piece. All the notes I love in GT and EF are there, but Calandre has smoother blending and softer edges. I will spray my EA favorites with abandon on days when I want something brisker or sharper, but Calandre has won my heart and become my go-to.

When I tested this yesterday, at first I thought I only liked it. But this morning I woke up smelling amazing. It was the best overnight fragrance experience I've ever had. It's a beast and lasted 14 hours, and smelled good from the perfect weather of sunset through the chill of the night and on into the heat of a May morning in southern Nevada. Perfect choice for the changeable weather of spring. Love, need, want.

Calandre is reputed to be a simpler version of its near-contemporary Rive Gauche, and I think I like it better. It’s a fresh, aldehydic floral, totally without sweetness, and so powdery and crisp it feels pale blue. Very ladylike, sparkling and soapy; there is an oakmoss base but it’s subtle. Rive Gauche combines this basic theme with more iris, rose, and peach, giving it a softer, sort of powder-puff effect, with a slightly expired-milk tinge that made me queasy. Calandre? None of that nonsense. It’s brisk and cool like a day in early spring. Longevity is on the short side — I only got about 6 hours. After the brief, strikingly bright aldehydic opening, it basically smells the same all the way through, a pale powdery rose plus crisp green leaves.

Oh, understated diva. What are you doing hiding behind the CVS check out counter? How did you end up here? I looked around hoping I might see your younger cousin, Metal. You were my first grown up perfume. Calyx in high school and you in college. I couldn't really pull you off then. My personality was at odds with your decisive green bite and stubborn aldehydic trail. 20+ years later, I still don't know if I can pull you off. But this time it's because I crave more tonic than gin, a little more roundedness to the edge. So glad I purchased you, though. You were a moment.

It's a work of art and I love it. Before the dry down, I was reminded of blowing out birthday candles. After it settles down a bit, it has that extravagant, old fashioned, clean dna, I've grown to love so much. 9.5/10

I was going to wait at least a week before I made a comment about this. But I received it earlier today and wore it to work and am absolutely smitten, I couldn’t wait. I bought this for a couple of reasons. It’s compared to Chanel No 19 a lot, and that is a fragrance I love but can’t justify purchasing it as nowadays it has terrible performance on my skin. So I wanted to try something similar. Another reason, I get hot very quickly and sweat a lot. Clean, green fragrances are my fav when it gets humid, which is coming later this week in my area and will be that for most of summer, so I’m glad I received Calandre when I did. This is a green, clean, aldehydic, soapy, powdery WONDER! It definitely reminds me of Chanel No 19 without being as austere and cold. When I first sprayed it, it seemed like such an old school kinda scent (not outdated, just old school as in classic), I think I honestly got the base notes first. That’s really what it seemed like. Within a few minutes, I got this crisp/clean/green/citrusy aroma. So refreshing and invigorating. On my skin that lasts I think maybe 10 mins or so. Then it gets to the heart. Things get quite rosey and geranium forward (slightly dry/dusty), with some of the top notes still there and that orris root giving a lil cameo. The Lily of the valley and the hyacinth definitely come through. At first I thought I was smelling something fruity, and then I started realizing it was flowers and remembered the lily of the valley and hyacinth flowers I had at a garden I planted at a house I rented years ago. I think that lasts on my skin for another 20ish-30ish or more mins before it gets to the base. And then the base makes things a little earthier and woody, but it still smells green/soapy/and powdery. But it is not at all unnattractive to me. As a 32 year old man, I find this only slightly feminine. In the beginning, I get a whiff of the aftershave that my barber puts on my scalp when I ask for a straight razor into a fade. But only for a moment. And honestly as a gay man who wears many fragrances intended for women, I love this kinda androgynous smell (at least for modern times). Also, something about this reminds me of the 90s? I was a kid then so perhaps I was around some women who wore Chanel No 19, Jacomo Silences, Rive Gauche, or even Gucci Envy? I will continue searching for my green and powdery fragrance that completely fulfills me. But something tells me that in time I’ll find that it is Calandre. It reminds me of so many things. I got a flashback of being at my grandparents house and my grandmother dropping one of those Avon bath salts in the tub (gold foil, and then a white floral printed label wrapped around, some of you might know). And that memory made me feel happy. Also I have a newer EDT and I think it has pretty good performance, surprisingly! I can’t wait to continue discovering more of this beauty during these upcoming hot and humid days. 🥀

I come back to Calandre once per year telling myself that “maybe this time I will like it.” The truth is that I just cannot warm up to it. It’s either too “futuristic” for me or it has lost its soul through reformulation.

My freshly opened box and bottle was made in 2020 in Spain by Puig. This Calandre is extremely diffused in projection. It's a haze of a chypre, not at all like many of my others. This Calandre often doesn't come into focus for my nose for many hours, or the day after on fabric. "Oh, so THAT is the gist of Calandre," I remark. Also I could smell this fragrance better each time I wore it - it's one of those that my nose has to "learn" how to notice. My nose isn't refined and performative for musks, and Calandre is white musky. This is a space age chypre. It's gauzy special effects, silvery decor, pearlescent white costumes, halo'd lights and pink neon in soft focus. Still, definitely a day fragrance and quite upbeat. Disappointed in the current Calandre's lack of obvious focus on a fruit or flower element, I have settled on blending it with peachy florals that lack spaciousness. Jo Malone Nectarine Blossom is good or the dupe Jenny Glow Nectarine. I suppose my mix destroys the original intention of Calandre but it becomes a lively chypre. PS - bought the other two bottles after they were clearanced down to 15 USD equiv. Nobody has ever heard of Calandre in the shop in Switzerland into which this fragrance fell through time and from outer space, seemingly.

I just opened my first bottle of Calandre eau de toilette, I could not find an edp online anywhere, but the edt is quite substantial, meaning it has a very full, rich smell to me. This is absolute perfection. I know this scent well, one of my co-workers when I was working in retail while in College wore it, and I thought it was so fancy, it suited her well, she wore perfectly tailored suits, always had her hair in a perfect "that girl" flip with bangs, pearl earrings, always perfect. I thought, when I get older I want to be just like her...Well, she is still working in retail, I ran into her at Shoppers Drug Mart, she has to be at least 70, as I am 63, and she still wears it! I am thrilled that it smells absolutely divine on me, at first it really threw all of its LOTV at me, but after 20 minutes, it is green, clean, and really delightful! As of today, I feel that Spring is truly here, the sun is shining here and the weather is warming up, so I just packed away all my winter perfumes, and going to use Calandre from now on. Move over Estee Lauder and Elizabeth Taylor; you too Ted Lapidus... Paco Rabanne is in da house!

the best aldehyde based chypre with lilly of the valley softness. A very thoughtful blend of freshness, powdery and greens. This is one of a kind. Remind me so much of my late mom

A classic floral wonder of deep green that hovers like the serenity emanating from a Dove soap of yore rolled in dewy oakmoss. This is an ethereal petal to the metal where geranium stems and rose stocks hold powdery court with iris, jasmine, hyacinth, lily of the valley in a tub of suds toweled dry in mossy green resins, musk, and a most lovely vetiver... Ahh, to sing like a nymph and streak like one too.

The best of all the green scents. It’s not a grandma chypre it’s a sexy green nymph chypre. It doesn’t smell like foliage soup. It smells like glass and wood and atmosphere. It’s sensual and not a freshie

Calandre is a smooth, metallic rosy fragrance and at the same time unique and dynamic. It has its individuality for those who fit into this perfume like a glove. It definitely is a time machine to the past.

I cannot imagine the original formulation is as horrible as the reformulation I have. It was supposedly Lauren Bacall's signature scent. The bottle I bought with the website's address on the box is intolerable.

Sadly this smells like a very old school 80s cheap perfume mixed with sweat so it's insanely nasty & foul. Impossible to wear

I have owned this little gem - way back when... and I wonder why it didn't become one of my faves... So I bought a bottle (at a fantastic price) and suddenly remembered why... Calandre did absolutely nothing for me at all. It simply evaporated and drifted off into thin air. I gave it to my teen daughters who make it sing and dance with all of its light and lovely retro green-floral-citrusy-ness. They are currently negociating the terms of joint ownership....

Smells way too familiar and generic. Can't wait to wash it off. Dislike.

After hearing about the death of the great Paco Rabanne, I was inspired to go through my collection of vintage miniatures to hunt out some classics from the brand. I don't think much of modern PR offerings, but this and La Nuit - the perfumes I found - are both underrated gems. La Nuit is an excellent floral chypre, while Calandre is a rich green aldehydic floral. Predating classics of the genre, namely YSL Rive Gauche and Chanel No. 19, Calandre is just as good, if less celebrated. It closely resembles my vintage parfum version of Rive Gauche - a rich, dense-but-dewy green aldehydic floral. I adore the relaxed 1970s vibe of such scents. My Calandre dates from the 1990s, and despite the dark colour of the liquid, it remains bright, with most top notes intact. Calandre opens with dewy green notes, sap-like and damply fresh. There is a slight herbal quality here. Aldehydes add soapiness, giving a clean masculine feel to the opening. Powdery florals follow, enhanced by the green undertone. Lily-of-the-valley leads the way, with soft, powdery iris as a melancholic counterpoint. Sap-like hyacinth adds a vintage-style edge to the bouquet while geranium enhances the herbal component. The drydown is earthy and mossy, tending towards chypre territory with woody notes adding depth. A soft muskiness emerges as it fades, with powdery florals remaining as it becomes a skin scent. Sillage and longevity are moderate. Green from initial spray until final fade, Calandre is beautifully balanced - airy yet dense, powdery yet dewy, punctuated by its greenery and relatively subtle use of aldehydes. Feminine-leaning, but perhaps unisex by today's standards, it is an ideal springtime scent, expertly composed. Objectively excellent, Calandre also happens to be tailored to my personal taste. Green genius. 5/5.

Paco Rabanne's flagship fragrance, Calandre, is unfairly absent from the discussions celebrating the great aldehydic green floral classics, overshadowed by iconic beauties such as Chanel No. 19, for which Calandre predates it by a year. It opens with a verdant sparkle, aldehydic, with a steely sheen and spring floral crispness. A few minutes in, there seems to be a pairing of neroli oil and rose, feeling nearly metallic, like Calandre's monolithic bottle. It reminds me of a utopian futurism, where the cold architecture of a metropolis is now covered in gardens and green spaces. All the roofs are covered with trees and greenery, the bees and birds now reign supreme, while the humans focus more on growing turnips and tomatoes while weaning themselves off the vice of technology. The merging of green and silver is felt in Calandre's heart, as a muguet, cool, pure, and damp, reins in the aldehydes and lichen, celadon-color synesthesia lights up my receptors. In the bottle I have, a 90s version if I am not mistaken, there is a fleshy, creamy, granular orris back note that has this gorgeous interplay with the oakmoss, simmering down into a Provence triple milled-soap woodsy affair, with soft green undertones. The arc of sharp vigor smoothed over in the base is the thrill of Calandre, one that we seldom experience in mainstream perfumery, especially with the reputation Paco Rabanne gained with its fragrances of the 21st century. Indeed, a number have their own merit in the zeitgeist of their release dates, but fragrances like Calandre are treasures that truly reflect that aesthetic and vision of the designer and are ripe for rediscovery. RIP Paco Rabanne (1934-2023)

Personally I think that the first works of artists or couturiers are the most valid and that they represent an idea a way of understanding the personal idea of old-fashioned fashion even if today dated, well this is the case of Calandre by Paco Rabanne in 1969 the first perfume iconic of this genius of fashion. My love for Calandre dates back to the 70s when I received a small sample bottle when I was young and for me it was love at first sight I immediately found it unisex, then the division between men and women in perfumery was clear today it is no longer. Warm, seductive, green, metallic and elegant, it reminds me of Shoking you by Schiapparelli (I love it), Givenchy III, Chanel n.19. Climat by Lancome, perfumes that I personally love and are much better than the so-called perfumes sold today as sales and market champions. Thank you Paco Rabanne for giving us two iconic creations Calandre and Metal. R.I.P

Found a tester of this today in John Lewis; one lone, last box next to it, dented, with a squashed corner. It's very light, green, woody, with almost oily citrus n slightly retro smelling florals. No sweetness. It conjurs for me the smell of my hands after going to a meadow to pick tortoise weeds then sitting on a metal farm gate. Yes that is weirdly specific I know. Something very subtley metallic is within, although it was not the Metal flanker version. Completely unisex to my nose now, although I guess it would not have been when it came out. Feels like a serious, older CKOne. Since Paco is no longer with us, I'm tempted to go back n buy it, although I did not love it, it's a piece of perfume history.

Calandre - A unique verdant beauty of it's time, sadly left behind by others of a same or similar ilk...ie: Chanel No.19, Silences de Jacomo, Ma Griffe, Madame Rochas & Rive Gauche to name just a few, a well blended soft white floral aldehyde with notes of rose, neroli & lily of the valley... to be honest I'm surprised that it's still available, but then again it was Paco Rabanne's feminine flag ship fragrance back in the day along with 'Metal' another green slightly herbal offering by PR in the same class, available in both edt & edp including the parfum strength as well, if gifted a bottle today I would gladly wear it during the warmer months, as I write I am reminded of the sharp metallic edge afforded by the essential oil of neroli included in it's formulaic DNA...

Terrific stuff, not reformulated out of recognition (though my vintage bottle does have more depth and complexity?). And a terrific bang for the buck - this doesn’t smell nearly as cheap as what it is. Probably my favorite green perfume, without that odd metallic edge that the reformulation of Rive Gauche picked up. The aldehydes lift the the very natural and fresh smelling roses into the rooom. Fantastic, and very cheering The bottle itself has….not survived reformulation as well as the juice? On both of the newer editions I’ve seen, the metallic frame has been kind of loose and wonky. But the price is right, and I’m not one to pay extra for a bottle. The sprayer is fine and doesn’t leak, so good enough, it gets the job done

One of the best floral aldehydes of the 1970's--a style of scent that was wildly popular in that decade and now seems almost nostalgic to me. A lot of the "reminds me of" scents listed here were also some of my go-to fragrances during my college and early post-college years--Rive Gauche--Ma Griffe--Essence Rare--I still have some of these in my collection. The green, sweet freshness and the clean French sophistication of these dressy feminine fragrances were a perfect expression of outward bound, fashion forward, young, independent women just getting started in life back then when so many things seemed possible. I'm sure there will be some " Seems like an old lady" comments in these reviews. This is not fruit-chouly candy gourmand melted marshmallow girly stuff--this is womanly and warm adult femininity, dressed up and out in the world in a way that women were just starting to experience. Roe V Wade was passed in 1973--and I might have been wearing this scent on that day. Fragrances are a snap shot of memory in the brain--and this is a good one for me!

I love Calandre even though it has certainly been reformulated, hard to find but definitely unisex. Long Life to Calandre!

I was very impressed with the tester I bought earlier this year. I wore it off and on through the summer here in the Midwestern USA. Definitely unisex (and I got compliments, for what it’s worth). I agree that this has some similarities to Rive Gauche but there are some distinct differences. In fact, my nose interprets it as somewhat of a cousin to Rive Gauche and Knowing, two other unisex gems. Today’s Calandre is less metallic than RG, and less bracing than Knowing. It does share the green aldehydic components of both, while having a somewhat creamy component that the other two lack. Maybe the orris is responsible for this. Side note. I remember a lot of the hate that Phantom got when it was introduced. When I received my tester of Calandre, I could actually pick up on a bit of Phantom, which was the farthest thing from my mind. It took a few wearings before it dawned on me. That lets me know that whatever faults Phantom may have, it does have at least some measure of the Paco Rabanne DNA going way back to the glory days of 1969. Even if Calandre has been reformulated it certainly and firmly reflects the time of its launch like few other fragrances do. Calandre was probably one of my nicest scent surprises of the past couple years.