Par Amour

Wow, what a surprise! I'd thought that I was about to continue my leisurely stroll down a rose petal-littered path. Instead, wearing Clarins' PAR AMOUR, I find myself in the midst of a dark forest of leafless sandalwood trees studded with thousands of tiny pink peppercorns! There are surely roses here somewhere, but they are very challenging to tease out... As a rose scent, I'd have to say that PAR AMOUR doesn't measure up. However, as an oriental woody, it is really quite nice. This strikes me as another case where the marketing image and the product diverge rather drastically--with what must have been disastrous sales effects. All expectations of sweetness and light (and roses!) are swiftly defeated with the opening spritz. There may be a few people around who associate love with pink peppercorns and sandalwood, but I'd venture to guess that they are rare indeed. Yet those who might genuinely appreciate PAR AMOUR would never find out--driven away as they would by a fear of everything that this fragrance is NOT. I'm thinking of woody scent lovers, men and women alike. From the peppery opening to the last fade of the dusty sandalwood drydown, this is a warm, woody scent.

After wearing my last precious mini of this sadly discontinued beauty,the closest perfume it resembles is Burberry Touch(my fav. Burberry).

The commercial text says that this is a fragrance for young ladies, strange, I think it is rather for mature wearers. Par Amour opens with an almost cosmetic sensation: that of saturated, moisturized skin. This opens my nose to the resinous-rosey-woody core notes. The resins are quite intense: sweet in a deep, spicy sort of way. Wrapped around the composition is a nose tickling pink pepper accord. The fragrance impresses me as calm and rich: full of good ingredients, well-blended. It can fill a room with its warm, sweet and somehow somber presence. It keeps interest even in the dry-down, when it becomes spicy-woody. (good lasting power) In my mind, PAR AMOUR projects the image of a well-groomed person. To be overall "bien soignee" as opposed to be "parfumee" is what I like when wearing this fragrance. This-one I spray on clothes and hair, happens to work much better than spraying directly on my skin.

Best perfume ever! It's definitely made for love as it named. Oh Gosh...it made me fall in love at the very first sniff. I feel beautiful, I love myself more than ever and definitely love how it glow on me. I keep sniffing myself over and over again like crazy. I take my words back if I ever talked about best perfume before because this is truely The Best! Rosy Woody Sultry, no grandma's smell at all. I'll love this till dead.

I received a sample of Par Amour recently, alongside its flanker, Par Amour Toujours. I like Clarins Eau Dynamisante and Eau Ressourcante primarily as restorative aromatherapy scents - I don't think of them as perfume in the classic sense. PA is light, refreshing and smells all-natural, in line with its marketing - not a far cry from the aforementioned Clarins scents that I am familiar with. It is a fresh woody-rose scent with some fruitiness in the opening. It is timeless, ageless and inoffensively elegant, but not terribly exciting. Unimportant, considering how nicely judged this composition is. PA opens with the typical floral-spicy nuances of pink pepper, followed by a hint of juicy blackcurrant. Uplifting and fresh, the opening paves the way to the central rose note after a little while. Realistic, green and dewy, it is reminiscent of the roses that my grandmother used to grow in her garden. Woody notes round it out - more cedar than sandalwood - a great example of the classic woody-rose accord. As it dries down, a softly sweet vanilla-amber accord emerges in the base, smooth and slightly resinous, complementing the woody rose heart to perfection. This fades, becoming a slightly musky skin scent. Sillage and longevity are moderate. A very pretty rose scent, PA delivers timeless feminine elegance in spades, while being versatile and understated. Ideal for spring/summer days. Simple, but well-composed with high-quality, natural ingredients, it is really quite lovely. What a shame that it has been discontinued. 4/5.