ESTEE LAUDER Beyond Paradise Eau de Parfum, 50 ml

Product Information

If you like strong florals you will love Beyond Paradise! If you are reading the word Paradise as Tropical as in coconut then move right along as there is nothing to see here!!!! Beyond Paradise is a luxurious fragrance by Estée Lauder and the signature scent of many a woman. It originally debuted in 2003. This enduring parfum leaves a fragranced cloud in its wake due to its high portion of essential oils. Most eau de parfums have between 15-20%. Flowery Fragrance At first, it's all about undefined flowers and some light temporary citrics. The feeling I get is the same as when I enter a florist. The most similar perfume to that full, lush undefined smell that I've tried. Anyways, I find it extremely beautiful and shiny, complex and abstract, but relaxed and casual. It's for sure one of the best florals I've tried regarding non-soliflores. Going to the department store was a totally new experience for me. I smelt the beautiful fragrance of designer perfumes mingling in the air, fingered some of the lovely jewelery on sale, and looked at the intimidating heels and businesswear I could never see myself having the confidence to posses. The whole store screamed class, luxury and an aura of calm in comparison to the shops my teenybopper age group frequented, selling cheap stretchy tops and short shorts while blasting some awful pop/rap remix.

It's undescribable. Very difficult to point notes, because they don't work separately but more like an all-together work. I say the one that actually stands out a bit is creamy jasmine. I can also smell a dewy greeness which may come from the hyacint. I can't really say much more, except that this is a really complex fragrance, but overall so pleasing and relaxed... I truly don't understand why some many despise it. I guess its due to the floral notes, which may be too much for some, like a floral overdose. I have a bit of a history with this fragrance. My mom got it for me when it originally came out and I wore it religiously throughout high school until college when I was no longer allowed to wear perfumes. It was a beautiful and exotic white floral, a even blend of jasmine, frangipani, orange blossom, and orchid, what I imagined Hawaii must smell like. Up until that point it was the best tropical scent I had come across and worked very well with my body chemistry. I got more compliments on this perfume than any other I have worn to date. I groaned to myself as I know how long lasting EL fragrances are and knew that washing would not help at all. Much to my surprise, the alien disappeared abruptly about three hours after spraying. Not a trace of it's strange presence was left.So, I'm guessing they changed it for economic reasons and/or because Aerin prefers minimalism (or thinks we do); not because things go off sooner in pretty bottles. I do like this and usually I HATE florals......!! I'm looking forward 8 months to a warm and slightly breezy evening when I will be able to wear this with ease and in the right surroundings! However, they should have retained the original rounded tear-drop shape for the larger sizes and the beautiful rainbow colours for all sizes.

I think of Beyond Paradise as the most recent truly great Estee Lauder perfume. Yes, Sensuous (2008) and Modern Muse (2013) have launched almost ten flankers between them, but to my mind none of them are particularly impressive. Estee Lauder has not recently given us anything nearly as good as the greats of the past, and the exceptions strengthen my argument. Pure White Linen (2006) is a flanker, a modern interpretation of the original White Linen (1978) and Bronze Goddess (2008) is really a Tom Ford fragrance (see previous post). Further evidence of Beyond Paradise's greatness: rather than being discontinued, it’s now sold alongside other classic Lauder fragrances. Initially, I detect refreshing lemon and trace amounts of grapefruit...the hyacinth, orange blossom and bergamot working highly effectively in unison. I can identify the oiliness also. The opening is the special and 'spectral' feature of BP. This was the biggest disappointment that I have ever experienced with an EL fragrance. As an avid gardener, I am extremely familiar with hundreds of floral fragrances. I could not detect anything in this scent that has a botanical origin. This is one of the most synthetic plastic alien smells that I've ever encountered. Bizarre seems to be the best word to describe this fragrance. The scent transports you to a perfect world of optimism and wonder. Unfolds on your skin with a fascinating blend of tropical wetness, zesty freshness and bursting floralcy\".

My Account

I feel Beyond is a well conceived addition to the family of 'the transparents', EL perfumes that were created around the same time, Beautiful, Pleasures, White linen and Intuition. The 90's were a change in direction for perfume which was sorely needed, a new era, a fresh approach... If I had to sum up its essence in one word it would be suave; in a happy, sunny, very exotic and romantic way. At the time, I scoffed, but I must say that the case of BEYOND PARADISE certainly does not hurt the cause of those who maintain that the self-proclaimed "Emperor" was bought! Beyond paradise' suits it's name...it is not an instantly recognisable 'tropical' scent, it's like a lingering memory of a holiday in Rarotonga, Fiji or Tahiti. I also saw the review for BP in TS and LT book, which is why I HAD to try the fragrance to see if it was deserving of such high praise... And I think it is :) There were other scents I couldn't place, which may have been the orris root (not yet sure what this smells like... is there an orris-root based perfume anyone can recommend?)

While the opening held promise, with a limpid resinousness reminiscent of and, in terms of quality, on a par with Banana Republic's creations, the drydown I find quite intolerable. In fact, as I attempted to work earlier today, I felt as though I was being slowly suffocated by a miasmic sillage of dead fruits. The only things missing were the gnats. I finally had to stop what I was doing and go take a bath. I enjoy real flowers and I like smelling of them (sorry Luca Turin) but still, Beyond Paradise is very good. It lasts well, it was utterly unique when it came out, and if it has suffered, it’s because everyone imitated it. I can’t smell it “fresh” because it spawned many similar scents. And, in the 10+ years since its release, I've smelled it everywhere - it is really popular. Beyond Paradise possesses ghostly qualities, it's barely there, but obviously so... The airiness is eerie, hauntingly captivating. That is exactly what everyone that smelled it on me asked. It's a full blast of flowers; not at all unpleasant if you like them! And very unlike fresheners, although in these days room fragrances have evolved into masterpieces themselves. This is a gorgeous fragrance on those it suits and who can fully appreciate its delicate, prismatic beauty.This perfume was originally sold in a distinctive rainbow bottle, which gave you an idea of what to expect from the fragrance. Beyond Paradise is so intensely tropical that the fragrance from the near colourless juice within the new simple, nondescript bottle is almost startling. Exotic brightly coloured birds dance their displays in the rich green trees, amazingly beautiful orchids drip with with sparkling dew, a crystal clear, warm blue lagoon invites you for a swim, brightly coloured butterflies flit by in a sunny glade, exotic friuts hang from the trees tempting you to taste, anything you wish for can be there!