Paloma Picasso Perfume

A painter's daughter built one of the boldest chypre fragrances of the 1980s, and Paloma Picasso Perfume still holds onto that decade's fearlessness toward animalic notes. Carnation, coriander, rose, angelica, neroli, bergamot and Amalfi lemon open this Eau de Parfum spiced and citrus-floral, an unusually complex top accord. Patchouli, hyacinth, jasmine, ylang-ylang and mimosa build a dense, heady core. Oak moss, civet, castoreum, vetiver, sandalwood, musk and amber close out one of the more animalic bases still sold at retail. This Paloma Picasso Eau de Parfum is classed as floral chypre, and it's built for evening wear and formal occasions, dense enough to demand serious commitment from the wearer. Castoreum, an animalic material historically derived from beaver glands and now almost universally replaced by synthetic substitutes across the fragrance industry, was still a hallmark ingredient of serious perfumery when this fragrance launched, and its presence here places Paloma Picasso firmly within an older, more uncompromising tradition. The civet-castoreum pairing in that base is an actual relic of a less risk-averse era in perfumery, uncompromising in a way few contemporary florals would attempt today, and it remains an established reference point for collectors interested in that particular animalic chypre style.