Paradoxe
Pierre Cardin (1983)

One of my cheaper acquisitions, but also one of my favorites. Paradoxe is basically a lighter version of something like Houbigant Chantilly. Smells wonderful. Could easily be worn by a man or a woman. Performance isn't outrageous but sillage and longevity are both excellent. I'm not a huge fan of Pierre Cardin's scents but this is quite good.

Another oft-overlooked leather floral chypre, Paradoxe starts off green with hyacinth and supporting florals with a shimmer of citrus, but as it dries down, its strong character is revealed.

Pepper, incense, and a smoldering woodiness blooms on the skin, with a charming dry down that makes Paradoxe seem like it wouldn't be out of place in Aramis's line of gentleman's fragrances that were released in the 70s and 80s. Some aspects also remind me somehow of Goutal's Encense Flamboyant, dry, cold, yet smoky, luminous and wispy.

It's well worth a sniff, and can be bought for a song.

Dark Chypre in the style of Magie Noire and La Nuit. More carnation than La Nuit but less of everything else and not as challenging.
It is very good though and a good alternative if you like La Nuit but find it too much.

This has a strongly aldehydic opening: crisp, "white" & soapy, along with bergamot & perhaps some white florals. I can't really pick out the floral notes individually, except for a little carnation a few minutes in. From here the leather note slowly builds, until ninety minutes in it's all leather & moss, with a hint of castoreum. Later there's sandalwood in the base, & four hours in it's a softly animalic skin scent. There are echoes of Magie Noire deep in the late drydown nine hours in, & it's still quetly persistent after eleven hours.

I can see where the "paradox" comes from: there's a distinct contrast between the brightness of the opening & the darkness of the drydown here. And it's quite an enjoyable ride.

This is one of those scents that if you know was launched in the 80's you only have visions of big shoulder pads and big hair. Sniffed out of the context of its release date, it is a striking leathery chypre EDP with total unisex possibilities.
Notes I found listed are lemon, mandarin and bergamot, heart of jasmine, ylang-ylang, iris, tuberose and hyacinth, base of frankincense, musk, leather, pepper, moss and amber. Powerful and well blended, I keep catching a pine, or resin note in there somewhere too- or maybe its just a phantom effect because there is a lot going on in this scent, more than I can adequately describe. It is also one of those scents whose effect is intoxicating if smelled from 5-6 inches away but is way too intense when the nose is stuck right up in it and inhaled- the type of scent some people would use as an example of why workplaces should be fragrance-free. But I am lovin' it. My vintage sample's top notes desintigrated quite quickly, but the heart and basenotes went on for many hours.