Advantages: low price, long lasting, easy to wear, suitable all year round,
Disadvantages: unoriginal.
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The fragrance
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Here comes my standard opening statement; PASSPORT PARIS is a fruity/floral, so that, the low price and the fact that it's a 'Celebrity Scent' - and being released by Paris Hilton - makes this the perfect target for mockery by 'serious' fragrance devotees. But hey; if it smells nice and you enjoy wearing it, then who cares whose name is on it and if it's 'only' a fruity/floral?
Now that's out of the way, lets move on to the actual fragrance...
Immediately upon application I can pick on the lightly powdered vanilla note and a hint of peach. I thought that this would be a overpoweringly sweet combination, but the sweetness is surprisingly light and subtle. After a couple of minutes what I think is a raspberry note starts to develop - I can't pull out any other berry notes, but let's be honest and admit that all berries smell similar when used in perfumes. I didn't pick up on any mandarin, which is a shame as more juicy and watery notes might have made the vanilla disperse so the fruit notes got more time to develop.
One of the great things about PASSPORT PARIS is that I can pick out the three key floral notes, my theory is this is because the vanilla is laced throughout the whole fragrance and provides a solid but light base for the florals to develop on. On me the peony note is the strongest out of the florals and as this is a favorite floral scent of mine I'm pleased. The honeysuckle is nearly as strong as the peony, but is still delicate, while the jasmine is subtle and seems slightly watery. I catch occasional hints of other florals and maybe some fruits too, but nothing else is strong enough for me to take even a solid guess at.
There is no strong indication between the heart notes and the base, thanks to the ever-present vanilla. The amber, patchouli and musk are mingled closely together so it is a warm and creamy mix - combined with the lingering vanilla and you get the same general feel as the top and heart notes. The overall sweetness and creaminess is very reminiscent of coconut at times, more so in warmer weather as my skin heats up.
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Scent notes
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Mandarin, red berries, peach, Sambac jasmine, honeysuckle, peony, vanilla, amber, patchouli and creamy white musk.
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The bottle
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The perfume bottle is the same plastic capped cylinder shape as Paris Hilton For Women and Just Me. But, whilst the bottle shape is the same as her first adult releases, the bottle and outer packaging seems to be aimed towards younger customers; the bottle's label features a anmie rendition of Paris Hilton. Very Harajuku Lovers.
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Other buying considerations
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The best thing about PASSPORT PARIS is definitely the lasting power. It burns down within six to eight hours on skin. It does go fairly close to the skin after three hours, but other people still notice it. I sometimes wear it to bed and will still smell it when I wake up the next day. My bra and tee still smell all vanilla/peachy after a few days, so yeah, this packs a lot more punch then I thought a EDT would be capable of doing.
I got my bottle just before Christmas, because sandalwood, musk and vanilla based fragrances appeal to me in cold weather. As the fruits are perfectly balanced in strength with the florals, so it didn't seem out of place for the time of year. I don't usually wear EDTs in autumn/winter as the concentration doesn't wear well on me, but this has worn well through the snow/ice/bitter winds/rain.
I was surprised by how versatile I've found PASSPORT PARIS to be, now that it's [allegedly] summer; this is the time of year when I find that the perfume being close to the skin comes in handy as the sweetness remains light. The fruit notes also seem more apparent to me and prevent the florals and creamy powderiness from becoming cloying.
As well as being wearable all year round I also happily wear this perfume for casual days, work and some evenings out. The fragrance is subtle, so colleagues won't find it irritating at work. For nights out it is long lasting, but is non-cloying, so as long as you don't want a unique "look at me" type fragrance, this is a good choice.
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Overall
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PASSPORT PARIS is a sweet fragrance but it is non-cloying, so I find this to be a more 'adult' then a lot of similar vanilla based fruity/floral fragrances; it's more subtle, it doesn't grab near-by people by the throat and demand attention; it's designed for the wearer to enjoy, rather then the whole office/street/bar.
This is something that is never going to become a classic fragrance, as the scent notes have all appeared in countless other mass-market perfumes over the years. But as this is an all year round, all occasions, reasonably priced EDP that comes in a cute bottle I'm very happy with my purchase and will be re-buying it.
PASSPORT PARIS is similar to Paris Hilton's 2009 Siren perfume, which is in turn similar to Juicy Couture's Viva La Juicy perfume. The good news is that PASSPORT PARIS is easier to find and it's not as close to the skin as Siren is, and it is a heck of a lot cheaper then Viva La Juicy. And - even though this is a EDT - it actually has the better staying power out of the three fragrances.
The Paris Hilton Passport Collection also includes Passport Tokyo [woody/floral/musk] and Passport South Beach [fruity/floral/woody]. I don't know if they plan to introduce more fragrances to the Passport Collection or not; I've emailed Parlux, but haven't received a reply yet.
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Price
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The Passport Collection was released in the US last year, but has now started creeping into the UK. The Perfume Shop [separate from The Fragrance Shop] is the sole high street stockist of the Passport Collection so far. They sell the 100ml bottles for £20.
I've seen 30ml bottles in TK Maxx for £13. Very.co.uk also stocks the 30ml for £15.
Cheapsmells.co.uk stock the 100ml bottle for £22.95.
Summary: Another nice surprise from the Paris Hilton perfume team...
Paris rose to prominence as an heiress to the Hilton hotel empire but cultivated her fame and fortune as the IT Girl of the aughts, a time marked by the burgeoning 24-hour entertainment news cycle and the advent of the celebrity blog. Using her celebrity brand, Paris set in motion her innovative business ventures, while being the constant target of tabloid culture that dismissively wrote her off as “famous for being famous.” With tenacity, sharp business acumen and grit, she built a global empire and, in the process, became a truly modern icon beloved around the world.
