Palais Jamais Etro 1989

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7.7 / 10 191 Ratings

A popular perfume by Etro for women and men, released in 1989. The scent is green-spicy. It is still in production.
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Main accords

Green

Spicy

Woody

Smoky

Citrus

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Bergamot

Coriander

Lemon

Cardamom

Mandarin orange

Heart Notes

Birch wood

Maté absolute

Paraguayan petigrain

Jasmine sambac Pepper

Pepper

Sage

Musk

Base Notes

Oakmoss

Vetiver

Clary sage

Perfumer

Daniela Andrier

Ratings

Scent

7.7191 Ratings

Longevity

6.9147 Ratings

Sillage

6.3146 Ratings

Bottle

7.8145 Ratings

Value for money

7.436 Ratings

Submitted by Kankuro, last update on 02/22/2025.

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Reviews

6 in-depth fragrance descriptions

11/27/2012

7.5
Sillage 7.5
Longevity 8
Scent

Sherapop
1239 Reviews

Sherapop

Helpful Review 8

Greenish, Smooth Oakmoss Chypre

Etro is a funny house for me. I do not always fully understand their creations, but I sense that they are all made of high-quality ingredients, featuring many natural components. PALAIS JAMAIS is a case in point. As I have enjoyed sniffing my way through a generous house-manufactured carded sample, I have become more and more smitten, which makes me wonder whether these creations do not simply require a bit more time to fully digest.

This perfume is an incredibly beautiful, entirely unisex, herbal-moss chypre--sort of. It's actually a bit difficult to describe. The oakmoss (and yes, it's evernia prunastri, according to the text printed on the card), is in full evidence, but it is balanced by enough bright elements that the overall effect is not gray but light green.

I feel that this composition is perfectly blended, and I wonder whether it is being reformulated to conform with the IFRA restrictions. This is an excellent case where if I knew that I could acquire the perfume in my sample vial as a full bottle, I'd jump at the chance. Unfortunately, it's always a gamble these days. If I run into a physical bottle somewhere (unlikely to happen, I realize), I'll read the label, and if what is listed is the same (evernia prunastri, not furfuracea), I'll gladly add this perfume to my collection.

PALAIS JAMAIS is refined and subtle, but gorgeous.

05/15/2016

Kouros94
6 Reviews

Kouros94

Helpful Review 6

A Summer Storm

First impression: the first drops of a summer storm hitting blocks of dusty sandstone, the smell rises hitting your nose with a mineral, earthy and dry yet humid scent. As the fragrance develops, this image becomes cloudier, citruses and herbs enter the picture, the scent becomes woodier, I do get the liquorice roots reference, with that earthy, dusty almost leathery sweetness, a perfect example where the perfume is more than a sum of the parts (vetiver, birch and oakmoss). This perfume is all but simple. At first I dismissed it, only upon second wearing did I really grasp the creativity. I expect I will continue to discover this fragrance with its subtle facets. All in all, great fragrance, perfect for reflecting on perfume as an art form. A refreshing attempt to create art and not a commercial people pleaser.

07/15/2012

jtd
484 Reviews

jtd

Helpful Review 6

Distinctive/Oddball. I can't really see the line.

Palais Jamais should be a mess. Citrus, floral, smoky, herbal, vetiver. Was that rubber? Was it supposed to be leather? Palais Jamais somehow keeps its parts distinct and well behaved. From top to base, PJ maintains an ungainly balance. The elements don't come together---that would be the mess---they just follow their courses. The lighter elements recede, the heavier notes come forward, and PJ's drydown is suggestive of a sharp, dry, smoky tea. PJ manages to suggest dry, wet and burnt simultaneously. Great trick, actually. Always captivates me.

There's something objective in tone about PJ. It doesn't come off as blended or harmonious. It doesn't become a skin scent. It stays put and asks you to approach it, to consider or admire it as you might a piece of abstract art. A successful if oddly modern attitude for such a staid design house like Etro.

05/09/2018

Cafeliberte
11 Reviews

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Cafeliberte

Top Review 39

The unreachable palace

I like Etro.
Actually the clothes don't even fit my style, but I like the designs (from a designer's point of view), and also the image that Etro radiates has a charm to me. Noble, but not ostentatious, with a touch of the 70s - think of the famous paisley pattern!
And so on one of my rare side trips to a Karstadt I made a detour to the Etro shelf, where I tried my hand at it a bit with a nice saleswoman, she herself was new as she betrayed, and so we sniffed through some flacons.
Green fragrances belong to my favourite fragrances, and then Palais Jamais shone towards me, green in colour and promising. I liked him so much on the strip, I let him on the skin.
All day long I was accompanied by this almost bitter green, soft smoky scent. So I exchanged a specimen and could finally test again extensively.

On one of those rare days when I have a little job as an equipment assistant again. The shooting took place in a villa outside Hamburg, and my alarm clock rang at 5:30 to get there in time.
The day was going to be really warm, and I wanted to feel fresh and energetic, so I sprayed Palais Jamais on myself. I arrived at the villa and was shown around.
Through a garden gate, between two moss-covered stone figures, I reached an old, ivy-covered red brick villa. So many rooms and so many huge windows! The stairs led to two further floors. Also the garden was large (inviting), and ended with a fence and a view into a landscape that reminded me of a rococo picture, it was almost natural kitsch.
I spent the whole day there and found it very exciting, and at the same time I became particularly aware of where I came from. I had to share my room with my brother until I moved out at 18. We managed quite well to get out of the way and give ourselves room despite the skirmishes. There was never any money for holidays. Branded clothes were also almost never, except from the children's bazaar or second-hand. And I had the happiest childhood! I grew up lovingly, with little money, but with parents who spent time with us and always encouraged us to become what we want.
I will never live in a villa with 3 bathrooms, my own staff, and a garden so big that I couldn't decide where to have my breakfast.
But I don't want it either.
My palace is a completely different one, it exists in my dreams and accompanies me, it inspires and nourishes me. Sometimes it takes the form of a small house in the south, sometimes it is a studio flooded with light, and sometimes a garden that is a mosaic of countless shades of green.
This is one of the fragrances that take me to this very own palace of fantasy that can change its shape. He is a companion who does not transport me into another shell, but lets me be with him very much.

I find Palais Jamais to be deep green, slightly bitter and herbaceous. But it does not smell exclusively of herbs or grasses, the freshness of green lemons is added, the light tea note, which has already been mentioned here, I can also understand. And I smell the Petitgrain, and I like it very much because it simply smells like pure leaves.
I have observed the durability on the long shooting day; sprayed in the morning at 6.00 and noticeable until noon. Because I like the scent so much, I add a little more at noon, so that he spreads his present green cloud around me again.
My personal palace lies quite simply in a small, beautiful bottle.

02/03/2019

8
Bottle 7
Sillage 7
Longevity 8
Scent

Augusto
164 Reviews

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Augusto

Top Review 21

Five O'Clock, dark green mood

Palais Jamais is surrounded by deep dark green firs and pines.
When entering the house it is rather dark at first, only little light falls into the house. The visitor is in a kind of melancholic mood, an aromatic deep emotional life is spreading.
A few stripes of light fall through the window onto the host's freshly washed and starched, slightly citric-scented wardrobe.
Mild resinity, a golden glow. You serve a black Five O'Clock Tea and sit together until shortly before midnight before you quietly say goodbye.

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