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La Prairie 1993

6.3 / 10 61 Ratings

A perfume by La Prairie for women and men, released in 1993. The scent is floral-leathery. The production was apparently discontinued.
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Main accords

Floral

Leathery

Fresh

Aquatic

Synthetic

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Cyclamen

Violet

Heart Notes

Aquatic notes Leather

Leather

Persian jasmine

Base Notes

Lilac wood Musk

Musk

Waterproof Chalk

Ratings

Scent

6.361 Ratings

Longevity

6.953 Ratings

Sillage

5.638 Ratings

Bottle

7.146 Ratings

Submitted by Andi136 · last update on 09/21/2025.

Source-backed & verified

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Skin Eau de Parfum

Reviews

9 in-depth fragrance descriptions

07/24/2012

jtd
484 Reviews

jtd

Very helpful Review 5

Freak passing for normal.

Psychotrope makes me think of two things. The first is dousing myself with Donna Karan Gold while sucking on a mouthful of Jolly Rancher candies. The second is that creating something disturbing while coloring within the lines is an artistic challenge. 1970s punk was easy. Find the easily offended, then offend, then gloat. But when you try to keep the garrulousness while staying within the mainstream you can wind up with something along the lines of the American Idol “Rocker.” It’s an image of rock in the same sense that The Sound of Music is an image of the Second World War.

Psychotrope does veer close to the mainstream. The question is there: could this be any other department store perfume, just sold in niche venues? A mistake? Laziness? Good questions. I find the leather/flower misdirection very much along the lines of Etat Libre’s Vierges et Toreros. Not so much flower as sci-fi candied fruit vinyl.

Psychotrope successfully sends a shiver through the mainstream for those attuned to its particular frequency. It’s deceptively close to normal. It’s like Dior’s Dune in that what registers as perfectly normal flips to the jarringly alien when you look at it askance. The camouflage of normalcy falls away and Psychotrope becomes frightening.

07/21/2019

7Scent 6Sillage

Stanze
105 Reviews

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Stanze

Top Review 22

Through Synthetics to the Sea

It’s the year 1995. Pierre (any resemblance to living persons is purely coincidental) scored 20 points in the Baccalauréat (Abitur). It couldn’t get any better. For that, his dad gifted him a brand new BMW Z3. The sporty car had just come out. Young Pierre, lanky and still with longer hair back then, wanted to take a trip to the sea with his best friend Guillaume (name invented by the editorial team). The sea was far away. Pierre comes from a town in central France. The drive took three and a half hours. The car had leather seats, everything smelled so new, the two young men laughed as their hair was tousled by the wind and Celine Dion's "Pour que tu m'aimes encore" (so that you love me again) played from the car radio. They drank "Limonade Pink" from Lorina and reached Montpellier at sunset. Guillaume had already inflated a few rubber animals. The boys ran to the sea with them and plunged into the waves (21°C). They laughed and splashed around, later lying a bit chilly on the beach and snuggling together.

Of course, this never happened. Pierre is a chemistry student who has concocted a light blue fragrance that olfactorily transports him back to his youth. A better youth than he ever had. Wilder and freer. Because he had actually been a good kid. When he sniffs at the test tube, he envisions Guillaume smiling at him, a beach with gentle waves rolling in from a warm sea, as well as the scent of a new car and the squeaking of an air mattress. Satisfied, Pierre sets down the test tube and names the stuff Psychotrope.

Psychotrope smells aquatic-leathery but also very synthetic. It’s probably vegan leather. You can wear it if you sell cars or car parts, or rubber goods of any kind. Psychotrope is more suitable for the warm season. It can be worn by women or men if they think the surroundings will tolerate it. Which - as mentioned above - will only rarely be the case. The (second) test was entertaining, though. Since my arms were already full today, I sprayed my knee. Full commitment for PG.

05/29/2010

8Scent 7.5Longevity

Apicius
1328 Reviews

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Apicius

Top Review 27

The Man with the Coke is Here!

Perfumes with leather notes are often not my thing, but I am quite impressed by Psychotrope. Here, a not too dirty leather note is combined with jasmine and a hint of violet, while fresh, aquatic notes add a completely surprising accent.

Aquatics are often real garbage, chemicals that you can smell as such. But here it’s something fine. You wouldn’t want to put it aside in disgust, like some aquatic scents in the Douglas range. On the contrary. It’s magical! And everything fits together so well that you can hardly believe it when looking at the pyramid. The base note is surprisingly dry, which complements the aquatic tendency very well. Floral scents that aren’t sweet are also not something you come across every day. I wouldn’t have suspected that this fragrance is actually unisex-appropriate, almost a men’s perfume. But leather, the aquatic notes, and a dry base have the flowers firmly in check.

Thanks to the musk, there is a certain creaminess and soapy quality, but it’s just subtle enough to prevent the fragrance from tipping over into width and opulence. Well done! Altogether, it feels fresh and invigorating. Everything musty has been successfully driven out by the leather here.

What’s with the drug reference in the name? Well, sedative or relaxing drugs, Valium, hashish, or alcohol cannot be meant here. This is a bright, alert, energizing scent. So no power to drugs? Not at all! Let’s rather draw a line to distinguish this fragrance from the sleeping pills among perfumes.

05/01/2011

9Scent 7.5Longevity

Florin
4 Reviews

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Florin

Very helpful Review 17

Come, experience "my" day!

Following this invitation, I was led to a stream in the most beautiful, balmy air. The green, lush meadow so inviting, to sit down, lean back, and listen to the gentle rustling and splashing of the innocent little stream. Of course, also to inhale the wonderful air. But what else is in it? Violets, the wind whispers in my ear, violets! Really? Are those violets? Mh, maybe. Much more, however, I now believe I recognize that right next to me stand pear trees. Pear trees that bear ripe, almost overripe, in any case golden glowing and intoxicatingly fragrant fruits. So juicy, it would be a shame not to take a bite. Much more than the whispered violets, which surely bloom here and there on the wild meadow, this scent reminds me of pears. Pears are not my favorite fruit, yet I find myself compelled to linger, to enjoy, as long as it lasts.

I want to rise, reach for the fruits, I open my eyes...it's all an illusion! There is no stream. No meadow. No trees. It has become much warmer. No wonder. I am right in the middle of a city. Which one is it? Istanbul? If so, then I am sitting here on the shores of the Bosphorus, which enticingly rushes past me. If I look to the side, I see how the pear trees transform into wild lavender bushes. They too allure and tempt, inviting me to linger. Why not? It is so warm, even under the white linen shirt one begins to sweat lightly. So I stay, lean back again, close my eyes once more, surrendering with a sigh to the pulsating sensuality of the Orient.

It is evening, isn’t it? But where do the rhythms come from? Shouldn’t it be cooling down? I open my eyes again. There is no lilac anymore. No more Bosphorus. For waves are crashing on the beach where I stand. No, where I dance. With others who have kindled a fire, who brought beer and wine and music, and now, in the sultry evening heat and the warmth of the fire, celebrate, laugh, drink. The lilac? Somewhere, yes. But someone has already grabbed my wrist and is pulling me away. Further and further into the dunes, into the woods that grow there. The other hand of the stranger is already beginning to impatiently open the few remaining buttons of the linen shirt, pushing me, having arrived in the thicket, the music only faintly reaches my ears, into the sand, to let the day fade away here and enjoy the rest of the night.

May I travel with you again tomorrow?

12/25/2010

8Scent 7.5Longevity

Turandot
840 Reviews

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Turandot

Very helpful Review 9

metallic-clear

When I read just the name and don't engage with the pyramid, I would expect the scent to be sleepy and narcotic for me. The opposite is true.

Sprayed on, it gives me a WOW effect, making me instantly awake and alert. The top note sounds cute and sweet when read, but I don't notice any flowers when smelling it, rather a bright, metallic clarity. However, I don't know where this clinking effect comes from.

Now I must confess that I have some issues with the rather abstract term "aquatic." Water alone doesn't smell, so what kind of waters are meant here? A hint of the ocean? That can't be. First of all, one would probably speak more of marine notes, and there's no trace of seaweed or even fish. A water lily pond with aquatic plants, slightly musty from withering algae? Maybe more like that. In any case, cool and extremely pleasant. I have to search for the leather, and without the pyramid, I probably wouldn't have realized it, but I can imagine very fine, new kidskin gloves, smooth and soft with no trace of tanning.

In the base note, a calm cleanliness spreads. Not sterile, but still refreshing and soothing, almost a bit powdery.

The scent is declared unisex, but a man would need a lot of his own masculine aura to provide depth so that the perfume doesn't come across as too flat in this case. If I were to translate the note into color, I would say that lilac wood is more green than brown, and thus, in my feeling, not distinct enough for a men's fragrance.

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