Top Notes 
Corn mint
Lemon
Bergamot
Heart Notes 
Juniper berry
Geranium
Coriander
Base Notes 
Rosemary
Cedarwood
Oakmoss
Sandalwood
12/29/2013
Scentemental
29 Reviews
Scentemental
Very helpful Review
5
Brilliant! An olfactory sunset.
Paco Rabanne XS has been around for twenty years for good reason, it is an excellent fragrance that balances its notes wonderfully. I found this fragrance hard to describe when I first got it, but after having it a few years I know that the 'big players' in the notes are citrus, woods, juniper and geranium.
The juniper and herbal notes such as rosemary give this a strong aromatic quality (especially the juniper). These are tempered by the citrus, which is itself restrained by the mint. The floral notes, mainly the geranium softens the whole effect. Rosewood adds sweetness, but not in a cloying way.
The fragrance is rich and has a wide range of notes. To some it may smell generic, another woody citrus, but this is not a fair evaluation in my opinion. It is a lot more sophisticated than the myriad of woody citrus fragrances on the market today: it's a bit like an olfactory fractal, the more you focus on it, the more you find.
I see a similarity with ck One which came a year after. To use an analogy: XS is like a sunset, with rich yellows, burnt oranges fading to greenish yellow above the horizon. Calvin Klein one is the same view ten minutes later, when the sun has set, thin ghostly yellows fade to greens and greys. The use of citrus is both fragrances is masterful, restrained and modified by accompanying notes.
The juniper and herbal notes such as rosemary give this a strong aromatic quality (especially the juniper). These are tempered by the citrus, which is itself restrained by the mint. The floral notes, mainly the geranium softens the whole effect. Rosewood adds sweetness, but not in a cloying way.
The fragrance is rich and has a wide range of notes. To some it may smell generic, another woody citrus, but this is not a fair evaluation in my opinion. It is a lot more sophisticated than the myriad of woody citrus fragrances on the market today: it's a bit like an olfactory fractal, the more you focus on it, the more you find.
I see a similarity with ck One which came a year after. To use an analogy: XS is like a sunset, with rich yellows, burnt oranges fading to greenish yellow above the horizon. Calvin Klein one is the same view ten minutes later, when the sun has set, thin ghostly yellows fade to greens and greys. The use of citrus is both fragrances is masterful, restrained and modified by accompanying notes.
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