Pur Désir de Pivoine Yves Rocher 2007 Eau de Toilette

Pure Peony. It's straight. The scent doesn't evolve very much. Very floral but not overpowering. I feel carefree while wearing it. One of my colleagues sometimes wears it too and it smells very pleasant. However, I don't consider it a very personal scent, more like an additional fragrance to smell good. I used up a bottle but don't feel the urge to repurchase it right away. But it certainly is a lovely frangrance.

Originally written in 2013

Ah, how happy I am. I stocked up on "Pur désir de Pivoine" while there was still time, and I am sitting on a whopping 240 ml stash of the recently discontinued showcase peony from the green Frenchman. And I won't give away a single milliliter of it (that’s when the Gollum in me awakens)! I have to be frugal, because I can't live without this peony. But I still want to grow old. So: "My sssschatzzz"!

One must be a pig in this world, right? But I have a very important reason. This is a peony, as peony-like as it could possibly be. An alpha peony. A peony prima ballerina. So real, so intense, so narcotic. Not for flower abstainers. A peony of the highest quality.

"Pur désir de Pivoine" is so lifelike in its peony-ness that it could serve as a perfect example for those poor souls who have never been intoxicated by the lush yet fresh scent of real peonies. So: start a Google image search, use peony as the search term. Apply "Pur désir de Pivoine" to your wrist, send your nose after it, and I-N-H-A-L-E. This is Miss Peony.

By the way: intoxicatingly intense like spring feelings, lasting like true love. By no means a pale water: the scent has power! So, despite all its freshness, it’s not necessarily suitable for 35° C in the shade (even if that’s not exactly threatening us this summer).

One more thing: compared to some other peony scents (like "Pivoine Flora" from L'Occitane en Provence), this soloist does without fruity-citrusy support. Rather, it is (as Parfumfan29 has already mentioned) the lily of the valley that makes this peony shine. It highlights the fresh-floral-narcotic scent combination that typically lingers in the ambient (evening) air of peonies, focusing less on the peony petal (which would indeed be somewhat "fruitier").

Here it stands before me, slender, elegantly curved, in a frosted pink 60-ml bottle. I didn't even know I still owned it. But when I rediscovered the rather beautiful bottle today, the memory of the scent was instantly present, as if all those years in which I had forgotten Pur Désir de Pivoine EdT had not existed.

Pur Désir de Pivoine means something like "pure desire for peonies," if my somewhat dusty French isn't misleading me. "de" means "of," but that makes little sense - at least in German.

That it had come to the point where I had erased the perfume from my memory is no coincidence. My taste in fragrances has evolved. Sweet and floral have become increasingly boring to me over time. Although - among floral scents, I particularly appreciate peony, the peony, of course. However, I must add that I only like the synthetic version. With real peonies, as beautiful as they are to look at, I haven't had any special experiences in terms of scent. But similar to orchids, which - except perhaps for vanilla - do not have a scent, I know exactly what fragrance to expect when peony or orchid is mentioned in the notes of a perfume.

This synthetic peony scent, which I believe surpasses the natural one in pleasantness, is for me the epitome of a romantic, possibly nostalgic floral fragrance. It evokes thoughts of secret, old gardens, of dreamy girls in long, white dresses. For me, peony is a typical spring scent: light, sweet, floral of course, tender, and indeed romantic. In recent years, I haven't felt like smelling like that. But today, having rediscovered this beautiful bottle, I am tempted to spray the scent.

The first impression is sweet. And floral. Yes, that is the peony as I know it: lovely, delicate, soft - but also somewhat green. A freshness quickly develops, which pleasantly cools the floral scent. At least for a while. Too soon, however, the scent is just as it is. It remains that way without undergoing any development. And how is it? I would say it sits somewhere between violet, lily of the valley, lilac, and lily - or a mix of all. Peony, indeed. Lovely, sweet, floral - no more and no less. Pleasing, but a bit too little. Too one-dimensional. Therefore, I can't think of much else to write about it.

Yes, the longevity - it is truly surprisingly long. The scent can withstand almost anything, even surviving hand washing and many hours. On textiles, it is perceptible for days. Of course, only up close, but not at all intrusive. Many large, expensive fragrances could learn something from Yves Rocher.

I can easily imagine this scent on very young girls, perhaps as an introduction to the world of fragrances. But what am I saying? The EdT is no longer available. The "Pur Désir de" series, which also included lily and mimosa, rose, gardenia, and lavender, as I recall, was discontinued some time ago. The pleasant peony scent will surely continue to exist in the world of fragrances. Although I notice that I haven't come across a perfume in a long time where peony played a role. Romantic floral scents seem to have fallen out of fashion - just like "Pur Désir de Pivoine."

Since yesterday, I have been wearing the beautiful spring-like Pur Desir de Pivoine again. This stunning soliflore comes from the unique Pur Desir line by Yves Rocher. The Pur Desir line was released in the early 2000s and has unfortunately been completely discontinued since then. It included wonderfully floral soliflores, simply yet elegantly crafted. There was a lilac scent, a mimosa scent, an orange blossom scent, a lavender scent, a clove-like rose scent, a gardenia scent, a lily scent, and this peony scent.
I really enjoyed wearing some of them as a feminine everyday fragrance during that time. Unfortunately, they are now hard to find and often at exorbitant prices. Since I joined Parfumo, I have managed to acquire all the Pur Desir fragrances. The Pur Desir collection is, or rather was (I have now used up the orange blossom scent), complete.
Now to the actual fragrance of my comment (so far I have only praised the beautiful series..).
Pur Desir de Pivoine is a peony scent!
With that, the fragrance pyramid is actually already described. But what a beautiful peony scent it is! Pure peony. It’s as if you are sticking your nose into a freshly bloomed, lush light pink flower of the peony. It smells like a whole peony bush. Delicate, fresh, yet intense and very natural. Like a freshly picked peony bouquet. Simply beautiful! A fragrance that drives away worries and sorrows with its floral lightness. I might still detect something slightly apple-like, which further supports the freshness of the peony. The sillage is not shy at first, rather intensely floral. The longevity is in the medium range. Just a fragrance for lovers of peonies.
As a young woman, I often wore it at work. I used up a whole 60 ml bottle back then. Always elegant and feminine, delicate yet not too shy, it fits perfectly as an everyday fragrance for mild spring days. I was just a bit surprised by the launch date of 2007. I remembered it a few years earlier. In any case, I am glad to have a small stock of it, so that I won’t run out of this beautiful fragrance.

Santa Claus stuffed this pink thing into my boot - without asking me. I would have preferred some gingerbread...
The scent itself is not bad, but overall it smelled too much like rose for my liking. I passed it on as a gift.