Eau sans Pareil is part of the Anthology collection, a series of perfumes re-invented, re-imagined, re-created based on past Penhaligon’s releases.
Sans Pareil means unparalleled, and while I would not go so far and apply that to the entire perfume, Eau sans Pareil has one aspect that is indeed unparalleled – its sillage.
“Originally created in 1988, Eau Sans Pareil has been transformed into a shimmering chypre. Opening with a giddy rush of sparkling fruits and sensual white flowers, Eau Sans Pareil is softened with sweet woods, elegant oakmoss and musks. Powdery, wistful and romantic.”
– from the press release
Re-created by Beverley Bayne in 2011, based the original Eau sans Pareil from 1988, notes include aldehydes, neroli, mandarin, bergamot, kumquat, raspberry, pineapple, cypress, pink pepper, tagetes, jasmine, Damascus rose, muguet, orris, ylang, orange blossom, liquorice, clove, patchouli, vetiver, cedarwood, oakmoss, musk, vanilla, cistus-labdanum, benzoin, amber crystals.
The lengthy notes list does little to reveal what lies behind the quite immodest name. A sparkling, fizzy, aldehydic floral with a modern chypre base. It is no Mitsouko, but that does not have to be a minus. We can’t all be divas…
I guess Eau sans Pareil smells very good, but the problem with it is that I get the urge to scrub it off after ten minutes at the most, and the strange thing is, not because I don’t like the scent, but because it is so very insistent. Eau sans Pareil is not discreet, it is not understated, it is HERE!!! And it screams at you constantly to take notice.
I don’t like that quality in people and I certainly don’t like it in my perfume either. If only Eau sans Pareil had less sillage, were not so very diffusive, I would really like it and this review would surely be different. As it is, I’m sad that I won’t ever wear my sample again.
I just don’t appreciate being screamed at.
Olfactoria's Travels 
Loved the review. So to the point and the pictures were just the right touch. Your title by the way drew me in. Perfect! As for the perfume, I Don’t think I want to listen in on that party line.
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed reading the review.
Oh gosh! I can just imagine the how diffusive it must be from the images (you always pick the best ones, btw). When something is a big monster or a perfume, sometimes I can manage it by spraying just the smallest amount. Or I spray it in the air and walk through it . . .
Like Angel. I appreciate it, but I have to be very, very, very judicious in applying. Or else I start panicking and heading to the shower!
I wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of Eau sans Pareil, who would have thought… 🙂
I blame the bottle! It looks so innocent!
OMG! I think you’ve found me a Signature scent Birgit!
Portia xx
Hahah, you are welcome, Portia! 😀
LOL
Indeed. 😉
Woow! Dear, Eau Sans Pareil is really screaming at you? I covet my sample of it, reviewed it on the blog too, but I didn’t get any of these you mentioned. On my skin it was really well behaved. That’s why I love perfume! They smell different on everyone.
It is screaming at me. 😦
I had seen your review and I’m glad it is playing a more moderate tune on your skin.
That’s a bad and unkind Eau Sans Pareil. Maybe it really is meant to sit on males skin?
Maybe just not *my* skin. 🙂
The bottle and presentation look so elegant and restrained, who knew! I wasn’t a fan, it screeched on me.
Exactly. It’s not something you’d expect from the look of the bottle or from the brand in general. Restrained it is not.
The notes list reads like a salad made of the remaining bits in the parfum lab… – quasi the rests of this years parfums… I have a soft spot for Penhaligon’s (like I often do for things British …), but I like my things understated, instead of screaming !
Me too. Eau Sans Pareil smells good, but just too much…
Lucasai had me DYING to try this one! Loud or not loud, this literally has almost all my favourite notes, so I don’t care. 😛 I really hope I will like it.
I’m sorry you didn’t like it 😦 Even though your review wasn’t happy, it’s actually got me more excited to try find a sample before I leave Holland 😀
That’s good then. I’m curious to know how it behaves on you.
Fascinating review, very useful, and I would not mind trying it, but maybe just a half a dot, since you have noted how powerful it is. Amazing how like kryptonite certain perfumes can be, they are akin to what should be controlled substances. That large bottle is probably enough for a hundred people. I too have an issue with that in your face unrelenting upper register quality for more than a minute — but if it is beautiful enough I am still tempted to see if it can be tamed by applying it in the tiniest of amounts. Maybe over a skin balm, to hold it closer to the body. Penhaligon’s is really getting to be surprising these days.
Thank you, Lucy!
I’m glad you find it useful. Kryptonite is a good comparison.
BTW, I only dabbed this perfume and still… 🙂
That photo is a brilliant choice!
Oh dear, I’d hate to be screamed at too. This is obviously one for those who like their perfumes LOUD. Not for us peace- seekers!
Very strange fit for the brand/packaging, indeed.
Right, we peace-seekers need a more moderate volume. 🙂
Very unexpected from Penhaligon’s.
This perfume definitely doesn’t sound like it’s meant for you, Birgit, but you made it fun to read about! That picture is priceless. 🙂
Not really for me, no. 🙂
I love that picture, it perfectly conveys my point.
I do hate a screamer. Insolence edp was, so far, the only sample I’ve *ever* thrown away – and why did I do that? IT SHRIEKED. It shrieked like a jungleful of parrots, or like an incessant car alarm. Heeeeedious. I was terrified.
Eau Sans Pareil did not scream on my skin. I do apply pretty lightly, but I actually spray mine from a sample atomizer and enjoy it. I have about a half-ml left, and I’ll probably enjoy it and never buy any. It seems rather soft to me, like the ghost of a chypre thing my chemist aunt used to wear in the 70s.
Very fun review!
Thanks Mals! 🙂
Insolence EdT is a very vocal gal on me as well, but the EdP is rather nice.
OH DEAR GOD, NO IT ISN’T.
But apparently it played more nicely with you than it did with me. 🙂
Apparently. (I count myself lucky!) 😉
I admit there’s a part of me that loves reviews that grumble, they tickle my funnybone. Birgit, even when you dislike something, you’re still very classy about it. And a Penhaligon that screams? Did not expect that at all.
Thanks, I try to be, because it is always subjective, amd while I need to grumble now and then, I don’t want to hurt anyone who loves the perfume (or Penhaligon’s at that, I love Amaranthine and Orange Blossom very much!)
I was trying to guess from the title (love your titles! you’re one of a few bloggers who goes beyond just plain functional declaration in your titles and I greatly appreciate it) what will be inside. For some reason I thought about a screaming child – which would be just annoying (in the perfume form, I mean) but the image you painted seems just intolerable. Still enjoyed reading it.
I can attest to the fact that a screaming child is indeed annoying, but it is as you say, more tolerable than this. 🙂
Thanks for your kind words about my titles, I like coming up with them, so it makes me happy when they are appreciated.
Sounds wonderful! 😛
It’s awesome! 😉