• About
  • Login to comment
    • Facebook
    • RSS
    • Twitter

Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

Menu ▼
  • Perfume Reviews
  • New Perfumes
  • Perfumers
  • Perfume Houses
  • Shop for perfume
  • Resources

Starck Paris Peau de Pierre ~ fragrance review

Posted by Robin on 18 November 2016 19 Comments

Starck Paris brand image

French designer Philippe Starck introduced three fragrances (his first) earlier this year: Peau de Soie, Peau d'Ailleurs and Peau de Pierre. They are "for intelligent people" (oh, that's me, right?) and they represent "the opposite of marketing" (something intelligent perfumistas have perhaps heard once or twice before). The three fragrances vaguely1 align as feminine (Peau de Soie), unisex (Peau d'Ailleurs)2 and masculine (Peau de Pierre) but Starck has made it clear he was not looking for traditional interpretations of masculinity and feminity. On men and Peau de Pierre specifically...

He admitted that in his 67 years, he’s never liked or respected men, and called them “stupid” and “useless.” As a heterosexual man himself, he has a “beautiful wife” and five children. Starck professed that the only other male friends he has are “very feminine.”3

and,

peau de pierre evokes the ambivalent masculinity; it smells like a male perfume but within its core a female mystery. if I had to imagine who would wear it I would say a male acknowledging his female side. with peau de pierre I speak about how men should be. the future is all about women intelligence: ultra-intuitive one. we should acknowledge this and let it be part of ourselves (men).4

It is outside of our remit here to dissect all of that; I bring it up only to say that if you are looking for a conventionally masculine fragrance, Pierre is still your best bet. (If you don't care about gender, do smell all three. I smelled them quickly on blotters and Pierre was the first I wanted to spend time with.5) Perhaps it is true that "it smells like a male perfume but within its core a female mystery", but it is hardly what I'd call unconventional. Some men may not like it, but I'd be surprised if a man thought it too feminine.

The opening calls to mind a mild, lightly sweet shaving cream fougère with accents of citrus and almond, and an aromatic undertone that might or might not be lavender, completely de-clawed. The first scent it evoked was Prada Amber Pour Homme, which by the way, also had within its core a female mystery, if you take that to mean that reportedly many women went ahead and bought a bottle for their own use.

They part ways on the dry down, which in Pierre's case is an airy woody-musk with a vaguely vetiver-ish earthiness and a vague mineral effect. (If you want more dirt and rock, you probably want Terre d'Hermès.) I have not seen notes listed anywhere, but the official description includes an "almost smoky intensity", and that's true if you put the emphasis on the "almost" part more than the "intensity" part. Some of the creaminess (and the "expensive soap" aura) of the opening remains, but the whole thing is transparent enough that you could surely wear it even in very hot weather.

Verdict: I like. I'd love to have the 40 ml, and the 40 ml bottle happens to be cute as a button, but even 40 ml is more than my self-imposed 30 ml limit. I may become a serial sampler, which is pretty much what I've done with Amber Pour Homme. If either scent came in 15 ml, I'd own it.

I will add that I loved the bottles just as much in person as I did when I first saw the images online. That doesn't always happen. And yes, they look fantastic all lined up in a row.

Starck Paris Peau de Pierre, 90 ml

Starck Paris Peau de Pierre Eau de Toilette was developed by perfumer Daphné Bugey. It is $100 for 40 ml (shown below, with Peau de Soie and Peau d'Ailleurs) or $150 for 90 ml (shown just above). A coffret with all three fragrances in 40 ml is $275.

Peau de Soie, Peau d'Ailleurs and Peau de Pierre, 40 ml

1. Starck talked about gender quite a bit in interviews around the launch, too much for me to repeat in detail here, but he did say that "one theme that has always interested me was gender in all its freedom, its variety and complexity" (see philippe starck interview: 'peau' fragrances collection for starck paris at designboom), and note that in at least one of the campaign's images, it's clear you are not meant to immediately assign a gender to each scent.

2. Generally speaking the fragrance industry hates the word unisex and so you'll usually see one of a number of euphemisms, from genderless to gender-free to "for everyone", and I have not seen Starck refer to Peau d'Ailleurs as unisex. Instead, he called it "asexual" (Ibid.) and for "a new generation — the future who are not a man or a woman" (see philippe starck made a fragrance for non-binary people at i-D).

3. Via Philippe Starck Makes Fragrance Debut With Parfums Starck Paris at Women's Wear Daily (where they still use capital letters).

4. Via designboom, see footnote #1.

5. Which is not to say I would not have liked to spend time with the other two, but that I was only able to snag one sample. If you've spent time with Peau de Soie or Peau d'Ailleurs, do comment!

Possibly of interest

Starck Paris Peau d’Amour ~ new fragrance
Starck Paris Peau de Nuit Infinie & Peau de Lumiere Magique ~ new fragrances
Starck Paris Peau de Soie, Peau d’Ailleurs & Peau de Pierre ~ new fragrances

Filed Under: perfume talk
Tagged With: daphne bugey, philippe starck

Advertisement


19 Comments

Leave a comment, or read more about commenting at Now Smell This. Here's our privacy policy, and a handy emoticon chart.

  1. Rappleyea says:
    18 November 2016 at 2:53 pm

    Hmm… a lot of “vague” and “almost” thrown around there. But “expensive soap” sounds good.

    Thanks for the review, Robin. Have a great weekend!

    Log in to Reply
    • Robin says:
      18 November 2016 at 2:58 pm

      It’s very modern: there aren’t notes that smell like real things in nature, just notes that might remind you of real things in nature :-)

      Mild expensive soap is a pretty good way to describe this scent — it’s milder than the Prada.

      You have a great weekend too!

      Log in to Reply
  2. Annikky says:
    18 November 2016 at 3:28 pm

    These look more interesting than most things famous people have done with scents. If I can find them, I’ll definitely give them a go. I can already tell I’m going to love the bottles.

    Log in to Reply
    • Robin says:
      18 November 2016 at 4:18 pm

      I would say that’s true…I didn’t think any of the three was really unconventional, but none of the three were dreck either.

      Apparently his mother had a perfume shop, which I never knew.

      Log in to Reply
  3. chocolatemarzipan8 says:
    18 November 2016 at 5:15 pm

    I am drooling over the bottles….

    Log in to Reply
    • Robin says:
      18 November 2016 at 5:31 pm

      They are so cute. The one drawback is they’re way cuter together than any of them are individually.

      Log in to Reply
  4. schaf says:
    18 November 2016 at 5:29 pm

    I tried these very, very quickly. At that moment, they were not bad at all, but I got bored very quickly and soon after forgot about them. After reading the review, I am thinking that maybe I should go back and test them again? Or maybe not since I never understood Prada fragrances either …

    Log in to Reply
    • Robin says:
      18 November 2016 at 5:33 pm

      None of them are as “striking” or unusual as the bottles, it is true, and this is the only one of the three that really grabbed me. I have read some nice reviews of Peau d’Ailleurs especially, so will try to get a sample of that one when I can.

      Log in to Reply
      • schaf says:
        18 November 2016 at 6:33 pm

        I will check Peau de Pierre again!

        Log in to Reply
        • Robin says:
          18 November 2016 at 9:16 pm

          Never hurts, but if you hated Prada Man you might hate this one too.

          Log in to Reply
  5. cazaubon says:
    18 November 2016 at 8:21 pm

    I liked the minerally Peau d’Ailleurs best, but not enough to purchase. The bottles do look nice lined up together.

    Log in to Reply
    • Robin says:
      18 November 2016 at 9:17 pm

      Thanks, I do mean to try that one.

      Log in to Reply
  6. AnnieA says:
    18 November 2016 at 9:09 pm

    For some reason PS’s guy comments remind me of a book I’ve been reading, called Man Up: Surviving Modern Masculinity by Jack Urwin. The phrase “toxic masculinity” is used a lot.

    Log in to Reply
    • Robin says:
      18 November 2016 at 9:18 pm

      I almost went to google “toxic femininity” to see if that exists too, then decided no, I’d just as soon not know about it.

      Log in to Reply
  7. hajusuuri says:
    18 November 2016 at 9:28 pm

    I smelled these at Bergdorfs but I was too lazy to take notes and don’t recall which one I liked best. I got distracted by bottles from another line that looked like sparkly cupcakes or glittery pincushions.

    Log in to Reply
    • Robin says:
      18 November 2016 at 10:23 pm

      House of Sillage, I bet!

      Log in to Reply
      • hajusuuri says:
        19 November 2016 at 10:34 am

        That’s it! It probably should be called House of Dreck.

        Log in to Reply
    • johanob says:
      19 November 2016 at 2:10 am

      Haha!One of those sparkly cupcakes will be mine one day,despite the dishwater inside…(I want the tiger)

      Log in to Reply
      • hajusuuri says:
        19 November 2016 at 10:38 am

        They should do a coffret of minis!

        Log in to Reply

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Advertisement

Search

From NST at Twitter

  • "LVMH's record-breaking results driven by Sephora" (cosmetics business) https://t.co/NKkwcZBJeW,
  • "‘Bionic nose’ may help people experiencing smell loss, researchers say" (washington post) https://t.co/M9nX7UVMpS,
  • "It costs up to $100,000 a kilo and Queensland farmers are growing it for luxury perfume" (sydney morning herald) https://t.co/gs8w4s7zpS,
  • "Francis Kurkdjian, creator of Baccarat Rouge 540: ‘People went crazy and it sold out immediately’" (el pais) https://t.co/cxGHgzgFd3,
  • "Yves Saint Laurent Launches New Perfume-Inspired NFTs" (business2community) https://t.co/dOaVNjWgsd https://t.co/vQs5nmJ1yH,

Browse by...

Topic

Perfume talk New fragrances
Shopping Books :: News
Body products Home fragrance
Polls Another subject

Date

December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022

Prior months

Author

Robin Jessica
Angela Kevin
Erin Guest Author

Tag

Celebrity perfumes
Cheap thrills
Collector bottles
Perfumista tip series
Video
The complete tag index

Recent reviews

Atelier Cologne Love Osmanthus
Moschino Toy Boy
Arquiste Misfit
Diptyque Eau Capitale
Zoologist Bee
Parfum d’Empire Immortelle Corse
Comme des Garcons Series 10 Clash
Frédéric Malle Rose & Cuir
L’Artisan Parfumeur Le Chant de Camargue
Yves Saint Laurent Grain de Poudre
Régime des Fleurs Chloë Sevigny Little Flower
Chanel 1957
Gallivant Los Angeles
Amouage Portrayal Woman

Blogroll

Bois de Jasmin
Grain de Musc
Perfume Posse
The Non-Blonde
More blogs...

Perfumista lists

100 fragrances every perfumista should try
And 25 more fragrances every perfumista should smell
50 masculine fragrances every perfumista should try
26 vintage fragrances every perfumista should try
25 rose fragrances every perfumista should try
11 Cheap Perfumes Beauty Outsiders Love

Favorite posts

The Great Perfume Reduction Plan
Why I Love Old School Chypres
New to perfume and want to learn more?
How to make fragrance last through the day
Fragrance concentrations: sorting it all out
On reformulations, or why your favorite perfume doesn’t smell like it used to
How to get fragrance samples
Perfume for Life: How Long Will Your Fragrance Collection Last?

Upcoming

List of upcoming Friday projects

4 January ~ damage poll
4 February ~ winter reading poll

TBA April ~ swap meet

Back to Top

Home
About Now Smell This :: Privacy Policy

Shop for Perfume Online
Perfume Shopping in New York
Perfume Shopping in London
Perfume Reviews
New Perfumes
General Perfume Articles
The Monday Mail

Glossary of Perfume Terms
Perfume FAQ
Perfume Links
Perfume Books
Fragrance Awards

Noses ~ Perfumers A-E :: F-K :: L-S :: T-Z

Perfume Houses A-B :: C :: D-E :: F-G
H-J :: K-L :: M :: N-O :: P :: Q-R :: S
T :: U-Z

Copyright © 2005-2023 Now Smell This. All rights reserved.