Pure XS Paco Rabanne 2017

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6.3 / 10 215 Ratings

Pure XS is a perfume by Paco Rabanne for men and was released in 2017. The scent is sweet-synthetic. It is being marketed by Puig. Pronunciation

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Perfumers

Caroline Dumur, Anne Flipo, Bruno Jovanovic, IFF (International Flavors & Fragrances)

Fragrance Notes

Ginger, Plant juice, Thyme, Cinnamon, Vanilla, Leather, Liqueur, Musk, Myrrh, Sugar

Ratings

Scent

6.3 (215 Ratings)

Longevity

7.4 (182 Ratings)

Sillage

7.1 (182 Ratings)

Bottle

6.9 (200 Ratings)

View Video of Pure XS (YouTube)

Submitted by OPomone, last update on 21.11.2020.

Interesting Facts

The face of the advertising campaign is Portuguese model Francisco Henriques, filmed by Johan Renck and photographed by Nathaniel Goldberg.

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Reviews

11/13/2020

9
Scent 8
Longevity 7
Sillage 8
Bottle

Tingeli

Translated Show original

Tingeli

Much better than his reputation

I have tested it several times in shops but the smoky one bothered me because too many others tested it. Now I have bought it after all and am amazed how good it is. Smells like myrrh incense sticks with vanilla, some ginger and sandalwood in addition. Done. Reminds me of Spicebomb extreme but without underarm sweat and cinnamon. Smells not very strong but is still noticeable after 8 hours

1 Replies

11/03/2020

4
Scent 6
Longevity 5
Sillage 8
Bottle

DN1982

Translated Show original

DN1982

I guess the wrong sample went into mass production

There are scents that are round in themselves. There are fragrances that generate arcs of tension and yet are round in themselves. And there are Raco Rabanne's pure extra small ones. And he can't do either one or the other.
I don't know if that's a stupid coincidence here on Parfumo: the younger the fragrance (in relation to the market launch), the less differentiation is made in terms of the individual scents, in other words, there is no longer any division into top notes, heart notes and base notes. This is also the case here. What is the reason for this, please? If the Black Gustav is due to the manufacturers, because something that is halfway natural is no longer available in the low to medium price segment anyway (and they are not even ambitious anymore!), what is there to differentiate which component shines in which area of the fragrance spectrum?
What also annoys me are such "unambiguous" statements like liqueur. Liqueur can either be disdainfully sugared firewater or, depending on its composition, offer a very wide range of fruity notes up to the most unusual herbs. Or plant juice. That can be everything or nothing! But what is there to hide? Bare water perhaps? Or the explanation for having to deal with a synthetic who is standing there as if he wanted to and not able to? Or is it the unpleasant component in the fragrance that wants to sell you Douglette as a super-modern ingredient if you turn up your nose at the fragrance? I don't know Already the prelude is not very harmonious. It is vanilla sweet, but the sweetness squabbles with the ginger. The thyme brings additional restlessness. I leave the plant juice and the liqueur out, that can be everything or nothing - or as I call it: customer bullshit.
But go on. I mean, it's the myrrh that tries to give the moderator, but doesn't get it off the ground, but continues to be conducive to restlessness. This means that with this fragrance we find a basic framework from the middle down to the base that has what it takes to make a statement if a line could be recognized. At times, we have the scent of colorful glossy magazines in it, and the next moment this technical scent just looks stale and musty. Another technical smell is a burnt, plastic-like note, which is the recognition factor par excellence at Terre d'Hermes. I can't get rid of the impression that an attempt has been made to copy this classic in a far less sparkling, but all the sweeter version. Even if these seemingly technical scents are balanced towards the base, Paco's pure extra-small has simply shot into the oven. I could also say Terre d'Hermes in XL-bad.
A beautiful bottle is not everything. After all, this one is not as late-pubertal as the one from Invictus. But the contents are just as arbitrary. This is what you usually get from Banana Bruno. It's a pity actually, because there are undoubtedly good approaches. But unfortunately they are only approaches. Or just the worse of two prototypes, which should have been scrapped, but for some reason went into production instead of the good sample

1 Replies

03/13/2020

9.5
Scent 8
Longevity 9
Sillage 4
Bottle

DerJulian

Translated Show original

DerJulian

The pure excess in the glass, on the skin and in the club!

What I like immensely about sides like Parfumo is their pleasantly fertile culture of debate, here especially in connection with fragrances that polarize and are between 4.5 and 6.5 points, not because everyone finds them equally mediocre, no, because some hate them deeply and others love them. This is particularly noticeable in designer fragrances that have become very popular (Invictus) or have been very popular (One Million or Lady Million). The last two examples show that Paco Rabanne is particularly affected by this situation.

Especially One Million, whose outstanding success has spread through the perfume community as Ed Hardy once did through the fashion industry. With the same result: At some point you got tired of him, at some point you could no longer smell that headache-causing and decadently sugary DNA. Every light comes to an end, and yet (or perhaps precisely because of that) One Million has both financially fulfilled its service to the house and awakened the interest of a whole generation of teenagers and young men and women in fragrances.

Double success for Paco Rabanne, who intends to continue to polarize, as you can easily see from their latest releases. So, just as One Million and Invictus have divided us snoopers into two camps since their inception, so does Pure XS, the fragrance I would call my first, which I intend to defend passionately against its sobering average rating, as enough people have done for the above two fragrances.

First of all: I consider the name of this EdT to be one of my absolute favourites: Pure excess I love the word "excess" because it sounds exactly like what it means. And that's how this scent smells the way it's called. It's loud, sweet and velvety from the start and radiates the aura of a club that can hardly escape from dancing, sweating people in chic evening wear, but also in simple C&A clothes, where both Kir Royal and Whisky-Cola are ordered at the bar, where the DJ could just as well play Goa to rave as Mallorca party poppers to roar along. No matter what, no matter how, main thing loud, main thing evening, main thing club.

The main thing is excess!

You can already tell that I consider the areas of application for this fragrance to be relatively limited. In the office, in the sun or during sports, this admittedly deliberately penetrating sugar shot makes no sense. You need a certain self-confidence to wear it and you should not overdo it with spraying, as the Sillage will penetrate and it will last the whole evening. For me, Pure XS is nothing more and nothing less than PR's answer to Eros, an equally loud club fragrance for the man who wants to have fun and also allows himself to go overboard. Only Eros is noticeably fresher, not least because of the mint, Pure XS is warmer, more sticky.

I stand by Pure XS, even though I've never been a great friend of One Million (don't ask me why, I don't know myself). A strong and loud, long lasting fragrance for the evening, who is not ashamed of his cola-cracker attitude and just lives it (was there anything better in the colorful bag from the kiosk than the cola-crackers? Exactly!).

The only thing I don't like about it is the bottle, whose cap cannot be removed completely, but is attached to one side like a Zippo lighter. This makes it difficult to apply the fragrance of the relatively wide bottle to different parts of the body. At least this has been removed from the "Pure XS Night" flanker, where it is completely removable.

1 Replies

02/12/2020

8
Scent 7
Longevity 7
Sillage 9
Bottle

N471v3

Translated Show original

N471v3

The smoky 3 kings

After testing it over and over again, I was recently trigger-happy, and put my hand on a nice little 3-piece set of this eau de toilette.
I must admit, I am aware that Pure XS is more of a commercial success. One of the things that made me think and review was a YouTuber, which found the fragrance to be lastingly pleasant and individual.

I personally have always been fascinated by the bottle, hach... I just like it when it clicks. ;)

The set of 3 includes a 50ml bottle *click*, a 10ml travel pocket sprayer with contents, and a golden ball keychain I got it for the battle price of the (currently cheapest) normal 50ml bottle, so I couldn't and wouldn't resist ;) Sometimes you have to reward yourself after all!

And yes, I actually feel rewarded and not punished with the package. On the one hand, I think - and I'll get straight to the heart of the matter - incense scents from designers today are quite against the current. This can be supported on principle, because it supports the diversity, or rather the individualism of the wearer.
Since it is a designer fragrance, it is nevertheless suitable for the masses and easy to wear, and who like me has often played Amouage Jubilation XXV "casual" knows what I am talking about... ;P (By the way also with incense...)

By the way, it's actually myrrh, not incense in Pure XS... but for me the difference is not so obvious, both smell like "incense", and also produce such a cooling, smoky feeling in my throat when I breathe in.

Apropops both, I'm currently having Pure XS and Alien Man by Thierry Mugler compete against each other on my forearms. With the Alien it is again smoky beech wood, but for me it also smells like incense.
For me, both fragrances also somehow make the same thing, a sweet, smoky, slightly vanilla scent, mysterious but wearable.

As the third king to live up to my title, by the way, I am enthroned "This Is Him!" by Zadig & Voltaire. (Sprayed straight onto the arm...)
Likewise a frankincense, does something very similar again. Especially in the A/B test, I was surprised that the grapefruit in the opening is much more lively and dynamic... but will that make a difference in the drydown?

* TIME HAND... N471v3's moving fast 2 hours into the future, everything is flying... *

Okay, so here in the future, was...

...Zadig a little annoying and old-fashioned, very sacred. The grapefruit produces an exhausting aftertaste in the long run, as if someone had ... well, got rid of himself in church. "D I remember now why I never really liked him in the end. I think it's well done, but more "for fans"
...alien a little exhausting. Maybe it's also because of my testing method, because I keep smelling too close to it. But somehow this combination, which contains leather and apparently also a lot of osmanthus, does not quite excite me. I mean, okay, I'm thinking about purple aliens now... :D And it's not badly done either. But I don't think I'd buy it. The association with esotericism shop is too strong for me here.

...the "pure excess"... But somehow good (: For me clearly the most wearable of the 3, and also the one I would most likely wear. I also find it the most expressive, because the DNA gives the most besides smoke. Has something youthfully masculine about it, which makes me feel well dressed.

Closing words.
I think all three smoking kings have their right to exist. The Zadig is a little bit bad boy, but therefore partly exhausting, the Alien a little bit spacy (different) but in the long run also almost too annoying. The Pure XS on the other hand remains solidly casual and usable, and is therefore the clear winner for me.

But I recommend everyone who is not averse to smoke, but is more at home in the mainstream / designer area, to try all 3, because I find the fragrance a cool twist, and in my opinion it scores with originality.

09/25/2019

8.5
Scent 7
Longevity 6
Sillage 6
Bottle

Darkbeat
192 Reviews

Darkbeat

Helpful Review 3

Nothing risky, but yes very pleasant

This Pure XS is, like its brother Invictus, an easy-to-wear, beautiful and uncomplicated scent, with a moderate high performance, and that, just because of the last name, and how little risky it is, has become all success of this house for the masses.

The beginning is sweet and aromatic, nothing excessive or strident, a vanilla base with cinnamon and a touch of ginger and thyme that you like in the first inspiration, it is a sweet and very aromatic aroma with a spicy touch very attractive and easy to assimilate, Nothing risky and thought to please as many people as possible. Then, he makes his way, a note of liquor on a background of vanilla with cinnamon and some myrrh with leather, very interesting, the truth is that it has a certain generality, but I like it very much, that can not be criticized. This part of the perfume is the longest. In the end, the myrrh gradually becomes more blunt along with the leather and the cedar, leaving the vanilla almost in the background, creating a sweet, balsamic and faintly woody aroma, very beautiful and versatile.

It is a perfume without many complications that smells very good, if we add to that, a beautiful bottle, although with a complicated grip, an extensive marketing campaign and the last name Rabanne, sure success ...

The duration and wake is moderate high in both cases, the first impression is that it will be longer, but no, it sits on the skin and decreases progressively until about 6 hours or so, then you can continue feeling something else, but now it would be necessary to put the nose well to perceive it and that does not count for me anymore.

Versatile perfume, which can go well for any time, date or time, the truth is that although it feels a generic aroma, I liked it a lot, I recommend your test.

1 Replies

04/18/2019

3.5
Scent 9
Longevity 9
Sillage 8
Bottle

DerDefcon

Translated Show original

DerDefcon

Very helpful Review 3

Where can I get insulin as soon as possible?

I say it right at the beginning very clearly: I am not averse to sweet scents. After all, I wear Prada L'Homme Intense and also like L'Homme Ideal Eau de Parfum by Guerlain. The sweetness of these two scents, however, is one that rises pleasantly into my nose - something that is by no means the case with XS here.

In principle, one can say that the fragrance is very linear and there are no big surprises regarding the course. The opening is slightly fresh and alcoholic, but is immediately overrun by vanilla. I like vanilla in fragrances quite much and especially when it is accompanied by seasoning. However, the vanilla is not spiced here, but is complemented by even more sweetness and that was exactly the point where I just shook my head and said to myself: "No, this sample stays in the drawer and will never be touched again"
The sweetness is so sticky, synthetic and penetrating that it's just unpleasant. It is this typical "Hello here in me fragrance" that makes you think your own blood sugar level is skyrocketing. I don't take things like leather, cinnamon, etc. at all, but only a sweetened, synthetic-sticky vanilla sugar water, which - what a surprise - lasts quite a long time.

PS: The newly released XS Night, which also lurks here in my drawer, manages to outdo the penetrance of the normal XS - a real masterstroke, albeit in a negative sense.

2 Replies

01/11/2019

10
Scent 9
Longevity 9
Sillage 7
Bottle

Mattioli

Translated Show original

Mattioli

Coca Cola Vanilla

Paco Rabanne Pure XS is one of the first fragrances I bought.
My passion for fragrances only started in September 2018 and this fragrance has an unforgettable fragrance DNA for me.
PR PXS smells like a masculine Coca Cola vanilla. Vanilla, cinnamon, sugar and musk can definitely be sniffed out. I still wonder where leather is supposed to be in this game
It's really only suitable for winter. Outdoor only, please. Indoors, you really don't do yourself any favors.

Pure XS has an incredible durability. 7 - 10 hours is definitely in. The sillage of the fragrance is also good.
For me it will always be a perfume that reminds me of the time and my beginnings of the hobby.
If you want to attract attention in winter and take a few compliments, you should take a closer look at this fragrance.

2 Replies

11/02/2018

6
Scent 5
Longevity 4
Sillage 7
Bottle

Ignika

Translated Show original

Ignika

Name(.not.)Program

I've wanted to write this comment for half a year now. You really get to eat more these days! But it also has to do with whether you want to take your time. Mm, I'm not surprised...

This Rabanne is heavy from beginning to end, future, almost sticky. Constantly dominated by... nothing! This creation has little endurance and certainly no Sillage, no note really wants to take responsibility. I recognize old ginger and old thyme. Not dusty, but really old, withered. And a pinch of coarse cinnamon, vanilla, lots of sugar. Not Grandma's cough syrup, no, but Grand Aunt Elfriede's, who always has to make her mark. Result remains the same, cough syrup is cough syrup, cough syrup remains cough syrup!

Pure XS. At least somewhat imaginative, this phonogram; Pure Excess, in the context thus, pure excessiveness. Name obviously not program? But also here it's like with "Bleu de/Blöde Chanel": I think "Clear, undersize" is more fitting, it's also a bubbly little water. Unfortunately weak and neither interesting nor complex. Name so maybe program after all?

10/22/2018

10
Scent 6
Longevity 6
Sillage 9
Bottle

Elysium
388 Reviews

Elysium

Pure eXceSs, or Pure SeX: That is the Question

First off, I'd like to say that I love this scent. There's a lot of unfair hate for this fragrance; a lot of the hatred could be just someone that walked by and smelled out of the bottle.
I bought this fragrance some months ago and then just waited for the right weather to come, and here we go. Pure XS is a fresh, green, vigorous, and oriental fragrance, a renewed version of the original XS, which was first launched back in 1993... whoa! It's that kind of scent in line with recent 3.0 releases such as Dior Sauvage, Dylan Blue, and Bleu de Chanel, to mention a few, yet not a dupe of any of those. Gee, this is a love at first sniff affair. When sprayed, it conveys a sensation of skin shivering with desire and burning with pleasure. Shivering and burning altogether, what an intriguing oxymoron! It has a sweet and spicy aroma with the most potent notes being vanilla and ginger. Sweet but not too much, I get a lovely vanilla with myrrh and leather with spices. Hard to describe, but it has this semi-sweet tropical vibe. There's a freshness to it as well which rounds off the scent without being too warm or coying,

Now, coming to the smell. It is sexy, sexy and sexy. I love this smell, and I do agree with Jeremy Fragrance, this scent has a boozy, lemon fizzy coke mixed with delicious vanilla and liquor accord. The very first whiff might give you that generic kind of feeling, a tad harsh, but then it grows warmer on you. The scent bursts open with a lot of spicy and pungent icy ginger, very common in modern fragrances, and an aromatic touch of thyme and some green accord. It's fresh, tasty fresh, and green. So sharp and tangy with a bright, lemony citrus note that feels cheerful and bubbly. Every so often, the ginger peeks out and makes the whole thing a lot more unexpected.

The opening is followed by a boozy, toned down, and warmer heart. I've no clue which notes, once blended, create such a fruity tropical vibe. Anyway, I love it. The leathery accord used here is soft and mild, more similar to suede, closely akin to Aventus Creed leathery tones, and it perfectly marries the great vanilla and cinnamon, I cannot stop smelling that heart. I love the use of spiced ginger and vanilla with this, really velvety and cozy and supremely infused with leather-liquor-musk inflections.

And then a soft, sugary, and a bit smoky dry down comes, while a sort of mineral note of incense adds a silvery touch. There are some holy places I always notice when I come out that my clothes have picked up a lingering scent of faded incense from the site, and a few stages of Pure XS are a dead ringer for that smell. If like me you love the idea of incense fragrances but find them too bitter on their own, this one could be worth a try. Woody base notes of blonde woods, resinous warm myrrh, sweet cinnamon, and kind of like sugar offer a balsamic and a little bit fumy trail. Then the more it dries down the more myrrh becomes pronounced. Don't get me wrong, but I seem to catch some floral notes in the base I am not able to associate with.

Fresh spicy, leathery, and fruity accords make an excellent combo so that Pure XS can be worn in cooler summer nights, yet it's perfect for the autumn months when the days are shorter and the nights draw in. It's a clean and fresh smelling fragrance, but rather subtle! The projection of the scent is reasonably moderate; after all, it is quite a delicate smelling fragrance. The longevity isn't as good as some of the other scents in the Paco Rabanne range, Invictus for instance. On my skin, it has good staying power for about 6 hours, and projects for 3 if you put more on. So, it is perfect for office but not for clubbing, too weak for competing with other beasts. Honestly, I don't know if PureXS is one of those fragrances that turns heads, that is memorable, that is bold, sexy, and give you confidence. Yet, I know that I love it no matter what the hype believes, as it's completely different from most vanilla-based fragrances.

-Elysium

2 Replies

08/24/2018

8.5
Scent 7
Longevity 6
Sillage 8
Bottle

Carlitos01
282 Reviews

Carlitos01

Helpful Review 6

The happy sexy scent

Sometimes we are happy just because we feel happy. The unexplained happiness on me provokes some unexplained behaviours as well.
A few weeks ago I felt one of those strong bouts of unconscious bliss as I was wandering around by the offer of an internet perfume dealer. Ten minutes later I had bought Replay's "Stone for Him", Carolina Herrera's "212 VIP Black" and, noblesse oblige, Paco Rabanne's "Pure XS". Those who know me well, know that I hardly blind buy the type of the above mentioned fragrances. Strangely enough, this unreasonable happiness continued to plague me for a few days. The consequence was to have continually used the mentioned three perfumes for a couple of weeks. I enjoyed it ... quite a lot! Before returning to my loved routine of spicy and woody strong oriental perfumes, I have at least decided to leave these findings in written, and in this case, my comment about Pure XS.

Pure XS is the Pisang Ambon of perfumery. You either hate or love both the perfume and the liqueur. For me both are excessively delicious.
What a surprising fragrance. Before blind buying it, I knew that it should be sweet and balsamic. I found a linear development of a ginger candy with cinnamon and vanilla, sprinkled with balsamic sugar and spices, and accompanied by a caramelized liqueur.
Performance is average or under average. In a long clubbing night you must be ready to respray or to use some tricks to make it last longer. With the application of five sprays, I attracted the glances of all the greedy women who passed by. That means all the women who passed by (!). It was a somewhat surprising experience. Needless to say, I was surrendered to the power of this perfume and with a natural curiosity to try other similar fragrances.
For the record, I must inform you that I did not find the Pure XS neither tiring nor cloying. I frankly enjoyed the balsamic sweetness that accompanied me for half a dozen hours. I am sure I will continue to use it. Despite all the sweetness and the synthetic notes, this fragrance "lands" very well on the skin, and makes us believe that it is a clean, sweet and natural scent of the skin itself.

How will this sex magnet go through the trials and tribulations of mathematical ratings?
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
- Scent opening............9.0 (linear and pleasuring with an initial sweet liquorish burst)
- Scent Dry Down.........9.0 (linear and pleasuring with a focus on a sweet balsamic and vanillic drydown)
- Longevity....................6.5 (up to 6~7 hours on my skin, with 3 sprays - under average for a sweet scent; tip - spray your hair twice in the back of your head and you will gain up to 35% in lengevity and sillage)
- Sillage..........................6.5 (sillage peak up to 4~5 feet; projection for 1.5 hours - under average for a sweet scent)
- Versatility....................9.5 (Just avoid extreme hot or extreme cold weather)
- Usability......................8.0 (average for the office and daily use; exceptional for a night out, clubbing and social events; underspray for dates and intimacy; nice choice for the beach but a bit too sweet for the gym)
- Compliments.............10.0 (it will get you a huge amount of ladies compliments because you smell gourmandly sweet! "sweet and dear" was one of the compliments I received :-)
- Uniqueness.................9.0 (the 3 fragrances I mentioned - Pure XS / 212 VIP Black / Stone for Him - provoke the same reactions but they are not similar fragrances)
- Quality.........................7.5 (Very enjoyable but VERY synthetic; dificult to spray with the Zippo lighter type of cap)
- Presentation...............9.0 (Almost faultless - very nice flask and box)
- Price.............................7.5 (€50 for first 100 ml non tester; €35 for my 2nd bottle two months later; Probably price will come down further still)
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
- Average:......................8.30/10.00
between 7 and 8 => above average;
between 8 and 9 => recommended;
equal or bigger than 9 => don't miss it;

Opinion on "Pure XS ":
I had a lot of fun while using it. Due to my current happy mood I think it really is a masterpiece. Maybe I will change my mind if I get tired of this fragrance, but I do not think that will happen. It's a bit pricy still. Price will surely come down further in a near future.
I may complain about the under average performance. However a bigger performance could also mean a cloying fragrance. So it's better to leave it as it is. Tip for this type of perfume: Spray your hair twice in the back of your head and you will gain up to 35% in lengevity and sillage.
I just did not like the Zippo type lighter cap. It is a stylish cover, but causing some difficulty in handling the sprayer.
Blind buy worthy? No! Test it on your skin before any buying decision. Get your girlfriend or wife approval to wear it among other women. Don't blame Pure XS for getting an overdose of feminine compliments.
I quote an opinion by a Parfumo lady friend: "Tested on my feminin skin: love at first smell. Really sexy and warm, round and sweet. Perfect in this cold season or by night. Not so strong sillage, but no matter...I love it anyway!"

A brief comment on Pure XS Night: It is more sweet, more synthetic and has more performance. As a fragrance blending, the regular Pure XS is by far a better and complete perfume. If you are a clubbing addict, Pure XS Night may be a better bet. But that's only my humble opinion.

Music: Otis Redding – The Happy Song (Dum-Dum)

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