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VanyaShv – :
My first impression on the vintage splash EDT– INCREDIBLE! I love this! Like someone else said- very similar/style to Niki de Saint Phalle. This is kinda masculine, but the skin brings out feminine notes. I love it so much, I hopefully get an accepted offer on the EDP! This is awesome!
Green, sharp, floral, the minty-ness of Niki, some fruit, mossy, earthy, woody– just SUBLIME! Rich and golden (the golden feel/smell is like Diva, but I wouldn’t agree they are similar) but GREEN. So far, rich-thick strong sillage!
As it dries down, I find it very similar to Niki- but thicker and therefore I like it a bit more than Niki! WIN!
I will update on a proper EDT wear, and the EDP when/if I get that.
I never got the EDP. 🙁 The seller advertised the listing as EDP, but alas… it was EDT when it came in, so I got a partial refund to keep it. I recently (Sept 2018) wore this on a rainy windy Fall day, and it gave off “pot” green. Haha.
dra – :
Narcissus, oakmoss, roses, & jasmines.
It starts with an overdose splash of white jasmines with that rancidity and remains for few seconds… then calms a bit so the oakmoss rises with the geranium, cassis, carnations, & melon… the colder it goes the sweeter it gets with amber, mimosa, hyacinth, narcissus, and bits of roses.
This one is an interesting take of floral as I thought it’s a splash of jasmines but settles to sweet floral. Interesting.
sheravgan – :
a beautiful, rich strong chypre without the bitterness of the oakmoss taking over; well blended where no florals are distinct; floral, musk, oakmoss, patch; it wears very golden
seyran83 – :
I also had this scent in the mid-eighties.
I do remember the cool top notes, courtesy of the mint, cassis and melon that I see are listed. To me that was the most distinctive aspect of this fragrance. It never quite grabbed me the way some of the other 80’s scents did.
In my mind Maxim’s is linked with Niki de Saint Phalle as both were distributed by Jacqueline Cochran fragrances and are of the same era. For me, however, Niki was and still is a love while Maxim’s was only a like. I don’t think I ever finished the bottle.
lti249Diobtetty – :
Maxim’s
Eau de Parfum
Black Bottle (Spray)
Purchased on eBay
This was a mid 80s fragrance which I had once worn among my wardrobe at the time and which time forgot. I’m reacquainting myself with this beauty after more than 25 years. Because I purchased a vintage in the black spray bottle from a seller who sold authentic perfume I’m able to relive the magic and the exact same fragrance from the time of it’s release. I’m taken back to when I first wore it and when I wore evening gowns gloves and pearl necklace hats and beautiful clothing I don’t fit into anymore. In the 80s I was already a mature lady but the clothing that was being designed and manufactured then was respectful of older women clientele.
Maxim’s is a scent of evening in the City of Lights, a French perfume for a French woman out on the town on a weekend. Maxim’s restaurant has long welcomed gourmands and celebrities who go there to be seen wearing dazzling fashions and to enjoy meals with friends while being entertained by quality singers. This fragrance takes you inside those glass doors and into the realm of Paris night life. This is a cabaret fragrance, a black dress fragrance, a cocktail dress fragrance, heels, make up, and a smile. This is such a fun party perfume.
Opens with mint melon cassis or cassia and it reminds me of the opening to Roma by Laura Biagotti. Like Roma it has the power and the magic ability to take you to a specific place and time. This is like the scene in Gigi the 1959 Leslie Caron Louis Jourdan movie musical, toward the end, when Gigi has accepted to be Gaston’s newest girl, in the trappings of the courtesan ‘kept’ woman lifestyle, and she is testing the waters by joining him at Maxim’s and the dining guests are gossiping about them. This is a sweet scent when it opens very old fashioned but without the outdated aldehydes. For whatever reason they did not go into Chanel aldehyde mode and went for a fruity top instead. Smells of sweet wine. Like grape wine. I can detect mostly the grapes and cassia.
In the heart we get plenty of florals and this was no surprise because in the 80s we had flower power perfumes. It is missing powdery iris or super powdery rose so this is no Yves Saint Laurent Paris. This has a heady and very green photorealistic flower bouquet scent. Smells of carnation, geranium, tuberose and mimosa. There is a touch of green here and there, probably the patchouli, and the oak moss. To me the oak moss is not too strong and does not come through has unisex nor as outdoorsy. This is not a garden scent. It smells of clean fresh flowers in vases. The way they evolve and play their aroma music is so lovely. It goes from fresh hyacinth to narcissus and jasmine, orange blossom, your typical white flowers, into the vanilla scented mimosa (possibly heliotrope) and a creamy very delicious tuberose and carnation. Feminine and elegant flowers, very French in their evocative imagery of flower vases in a table or booth at a restaurant.
When the scent dries it’s not as floral and it turns into a very clean musky scent with wood. The sandalwood comes through and the dyer’s green weed from the middle stage is also making it’s appearance, the patchouli, and amber. This is a very lovely strong perfume that does not overwhelm but it is rich full and quite complex. It is/was nothing that stood out at the time. It reminded me of a less powdery YSL Paris but it was also somewhat of a more voluptuous and amber based version of Azzaro 9 not to mention a less fruity version of Roma. It does come off as very 1980s very womanly very confident but not bold. This is demure and lady like, festive, clean, sweet, flowery and with a dry down of musk.
This is still working it’s magic after all these years and have to recommend it to any vintage fan of rare perfumes. Long discontinued this fragrance will be sure to delight vintage fans and will turn heads if they catch a whiff of the perfume on you. Because it is full do not spray too much. All you need is one to two spritzes and you’re good to go. Great for spring and summer and perhaps even early autumn. This is a flowery scent so I can’t imagine what women wouldn’t care for it unless you have something against the way flowers smell. Again, I feel this is a festive party perfume to wear with party dresses and a night out on the town kind of thing. Gorgeous and very refined. Women that come to mind are Coco Chanel herself (though this does not smell of anything Chanel to me) Josephine Baker, Maria Callas, Jackie Kennedy, Catherine Deneuve, Leslie Caron, Audrey Hepburn, and Brigitte Bardot. While it’s not sexy nor provocative it has the charm and allure of a very beautiful classy but very physically fit and very attractive woman. I miss my old body!
damupjke – :
Maxim’s de Paris is a timeless treasure ! All the parisian spirit in a bottle ! Gorgeous night perfume , ultra feminine , very glamour , very “chic and sexy “!
izeliya – :
Sometimes, nothing but retro will do. MAXIM’S DE PARIS is a lovely, smooth-jazz number of a fragrance with tones of spices, sandalwood and rose. It’s a unique, feel-good scent that is extremely versatile. It can go anywhere. Sillage is moderate to high and one spray will do it. Longevity is great and it just gets more and more mellow as the hours pass. I used the word “retro” earlier, but I’d call this one timeless.
Stason4ik – :
Beautiful complex floral scent that is a great bargain buy. Lot of vintage perfumes of this orchestration commands very high prices on the secondary market.
Maxims opens up rich, heady and beautiful. Its not an 80s bombastic powerhouse but it does have a strong solid viewpoint like Diva, Coco, but refined and well blended. Very feminine.Worth checking out.
PeceLeady – :
Did not expect this AMAZING perfume from such a little talked about scent. Wow, it is of the calibre of original vintage perfumes or eau de parfums of the following: Coco Chanel, Boucheron, Creature, Dali by Salvadore Dali, first original, Magie Noire, first original. This perfume is lighter than many others of its genre and that to me, is a good thing as these rich scents are nice in smaller doses I think. Women and men of today´s generation, please do not judge any perfumes on recreations, but try to get originals as they are the real deal, not saying some reformulations are not lovely but if you want to know what the creator was thinking and feeling, the original is it. It you study the ebay deals of mini vintages sometimes you can get very good deals, and get to try many of these old girls for the price of one new bottle or less. If you buy a large lot, normally the deals are better but not always.
lewa – :
amazing! a true vintage masterpiece. Geranium, mimosa, REAL rose and not synthetic, melon, jasmine and vanilla. You feel like you wanna taste everything. Very good sillage and long lasting. No similarities with Diva at all, same quality but something else. A real gem.
araica – :
This is a beautiful floral fragrance with sandalwood. It’s as good as a Chanel. The flowers in it are among my many favorites and do blend well together: carnation, tuberose, hyacinth, narcissus, jasmine, African orange flower heliotrope. The melon and mimosa combo make it so delicious like a drink. And plus, you even get some vanilla and patchouli. It seems to have everything! This is in the same fragrance family as another favorite of mine Azzaro No. 9. I see this as being a mostly floral fragrance with some fruit but as an older 80’s fruity floral it beats other fruity florals that sell today. Classy, sophisticated, very Parisian. I can see how the fragrance relates to Maxim’s the French restaurant in Paris dating to the time of the Belle Epoque turn of the century. It smells like a fragrance made many decades before the 80’s, like something coming out of 1910. It’s gorgeous. I associate this fragrance with a friend of mine from Paris who introduced me to Arpege. She wears this very well but now I can wear it too. It’s a really beautiful fragrance and I recommend this for evening formal wear and if you’re a big fan of florals
Gorban9797 – :
Deliciosa combinação , porém pouco durável na pele; devo reaplicar ao longo do dia;mas, sem dúvida inesquecível cheiro!! Sexy, como eu!!
demitrius – :
This is the epitome of an 80s power perfume. It’s very beautiful and classy. It’s glamorous and sexy at the same time!
carpinteyrosed – :
I had two bottles of this back in the mid 80’s. I made it through the first bottle, but only used a small amount of the second before giving it away. It was a pretty scent, but there was something harsh with a sharp edge about it.
The bubble bath however was wonderful and I used quite a few bottles of that!
adjedan – :
Intoxicating. This is a sweet, carnation, rose,melon and mint feast! The initially strong juice settles into a close to the skin scent rather quickly, becoming a tender,sweet translucent floral veil. Very pretty indeed.
tuki-tuk – :
Lovely perfume with zeron staying power, both in Eau de Toilete or Eau de Parfum.
wye048InsuffBooni – :
This was a cheapie blind buy on eBay, used, about half-full, the EDT spray. I don’t drill sellers about freshness when it’s less than $10 including shipping, since I take my chances with sellers who don’t specialize in perfumes. So when it arrived I wasn’t too surprised that the top notes had soured.
But I wrinkled my nose and braved a few sprays and, lo and behold, and a little shyly, those heart notes came through. What a perfectly lovely scent!
Mind you, not knowing what a fresh bottle smells like, I can only go by what I smell now. I don’t care for unisex or masculine scents, but I’m not taken aback from (on me) the rather intensive spicy, dark-green patchouli heart, because sweet ribbons of red geranium and–I swear it’s there–purple lilac blossoms entwine all around it.
It smells to me a little like Diva: Not nearly as rosy, and no honey at all, but it has that golden quality to it. There is something shared by these two scents that evoke a color like bronzed red.
I’m so addicted to strong fragrance that I don’t trust myself to recommend where or when this would be appropriate to wear. I’m also no judge of sillage or endurance, since I’m a scent eater, but I get a fair run of about two hours out of it.
I would love to get a fresh bottle and see how they compare.
makscily – :
Her name was Anita. She had olive skin and golden brown eyes the color of good whisky. She wore her hair in a wispy pixie cut and she smelled amazing. I now know why. Mrs. Clarke was my eighth grade homeroom teacher. She always smelled so incredible and until I purchased this little bottle of Maxim de Paris, I had no idea what she wore.
This bottle came in a 5″ tall plastic shell of a box with that iconic red and black motif. The inside features a velveteen pedestal upon which sits my tiny bottle of EDP. Vintage, and never used I didn’t really know what to expect of this-then I opened it, and there was Mrs. Clarke and it was 1985 for just a moment.
I say just a moment because this fragrance, despite its very strong notes of cassis and something I can only describe as “green and herbaceous”, it doesn’t fill the room. I want a fragrance to fill the room.
I asked the hubby to take a whiff of it, and when he did he knee-jerked a “WHOO!” and asked if I was seriously considering wearing it. I told him I was. I wore it in today-the little dauber that corks this fantastic scent into its little black bottle didn’t really disperse this very well, and I feel certain if I had this in an atomizer the coverage would be greater, as well as the sillage. I’m here at work, but I can only smell this if I hold my wrist up to my nose. I love the herbaceous smell of it-it’s so…refreshing. But since I put it on about 4 hours ago, it has dried down to a wonderful powdery haze on my skin. If I close my eyes and inhale I see lace doilies and Victorian furniture. Not “old” as much as “vintage”. There is a difference.
I like this. I just need a better way to get it onto my skin. This smell makes me feel warm and somewhat luxuriant-like I should be wrapped up in an angora cowl-neck sweater, sipping oolong tea on a cold day.
Great stuff-just not very potent.
Donhomer – :
Enchanting! Indescribable! Hard to find, it’s a shame ..
Вован63ru – :
Was A “Heady” 80’s Classic……A Head Turner……Has A “Coco”…Chanel vibe, released both the Same year 1984
мельник – :
I found a vintage miniature bottle of this at an estate sale today. IIt only had a few drops in it but I had to have it. For a mere fifty cents it was mine! Using the bottle description I had to search online to find out what it was. Why haven’t I ever heard of this before? Such a gorgeous, rich, opulent scent! I would expect it to have a following. I admit it is out of step with modern trends. It is very 80’s, but elegantly so. Like a black wool power suit worn by Joan Collins (Knowing)as opposed to a gold lame mermaid dress worn by Linda Evans (Giorgio) I would love to buy a full sized bottle of this. I just hope it hasn’ been reformulated from what I am inhaling now. Mmmmm!
FaVoRiT – :
This was pure French luxury that didnt even try. I almost expected it to be this good as I sniffed it in the 1980s. Its inspiration and bottle was beautiful-Maxims of Paris.
Big, dramatic, fur coat wearing, diamond encrusted scents were commonplace at that time. It is in the same class as Mon Parfum or Boucheron. Larger than life and worth every drop. I seen a lot of bottles for around $15. USD on closeout, however. If I had a time machine, I would use it for perfume runs, forget the course of history. Gimme these babys!
It was clean-no civet and lot of oakmoss-my favorite. It was great for a night out on the town or a lavish party. Formal dress was required however. Perhaps these classics had to disappear as they do not fit in with fleece sports wear, sneakers and spray tans so common today. Bath and Body Waters have become the norm…Sigh…
dimon260185 – :
Encantador! Indescritível! Difíci de encontrar, é uma pena…
Adanosof – :
I really love this scent! It is soooo classy without being too heavy, too floral, too fruity, just perfect! very well balanced.
But the sad thing that the EDT version of this wonderful fragrance doesn´t last long for me. Have to try the EDP version.
Litwin2605 – :
Wauw, XSX!!!
Thank you soo much for adding this CLASSIC!!