Beyond Paradise (2003)
by Estée Lauder

Beyond Paradise is a moderately sweet, soft, green-tinted floral scent that manages to be extremely amiable without ever descending into banality. According to Estée Lauder, what lies beyond paradise is a grassy alpine meadow brimming with wildflowers and warmed by a June morning’s sunshine.

After a brief, astringent galbanum and dry herb opening, Beyond Paradise’s green notes are all newly mown grass and fresh hay. This greenery is seamlessly wed to a gentle white flower accord that’s so well-blended that this seasoned gardener is hard pressed to distinguish any individual floral notes. The indole is under strict enough control that the only chink in Beyond Paradise’s clean innocence is a slightly animalic honey note that some passing bee might have brewed from all of the scent’s fresh nectar. Beyond Paradise is also largely free of conspicuous aldehydes. This lack may have a lot to do with the peculiar abstract clarity of the scent’s floral heart. Anything more than a hint of the trademark Lauder/White Linen soap-and-powder would have made Beyond Paradise insufferably maudlin, so the restraint exercised in their application deserves special complement.

Beyond Paradise is not a thick, plush, heady floral scent in the vein of Fracas or Joy. Nor is it entirely aligned with the weightless, dew drenched spring florals of Diorissimo or En Passant. Instead, Beyond Paradise appears to occupy an elevated and appealing middle ground among today’s floral fragrances.

I tried hard to like this, I really did. The exotic ingredients and complexity fascinated me. Unfortunately, my first test gave me an instant headache and nausea, a reaction I rarely get from scents. My husband also detested it. Sickly sweet with an unpleasant spice note. I cannot detect any particular notes as I can't smell it long enough to try. :(
Here's proof of my honest attempt to like it: despite my very strongly negative first reaction, I just tried it again. I do believe different times of the day and different moods affect one's chemistry. It was worse the second time around. The barest spritz on my wrist sent me to the bathroom immediately to scrub it off, something I've never done before! I have now scrubbed my wrist raw, applied rubbing alcohol and it's still making me sick to my stomach. 2 thumbs down on this one!

Horrible fragrance! I'm not too picky when it comes to perfumes and like most of them but this is bad. It's a bad floral strong rancid smell. It literally smells like funeral to me.

From Luca Turin's book:"[fragrance is] a portable form of intelligence."

From the AMA:: "[NASA] researchers are concerned about the long-term effects of exposing yourself to high levels of vibration. At least one is worried that brain damage is possible".

First up I should confess that with the odd exception (Lys Mediterranee comes to mind) I am not a fan of full-blown florals, so clearly this was never going to be the scent for me.... but I find this almost unbearably strident, especially in the first half-hour - tropically bright with potent melon overtones. An hour later and the jasmine and honeysuckle start to come through (although still with a hint of melon) but there onwards I find it strangely linear and flat - nothing draws me to keep smelling at my wrist. It reminds me of one of those huge cocktails, complete with paper umbrella and plastic flower, that a girl in the Eighties would have sipped by the pool - sweeter than she'd bargained for and probably destined to bring on a headache. Having read the other reviews, I'd be interested to smell this on someone else - maybe I'm one of the unlucky ones this simply doesn't suit!

I'm with ubuandibeme on this one...I think I understand why some call this a masterpiece (the straight-from-the-get-go warmth and complexity), but then there are times when I all I get from it is fabric softener. I'll stick with Beautiful as well...guess I'm just a sucker for a mossy base.