PACO RABANNE
1 MILLION ELIXIR

2022

PERFUMER
Quentin Bisch
Christophe Raynaud

Apple
Davana

Damask Rosse
Osmanthus
Cedarwood

Vanilla Absolute
Tonka Bean
Patchouli

*Insert Michael Scott from The Office screaming ‘no’ here. As someone who finds the original 1 Million quite unbearable, this might rival it. I have to be honest and say that I only wore it for about 3 hours, before trying to wash it off; not a nice thing to do as a ‘reviewer’ and it has only happened a couple of times; 1 Million Elixir is one of them.

Frankly, the only reason I wore this to begin with is because I did like 1 Million Parfum and in general I am a fan of Bisch’ work. From what I remember and from ‘the general vibe’ that 1 Million gives off, Elixir is right on path for what you would expect and it goes back to its roots. It’s not a strong deviation from it’s inspiration, like Dior’s Sauvage Elixir; instead, it’s a stronger version of the very recognizable DNA.

It takes me back to early clubbing days, student housing and an ex-girlfriend with a ‘live, laugh, love’ tattoo wearing Viva La Juicy. Maybe that history has something to do with my aversion to 1 Million, but either way, this scent profile is cloying and downright frustrating to wear for me.

The overly sweet and sugary apple vibe is an amplification of the fruitiness that I dislike in scents like Erba Pura (which is not that far off overall; I don’t remember well enough if the original 1 Million was this similar, but here it’s getting remarkably close). It’s somehow juicy and warm at the same time. It’s almost not bad… like a lemonade, but then it has been sitting in a hot car for a couple of hours.

It’s thick and loud and at the same time bubblegum, candy-like. This flanker seems to go a bit powdery. I can see this appeal to teens, people who love Erba Pura, people who love Baccarat Rouge 540. For me personally, it’s up there with my worst wearing experiences of 2022 and it’s the first fragrance I had to wash off this year.