Pleasant enough scent, but it essentially disappeared in less than an hour. Not worth it.

Shalimar Parfum Initial by Guerlain is not a disappointing “very berry cupcake”. Basically, take Shalimar EDC, add a dash of Angel, hit yourself in the head, and there you have it. The composition opens with citrus, vanilla, iris, and spicy leather, and at this stage, the genetics of Grande Dame dominate the composition. As the fragrance develops on the skin, I pick up liquorice loud and clear. Basically, a huge liquorice root is chasing me around the room, trash talking and spewing obscenities. An hour later, the liquorice thug sulks in a corner and suddenly crazy Auntie Angel shows up with caramel and funky patchouli. Crazy Auntie and I are fabulous friends—we have caused quite a bit of trouble together—and we spend the next four hours trying on clothes and deciding if I look better in the vintage floral dress or the one made out of rubber (it snaps).

4/5 Just try it!

Okay, this is for both Parfum Initial and PI L'Eau. I tested PI L'eau on my hand and PI on my forearm, so I could distinguish them, but also detect the combination. Here's my assessment: You will be driving along and put your arm up to your nose, and you will scream to nobody in particular "holy, do I smell gorgeous!!" PI is definitely related to Shalimar but has none of the smoke. The first blast is fruity, girly meh, but the drydown after an hour is guerlinade beauty with a tiny bit of good musk, fruit and floral. It's a lighter version of the Shalimar drydown but no skank here. (Shalimar can turn to skank on me.) The PI L'Eau starts out an unidentifiable green. I know other reviewers have said it's like AA Pamplelune, but I didn't detect that in the top. It's light and green, and it too is meh to begin with. And here too the drydown is the best. it's delicate with a really good musk and a hint of the AA Pamp drydown.
And the bonus here is that not only is each scent fine in its own right, but they also complement each other. So, unable to decide, I purchased both (gotta love the 20X points and redemptions at Shoppers...), and yes, I did have to say out loud how good I smelled on the way home. Both scents have merit, neither as profound as older sister Shalimar..

Beautiful, i've never experienced such an unbelievable transformation in the drydown, so you really need to try this on your skin. I was looking for something classic, sensual, dark and warm but have such trouble with my skin chemistry that nothing seems to smell good on me.

I asked the woman at the counter for something with a bit of spice and she suggested Shalimar Initial straight away. I hated the smell in the bottle but gave it a go on my skin, and I still don't know why, because I really didnt like it at that point. It started out very, very green and herbal to me, really not very pleasant at all, and a bit too heavy on some sort of spice (i'm not very good at identifying notes sorry!). Well, within an hour I went back to buy a bottle, which I absolutely never do. It developed into a very creamy, warm, interesting soft vanilla, with just a hint of the spicy herbal from the beginning, which remains at the edges of the spritz zone, so a bit further up my arm. . It's the best perfume I've ever had on my skin - I can't stop smelling my wrist!

I write this as I lie ill on the sofa with a throat like it has been cheese grated, but have it on anyway because it is very unobtrusive and I get nothing of the headaches which so many perfumes seem to give me.

I really think this would suite a wide age range. I'm 27 and have been toying with more grown up fragrances. In the last year my two perfumes have been Idylle and Chanel no. 5 Eau Premiere, both of which I love, but neither of which have the sensuality and sexiness of Shalimar PI. Also, neither of which ever graduated to become my signature scent, which I think this will.

So, if you have trouble with your skin chemistry definitely give this a try. And it must be tried on the skin and allowed to develop!! It seems to me it sits very close to the skin so I'd give yourself a couple of spritzes a good half hour before you leave the house. Definitely don't spritz and go! I have only had it a couple of days but I think it will be a scent which people just catch from you when you walk past, or best appreciated up close with your partner.

All I have ever wanted is to get that "wow what are you wearing" reaction from people, which I only ever got from the sadly discontinued Dolce and Gabanna Feminine. This is a completely different fragrance but I have no doubt that I'm going to get compliments - it really is that good! Beautiful bottle is a nice bonus too.

this is by far a very different perfume if you want to stand out from all the basic florals. This is sexy and mysterious. any age can wear it as it changes on people. LOVE it and since i am a perfume junky that says a lot as i buy perfumes and give them away as i get bored. this one i adore. smells expensive and it is a good price. it should be 500$

I must have thirty cards sprayed with this rattling around my house. I always sample it when I'm out -- I can't resist the bottle, and I love the pop of alcohol and cedar that I get the instant it's sprayed. I have always been hesitant to put in on my person, though, because I don't really love that heavy mustiness I get from all Guerlain fragrances (Guerlinade maybe?)

Today I took the plunge and sprayed it on my wrist. Sadly no cedar on my skin, but an interesting spicy orange. To me it smells like a dusky sexy fruitcake. Wearing it I feel like a tipsy Salma Hayek at a Christmas party. No mustiness.

This is how I wished the Original to smell. I guess that´s my bodychemistry. It was Johnsons´s babypowder troughout the fragrance to my sadness.
Initital is a whole different story. It develops so nicely on my skin. Many people think that it´s similar to Dior Homme Intense which I have never smelled. All I know is that I love this gorgeous creation. Especially the drydown is to die for. Still sweet from the flowers but spritzed with patchouli and caramel. I am not good at describing fragrances but I have to say that I higly recommend this to lovers of oriental fragrances. It is so incredibly beautiful.

LOVELOVELOVE my new training-bra Shalimar. I have the original and have owned several of the flankers. I like them all for different reasons. The smoky notes in original Shalimar have a way of turning sour on my skin, so that one is usually reserved for colder weather. Eau de Shalimar has been my recent favorite for its lemony punch. However, it has grown a bit sweet for me in recent months. Shalimar Initial hit me with a blast of iris -- I have no idea what the notes are, so if I'm wrong, it was something LIKE iris -- and a healthy dose of that signature Shalimar lemon. The powdery notes are a bit synthetic, like something I'd find in a teen-marketed fragrance (hence 4 lippies instead of 5), but that phase passes, and I'm left with a supremely comfortable clean-but-not-detergenty scent that I can wear with both sweatpants and professional attire, and most importantly, around my young children. (No, I'm not suggesting that some fragrances are more appropriate than others around children, just that I don't want to overwhelm my own kids with my more statement-y scents.)

All the flankers for Shalimar do not bother me. I love to sample them, because, Guerlain can make a flanker like none other.

This reminds me of Shalimar but, it seems icier and more musky. On my skin I get mostly iris, bergamot, orange, patchouli, just the smallest hint of the green notes, rose and a blast of powdery balmy musk. Many iris notes tend to go dusty smelling on my skin and this one doesn't.

It has nice lasting power on the skin and the sillage lies close to the skin making this a wonderful intimate scent. I love to wear this one to bed it's icy, yet comforting and relaxing.

How can someone not love it? This is the most beautiful scense ever, even better than the original one, has much more body... its a bit sweeter much closer to the original formula, the one noone has hold of these days, believe me. This is actually what the original smelt back in a day when the accident of pourring the artificial Guerlain's vanillin into the Jicky decanter gave birth to the original Shalimar, and yes, at this first accident it was very sweet... We can also recognize a little of Vol de Nuit in it, what reasures it's much closer to that date than to the lemonpie Shalimar we have now. Maybe that's the real reason for the name 'Parfum Initial'. Allthough advertisement can manipulate us in the way they say 'it's the contemporary version of Shalimar'. I thank Guerlain for this master piece!