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Portia
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APJ,
Do you remember 2006? Yeah, me either. Only snippets really. One thing I do remember though is the beginning of one of my trips to India that year. You may know that my last seriously long term partner is an Indian man, We met and lived here in Sydney for a couple of years and then he went back to India to run his families hotel business. So once or twice a year I would go to India to be with him for a few weeks.
In 2006 as I was passing through the airport on my way to India a squirt bitch spritzed me with perfume, I didn’t really pay attention till about 10 steps later when this unbelievably outrageous gasoline jasmine assaulted my nose and it was instant love. I ran back to her and she gave me a mini of the iconic Beyond Paradise Blue teardrop bottle to take with me.
Beyond Paradise Blue by Estée Lauder 2006
Beyond Paradise Blue by Calice Becker
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Grapefruit, bergamot, tangerine, lotus, Jabuticaba
Heart: Moonflower, jasmine, orange blossom, Frangipani
Base: Vanilla, Melaleuca bark, sandalwood, Cananga flower, neroli, lavander
Amusingly, to me anyway, Varun spent the whole holiday bitching that I smelled just like to lower caste Indian women who would put rows of jasmine and marigold strands in their hair to leave a fragrant wake. What he smelled as cheap I smelled as incredibly exotic, fresh and beautiful. On my way back through customs I bought myself a 50ml bottle and drained it but could not find it again to repurchase.
Beyond Paradise Blue is an over the top version of the original. Oilier, sharper, less about the jasmine and more about grapefruit, orange blossom and neroli. Beyond Paradise in engulfing, like a warm hug from a favourite aunt. Here though we have a siren call, like an alien call from across the sea. Still captivating but angular, crystalline and far more transparent.
I recently acquired the above bottle of Beyond Paradise Blue after searching for a reasonably priced one for ages. I think it was only released for one season, two maximum. It’s wonderful to have it in my collection again. If I’m being totally honest I don’t think it will get nearly as much wear as the original but it will be nice to have it for days that can only be filled by it.
eBay still has a few bottles
Did you ever try this outlandish lovely?
Portia xx
Australian Perfume Junkies 
I have never smelled this one. I remember when the original Beyond Paradise was released, I was a few years out of college and broke, but my mom gave me a little tiny bottle from an Estée Lauder gift with purchase. I loved the bottle – so colorful! – and enjoyed the perfume. I obtained another mini of it more recently just to look at- I’m not sure it smells the same but will need to revisit. I have no idea if the modern version smells the same but it’s now in the generic bottle so I don’t think I would buy it!
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Never tried this one….wish a squirt bitch had spritzed me with it :)….sounds delicious! Next time I am in a dept store I will have to revisit some of the Estee Lauders……
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You’ve just tickled my curiosity! In the 80s Beyond Paradise was big but even as an Estee Lauder fan ( and even today), I never took to that one scent. It was just a huge bouquet of every which flower you could imagine – to me that is! But this one you described is ‘news’ and the jasmine about it makes me start longing. I shall see if I can find one to squirt!
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I dont have a full bottle but I think I have a 5ml spray mini of it lying somewhere, probably the same you got from that sales associate at the airport
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I don’t remember this one, but it sounds like something I would wear today. Probably in the 80’s I would have passed it by. I am a Calice Becker fan today, so I shall see what I can find on auction. 🙂
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I haven’t tried Beyond Paradise but reading about your meet cute with this perfume is a bliss! I remember jumping aside from a SB who wanted to spatter me with some La Vie est belle (I mean no offence, by the way, it’s just so-o-o not my type of fragrance).
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I have tried and tried to wear Beyond Paradise. Never going to happen. I loathe tropical island type scents. Coconut, tanning lotion, frangipani and even tiare are no ways! Sensuous Nude is as far as I’ll get. Beyond Paradise is just too much. Screeches on me. This one, though, might be ok. You sold me on the marigold mention. 😉
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Love it too. Wore it a lot when I was living in Australia – felt like it complemented the climate. Has a bit of a swimming pool vibe that I strangely enjoy x
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