They don’t make them like this any more.
Really, they don’t. Mandy herself states this is the most extravagant perfume in her collection, and considering the splendor of some of her other creations, that says something . . .
I’ve read elsewhere that this is a perfume that shimmers on the skin, not in any literal sense, but in the way the notes wind around each other, fiery, sweetly floral and heady, not one of them taking a backseat to any other, all of them singing in flawless, fragrant harmony. .
-- Scent Less Sensibilities

Aftelier Perfumes has unveiled one of the most precious scents we’ve seen – the thimble-size 2.2 ml Parfum Privé. Unusual notes like osmanthus lower and musky ambrette area combined in a warm floral that’s good to the last, luxurious drop.
-- W Magazine

This perfume has no rough edges; just a fecund smoothness that melds perfectly with skin and the final drydown reveals the full beauty of the ambergris.
-- Perfume Smellin’ Things

Mandy Aftel is one of the great living masters of natural perfume... Parfum Privé is redolent of sultry flowers, warmth and light... it smells like the night air in Shangri-La.
-- Affluent Lifestyle

Parfum Privé has a delicious powdery fruitiness. And it’s light scattering through a prism—all the different colors of the rainbow glowing. It’s the sunset sparkling on the water—a shiny glowy sunset, sparkly and rich. It is a beautiful flowery and mysterious tapistry—intriguing, sexy, inviting. Amazing.
-- Shannon Honeybloom

For me, Parfum Privé opened the door to a new appreciation of natural perfumes. Parfum Privé is dense, and all its notes feel telescoped into a narrow bandwidth. That doesn’t mean the fragrance is limited or boring. Instead, it’s deep and subtle like a piece of good chocolate — with a similar earthy kick, actually. Chocolate looks, smells, and tastes like one thing, chocolate, but hold it in your mouth and you might taste smoke, caramel, wood, and more. Parfum Privé has a similar way about it.
-- Now Smell This

Mandy Aftel's essay on the night air in Hawaii… a beautiful, persistent presence on the skin.
-- Katie Puckrik Smells

When I first apply Parfum Prive, the strangest thing happens: my mouth starts to water. It's not a gourmand fragrance, but some part of me wants to consume it anyway, as if inhaling its scent just isn't enough. As I breathe in, it's as if my nose, then throat, then chest expand and tingle with ecstatic anticipation. The spiciness of the pink pepper and pimento leaf are featured quite prominently, and are used to great effect in combination with the bergamot and orange flower absolute.
-- Eyeliner on a Cat

It's a private moment just as much as it's a fragrance first created for the personal use of the perfumer. Parfum Prive walks the line between pretty and animalic, contrasting elements of both to show how quickly the heady blooms can become dirty as well as how clean is the essence of sea and skin.
-- The Non-Blonde