Eau Sauvage

And so we come to it, the one and only Eau Sauvage. It’s quite possibly the most sublime, masculine fragrance ever created. A beautiful fragrance is wonderful on many levels, but perhaps its greatest charm is in its ability to transport the wearer back to a particular time and place, and so it is for me with Eau Sauvage. It’s the height of summer, 1984; I’m 18 years old. Friday night’s ritual has just begun. Back then the weekend could never come around fast enough. That desire to escape the drudgery of the office nine to five felt even more pressing on swelteringly hot days. Home by six, wash, shave and exchange the grey suit and muted tie for something more relaxed; something to dance in. Maybe it’ll be the slightly oversized pale blue linen suit and loose-fitting cheesecloth, pastel coloured shirt tonight. Whatever I wear, it’s set off perfectly with a liberal splash of Eau Sauvage after shave. Even at eight o’clock as I set off to meet friends, the sun is still warm and the air is buzzing with life. My little Italian sports car has seen better days, but it’s as eager as I am to eat up the country roads and reach the city and the unknown adventures ahead. Tonight could be the night I meet the love of my life, the girl of my dreams. Meeting with friends, we decide on which nightclub to venture inside. We chat, we drink, we dance! My eyes meet those of a young woman across the dancefloor and we edge closer together. Later I drive her home, we kiss on her doorstep and exchange phone numbers, before I head off into the early morning moonlight. It’s still warm, as the wind whistles through my hair and I smile with contentment, listening to David Bowie on the cassette player. Eau Sauvage lingers in the air. A perfect night! This, then, is Eau Sauvage for me. It screams summer, it screams carefree days full of freedom without responsibility. It is all the adventures and possibilities of youth. I’ve set out what Eau Sauvage means to me in terms of the memories it elicits, because I think it’s important to make clear that my review of it highly subjective, being as it is, wrapped up with a great deal of nostalgia. On first applying the fragrance, it does seem to lead with the citrus notes of lemon and bergamot, but before one is able to pin it down, the aromatics come in, and blend perfectly. Sometimes I can pick out the basil, but just as I think I have it, it disappears back into the mix. It is the same, but to a lesser extent, with the rosemary. An oddity about this fragrance for me is that, considering there is no juniper note, I get a strong gin ‘n’ tonic experience from it. There's a bright, crisp, fizz evident in the opening. Then, as the tanginess drops away, jasmine, patchouli and sandalwood come in, making it a lot smoother, but the citrus remains noticeable, even when the scent dries down and the vetiver starts to dominate. I should add that I'm reviewing Eau Sauvage aftershave, which to me smells exactly the same as it did when I first used it. Eau Sauvage is my history, it will always remain in my collection. UPDATE: I've recently had the opportunity to test the EdT. To me, it smells the same as the aftershave, perhaps a bit stronger. Where it is different is the amount of time it is evident on my skin; compared to the aftershave, which lasts just a couple of hours, the EdT lasts for around 6 hours. My photo: https://www.fragrantica.com/fragram/fp/300947 Tested: 100ml full bottle Seasons / Occasions: Mainly for spring and summer. Suitable for relaxed, daytime and evenings Key thoughts: Fragrance of my youth. Reminds me of a refreshing, aromatic gin 'n' tonic Overall rating: 10/10 (due to nostalgia) 9.5/10 (more objectively) Buy again: Yes

A wonderful fragrance only brought down by its performance. I'm not usually the type to care much about that sort of thing, and I tend to consider most frags fairly strong, but this one is noticeably weaker to me. Which is a real shame considering how good the juice is. I wish the price were a bit lower to reflect the cut performance of modern formulations. (Not that I've smelled the vintage myself, but with the projection's longevity this short it's not hard to believe.) Know ahead of time that it's going to settle into intimate range fairly quickly if you intend to buy a full bottle. I'm not some dudebro that needs to announce himself to the building before the door opens, but this is a touch too subtle for my taste. Hopefully it sticks to clothes better in future wears. Besides that? Pure class. Not a single complaint about the scent itself. In fact, this is the first time I've truly loved citrus in a fragrance. That might sound odd given how ubiquitous citrus notes are in anything but winter fragrance nowadays, but they're usually blended far too loud, and scream overtop the rest of the composition in my opinion. Especially so in many modern frags that have that artificially hyped-up sort of citrus that almost feels like you're snorting the fruit's juice rather than smelling it. I bring it up to clarify how this frag is the opposite of that - and at the time of writing - is the sole example of such an interpretation of the note that I'm aware of. The citrus here sits comfortably along with the rest of the composition, blending in beautifully with the greenery and adding a fresh, tart zest of cleanliness that I'm not used to having in fougères. It's elegant. Doubly so because of the note's realism by not oversaturating itself. It's not a headache-inducing yellow to keep the children distracted by the pretty colors. The slightly muted nature of it really goes a long way for me in selling the scent's sophistication. A citrus-leaning fragrance not stabbing me in the nose? Has hell frozen over? Am I having a stroke? In all seriousness, this scent was added onto the favorites pile pretty much immediately. I knew within 2-3 minutes that I'd struck perfumery gold again as long as the drydown didn't suck, and it doesn't. The citrus and fougère structure both have this wonderfully musky, subtly floral profile that holds everything together and adds finishing cohesion. These two accords overlap in a way that feels slightly soapy, yet ultimately human and lived in. I think this is probably the part that some people consider "outdated". I guess I can see how it might come across as off to a nose that only understands heavy molecule-driven scents. This fragrance doesn't make everything as bright as possible, or pump enough Ambroxan into the air to make a ww1 vet have flashbacks of the trenches if they were still around. Personally I think the vintage approach is what makes it so good. It feels more naturalistic, even if it isn't. Modern perfumery can sometimes feel weirdly sterile with how notes can float in empty space. I hope you get what I mean and I'm not talking nonsense here. The current aversion to animalics or anything but the absolute cleanest of musks can ironically make fragrances less personable at times. These elements are often what I appreciate the most in vintage perfumery. So no, I don't find the scent "dated". It's old-school yes, but in a good way. It's not grandpa feebly hobbling around, it's a lense into another era. It's olfactory art that reflects back an after-image of the world it was created in.

(222mL splash from the mid 1980s) I've lathered myself in this - bathed myself in it; back of arms, inside of arms, back of hands, and neck... and it's either weak or I'm anosmic. Has the age of my bottle compromised its integrity? Or, is its close-to-the-skin subtlety and short lifespan part of the original intent? One day I'll do an arm-by-arm comparison with my other vintage bottle and find out; yes, I have two bottles because, regardless of this issue, I can't imagine myself not having plenty of this perfume to last me my life. I'm not the only one that has taken issue with its strength and longevity, and I'm also far from being the only one that thinks this is classic 70s/80s masculinity in a bottle. It's a square-chiseled jaw with subtle brown stubble, refined yet understated clothes, piercing eyes and a disarming smile. The lemon and bergamot top fades very quickly on skin, but lasts a good amount of time on the blotter (maybe this bottle is not as compromised as I suspect?). The first dry down, which happens quite quickly on blotters and skin, goes straight into a smooth but very dry herbal and floral heart. The top is the piercing eyes, the herbs and florals are the disarming smile because that middle is so comforting and smooth. It's rare, particularly these days, for herbs to not have a bracing and sharp vegetal green quality. Eau Sauvage's heart manages to smell like an herbal suspension. Then comes the square-chiseled and stubble coated jaw line in the form of ample oakmoss - real oakmoss! - musks, and touches of vetiver and woods. That real, glorious oakmoss and musk base is what triggers modern noses into immediately saying Eau Sauvage smells too old school or retro. However, we must note that the reason why it smells old school/retro is because we can't use real oakmoss anymore and haven't been able to for quite some time; had it still been permitted today, more masculine perfumes would smell like this - and how much better our life would be. Because this feels a bit dated to modern noses, and because the base is very much the star player when the overall life of the fragrance is considered, not many would want to pull this off nor could they pull it off. It will take a confident gentleman of a particular style to be able to handle Eau Sauvage in today's world. If we were to flash back to the 70s and 80s, when tons of men everywhere wore this, I cannot help but notice the correlation between how much masculinity has culturally changed to how much masculine perfumes have changed with it. This perfume had its heyday, and deserving of that and many more it is. But, perhaps today, we should not mourn that its heyday has passed and it is relegated to the shelves of connoisseurs and collectors since, after all, that's where the most beautiful things inevitably go.

Eau Sauvage isn't very common in Texas, at least, not my area. I eventually got tired of going into stores, asking for Eau Sauvage, and getting a "Eau Sauvage? Right over here..." Only to be directed to the modern Sauvage and realizing they said "Oh, Sauvage?" Suspend your disbelief, that really happened. Fear not, a 100ml tester from Jomashop solved my problem pretty quick. That place is a menace to my wallet... Make no mistake, this is some fine stuff, but in every sense of the word. Eau Sauvage is a product of its time in regards to its power, or lack thereof. The opening is an amazing shock of lemon and lemongrass, and is close to Guerlain Vetiver for my all time favorite opening. But the whole "When life gives you lemons" vibe doesn't stick around too long, and what persists is a soft musk of light florals and fuzzy woodiness that's mostly a clean vetiver. Apparently the old formulations had a higher dose of oakmoss, but good luck getting a bottle. The modern formulation reminds me of a warm spring night, with the scent of budding flowers and dewy greenery blowing in with the wind. “Ethereal” is a word that people aptly use often in Eau Sauvage reviews. I mentioned that Eau Sauvage doesn't have a lot of power, and that's true, but it's light in a different way. I've gotten over eight hours with two sprays (The atomiser is very nice), but it's gentle wafts, not a steady buzz like Eau Sauvage's younger relative. As much as a full bottle costs for this stuff if you don't use a discounter, I could see why one would be upset. However, this isn't a modern room filler, and may've been used by Austin Powers types back in the day, but this ain't for clubbing. It's tasteful, it's refined, but it also can come off a little "old." I've talked to some who don't care for the warm spice. Because of this, Eau Sauvage is also better suited for something more elevated than a t-shirt, unless it's that part of the summer where you really can't bear to wear another layer... I don't usually bring up the bottle unless it's particularly noteworthy, but Eau Sauvage's is. The silver fishscale cap and band around the rippled glass is a serious case of midcentury European elegance. Even though this is a 100ml bottle, it's pretty compact when compared to something like the overbuilt beasts from Guerlain. Oh, and a magnetic cap. Who doesn't like a magnetic cap on a bottle of fragrance? Overall, Eau Sauvage takes 1st prize from me for "Sunshine in a bottle." BUT. If you're looking for a more casual or modern take on this citrus/white floral profile, Issey Miyake's L'Eau D'Issey Pour Homme is my suggestion. It's like a high resolution version of Eau Sauvage, everything is sharper, but you still have that warm spice thing going on. I own and enjoy both, for what that's worth.

Dear lovers of the best fragrances, artistic editions and timeless pieces of art... It is my honor to be able to present you one of these from the entire global offer! It's hard to capture all the emotions and beauties and articulate them in a couple of sentences! The year was 1966 (9 years since the death of Dior himself (1957)). It was a very different world than it is today-perhaps the most aptly beautiful way to say "Time went slower!"-when he was treated to the release of this lucky beauty! Most of the times when you smell fragrances from the 80s, 90s or even the early 2000s, you often recognize this different old vibe in them. But it's the other way around - After all these years (Let's repeat, we're talking about the year of release 1966!) it still smells completely modern or without time limit - it will smell the same even in 20,30 years! The secret of this work of art lies in the perfectly composed pyramid fragrance profile! The beginnings of the fragrance are extremely refreshingly citrusy (fresh strong juicy lemon, refreshing bergamot, basil...), the middle develops into one of the most beautiful aromatic experiences on the market (Jasmine, Hedion, iris, patchouli, lavender...), and the end leads you to creamy and dry finish (vetiver, musk with ambergris!)! In most of the other cases, many profiles are well thought out but poorly executed - which makes this fragrance light years apart from the others! It's perfectly conceived but even better executed! To this day, it is still like one of the mighty final boss-guards of the "Perfume Art", who easily sweeps away the ridiculous competitions at the door - like old Ronaldo in his best form at the time beating a 5-year-old child with a ball or Mike Tyson knocking out a new member of the boxing team club (To show him who is the boss in the hall haha)! The only, but really the only "disadvantage" is perhaps the longevity, which I don't blame it for in the slightest - it is so well made that if I spray it enough - it is quite enough for daily use! It was not even made to fill and suffocate people and rooms, but rather to make the person who perceives you happy and has the honor to come close and enjoy its beauty and your company! As proof that it is still on sale, it speaks for itself - how successful it is at this! But I'm looking forward to the fact that the rest of the uninitiated will never use this - and we have this gem only for ourselves - let them continue to use their sweet molecules ;)