Le Parfum Essentiel

What a truly beautiful perfume! I sprayed it on early on a warm spring day and it made my entire day so pleasant getting the whifts of a unique flowery frag. A romantic and ageless, but not aged, floral for feminine ladylike women. A fire-sure present idea for moms and grandmothers 🌸☺️ That said it doesn’t lack an edge for a young romantic girly girl either. I can see this on any age! White, pink, floral dresses or lace... excellent interpretation of Elie Saabs sensual designs. It is crisp, it is powdery, it is clearly gardenia (much better than my Gucci Flora precious gardenia where the stage is shared with a fresh pear, here gardenia is on main stage more powdery than creamy and supported by citrus flowers and cedar for slight freshness, crispness and greeny notes). The staying power is excellent too. Distinct but not offensive. Both daytime and evening appropriate. To me this is in same class as Florabotanica by Balenciaga - same cool floral by nature, yet not, wibe. It breaks my heart to see this at to low prices right now! I think that means it will be discontinued soon. Get it before to late!

I have a gardenia bush in a pot in my garden that I absolutely adore. It thrives beautifully in the tropical warmth, the pure white blooms stand out against the dark green foliage. On occasion when I walk around my garden, the wind blows the right way and I catch its scent on the breeze. This fragrance captures the scent of gardenia flowers very realistically. It's big and gorgeous and heady, from the first sniff I knew I had to have more than just a sample. Sadly doesn't last very long on me. I also don't get much patchouli. I have it in the purse spray and it's probably enough for me. I often just take off the cap and sniff it. I usually can wear big white florals with no problem but somehow I never feel like wearing this one out. Occasionally I wear it at home, just for myself, and it never fails to lift my mood.

I was unsure about this when I first smelled it. Then I purchased it. Later I started wearing it. I am now halfway through my bottle and I am starting to love it. It took time. My nose did not change. But I own a lot of fragrances, competition is fierce and this did not stand out. Now it does. It is bright and fresh, sweet, a bit mature (but would be lovely on a young girl), a bit classy, very approachable. It is pretty. I understand the references to a soapy element. I love soapy, I think soapy scents are very on trend, and I can tell you this is not a soapy perfume. It is a sweet white floral. Edit: I did finish the bottle, I did repurchase, and this is one of the two most complimented scents I have. Nowadays I have much less fragrances, but this one is among my staples. This is my little white dress.

I have been wanting to get this gem since it was released! Today I smelt it and it was everything I was hoping for! It is the best orange blossom and gardenia combination I have ever smelled. It doesn’t have lots of notes but the beauty is in it’s simplicity. The opening is Orange blossom and zesty mandarin orange and then immediately the Gardenia and the notes fused together in such a stunningly beautiful intoxicating scent. I don’t get lots of patchouli or cedar, I think it’s just to have a slight woody base but it’s not a patchouli bomb at all. This is a very classy, elegant beauty. Perfect for a wedding or spring/summer but I will wear it in all seasons. 10/10 if you love white floral fragrances get this one!!❤️

A soapy, clean white floral fragrance with patchouli (not the dirty kind!). I agree with the below, this isn't something that I was certain on when I first got it, but now I can't stop wearing it. It's carefree, simple and elegant - the name is very appropriate, it's the sort of fragrance thats a "grab and go" in my collection when I don't know what to wear. Non-offensive and great value for money. I do agree that there is a lot of patchouli in this fragrance, but not the kind of patchouli in Angel fragrances (where the patchouli is headache inducing for me!). Blended with the gardenia, it's a soapy, creamy patchouli that just adds to the longevity of the fragrance. This is a win for me!

When I first smelled this perfume I was instantly in love, a very white floral perfume and slight hint of citrus. I can never seem to pick up on that slight citrus note anymore however. The performance itself is not that great, it's a very intimate scent and hardly long lasting. That being said I don't believe that makes for a bad fragrance, there's always occasions that call for more intimate scents that aren't extremely loud and this definitely makes you feel 'clean' when you wear it, I would say to simply not have high hopes on the performance is all.

This is good but I think it could be something great if the orange and orange flower were turned up and the gardenia took the backseat. The overdose of heavy indolic gardenia gives it kinda an old lady vibe to me, but underneath you can smell the sweet juicy and sparkling orange. I layered this with CK1 All and it was amazing. Very feminine and really only for mature women. I got it because I got a deal from a close out sale, paid $7.99 for a new bottle and couldn’t say no, it will end up being a gift for an aunt this Christmas.

Beautiful gardenia fume, but wears very oddly. It goes strong for about 2 hours, linear, doesn't change, which I like, but after about 2 hours it just disappears without a trace. No dry down, no skin scent, nothing. Could be me and my chemistry as of recent. I will update if my experience with it changes. I am bummed, as I really like it, but luckily, it's very cheap to purchase. I would advise getting a bigger bottle than 1oz, which is what I bought.

I recently encounter with this perfume randomly. It is really beautiful and soft, playful but absolutely elegant. It is a white floral chypre perfume. If you are sophisticated and confident person who likes flower scents with a hint of sweetness you will love this. It last very long on my skin. I think it can be a good blind-buy. My partner also loves and complement every time I wear this. You feel the quality and designer's genre when you smell this.

I usually dislike gardenia, but this one i like. I smell at first the orange notes but then all i get is a nice white flowers which is the gardenia. It's for a mature lady who is well dressed and classy. It lasts 3 hours and after that i spray it again. Worth the try if you are a seeker for a white flower scents. Even a safe option as a gift for a classy women.

Definitely the most elegant Elie Saab flanker in my opinion. It is straight up elegant, perfect for the wedding. I am not a huge fan of gardenia, but this one is a good blended gardenia (imo way better and softer than the essence no 2 gardenia). Very lovely and a succeeded blind buy!! Would definitely repurchase this one :)

I just blind bought this and I swear, it’s the dupe of Dior Pure Poison! Not quite as strong on the dry down but the first blast is definitely all white flowers...which I love. It didn’t last all day, a couple of hours at the most. I love Elie Saab perfumes in general and this one is just lovely

I am a big fan of Elie Saab Le Parfum range. As predicted, I’m in love with Essentiel as well. This beautiful scent opens with soapy and fresh from the orange blossoms and woody earthy floral on the dry down. Super feminine, some might think this is a mature scent. But for me it’s lovely.

Summer dress, backyard kids birthday party potluck, hosted at grandma's house and you just washed your hands with the powder room's handsoap. Floral, soapy and clean. Bright and pleasant. I really like it !

This is absolutely beautiful for Spring and Summer and it’s a perfect blend of Gardenia and Orange Blossom. Fantastic gift for your loved one ❤️

I love this perfume, but then again, Gardenia is one of my favorite notes in any perfume. I definitely pick it up in this one

One of my signature scents, blind buy no problem. Love how it dries down and lasts even few days.

Reminds me a little of Vera Wang, but with more white floral

I got this perfume a few months ago from Marshall's on clearance for $24. Initially, I had mixed emotions about this fragrance on the first spray, but it leaned more towards dislike. Okay, so it smells really classy and elegant and it is pretty much a white floral bomb, with gardenia being the main one. However, it was so screechy and harsh that it brought on a slight headache. It's a really intense floral scent. Then, I got this fuzzy, hazy, damp and wet, but green accord just lingering in the background. I knew I smelled that scent before and it smelled like the early to mid 90's and gave me a flashback of birthday parties as a kid, and there was at least one mom wearing something like this, lol. And I didn't like that because now this perfume seemed aged and out dated, lol. But then I learned through this perfume what a classic chypre fragrance smells like, and for that I now I truly appreciate this fragrance for taking me on this fragrance journey. I am almost done with my 1 oz and I truly enjoyed wearing it this spring, and I would wear it when it rained and something about it paired well with that weather. Now, I have to mention the dry down, though it takes some time to get there for me, but with my body chemistry I get the loveliest and must luxurious soapy dry down. It's intoxicating. Longevity for me is about 4 or 5 hours, not the longest for an Elie Saab fragrance, but not too bad, still. However, this bad boy projects pretty far for the first couple of hours, but then it simmers down. I don't think I'll repurchase it again once I'm out, but I will forever remember this fragrance discovery. Update: I miss it dearly. The intense floral notes left an imprint on my brain and my memory. And now that I own the original Le Parfum, I miss this flanker even more.

Really nice STRONG, dense fragrance.. an orange flower mixed with cream and some slightly soapy pinching gardenia in the background to give it piquancy. There's some nice understated Chanel-esque patchouli in the base as well. The gardenia note has often been a problem for me, in Le Parfum I found it too sharp, here the creamy notes really temper that. I am reminded of orange sweet tarts candy plus orange blossom, and though there's something a bit artificial here, it doesn't really bother me. I don't know what this might be but there's also a musky element that is distinctly NOT sweet. It's hard to isolate though through the waves of orange blossom with my amateur nose though. Maybe it's the colone bourcet mentions below? If you mixed Terracotta and Coco Mad. with the first Le Parfum, you'd get something similar to this I think. It's very classically perfumey. I have zero problem detecting this on myself and one spray is more than enough for me for all day wear. There's a nice versatility here, I could wear this for day or a night out. The projection could be strong for the office, but not like I’m worrying much about that at the moment. :) Nothing revolutionary here, just pretty femininity, and a really great value. This compares favorably to perfumes at 3x the price. I got a small bottle of this at TJ Maxx for under 30$. Well worth it!

This reminds me of Flora Carnivora from Henry Rose. I bet if you put them side by side you would have a hard time telling which is which. This has a bit more orange and is a little creamier and softer than Flora Carnivora, but they are very close in style, execution and smell. This is nice and a safe dumb reach (as the saying goes) I prefer my white florals to be more animalic or bolder. Personally, if you want a clean gardenia Elizabeth Taylor's Gardenia is a better value for money and in my opinion smells far superior. What I like about ET Gardenia is it leaves out the citrus note so it is all about the gardenia, which I prefer. Citrus is nice but at times I feel it is overdone in fragrances, especially today. If you want a very clean citrus, white floral that isn't too sweet, doesn't use a sharp bergamot (which many citrus white florals do) w/ no animalic undertones this is a good buy.

Wow! This is stunning and it’s more than I expected. This a beautiful warm floral. It’s even kinda of earthy and it’s giving me this slight coffee note. I know coffee isn’t listed but I think the earthiness and warmth of the florals is making it have the smell of coffee. But that dies down pretty quickly and then the florals shine through for the rest of the perfumes longevity. It’s so beautiful. I’ve seen some reviewers say this is “too mature” or “old lady” but I think people are too wrapped up on the sweet, fruity mainstream scents that anything more complex is considered “old lady” actually most florals that aren’t fresh are automatically considered “old lady” but those always end up being the classiest, most feminine fragrances. I’ll take a “mature” scent any day over the overly mainstream perfume.

Gorgeous scent. Luscious, verdant, wet florals. Opulent and celebratory but muted enough so you don't feel like the perfume is wearing you. Bridal for sure but also the ladies luncheon fundraiser appropriate. This performs on skin so much more beautifully than tester paper; the dewy orange blossom truly blooms on skin given the right temperature. The gardenias are lovely without being waxy and matronly; the cedar and patchouli provide depth and creaminess to the gardenia without drying it out. This definitely has vibes of Gucci Bloom and similarly Bond No. 9 Madison Square Park. I'm detecting some calone here (which I love) that adds such wet freshness to what otherwise can be a stiff white floral. Safe blind buy for a classically pretty white floral that is still contemporary and fresh.

A sultry, inoffensive, feminine fragrance. It reminds me of soft, chestnut brown, glossy waves of long lustrous hair. It has a similar essence of the Girl of Now, that very soft, feminine, almondy background. There are beautiful bursts of orange blossom, making this perfume quite predictable and easily liked. This reminds me of a very sweet, timid apologetic girl who continuously tries to be liked by everyone around her. Everything she does is completely inoffensive and appropriate. It’s sweet and syrupy, with inoffensive, familiar white florals of a powdery texture. In the dry down, the orange is much more apparent, it is more like tangerines, sweet and youthful.

This is a very delicate perfume. It is a purely feminine white floral. There is nothing deep, dark or intriguing about it, but also nothing unpleasant. I guess there's a time and a space for it as well. You will not go wrong with it, if you just want to feel like a princess, not like the "plastic Barbie doll, with a sparkly dress"-princess, but more like a fairy-tale princess come to life walking by herself through the palace garden. This is that type of fragrance which is made to be admired from closer, as it settles closer to the skin. I would enjoy hugging a person that smells like this, that's for sure.

This fragrance leans to sweet notes which normally is not my cup of tea, but I like it at the first sniff. I notice the notes are different depending on the weather. Today it has sweet flowery and patchouli scent. Another day I could smell some kind of sweet and honey-like scent. Not a distinctive fragrance if you prefer that kind of perfume, but office friendly and a kind that you can wear and love daily. Although it's quite a faint scent, spraying too much can be overwhelming.

I own this and am 2/3rds through my bottle and I just can't love it, I feel like it's mature on me and I'm 31 with 4 kids I just don't know why I haven't connected with it when I absolutely love white florals. Once this is used up I won't repurchase it. The bottle is so pretty and it's has a pretty decent performance and sillage but I just don't know there is something older lady who has alot of money and attends charity dinners about it.

I find there is little in common with the original here, though this flanker is so pretty. It showcases the Gardenia beautifully. A lighter, greener, more youthful Elie Saab, which matches the pink juice inside the classie Le Parfum bottle perfectly. Longevity and projection are both moderate. I don't believe this would be offensive to anyone, making it suitable for any occasion or time of year.

Elie Saab's perfumes are designer-like classy compliment getters that will save you lots of money. This one is very feminine and moderately sweet, just the right amount of perfumey. I am sure it has honey note which is not listed because it resembles the original's DNA (although I'd say it's even better, it's sweeter and more youthful) and it reminds me of Scandal JPG quite a bit.

I didn’t expect much from this perfume as I usually dislike most of designer perfumes. This one definitely has a little bit of that designer quality but it still one of the best designer perfume for sure, even though it’s pretty generic, and nothing too unique in my opinion. It’s just a very nice, fresh, bright, floral, soft, very easy to wear scent!

This is such a calming and comforting fragrance for me. I exhaled a big sigh of relief and joy upon smelling this the first time. This is just so gorgeous to me - the perfect balance of floral and earthy undertones. I adore patchouli so i'm a big fan of the dry down of this fragrance. It's pretty, a bit sophisticated, and perfect for everyday wear.

This is really pretty! The white florals are soft and comforting. The patchouli is present throughout the wear and is nice and smooth and the cedar base note makes this more refined. I like to wear this day and night and I just apply a bit more for evening wear. For the right price, this is definitely full bottle worthy. 8/10 ❤.

Heavy white floral fragrance. Very perfumey but not in an old school way. Also a patchouli bomb. Of course scents don't have an age but to me it feels like this is not a young teenager fragrance. It has something deep and elegant to it. I've seen someone calling this perfect for a wedding and I totally agree!

Beautiful fragrance! A wonderful mix between warm, creamy white flowers and a very fresh mandarine ( i can smell a very natural mandarine peel) with a touch of patchouli. One of the best from Elie Saab! Really pleasant, elegant and uplifting. Final note: 9/10 I recommend it to a classy and adventurous woman!

For my nose this is the perfume ,which resembles the most to my beloved Fendi Palazzo edp.I was searching Fendi years and years or something similar to it and i found it.I was so happy,i couldn`t believe it!So i ordered the biggest bottle and i will bathe in it.

یک گلی،پودری مشکی که خیلی با بقیه تفاوت نداره اما بهرحال جذاب و پوشیدنیه یه حس خامه ای و لاکتونیک قشنگی از ابتدا توش احساس میشه بوی تمیز و مهربونی داره **************** scent:7.5/10 longevity:7.5/10 sillage:7/10 purchase value:3/10 ********** overall:6.2/10

After a floral-heavy open, this dries down to a charming fragrance... flowery with subtle hints of honey and oranges. (I’m not getting a chypre scent, though.) Loved the sample, bought the full bottle.

I’m struggling to finish my 30 ml bottle. I get compliments so it must be crowd pleasing, but something doesn’t work for my nose.

This is very pretty floral version perfect for a warm Summer day!! If you like Gardenia, you will like this beautiful perfume! :)

Very pretty and feminine fragrance. The gardenia is very prominant and elegant.

Reminds me of one of the flankers in the Avon Rare series...Rare Pearls, I think. The sample card claims this has effervescent mandarin. It's a little sparkly and overall very warm. I get the gardenia accord, but it's not a full rich floral to me; it's more sweetness in a creamy texture. Cedar is present. First spray is nice, but as the gardenia+mandarin work, it becomes too sweet and bothersome. It's quiet though (not weak! Just hushed). This isn't terrible. I'd have to be in the mood to wear this, but I'd reach for the Avon instead (despite it smelling a little dated. LPE smells like an update.) This is a solid ok. Try if: you'd like your gardenia to be puffy, soft and warm and more sweet than anything. If you think Armani's My Way is an impressive white floral, you should try this. (I do not find an animalic facet in either LPE or MW, and they're both too sweet to me and not floral enough.) Update: reapplication to the same points later in the (hot) day produced better gardenia note. Still sticking to the original review, but having more prominent gardenia made this prettier and nicer. Would not purchase this, but makes me want to look for nicer gardenia-forward scent(s).

I am not a fan of white floral fragrances,but this is amazing. Very clean, fresh and elegant fragrance. Perfect for any weather. I would wear this for an interview or as a wedding guest. It's really elegant. I normally wear it without occasion, but I would say it's the one that is perfect for special occasions. I would say that this fragrance is bubbly and fizzy and citrus fresh on the beginning, later white flowers and patchouli dance around each other. It's fresh yet slightly sweet. I love patchouli in here...it's not like in Angel by Mugler, it's more like in Jimmy Choo by Jimmy Choo. Really beautiful scent worth every penny. Long lasting and massive sillage.

Testing some official sample I received. Orange flower, Gardenia, honey, patchouli... Very pretty! Creamy, intoxicating. It does have a waxy feel to it - this is no fleeting scent, not an airy, transparent fragrance. It's a thick, creamy, honeyed white floral. It's so strong I couldn't wear this during summertime. It also leans a bit too much into a saccharine type of perfume, it's too sweet for my taste - I feel like it's also too much of a common scent I can smell on girls everywhere. This could be very pretty and I think I'd enjoy smelling it on someone else, but not on myself.

This is a sweet, gardenia-orange flower perfume, but it also smells very waxy to me, in a way that makes it heavy and cloying. If you don't like waxy or oily smells, I would not recommend this... mainly because I would really not like to smell this around me. I first teied it in the winter, and even then it was too cloying. I'll be selling the bottle I have.

agree with last 2 reviews I usually love elie saab fragrances but this just seems meh, like a basic floral patchouli scent but nothing that nice or impressive about it. I washed it off my wrist because it bothered me.

This is pleasant but a bit mature for my liking. I'm 27 but this to me, smells like a professional 35-40 something year old. Blind bought, I'll try using this maybe for work but deffo wont be repurchasing

Why does this smell like a modern and lighter version of White Diamonds on my skin? Interesting. Will have to wear it more to see how I feel about it.

I would love it, however on my skin it's hard, earthy patchouli and just a little creamy white flowers.

Fresh, and impossibly dull. Like a baby powder-esque, floral scented deodorant.

I totally agree with AnosmicConvert. The first sniff is just great, uplifting fresh orange blossom and some white flowers. Very promising. I was in expectation for magic to happen. Something comparable to a Gucci Bloom kinda dry down. But after an hour I can only smell very cheap soap on my skin. I think it's just not a match with my skin chemistry. Very disappointing. I can keep it as a bathroom spray but preferably give it to my mom (hmmm... who probably will have the same dry down as we look quite alike. Skin wise.)