L'eau d'Issey Eau de Parfum

Oh dear! Issey Miyake is a designer that started at givenchy! l`eau d` Issey (issey`s water, or an intended pun- Odissey~) is the original aquatic scent. this is popular not due it`s commercialisation! unlike other scents that started gaining popularity after being featured in movies, tv series or music videos this one gained its loyalty through quality and the attraction of the masses when they recognized a really good perfume. it`s good not because it`s niche, quirky or so pompous you can`t stand it! it`s not a pretentious scent, one that almost makes you say you hate it but you still wear it because it`s the vogue. no,no... l`eau has great longevity- 10 hours at least~ it also has good projection, a bit of a cold one, but doesn`t make the others in a room start to sneeze! it`s a medium projection which increases with the number of sprays,but i think it`s sufficient to spray once on the pulse points in order to get an idea of what the others will smell on you. issey miyake as a scent is very... japanese. I absolutely back off upon calling this one oriental. japan, as you may hav noticed, exceeded it`s traditional scene after being under US occupation. japan is pretty much a westernised country with a reality of its own and a love of famous brands such as gucci and LV. Imagine that Issey Miyake was very much attracted by the western culture and lived and worked in France.this scent dosen`t yell at you- hey, I`m oriental! that is just stupid and simplistic. or... to even compare ming shu with issey miyake! i mean, go on, but ming shu has nothing of the complexity attached to l`eau. it barely lasts, but yes, it tries to copy it, and it makes me smile! first of all, issey miyake is a very complex fragrance. it`s comprised of a LOT of ingredients~ watery and citrusy~ lotus, white lily, peony, rose, green tea, lime, and probabily algae. woodsy- wet sandalwood and musk seeds- which have the sweet, flowery and heavy fragrance of the musk but a bit on the drydown. a great alternative to the animal musk!!! and add something synthetic to it and voila! A scent that`s been envied by many. with these and probably a few dozens of other ingredients, l`eau is evolving in layers, each and every one with a strength of its own. created in 1992, L`eau through its bottle resembles a lighthouse, or who knows, maybe the ivory feminine shape itself- longiline and thin, not curvy. it`s sharpness and cleanliness - the aquatic aura- has been copied to an extent by many other brands. it just has something very desirable, but none other had realized enough to be remembered. this scent isn`t simple, though it`s not murky and difficult like others. it gives you tranquility and awareness. It balances very well the asian belief of detachment from the material world yet adds the sense of pragmatism common to the europeans. one is aware and intelligent without being less imaginative and dreamy! take a look at the designer`s creations. they all resemble towers in some way or another... maybe it`s an influence from the eiffel tower? as hated as it was, the eiffel tower has become a symbol of paris. oh my, but I`m rambling. this is by far the scent I like to keep among favorites. and I am happy it is so popular, still!

L'eau D'issey EdP Revisited: I wrote a review way back during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when the UK was on lockdown, I only had this and the Summer 2017 flanker of L'eau D'issey to hand and when I first bought this, I used to think that this was identical near enough to the original 1992 EdT release. I recently decided to explore the EdT and suss out the differences between the two, so here is my more up to date review. L'eau D'issey EdP opens up with a fresh, dewy blast of freesia, except it feels less harsh, its less like being caught in a heavy summer rain storm with a bouquet of freeias and more like a fresh bunch of freesias covered in morning dew, it feels "clear" and fresh as opposed to loud, screachy and harsh. This "clear" feeling continues throughout the development, lily peaks out, but again, as with the freesia it doesn't feel harsh and abrasive, lotus is also ever present by this stage and adds a very serene, calm vibe and for the first couple of hours, that is how L'eau D'issey EdP smells; fresh, level-headed and calm. By the 3 hour mark, the freesia is less noticable to me and I can smell something that feels warm; ambrette. Ambrette, sandalwood and cedar ground this dewy bouquet and add some warmth and depth without feeling out of place and totally disrupting the mild aquatic notes which L'eau D'issey is famous for. The overall scent is warm, clear and fresh and makes me feel calm and like I "have it" together (even when I quite clearly don't and cannot stop flapping around!) As I said in my review for the EdT; picture that you're swimming during a heavy rain storm vs swimming during a warm, sunny day, the EdT is the former and this, EdP is the latter. The EdT is a sharp, refreshing but heavy downpour of fresh melon, ozone and floral notes where as the EdP is more calm, warm and rounded and has a lot more emphasis on the lotus, lily, lotus, ambrette and woods. I personally think that while you can totally wear this during the warmer months, I think it works equally as well in the cooler months as the woods give it some warmth yet it still feels fresh and clean. Longevity is fantastic with 8hrs of wear and a soft, yet noticable silage, totally office safe and versitile like its EdT sibling and also a timeless, refreshing classic that works well on everyone of all ages. Total love and an excellent wardrobe staple

A smoother, stripped down, more nuanced version of the original. I don't really smell the rose in the opening of this one which I find is one of the main, dominating flowers of the original version. This has a far headier opening and is overall less sharp, less citric-aquatic (now, don't get me wrong here - this is an aquatic floral, still) and comes off as a woodier to my nose, with a shift in the predominant focal floral heart range. I see a strong link here with my favorite version, the Noir Absolu. I think it comes from the osmanthus and more resinous, woody base, with the roses blooming well into in the dry down. The Noir variant is still the deeper of the two but this does share a strong similarity with that one for me. I love the Noir version but I only have a small bottle of it, meaning I must be very precious with it, whereas I have a big 75ml of this and a 7ml silver bullet purse spray to boot, so I needn't worry too much about using this one up. It's still in production, as far as I know. Less crystal clear waters in character and less fruity than the original edt. Denser, smoother, a different floral angle, more resinous. This and the Noir Absolu are great counterparts to the original and seem more appropriate for evening wear than the original too. I love that the l'eau issey scents are suitable for all year wear, not only in the heat. I love to wear mine on a muggy, humid, rainy day. Review is for the original formula of the eau de parfum. Current formula has a more green opening and is overall lighter and sweeter. However, besides this they're almost indiscernible. This is a scent that I crave. I cant put my finger on what I find so addictive, but I can't get enough.

I got a little decant of it and have worn it properly a few times and I love this!!! First of all I don't get rose at all and I love that for this perfume, I think it's a gorgeous floral and fruity?! I don't why but I get this peach vibe or something but it's something fruity, I guess it's the calone in it! This one also smells musky-aquatic-clean! it's so good, I think this is what ties all the notes together and delivers a gorgeous, sophisticated, fresh and clean perfume for everyday wear! Id really love to get a bottle for spring and summer! This is perfect for those moments when I just wanna smell bright and fresh, when I don't want to snell gourmand but I also don't want to smell like body spray!! So if you have those feeling to give it a try if u can! The delivery in terms of longevity and silage of this is not super powerful, it last on clothes more than 5 hours but on skin is less than that! Also the silage (like 6-8 sprays on) for the first couple hours is more like moderate but then it's more mellow which it's not necessarily a bad thing when you are looking forward using this for office/everyday wear! This is perfect for blind buys if you like the floral fruity vibe so go for it, also i think this could be a great grift for someone u know they fit the vibe or you have smelled them while wearing something like that!

I'eau D'issey is full of cold, really sub zero water with a lot of freesia and some cucumber/melon notes from the calone in it, its fresh, crisp and excellent for all year round wear in my opinion. I first smelt this when I bought the EdT for my mother as a Christmas present, I loved how fresh and clean it was, I then decided after purchasing the summer edition from 2017 to order the original L'eau D'issey, only, when it arrived I realised that I had purchased the EdP, not the EdT, but to my nose they both smell pretty much the same with the EdP seeming to last longer on my skin than the EdT. On me, Freesia and calone are the most noticeable notes in L'eau D'issey, I don't pick up on any of the other notes in this one, its very straightforward and simplistic on my skin which makes it very good for daily wear, I get that its a bit of a marmite perfume (like Angel), but I do think its also very appropriate for office wear because its just clean and not very offensive and for people that want to prolong that "out of the shower" sort of vibe. I do love this, but for some reason I kind of went off it but am now rediscovering exactly why I love this, may actually get the EdT when this one runs out though.