L’Eau d’Issey Pour Homme Eau de Parfum

While not as delicate and complex as the original EDT, which was a creation of Louis Vuitton's current in-house master perfumer Jacques Cavallier Belletrud, this release is a very strong one from Issey and the first creation to really interest my nose from the house since the 2021 release of Nuit D'issey Bois Arctic. Sel D'issey was okay, but in my opinion, this is far more compelling. This is a modern interpretation of the original EDT. It loses a lot of the floral and aquatic touches and instead comes off more green and woody. The pepper notes are obvious from the first spray and it features that yuzu or some other natural smelling citrus in the opening. It has a minerality and almost metallic edge in the opening that fades as the wear goes in. In the dry down, that light fur note comes out to play. You can't smell this in the opening but it appears about an hour in. In the end drydown, there a pleasant cedar accord with a mild minty quality that I can't really account for. I don't know how to describe it, but I like it! Performance is much better than any of the true L'eau D'issey PH flankers (these true flankers do not include Noir Ambré or Or Encens). It lasts a decent 7 hours on skin. It will give you above average projection for around 90 minutes, slowly receding as time goes on. This is a fragrance that I would say is best suited to more mature people, likely a man 30+, but a woman could wear it too. It's not too loud, and it's a more introverted fragrance. As far as seasonality, I would say this is probably the most versatile entry in the line. This is safe for all seasons, although may not perform as well in the cold and would likely require a few extra sprays. I like to layer it with the Sport flanker and add a bit more depth to it. All in all it's a beautiful release and a good indication of IM starting to take their men's fragrances more seriously. A trend that ended with Bois Arctic and started again (to a lesser extent with Sel D'issey) prominently with this EDP. Very excited to see IM reproduce some of their clearer classics from the late 2010's as well recently (Noir Ambré, Nuit Bleu Astral, Nuit Parfum). Hopefully my favorite house keeps things going full steam ahead!

Scent: 9.5/10 This is a deeper, woodier version of the edt. It does feel more mature. The notes only list three notes, but you do get a lot of the characteristics of the edt. The yuzu is not as prominent, but i still get it in the opening. I dont know if it is or my brain tricking me lol. It definitely scratches the itch when it comes to wanting a stronger version of the edt. It is a bit greener, denser and a bit sweeter. I personally love it but I would still pick the edt based on scent alone. Performance: 7/10 So it is stronger than the edt. With the edt I only get 30 minutes of moderate projection and maybe 2 hours of longevity. For the edp, I get 2 hours of moderate projection and about 4-5 hours of total longevity. Now, it's not the best but it is an upgrade from the recent edt formulations. And for this kind of a scent profile, I was not expecting a beast. Versatility: 8/10 Pretty versatile. Its office and school safe. You could also use it for the gym. You can wear it pretty much year round but it would be best suited for spring and summer day time use. I think this scent profile is well likeable so you won't go around choking people out. Presentation: 8.5/10 The bottle is simple and classy, as is with a lot of issey miyaki's work. I do prefer the frosted glass look of the edt more, but the edp still looks nice with clear glass. The cap is wooden and I like the detail to show that. It is a 4.2 oz and bc of the flatter bottle shape, it does look and feel a lot larger than other bottles lol. Value: 9/10 I got the 4.2oz on aurafragrance for $62 out the door. For what you're getting in the $50-60 range on discounters this is a no brainer especially if you're a fan of the OG. It's definitely at least worth the try. Overall: 8.4/10 I wanted a stronger version of the edt and this definitely scratches that itch. I actually like that they went with a more modern woody approach. It feels more grown up and it's just as addictive to smell. It's my current daily driver in my collection. It smacks my personal edt's longevity so I'm already happy with it even if it's still just avg. You can always just overspray to get more umph out of it.

Finally the real EDP flanker of OG L'eau D'issey Pour Homme, Wood&Wood flanker not really brings the DNA of the OG. This one still brings the OG DNA in it, I won't tell much about the OG DNA since 1994 it's been used in many Brands till now, So I'm just going to tell the differences that I found. Similarities of the OG is about 80%, the biggest difference is in the opening it's giving sparkle of fresh water feeling(Not salty) that very bright and uplifting, this opening much like the effect in solar lavender flanker, meanwhile the OG got Zesty Fizzy blast of yuzu in the opening (But it's still got a citrus notes in it). This kind of opening is very modern for me.😁 The mid and dry down is where the DNA of Woody Spicy that's similar, but here's the difference the EDP got a warm aquatic that giving a slight dark feeling of aquatic, meanwhile the OG got a kinda bright aquatic felling with slight flowery touch(old classic vibes). This kind of scent in EDP giving me more masculine and serious vibes rather than the OG.(Maybe because it's because oh the Balsam Fir notes it's giving? I never smell balsam fir before) Conclusion of the this L'eau D'issey Pour Homme EDP flanker, even it tooks away the flowery part it's became a Modernized and Classy of 1994 OG DNA, and giving it a slightly Dark Warm Aquatic twist that makes it into more Masculine Serious rather than the OG. Occasion for Black Tie Formal Event , Daily , Date Night. But I think not for Gym🤔 and it's doesn't have summer vacation vibes like Le Sel D'issey giving. It's works very well in full AirCon condition, supposed to be All year round of scent profile Longevity in this i can get about solid 9hrs😍, Projection pretty good in the first 3hrs, the sillage just moderate for this kind of aquatic fragrance it's very good i think. Will Issey Miyake also create an Elixir flanker just like other brands, curious about it.

Okay so This smells amazing - I love it. To me this smells like a SMOKEY LEMONADE. It has a lovely refreshing lemonadey smell, but then there’s also this smokiness to it, which gives it a mature vibe... it’s really unique. I would think that incense would be a note in this for sure! Unfortunately though, this smell only lasts and is radiant for 1-2 hours, before it disappears and the scent turns into a soft skin scent of something smooth, watery and slightly lemony for the next 3 hours... The first 1-2 hours of this are so good though, if only it lasted longer! I think it smells so good though that I’ll accept that performance and get it :’) maybe I’ll carry it around and respray during the day ! EDIT: So I've bought and worn this a few times - and actually I'd say that initial smell lasts and projects for about 2-3 hours, and then it becomes softer and closer to the skin for the next 4-5 hours! So the total longevity is probably around 8 hours ! So honestly, I'm not going to complain about the performance - also given that this is a fresher scent, I'd actually even say it's got good performance! And I do think this is the case with most fragrances anyway - they project well for the first few hours, and then become closer to the skin afterwards! I do catch whiffs of this throughout the wear, and the way it dries down and changes is also lovely - soft florals appear in the dry down. Beauuutiful. Love this.

I found that I do like woody scents if they're softs. The balsamic compound on this it's very attractive and gets to the parfum that heaviness and rich, with certain sweetness without being cloying. At first (weeks actually) it doesn't seems to me anything like the original EDT... There were days of rain weather where I could actually found SOME FRUITY JUICY deep in the EDP, very similar to the mix of tangerine & yuzu that shows up in my skin when past +6h (EDT). I was aware of this notes were specially when my skin got wet by the rain, and then I noticed in the shower too... So, in not saying there's Yuzu, or any citric, but I could smell the vibe. For me, very last longer BUT an absolute skin scent. I'm aware that people can notice it but just when I say hello to them closely. This kinda triggered me because if wasn't for the SALE, it would be a lot of money for a scent which cannot sillage beyond my clothes. Disclaimer, I don't know if it's like this, there's no one who said me otherwise about this yet. Hopefully, people loves it in silence like me, because it's not, by any chance, heavy or disgusting. I would spray it like 20 times per day. Absolutely gorgeous.