L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme Fraiche

Hello, friend. How are you? I hope you are well, safe, sound, and all that can be good is for you. As for me, I’ve recently purchased L’Eau D’Issey Pour Homme Fraiche, and I must say, I’m sort of at odds with myself. You see, I’ve had multiple experiences with the original L’Eau D’issey Pour Homme, and none of the experiences were the same: at one point, it smelled like the most elegant spritz of lemon water devised by man, the next experience (years later) it was a massive amalgamation of beautiful citrusy, floral delight. Then, the next several experiences were the same as the first. All things considered, L’Eau D’issey Miyake Pour Homme was generally unremarkable to me. Months ago, I purchased L’Eau D’issey Pour Homme Intense, and enjoyed that installment very much. I still do. I have a full sized bottle I wear regularly. None of the issues I had with the original exist within the Intense version. Enter, Fraiche. . . . It smells extremely similar to the original, but somehow is also vastly different. Whereas the original was okay, L’Eau D’issey Pour Homme Fraiche is quite handsome. I mean, you really have to give it up to Issey Miyake. If nothing else, the house sure knows how to kick out some unique work. Between the grapefruit, lemon, pepper, patchouli, mate, vetiver, and cardamom, sage and mint — it produces this spicy, herbal, citrusy freshness that gives off this somehow dry, elegant saponaceous-like aroma. Being perfectly honest, I don’t understand how this fragrance hasn’t received more attention from the community. It’s not introducing a new paradigm in the fragrance world; however, it is modernizing an antiquated aquatic, fresh trend. In fact, as I say that, it occurs to me that the dry down, though lacking the florals of the original, is reminiscent of standing near a tree line immediately after the rain during the summer. You know, like, where it rained, but then suddenly the sun splits the sky, and all of a sudden it’s exceedingly humid, and the wetness releases a camphoric odor? Then you have the slight earthiness of the soil? That’s exactly it, I think: the original smells as if it rained near a waterfall, surrounded by lilies in the jungle. The Intense version is reminiscent of rain, and the city (concrete), and the Fraiche is reminiscent of rain during the middle of summer, as it is hot, humid, and buzzing with Cicadas in the background. The longevity is actually eerily good, considering the note breakdown. Projection during the first hour or so is rather loud, but soon fades to half an arm’s length, and stays there for about 6-7 hours. After that, I’m not sure what happens. I’m about 9 hours in, and I can still smell myself periodically. 9/10 Very Sincerely & Respectfully Yours, Nobody.Really

This fragrance smells like the word 'zen'. This smells very similar to the regular L'eau d'Issey pour Homme by Issey Miyake (a very 'Japanese' smelling citrus fragrance) but with grapefruit instead of the japanese citrus fruit yuzu. On the opening of this fragrance you smell deep sour grapefruit (which is somewhat pleasant) on a base of Japanese oriental spices (in fact the same ones as the regular L'eau d'Issey pour homme) and woods. I tested a decant of the original L'eau d'Issey a while ago and absolutely loved the strong yuzu note in it. But when I got an actual bottle it smelled nothing like my decant, with the yuzu being extremely muted and it being mostly spicy in a warm way (which I wasn't a fan of). This Fraiche flanker of the original presents a solution to that as the grapefruit is both deep and unwavering, at least in the opening. I like this flanker better than the original as it stands today - which is probably reformulated and doesn't smell as good as vintage examples. As it dries down I get the same light Japanese style spices as the original L'eau d'Issey pour homme, while the grapefruit note persists in the background (hence the "Fraiche" monicker). Sillage is moderate while longevity is also moderate at around 5-6 hours. Overall it's nice and better/more fresh than the original in its current formulation. Bottle design is also amazing and done in this minimalistic Japanese Zen sort of style - and the fragrance smells similar. 4/5

(Review of 125ml Display Bottle) An excellent go-to fragrance for the daytime or warmer months. Can absolutely work on a fall or winter day if you're feeling it. Incredibly fresh, herbaceous, and just enough citrus to not be too overpowering or take away from the other elements of the scent. On my skin the peppery spice seems to be quite a fair bit stronger than others - which is great for me because I love spicy! Dries down to a nice patchouli with hits of that spice and rosemary. Consistent wear for me. Update as of 4/21/25: I left a similar comment on my original review for Nuit d'Issey from the same house, but damn - this ages so shockingly beautifully! More body, more nuance, basically the same as I said on that other review... but somehow the pepper notes on this almost grow SMOKY. Yes, ALMOST smoky, like they took the jacket of their older cousin Nuit. I've had the chance to smell more of Issey Miyake's fragrances in the months after this review, and this is STILL by far the best masculine freshie I've had from the house. Insanity for the value if you can find one, I know these are a bit more difficult to track down... but definitely worth it.

Wow! Posting this review now and looking at Endymions comment I thought exactly the same...surely the original Issey is as fresh as it gets and to some just as irritating. Yeah so my thoughts on a fresh version are...is it going to be one of those watery, cucumber and kiwi summer editions all packaged up in yet another tired new flanker. I was pleasantly surprised though when I smelled it, discovering a nicely nuanced, fresh but masculine addition to the range. Opens with bitter citruses and it almost has something rough of vetiver or oakmoss to it and a peppery twang which rules it out of being just another boring aquatic or really smelling like the Original L'eau d'Issey. It undoubtedly has that DNA but not in anywhere near as full effect as you'd expect. So 'Fraiche' is not the most suitable name for this one it dries down quite earthy on my skin but still with a long lived citrus. In fact the longevity was very very good indeed and is still clinging to clothes days later. I like this outing from IM it's not bad at all and worth consideration among many mundane fresh fragrances like this around.

This frag is created for those who love rosemary. From the blast at the beginning until the dry down is the dominant note. Despite that many reviewers find the grapefruit as the prominent note, I think that the citruses have secondary role and the frag goes more into an herbal and slightly woody direction. In any case L'Eau d'Issey Miyake Pour Homme Fraiche has a bright and revitalising smell which makes it ideal for summer mornings in the office or evening ambles. As other members note, another advantage of this frag is the longevity. On my skin last 7 to 8 hours with strong projection for the first 30 minutes. Also, I think that this frag is a modern take not some mush of the original but of Bleu d'Issey Eau Fraiche which is muskier and the patchouli is far more prominent. Concluding even if I understand that L'Eau d'Issey Miyake Pour Homme Fraiche Fraiche is not for everyone, in my point of view it deserves more attention by the community since it is has it has it’s one character in the sense that it is not imitate other popular frags or follow the standards of modern blue frags.