L’Eau Super Majeure d’Issey

I just bought my first 2 bottles of Issey Miyake, this L'Eau Super Majeure and Pour Homme Intense. I am NOT a fan of summer fragrances in general because their performance is usually not that great and frankly most of them smell a lot alike with citrus and "aquatic" notes. My opinion has pretty much evolved to "seen one, seen em all". So for me, summer fragrances are commodities and any one will do. The only half dozen that have really impressed me with scent / performance / and price are Bulgari Aqva Atlantiqve and Aqva Amara, Versace Pour Homme, and Guerlain Homme EDP, Al Haramain L'Aventure and L'Aventure Knight, plus Lalique Encre Noire Sport. But reviews said Super Majeure had a unique scent profile and good performance. It was $25 for a 100 ml bottle. So I gave it a try. I have to say, the scent profile is not your usual happy summer citrus bomb. The citrus here is a little darker than something like Versace Pour Homme. And the Cashmeran, Patchouli, Leather, and Smoke keeps that slightly darker feeling going through the mid and dry down. Although this has "Aquatic Notes" and "Sea Salt" listed, I don't get nearly the aquatic feel that I get from Aqva Atlantique. There's Amberwood and Tonka but the sweet notes are always overshadowed by the darker notes. For me, this is not really an aquatic and not a bright summer citrus bomb. It's a little bit unique. The best way I can describe it is a summer fragrance for mature men in a suit or nice casual wear. I really like the smell and it is different from 90% of what's out there. What I'm not so thrilled about is the performance. Granted, I tried this in cold, dry Feb air at about 25 deg F. So, maybe a fair opinion has to wait until warmer weather. But I sprayed Aqva Atlantique on one arm and the performance wasn't close in that same weather. So initially, I'm treating Super Majeure as a gym, office, or errand dumb reach sort of scent. If the performance is better in warm weather, I can easily see this being a "night out" fragrance for me. I was hoping for a bargain priced home run. I think I got a double. EDIT 5/26/2021: OK this is the part where I admit I was WRONG! I've had a chance to wear L'Eau Super Majeure D'Issey several times now and the performance is actually really good. Today I wore it to my doctor's office for an annual physical in 84 degree F heat. I sprayed it on about 2 hours before my appointment. The nurse was doing the usual temp, pulse/ox, weight, and blood pressure at the beginning. She puts the blood pressure cuff on me and asks, "what's that cologne you're wearing". I told her and her reply was, "do you wear it like all the time, it smells like it's coming out of your pores". LOL, I almost broke out laughing. I must go anosmic to this stuff. I couldn't smell it. But she sure as hell could! Even wearing a mask! And no, I never lost my sense of smell with Covid-19 or anything like that. I just go nose blind to fragrances really easily. So based on multiple wearings now in fairly warm weather, I'm upgrading this from a cheap dumb reach for errands and the gym to my top shelf for summer day or night, casual or dressed up. It smells great / unique and the performance is actually much better than 95% of summer fragrances.

This is absolutely beautiful. It has a bit of an abrasive edge when you first smell it, but it settles down wonderfully! It grew on me so much. The first time I tried the original L'eau Majeure, I hated, but after sitting for a year and giving it a few more chances, it became so beautiful to me. I still don't like the opening of the original, but the drydown is great. As for this one, I get the Megamare comparisons, but this is much better to my nose. This one smoothed out all of the rough edges and harsh qualities of the original, the opening is dialed in, and the phases it goes through are all fantastic. The performance is decreased a tiny bit from the original L'eau Majeure, but it's balanced much better. It starts out with some heavy florals that can be off-putting if you have never smelled it before, but they fade in strength relatively quickly into a lighter yet extremely natural jasmine note. As it dries down, the florals fade even more and are replaced by a realistic aquatic accord that reminds me of childhood beach trips. The final stages turn down the florals even more, along with the aquatic accord, and you are left with a sweet, vanillic, drift wood scent that is light and playful. The performance is still quite good on this, not quite as good as the original. It lasts about 7-8 hours on my skin, which is phenomenal for an aquatic fragrance. It projects pretty loudly for the first 2 hours and slowly dials things back as the wear goes on. The original lasts 8-9 hours on skin and has even stronger projection. This is a fragrance best suited for the warmer months, it can absolutely hold itself up in cooler months, but may come off as strange due to the accords. This is 100% a unisex scent in my opinion, the florals and wood are perfectly balanced and anyone can wear this, although I will say it is a mature and serious scent to me. My biggest piece of advice for both L'eau Majeures is to give them a few chances before making verdicts on them. They are both excellent fragrances, niche quality and need to be experienced multiple times before they can really be understood and appreciated. 87/100

I do not understand the hate on this fragrance honestly, it is so unwarranted and makes me believe people do not appreicate unique fragrances, anything that is mainstream like the rest of the thousands and it is all fine. This is so beautiful and complex deep, rich and dense marine aquatic. Very rarely you encounter something that is so unique and goes against the unsual boring norms and maybe that is why this challenges people? Granted it would be an aquired taste but the sheer amount of negative reviews opposed to positives are just unbelievable. Somebody once had said this is in the same realm of AdG Profumo, and I kind of agree with this anology but this just has so much more depth and richness to it. If AdG Profumo is designer then this is the niche version of it - simply put. I am not even mad I got this instead of the Profumo as this emulates that smokey marine dark aquatic vibe more faithfully with salty accord and better performance. Furthermore, the tonka in the base adds to the smoothness and gives it a very nice balance. I do not detect much vanilla from this but I think it helps further with the richness in the base. This said, I agree with @benyq that the cashmeran note is a little weird and gives it a plasticy rancid smell and I guess this is the major gripe for most people, but I feel its just one aspect of its layers that compliments the smokiness in a way. And honestly, it is much better to what you get in the L'Eau Majeure, which is much harsher. Overall, I absolutely adore this, and L'Eau Super Majeure surely does not deserve the hate but rather commands taste. Being realistic, it would be better to try first (which is difficult considering this scent was casted away by the community) and appreciate the beauty in its own time. MUST TRY!

So, you can literally steal a bottle of this and the original at discounters for the 50ml, so I did! Truth be told, that size is perfect as well because the bottle is not quite as cumbersome. Fantastic presentation and sprayer. The top notes of Super are extremely herbaceous and fruity, with the salty marine freshness ramping up at lightspeed. I can definitely sense the L'eau D'issey style here. Of course highly tweaked but the theme is the same. Drydown is a touch sweet with the tonka, smoke and woods. Ever so slightly ambery. The tonka gives it a bit of depth and honestly makes it quite interesting as I don't think I have any others within the genre with a noticeable dash of it. It isn't quite linear to me but doesn't cycle through the pyramid, rather melds one into the next. It is hot as hell in Florida this summer so I will get good use out of this one. I really enjoy it. For the style and genre, this has pretty solid performance. I got about 6-7 hours total, with a nice detectable bubble. I would say casual and could be good for the office as well. All ages. There is something that I have noticed is that with heat, this thing becomes a force to be reckoned with (nice little pun for ya there). It blooms and becomes a bit loud with humidity. A bit subjective if you like that quality or not but just a heads up! I think this one is quite solid. Thumbs up.

You might expect to smell the same as the original L’eau Majeure D’Issey but this one comes with absolute mysterious depth of captivating aroma. I picture myself standing by a breezy coast, maybe a cliff at night time, I hear the wild water is smashing against those dark rocks and bursting the ocean smell. And the breeze stirs up the aroma with the freshly washed drift woods the grass and maybe the forest behind me. I feel more power in this one and yet such a comforting aroma to feel nostalgic and relaxing. This fragrance is definitely NOT for typical clubbing (I did centurie ago) scent but more impressive and sophisticated yet serene and calm, almost like Zen or Spa environment type. It’s not another typical aquatic mass pleasing fragrance but rather absolutely signature unique aromatic scent with bold salty sea vibe and dark and woody aroma. If you are more of soft sweeter aquatic or zesty fresh after shower type of guy, maybe this is not for you. But this one has a mysterious element to it so you have to let it develop on your skin for some time and wait until grows on you. Personally it is my absolute favourite next to the original L’eau Majeure. The longivity is also very good as well as the silage. It’s worth it to add to your collection if you don’t have something smells like salty aromatic woody fragrance. Very well done!

A different kind of aquatic scent, modern but serious and perfect for sporty businessmen. It's refreshing but intense, with a strong smell of sea breeze, sea salt and wet wood dried in the sun on the beach. This fragrance reminds me of my childhood, when we walked along the shore of the beach and played in the boats that were on the sand... So for me, the purpose of the fragrance is perfectly accomplished. It isn't a classic and common aquatic scent; it's more serious, dark, woody and salty. Logically, to achieve that effect it uses several synthetic notes and that can upset enthusiasts of pure, simple and natural oils. - Longevity & Sillage: Very solid in both cases; heat, humidity and perspiration can vary greatly the behavior of any perfume - especially in summer -, but it has a great performance. - Ocassions & Mood: I find it perfect for office, outdoor activities, chill time ... It's very versatile. I prefer it for late spring, summer and early fall... And I have to say that I like this one more than "L'Eau Majeure d'Issey", although the OG may be fresher for hotter days. - Conclusion: A modern and intense "woody aquatic" release with a place in my collection.

This frag has pleasant smell, best fit for summer. Clean, fresh, some metallic but not as sharp. The opening reminds me of the L'eau d'Issey Pour Homme EDT Fraiche version which I own (this scent not as fresh), but when dry down, it reminds me of AdG, profondo for sure (the salty - spicy), it is sweet but not as profondo included metallic-sea note, may causing headache to some ppl, which contains in bvlgari aqua as well. I had a good performance, about 6-8 hours in the office, on the skin, not the clothes, and good compliments getter. With this profile, versatility is maximum reached, any fresh - blue perfume either. It won't offend anyone within arm's length. However, I would recommended as casual and office use. I think this is a good alternative for profondo, although they're not exactly the same, but hey, take a look at the price and do a comparison. Geez, 'boring', 'old man's breath'... I don't think so, it is a good value in the bottle, maybe it is somehow generic, and synthetic, but not as bad as those said. I mean come on, you paid for 30$ and asking for 'unique', 'monster' bla bla bla... at least, just give it a try. Overall, I'm happy with my purchasing.

I only have a few Issey Miyake bottles, and this one is now on my hit list to purchase. I was gifted a small tester of this juice from a purchase of another completely unrelated bottle. I think where some of the disappointment comes from this stuff is that it doesn’t really change too much upon first spray. The opening in my opinion is gorgeous and everything pops, but it does walk a fine line of being almost too sharp, and a little bit on the feminine side. I don’t really get any of the woody notes. For me all I get is a aquatic/floral, freshie. I originally thought that there had to be some sort of mint in here, but there is none. Anyway, in my opinion this is one of the better Issey bottles that I’ve smelled, and the performance on my skin is enough to spend my hard earned cash towards. I get between 5-7 hours, and have received some compliments from women passing by. However, that being said when I’m around other men they seem to think I’m wearing women’s perfume. Take from that what you will. Luckily for me I’m not trying to impress the same sex. It’s an 8/10 for me.

The drydown here very reminiscent to Aether by French Avenue that means Greenley. But Ather using Fruity sweet at the opening, meanwhile Super Majeur using a Salty Marine Water (a bit fishy) at the opening, this stays on skin scent pretty long and will be back to projecting when sweating. It’s definitely not like Le Sel, but the transition scent style from watery fresh to dry green earthy is the same, but Super Majeur is Ocean Water that have a bit fishy scent, meanwhile the Le Sel is More Watery(non fishy)and Standalone Salt with a bit of soapy. Le Sel far stronger from this and more mass appeal, Super Majeur also strong 6-7hrs(its EDT btw) a bit risky at the opening but drydown is comforting green feeling, but for someone who can sensitive detect the “fishy” scent it will be a problem and better and safer choose Aether(Greenley) since they using prominent Citric Green apple at the opening.

Just got my hands on this. Very pleased so far, it basically fixed all of the problems with the original L'eau Majeure D'issey. Much smoother, the florals in the opening are dialed waaay back. It's a more toned down experience and much more polished, definitely a similar scent profile. The original is good if you get past the opening, but that opening is ROUGH. I feel like my original L'eau Majeure needed months of maturation with air in the bottle to smooth out too. This definitely has shades of Megamare but predates it by a few years. Floral, oceanic scent with a sweet woody dry down. Very unique. This has to be experienced to be understood, no amount of words can help you to get a good picture of what you will get. Will do a full review after I have more time with it.

I always keep forgetting how much I love this. There’s so many layers to it, to start off there's the gorgeous bottle and the palatable opening. But it gets kind of weird if you try to dissect it, it’s weirdly smooth but also sharp synthetic and incredibly dense. This combined with the longevity makes it a fragrance that shifts, I sprayed this on a scarf once and didn’t recognize it anymore the day after, it turned into a soft amber and wood scent. One spray can also just fill an entire room, I’ve had people coming up to me walking 20+m behind me asking what it is. If you want to know what this is like; just imagine layering 2 woody and 2 blue scents and somehow have them turn into one scent in which you can’t tell any notes apart.

Gave this a test run over the weekend and very impressed. Has the salty elements of Megamare/Atlas but less ozonic and toned down compared to those. The initial opening has a citric wood blast that calms after about 10 mins and that's where it starts to become an aquatic dominant freshie. There's so much more going on with this though. It could be the Tonka/Vanilla additions that add sweetness to counterbalance the salt, but the end result is lovely and unique. Kudos to Guichard and Pellegrin. In a short, I'd call it a Bitter/Sweet/Sour Fresh Aquatic that has legs to run a good 10 hours on skin and projects superbly for 2 hours+. Summer wearing will likely result in a higher score but for now a very solid 8/10.

This has a beautifully dry/spicy ambrox feel to it. I'm guessing that's the amberwood note. I love it right now in the winter, CRISPY. The note breakdown is fairly spot on. When it first came in, loved everything about it. Have had it on a test strip for about a week and a half and that ambroxan vibe is still beaming. I apply to skin, and out garments. It's beautiful. Whiffs of metallic, woodsy, marine. Easy blind buy, which I did. Wonderful grab for the day, lasts long & i love reapplying into the night if I don't gravitate towards something more cozy. All season, all occasion IMO. My first from the company, and it's one of my favorite frags (I have a touch over 50). Much love all, this is my first review.

This scent is kinda unique. I never smelled anything exactly like this. just imagine.. take a tad bit fraction from the OG's dna then add some green herbal aromatic touch to it and sea notes with little smokey-woody undertone. To be honest, I'm digging it. and with the scent profile.. I think this is more suited in evening wear. but it's still versatile in any season though. Other question: Is it similar to ADG Profumo/Profondo? the answer is NO. you might get deceive because they share similar sea notes and salty vibes but overall the whole scent are different to each other. And the quality?? Very good! for the discounted steal price.

After almost a year of experience with this fragrance I’d like to update my opinion. It’s still very fuzzy woody fragrance instead of aquatic/oceanic. And not so ideal during hot weather season(25 C above) since it will become too strong and cloying. Now since the temperature is cooling down again I start to enjoy it more. In my country Taiwan I may suggest people try other lighter fragrance since it’s not that versatile for all seasons especially in hot weather times. But I do like how it smells and it has good performance. You get more from this fragrance than you actually pay.

Okay. Let's go straight to the point. This frag got strong salty, sea, slightly woody smell. Those are the dominants here. Underneath I notice rosemary and clary sage, giving life And colour to this fragrance. Also some cashmere involved adding very slight creamy twist to it, while vanilla, tonka and patchouli add the sweet finish touch. Definitely a masculine scent. When taking a shower after a whole day of wearing this one, I have that after beach vibe, like I am washing off the salty sea water of my body. Quite a pleasing feeling.

Sooooooooooooooooooooooo underrated.... People are insane for not buying this... They would rather go foe hyped fragrances like Nautica Voyage which smells cheap and plasticy or anything else that YouTubers are trying to push. Go with your nose people. Give a chance to more original and more attention worthy fragrances like this one. Very unique. Reminds me of sea water drying on my skin in a great hot day in middle of July. Absolutely great, long lasting and projecting fragrance. Super masculine! Love that!

I don't get all the crazy bad reviews, this is one of the best and most unique, deep and dense frags I own. Smells nothing like anything else I have and I wear it ALOT because of that! Such a strong, salty, briny, fresh, aquatic but not one youd imagine at the beach, more like the deep dark ocean somewhere far away from civilization where unknown sea creatures linger, where its always dark, and theirs lots of sea moss growing on large jagged rocks below, where the decay of the ocean and its organisms sink.

This was a blind buy for me. Was very interested in the notes. Initial fresh spray, I really liked it. Then it started to dry down and I didn't like it at all. Thought it was too salty or earthy smelling on my skin, maybe the smokey notes combined with the salt? But after smelling it more and more, I am starting to appreciate it. As it settles, the aqua note becomes more prominent and blends well with the woods. I do have a feeling this could grow on me. Update: this absolutely grew on me. 7.5/10

It took me a couple wearings to like this fragrance, and now I'm hooked. It's heavy on the cashmeran, it's more prominent on my skin than any other note listed above so I can say it's not for everybody. It's kinda like ADG Profondo's older more serious brother. I get everything in the opening and mid, but only the amberwood in the base. It's quite the metallic marine scent, it reminds of snorkeling by the ocean shore. A long lasting unique scent and a great value for money.