Essential

Recently after adding some more scents to my collection i have found methods of layering to boost this wonderful smelling fragrance. This is more advice than a review for people who already own this, but i do have a quick review two comments below if you wish to read that first along with the review below me to let you know about the notes especially if you are a first time buyer. This comment is going to however help people with sillage, projection and longevity. Along with a few other issues other scents that people have with the fragrances used here to get the outcome i know people who own this will be extremely pleased with the success of this layering 🙂. This is a way to boost this unique fragrance and the first time i tried it i had people asking me if i was the person who smelled so lovely! This works really well for the 3, yes 3 fragrances required for the best outcome, but if you own one of the other 2 mentioned here, either will work on the projection and longevity. The first is Versace Man Eau Fraiche, this will help boost Essential on its own but if you own the 3rd it works even more so to boost this! So now you know 2 of the 3 fragrances (including the Essential), here is the 3rd. Light Blue Eau Intense Pour Homme. You see a lot of people find the oceanic notes to be off putting to the point some of them feel it smells like eggs and i can see where they are coming from and i always thought it lacked a little sweetness that would make it great! So, we take 2 similar scents being Versace Man Eau Fraiche and D&G Light Blue Eau Intense and they compliment each other very well already bringing out some of the notes we can't quite notice in the Versace normally. Then along with the poor performing but beautiful Lacoste Essential what those prior 2 scents do when combined is absolutely boost the strength of Essential's lovely green fresh sweetness to the point i am smelling it more so over the much stronger Light Blue Eau Intense. It just works. That oceanic smell is there but it is boosting the notes of Essential so much that they compliment each other. Those people who worry about the strong oceanic smell being too strong will have their mind completely put to rest. This is a complete game changer! Honestly, these 3 together smell like a fragrance that if someone were to create it and sell it as a single scent i think people would go nuts for it. Please if you are or was an owner of this fragrance but stopped buying due to the weakness of it, i truly recommend you try this layering method and you will be so over the moon with the outcome! Usually Essential right after spraying is a lovely smell but just minutes after you know the scents is starting to fade already and you are only getting slight whiffs here and there but i have had it on for hours and it is like someone took this and made it a Parfume concentration as i have not once been unable to smell it and this is usually a weak fragrance people say to wear in summer to help with projection etc. It is still winter here and as i stated, i have been outside in the cold, took a trip to the shop and back and STILL i smell it as if it was a freshly sprayed parfume intense version. I couldn't be more pleased with the result. 🥰 I have worn fragrances when going to the local shop in the past and sometimes wearing my favourites like Versace Dylan Blue, YSL Y EDT and other scents we hear people say are compliment getters but after months of going there this was the first time anyone has said they liked the smell and gained compliments. Probably because Essential is unique already on its own but just didn't have the ability to project and last long enough for others to notice. So now you have this way of making it perform the way it should have at first. If you try this i see many compliments are going to come your way! Normally i am not a huge fan of layering but i just was not happy with these 3 on their own for different reasons but all 3 together, just WOW! Honestly WOW! I really hope some others who like myself loves this fragrance reads this and tries it for themselves so they can finally get the performance they have always wanted for this frag. I love the bottle design of all 3 also so they will look great on your display :) Please if you try it send me a private message about your experience with it 🙂

The cologne I wear the most during training. Clean, green and fresh. It has a lot of silage due to the intense sweating that occurs during sports. Its scent does not have a profile that would bother anyone. This is the cologne I use most when I want to feel fresh and energetic while doing sports. I live in a house with a garden and we have a hobby garden where we grow enough vegetables to eat fresh ourselves in the summer. The smell of tomato leaves is a smell I have known well since I was a little child. When I was a little boy, I would go out to play in the street, touching the leaves and hairy stems of the green tomato plant. I remember this scent lasting for a few hours on my hand. I loved this scent, I still do. I was a high school student when I first smelled Lacoste Essential. When I got on the school bus, the inside of the bus was filled with a very pleasant green smell. I soon realized that it was the smell of tomato plants. The cologne had obviously been oversprayed because there was green smoke all over the bus. I really liked the scent. After a few weeks of smelling the same scent every morning when I got on the school bus, I started asking everyone on the bus what cologne they were wearing. From what I learned, a flirtatious teenager was using this cologne to impress the blonde girl who had just started comming on the school bus. 😂😂 When I came across this cologne years later, I recognized it immediately and bought it. It brings back many funny memories from my childhood and youth. And I made it my cologne that I use during sports. 😊

I don't have a single real memory attached to this fragrance, which is strange, because every time I wear it I feel like I'm remembering something. It's always the same scene in my head. A tennis club, late spring, one of those weekends where the weather finally commits. Green court, VERY yellow ball, white shorts and long socks. Older guys laughing between sets. Someone's wife is having tea in the shade and nobody is checking their phone. I've never been part of that world. Essential smells like I was. On skin it opens green and a bit sharp — citrus, sure, but with this leafy, stemmy thing behind it that smells more like a garden before noon than a cologne counter. There's a sour-ish dark fruit thing in the middle that I didn't expect the first time and now it's my favorite part, keeps it from collapsing into yet another "fresh sporty blue" situation. It dries down quiet and a little woody, close to the skin. It doesn't project much and honestly I don't want it to. Nothing about it is trendy, which is probably why it hasn't aged at all. It just smells like clean laundry, lemon water and having your life together. Not a masterpiece. But it's the only bottle I own that smells like a better timeline...

Very classy sporty fragrance. Many people may associate this with elegance, but for me it’s just a sporty country club rich man fragrance, who plays golf and wears an expensive polo shirt. The opening is fabulous. Has a peppery vibe first starting, and then the middle notes kick in. The longevity isn’t great, but it’s ok for a sport fragrance, specially a cheap fragrance like this. You won’t be “smash your heads into the wall” for this, it’s somehow generic and not very original, but just how it’s named, any man needs to have this on their wardrobe. I love the sporty vibe, so I use it to play golf or when heading to the Country Club. This isn’t a blind buy, cause there are a variety of opinions on this; not many people like it. If you like woody peppery kind of fragrance, this is for you. If you like Prada Luna Rosaa Carbon, you’ll love this. Scent 6.5/10 Longevity: 5/10 Sillage: First hours ok, but then stays as a skin scent. Not bad for a sport fragrance.

My mum got me this the year it came out and my friends and i all loved it. I was so disappointed when i got to my last spray of the bottle. It has lovely floral scents and i have not smelled anything else quite like it tbh. If there is something similar or a clone i would love to try it because what lets this scent down is that even though in the description from Lacoste which tells us about their technology of long lasting release, this is far from true. It really doesn't last long or project well at all. I really wish they would make a stronger version of this because i think it would do well. (EDIT: I have posted a new comment two up from this one on how to give this fragrance an amazing boost in longevity, sillage and more information on how this and other fragrances can become amazing!) There is a Essential Sport but i don't know how similar or if they are at all. Either way if your are willing to overspray then this is great for summer!

Applies fresh sport like a men's department store, but instead of common blue marine, it's green Irish Spring soap. Brisk tangerine citrus in the top notes, too. Harshly synthetic up close, but figure it'll settle... Skin warmth brings out sandalwood with faint, dusty peppercorn bite. Freshness is rounded out by a lightly milky body. Bracing synthetic streak adds 90s edge I don't totally hate. Nostalgic feeling of sunny grass. Clean and uplifting. Might lean too high school, but still hits a sweet spot. I prefer higher quality/niche, so this hits like comfort food. Continues to mature into dry down, but strength drops off too quickly. Lasts longer on clothes. 1ST REVIEW: Great fresh/green scent. Clean laundry and the ocean. Very mild, soft, and impossibly alluring. Can't stop wanting to smell it. Mostly rich, manly base with faint but noticeably bright hint of pulpy grapefruit. Smells exactly like you'd imagine Lacoste to.

Weirdly, my assessment of this scent is very different than most others. Yes, it’s green, yes, it’s fresh. But to my nose, it’s a green floral freshness. I get primarily rose and green notes of cassia and tomato leaf. I also get a bit of bergamot and tangerine, and a very pleasant sandalwood. The patchouli and black pepper are barely there. The overall impression I get is a stylized version of a freshly cut lawn. The rose gives it a stylish, sexy, modern twist. I often see the criticism that this is boring and pedestrian. But to me, nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve never smelled anything like it, which in my estimation, makes it quite unique. If “fresh” automatically means “boring” to you, stay away. But if you want something for spring and summer that smells like nothing else, grab this cheapie and spray it without apology. I love it!

This is another one of my failsafes. I reach for this when I want a no-nonsense, clean and manly scent. It is superb for sporty, active types yet also suits work settings well. It is very much a daytime affair however, as it lacks any depth or complexity. I really love the clean note here, it's like a sweet green tangerine(!)It projects well enough on me to turn heads but then something happens like a boozy/alcoholic note? I couldn't work out where it comes from but this is the spilled beer/sour note which people have mentioned. I didn't find it a problem and it is quite masculine. Unfortunately then it's all over. I think this is because in terms of brand image, Lacoste can never release a dark or mysterious scent. The image they go for will always be young, light-hearted and sporty so this is bang on target as far as I am concerned.

This is a very clean, slightly herbal, soapy with a light sweetness to it. Basic & simple and it works to perfection. Great everyday casual wear and for the office, it’s a dead ringer for it. Suits anyone from 18-88. A little more on the youthful side but, this has no age restriction whatsoever. Has a slight resemblance to Lucky You pour Homme only that goes with a soapy & flowery with clean musk notes in it, and Essential hits it with citrus, rose with light earthy patchouli and soft sandalwood. I like both but, prefer Essential more because of the green & herbaceous vibe. It’s an easy reach and will never offend a soul. Not everything has to be seductive, sensual and alluring. Clean & fresh almost works just as good any day of the week, twice on Sunday. And for the $$$ it’s a great scent.

Do you want a fragrance that is easy to wear in summer? Do you want to smell good but also have money in your wallet? Do you want something unique that will differentiate you from "Eros", from "Invictus", from "Millions", etc.?😂 Well then try Lacoste Essential and you won't fail !!! Joking aside, Essential remains for me the best Lacoste perfume. Slowly, slowly enter the great family of living classics. A green, fresh, clean perfume, with medium performance but with an unbeatable price for what it offers. This perfume makes you feel good, cheers you up, gives you an optimistic mood. The ad really fits perfectly !!!

It was a blind buy for me.. which became my signature eventually. Really good refreshing fragrance. Just awesome. And amzingly stays 8-10 hours easily on my skin. I just love the tomato leave and citrus combination. Very well made. It is refreshing MALE(both men and boys can carry it really well) fragrance. And can be worn by any age group. I do only 2 sprays of this. Just works well for me. Soon will be buying new bottle for myself. Will hand over older bottle to my cousin. As he also loves this one. One more thing can some one suggest a fragrance which smells mile tomato leafy and green notes in it?

I am surprised more people didnt put 'Love It' insread of 'Like it'.. Its spicy fresh, clean and enjoyable.. I dont wear colognes in a season , I think this is great all the time.. That being said it may be more of a fun scent rather than a serious, business, formal occasion scent... Decent longevity and sillage.. I get hugs and compliments at the bar from the ladies.. A solid 8.5 out of 10.. Its my favorite from Lacoste.. I have a lot of colognes and would keep this if I had to get down to only a handfull...

My first fragrance bought from US. It was a blind buy. One of the best summer fragrance. Really well done. The tomato leaf in it smells great. Initial opening is little sharp. Works really in warm weather. Surely a summer scent. Silage: initial couple of hours good. Then becomes soft. One can experience the bursts fragrance fumes as and when body becomes warm and once sweats mildly.(They call it as time relase technology!!) Longevity: 6-8 hours Scent: 9

This was my signature scent in college from 2005 to 2009. So many memories with this fragrance, but I am very disappointed to discover in purchasing a new bottle for old times' sake that it has been somewhat significantly reformulated. Veggie notes have been replaced with floral notes. It's okay but not even close to how glorious it used to be. What a bummer. Time to find a new old stock bottle on eBay because this new formula isn't it.

when you enter fragrance game, one of the very 1st frags you would use in your teenage and young years, this is that fragrance, casual, easy to wear, sporty and summer frag, perfect for watching or playing tennis on grass court. above average performance. i love it, its kinda classy, very nice bottle, the sport flanker is nice too. 125 ml is extra luxury for me. one of the best in this house, sadly discontinued. love it. 8/10

I remember him when he just came out (2005)... I got many testers of 2 ml and then I didn't love perfumes as much as I do today and I liked it immediately! Such a beautiful, fresh, green, sweet, sexy and masculine scent.. It's not the strongest in the world - but it's perfect for daily wear/how this some people dont like??? I'm surprised he didn't experience a stronger hype from people! Top 10 daily driver scents!

i have more than 100 bottles of niche, designer, indie.. this i had smelled n purchased when i was a university student till now i keep a bottle of it and when ever i want to please my self n have feeling of serenity i pull this up. this fragrance never triggers wish of being complemented coz essential it self satisfies and pleases me enough that don't want any one else compliment me for. it connects memories (L)

Went through a couple of bottles of this lovely juice back in the day. The TOMATOE leaf note must be the one responsible that I went crazy for it so many years ago. Lots of citrus scents out there, but that TOMATOE leaf note made it so different. A shame longevity and sillage was so poor. They should come out with a powerful version of this fragrance!

This is the type of fragrance that wont hurt anything by being in your collection. It smells good and fresh and also last a good while. I have worn this a few times the past couple of months and have gotten compliments. This fragrance will not stand out by no means, but will definitely hold its on. Super green out of the shower smell. 7 out of 10.

Though, this a touch on the synthetic side, I have worn this since 2006. It still pulls complements, its fresh citrusy and clean. Never met a girl that didn't enjoy this. This will always have place in my summer rotation for the foreseeable future. The fact that it is affordable makes it even better. Worth putting on your shelf. 7.5/10

Definitely Love Fresh, zesty, green, soapy. Tomato leaf is very clear and very beautiful. Unique and different from normal fresh scents, quickly puts you in a good mood Works very well in hot summer days. You can spray as much as you want and will never annoy people around you. Highly Recommended

This is the fragrance I wore every spring and summer since its release in 2005 and I still enjoy throwing it on occasionally. but unfortunately the new bottle I purchased doesn't last near as long as the original did... this will always be one of my favorites though.

Perfect scent for sunny days, summer or spring... Sometimes hot nights too. Have an amazing lasting and the perfume still in the fur really heavy. For me it is a must. Fresh, fruity and green, just like my wife loves! Scent:8/10 Projection: 7/10 Longevity: 9/10

Classy and fresh green smell with the unique tomato leaf scent which is surprisingly pleasant. Great for casual outings and maybe the gym. For £30 I can certainly recommend this from discounted. Lasts around 6-8 hours and projects well for an hour. 8/10

Maybe it’s the name or the price but I never think of this as my signature scent, yet I keep reaching for it. Reliable, good performance without being overbearing. It want something fresh with a slightly unique profile you can’t go wrong with this one.

Certified summer fragrance. Bottle shape is not a good design. Not ergonomically designed at all. Good atomizer. Citrus scent is amazing but the green notes help them not be too overpowering. Must have for your summer lineup.

My husband had this in the beginning of our relationship, he smelled so fresh, herbal and yummie. Still love it on him, unfortunately it doesn’t last that long and is kind of week, but really good for snuggles.

Adds a good combination of citrus,grass, and wood to make a very masculine, modern fragrance. I find this to be VERY wearable and unmistakably masculine. Good all year round, but better for spring and summer.

fresh and a little spicy... one of my favorite from Lacoste... I can see myself always keeping this in my collection because I feel it is very versatile.. A blue collar to black tie event type scent...

I'm a woman whose ex-husband used to wear this (I discovered and bought it for him). Screw him, I love it and I'll wear it myself, LOL! Smells soooooo good. So fresh and clean and just ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

This was my signature scent my senior year of college. I really enjoyed it, it got a lot of compliments and it helped to set me apart from a sea of guys wearing Polo Blue and Acqua di Gio.

Old memories of 2005, very fresh smelling fragrance. Performance isn't great, lasts maybe 2-3 hours before it becomes a skin scent. Was still an all-round cheapy back in the day, though.

The only cologne my boyfriend has. I like it- it's not as seductive as some men's colognes that I've loved, but it's very clean and fresh and non-offensive.

It is an underrated perfume. Very green, fresh, light with decent projection. Perfect for hot, humid and tropical climate. I would rate it 4/5

Great summer fresh green fragrance , Have been using it since 2007 and for several years and still enjoying wearing it. Highly recommended !

All season, all weather, day and night, clean, fresh, citrus, woody and all beautiful things... A true manly fragrance.

Perfectly clean and fresh fragrance (but not in a shower gel way). Great for everyday office wear. For me very unisex.

I love this fragrance but poor projection Anyone know an better alternatives Same smell with stronger projection ?

This was given to me by my dad and I absolutely love it. I spray it on my sweatshirts before I go to sleep!

I own more than 200 perfume bottles. Lacoste Essential is one of the top 5 perfumes. I simply adore it.

another amazing fragrance! like 212, is perfect for the summer or spring! love love this!

Beautiful scent for summer. Clean, fresh, inoffensive. The tomato leaf is so well done.

My husband has it, this is my favorite fragrance on him. It's fresh and clean.

Overspray this and enjoy life. What a divine, masculine, sexy aroma.

LOVE IT!! Specially for formal events, or hot summer beach plan.

One of the few massively successful sports fragrances to hit the market in the 2000's, overtaking Polo Blue in its prime at department stores across Europe and North America and expanding the palette of what casual slash gym slash active summer aromatics were supposed to do. This one is an odd mix of soapy clean, citrus, leafy green, full-flavored fruity and fresh spicy, giving it a remarkable versatility for its genre and making it suitable for wear throughout spring, summer and early fall. The fruity, leafy and dark cassia dominates early in Lacoste Essential, working in combination with the tomato leaf to create a spicy, fruity, green effect and toning down what would otherwise be an extremely high-pitched citrus top with the tangerine and bergamot eclipsed and pushed to the background. This evolves rather quickly from top to mid to drydown, with the cassia and citrus fading after 1.5-2 hours and developing into a soft sandalwood rose accord that dips dramatically in sillage and makes for a rather bland but unimposing drydown that lasts until the 5 or 6 hour mark before reapplication is necessary. What the wearer discovers with Lacoste Essential is that the early performance is due almost exclusively to the cassia and tomato leaf and once those two core ingredient begin to fade, so do performance and personality. Still a good everyday fragrance for sport and active men looking for something outside the usual cologne pyramid of citrus, floral and woods. Just don't expect too much performance from Essential, it's at its best the first 2 hours of wear before it tones down dramatically, which makes sense for athletes who don't need the distraction, but won't be suitable for men looking to make an impression or to last all day at work or at the beach. Grab Lacoste Essential Sport if you are looking for more performance, longevity is a monster on that one. This one is all about the unique top and it's a fun and addictive scent to wear because of its leafy, green and fruity palette, all rather unusual for a citrus aromatic summer staple. Fun, light, optimistic, versatile and uplifting, worth having in the wardrobe for spring and summer at reasonable prices online.

I agree that this is primarily suitable as a summer fragrance (it's generally for that purpose that I've bought it a couple of times now) but I am not convinced that it particularly deserves to be classed (and, in some cases, written off) as a young man's scent. It is no generic aquatic (no aquatic at all), nor does it scream sexuality in a way that might be no more fitting for a more mature user than for an inexperienced teen. Although I find the sillage and longevity only fair anyway, to my nose and/or on my skin the combination of aromatic (I hesitate to say pungent) green/leafy notes and the pepper accord seems to work well with the woody and spicy base elements (not least the patchouli) to balance or hem in the citrus notes of a kind that I might expect to be more prominent in a fragrance exclusively suited to the sporty younger man. This is, at any rate, a scent that I remain quite happy to wear after around seven or eight years' familiarity with it. That is not something I can say for fragrances such as Lacoste Red or Burberry Brit, both of which I quickly found too floral, with too little of anything I might regard as masculine depth in the base, for me to want to wear them. That said, in my opinion, this has little or none of the dark, earthy or smoky masculinity of many scents based around oakmoss or vetiver, for example. In summary, I find this to be a very fine, green, adequately fresh summer fragrance with just enough spice, depth and refinement to save it from the fate of being undeniably and exclusively a young man's scent.

Husband has had this for about 3 years, 2.5oz with about 1/6th left in the bottle. Its an easy reach for work or great in the summer. He likes to layer it with Azzaro Chrome Legend for work, sort of cheapie with a spray of the more expensive stuff to make the bottle last a bit longer. To me its Sporty, Green, Spicy. The sandalwood and patchouli ground the top and mid without overwhelming and add to the spice. I like it, and I think it suits the purpose it was made for. It makes a Man smell nice if he's exercising or playing sports without stinking and overwhelming those around him. I smell more of the citrus top on my Husband when he first sprays, but I of course sprayed some on my skin and I really get the tomato leaf on me! If you've ever vegetable gardened or bought tomato's on the vine its actually a pleasant bordering on stinky green aroma. I like catching that note! Its earthy and organic. All in all a nice summer/hot weather choice without it being aquatic. Needs a hot body moving about with a slight perspiration to make it into something remarkable. On cold skin or weather it has no silage. I think its well put together as a sport fragrance because it doesn't overwhelm, but if you are sedentary you will be disappointed. As a Lady I like it, smells great on my Husband, I would recommend you guys buy this with the gym bag or activity in mind. This is not your going out special sauce.

Lacoste Essential is pretty nice. It's light, green, and fresh, certainly. I sense faint notes of rose and melon along with a general green spicy herbal background. I have applied it twice and I am still looking for the tomato leaf. It's like, if you were lost in a faraway galaxy and you were trying to explain the smell of a tomato vine to a space alien, he would bring alien things to you for comparison, and when you got to this one, you might just give up because he's not from Earth, he has no frame of reference to understand it, so you just hit a wall and say, "Uh, yeah, sure. It smells kind of like that. So what's for dinner?" I have a bit of an issue with the projection and longevity. Seems like it's basically a skin scent after 5 or 10 minutes. If you like to smell what you are wearing, this may not be for you. This is not a powerful "gator" fragrance, contrary to what the bottle may imply. (I guess it's technically a crocodile.) It's a pretty safe scent for a workplace. (Probably less powerful than most hand sanitizer fragrance.) That bottle design is really nice, though! :) At a discounted rate of less than $30/100mL, I am considering a bottle. But I kind of think I would rather use my money and space for something more captivating.

I reviewed/defended this a few years ago. It was perhaps the first actual fragrance I bought, when it was still quite new; I suppose I have a soft spot for it. It's very youthful (while I keep getting older) but I still like it--even if I don't end up wearing it very often, because nowadays I have other options I prefer in the sort of weather for which this is suitable. This stuff is great for layering, though. I've found that it's great on top of a number of old-school, manly, borderline-barbershop fougeres and chypres that seem a little ungainly and/or kind of hollow and generally outdated now. Many of those share notes with this. The green notes in this will often slot right in and freshen or just complement the notes in the older fragrances, often breaking up the excessive soapiness I find a lot of those to have too. For me this has made the difference between potentially ditching a number of older fragrances and now, instead, using them pretty often. I don't know that I'd replace this or the older fragrances to repeat the experience once they ran out but I'm happy layering them while I have them.