Cosmopolitan Vintage

When I was 18 or 19 years old, my best friend gave me a teensy bottle of Eau Sauvage; it wasn't new when she gave it to me, and my guess is that it was from the early to mid-80s maybe. I cherished that little bottle and used such tiny quantities, mostly as a little pick-me-up, that I made what couldn't have been more than a half-ounce at most last for a couple of years, and so I associate this fragrance with my freshman year of college and then the months I spent in Paris as a fille au pair. I never thought this scent was particularly masculine, and I don't think I even realized at the time that it was marketed to men. (In my defense: no Internet.) To me my first bottle of real French perfume smelled of lemons and herbs and European glamour, and I associated it with Studio 54 and enviable women like Jerry Hall and Bianca Jagger and maybe even a few who weren't the consorts of one Mick Jagger. Well, I am pleased to report that Cosmopolitan Vintage by Dua smells exactly like I remember that teensy bottle of Eau Sauvage smelling. I don't have the OG to compare it to, but I don't need it. This also is extrait strength, so it lasts much, much longer than the EDT I cherished in my tender years. I know I should give this to my husband, who gravitates to classic citrus barbershop cologne-type fragrances and fougères, mostly because that is what I buy for him, but I sprayed some on a handkerchief and keep returning for whiffs of my late adolescence and the first perfume I owned that I truly prized.

I suppose changing cultural norms and tastes or my teenage exposure to Eau Sauvage ruined my understanding of gender stereotypes, but I don't think Cosmopolitan Vintage or vintage Eau Sauvage smell particularly masculine. I get a ton of citrus--mostly lemon/bergamot--a dash of spices, a little leather, and a huge helping of hedione. It smells fresh and zingy, and I would love to smell this on a man or a woman. It does remind me a bit of Lemon Pledge, which some people will perceive as a slight but isn't one coming from me. I like to smell like good clean antique furniture. I wouldn't call this a woody chypre, though. I would call it more of a woody-citrus-freshie-chypre, if such a thing exists. It really does have a strong floral component, too. The floral notes are well-blended enough that you can't really perceive the individual notes, but there is definitely jasmine. Combined with the citrus and woods, it imparts a bit of a tealike effect.

This is a very close copy of the vintage Eau Sauvage..... but on steroids as it a perfume extract. Got a very bright citrus opening, followed by the beloved mossy combination that made this fragrance famous. The duration is really awesome, eternal compared to the original. This really is a nice surprise, as the vintage originals either have turned bad or have lost their full smell. Highly recommended!

If Cosmopolitan Vintage smells like vintage Eau Sauvage, then modern Eau Sauvage must smell very different from the vintage, because Cosmopolitan Vintage smells very different from the modern Eau Sauvage EDT. The lemon in this reminds me of artificially flavored lemon candy, and there's an odd note in the composition that smells sort of like coconut oil and unscented natural sunscreen. I have well over a dozen Dua fragrances that I love, but this one is barely passable, unfortunately.

This is not Eau Sauvage. It's very like Samphire by Laboratory Perfumes. That one also thinks it's an Eau Sauvage clone. It isn't. Just buy Eau Sauvage if that's what you're looking for, because this is not it.