1958 - L’Essence de L’Essence

I discovered YVRA1958 after reading about it in several Dutch media. As a fan of transparent perfumes like Eau de Hadrien of Goutal, and the (what a pitty!....) discontinued Monsieur de Givenchy. And of course I like the sophisticated Eau de Bigarade of Editions de Parfums and may be the greatest of all eau fraîches Eau Sauvage! So I was very interested in this Dutch creation as it is promoted as a cologne / soapy like fragrance. When I smelled the perfume for the first time, I was very pleased while it was both fresh and very comforting. Compared to my favourite fresh perfumes I think YVRA 1958 opens indeed very rich on hints of lemon, but quite soon it shows it’s more woody aromatic side. After I got a sample (a perfumed tissue the way only Hermès is still producing I think) I really missed the scent the day after and decided to buy my first bottle and I am a fan ever since.

Just picked up a 2ml sample of the two fragrances from this house and yes I do agree L'Essence de L'Essence has that "smelled this somewhere before" aspect to it but is a more natural and higher quality interpretation of a citrus/ginger-woods manly scent. I really like it. Citrus Woody aromatic type fragrances are among my favourites, they have an uplifting character to them that just gives you such an enjoyable mood-boost. L'Essence de L'Essence is definitely a bright Spring/Summer scent and I'm happy to report is one of the few scents that I wear that has received several unsolicited compliments in the office where I work within the first few hours of arrival. :o) There's just one slight snag.....£107 for 100ml EDP is pretty steep for what is still a fairly mainstream style of scent. Might have to save up for this one.

The first time I came across YVRA 1958 was when I saw their online Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. Usually I don't buy these products, but this was just a very convincing video. Perfumer/lifestyle journalist van Regteren Altena was being interviewed at his house and was speaking about the people he had interviewed in his career... Jean-Claude Ellena, Francois Demachy, Michel Roudnitska... And they all gave him his blessings for his creation. It made me too curious to not buy the bottle. So I did! In short: Love the scent. Great cologne. It really has that "sophisticated gentleman" smell... Lovely citrus opening notes and woody second notes. Will definitely buy the bottle again!

This scent is absolutely stunning. I’m always looking out for ‘the’ scent for me and I think I found it. This has everything. Every ingredient is so wonderfully integrated. It is fresh, smooth, aromatic, seductive all in one! Wouldn’t describe it necessarily as Italian or mediterranean, it is more allround.

Absolutely gorgeous spices! Beautiful cardamom and pepper notes, plus, fresh and zesty citruses. The base is more dry and woody. Probably some can cat it’s a manly scent, but I love everything about it! Just finished a big decant of it. My ig: scent.guide