Rive Gauche (1971)
by Yves Saint Laurent

I remember this fragrance standing on the side of Opium and Shalimar on my mum's desk in the large bedroom of my parents. My dad has worn for years and years the incomparable Azzaro Pour Homme. Those fragrances were my olfactory vitamins as a child. I remember Rive Gauche as the smell of a sophisticated lady still in front of the mirror in a toilette of a parisian hotel early at morning before to go out for shopping. The fragrance was a bit metallic, hesperidic, angular, aromatic and mossy-rooty with a remarcable sophistication of flowers (starring the rose) able to cut the metal-laundry-toilette-bath soap smell with femininity and class. The typical and recognizable smell was produced by the agreement of hesperides, vetiver, aldehydes, greens, woodsy and aromatic notes (galbanum, oakmoss, olibanum). The aromatic feel was endly bracing and invigorating even due a sort of cool power of aldehydes together with an almost balsamic and resinous dark incensey final trait. Nowadays  the smell of the fragrance you find on shelves of parfumeries has really  changed and is stressed on florals and powdery woods being definitely lost that legacy of laundry-metal and aromatic incese that made the features and the fortunes of the old formula. A disappointment.

29th October, 2011. (Last Edited: 22nd December, 2011.)

When I first put Rive Gauche on I thought it might be a complete dud on me because it seemed to completely "disappear." I just wasn't getting any notes coming off of me at all, so I thought: "okay, this is way too light for me and I can't wear it. So much for floral aldehydes. Oh well. *sigh*"
Then, after maybe 20 minutes or so I started to notice the air filling with a beautiful floral scent, and pretty soon I was just completely enveloped in it!
This is a gorgeous floral aldehyde which (in my opinion) was much more "well done" and balanced than Y. In the case of Y by Yves Saint Laurent, I felt that some of the notes were a little too "sharp" and "harsh" to the extent that they were irritating my nose!
With Rive Gauche, I don't get that at all despite the aldehydes. It's just a divine perfume, both in the bottle and on my skin. I highly recommend this one to pretty much everyone, there is not much to dislike about this fragrance. It might possibly even be one of the best floral aldehydes ever made.

20th October, 2011.

Rive Gauche has grown on me. I’ve always liked it, smelling it a bit late in the game in the early 1990s on a friend who had to my mind a perfect balance of chic and practicality. She had a discerning, unpretentious knack for picking from high and low cultures what suited her best. She wore Rive Gauche and it fit her perfectly.

Recently I wrote that I preferred Paco Rabanne’s Calandre to RG. Call me sometimey, but today I prefer RG. Their similarities allow their differences to come into view clearly. Calandre is an aldehydic rose floral that winds up with a vaguely bitter green chypre drydown that I wouldn’t have expected at the outset. It’s a beautiful trajectory over time. RG’s aldehydes last longer and move the rose into the sweet viscous shadow of a tonka/galbanum gumminess that feels like a thick incensy resin. Despite Calandre’s reference to metal (chrome grill), RG has more of a metallic feel. It’s cool with a bit of that flinty smell shared by metal and stone. There is a constant question among the perfume set. What is a good rose for men? Here’s your answer.

8th July, 2011. (Last Edited: 29th September, 2011.)

I wasn't aware that YSL had reformulated this fragrance and I'm rather disappointed that I'll never get to compare the original to this scent.

I'm usually back and forth with aldehydes. In some fragrances I love the powdery and soapy quality that it gives, while in other scents, (for example, Chanel No.5), I hate how it smells sharp and unpleasant.

When I first sprayed Rive Gauche I immediately classed it as a sharp and unpleasant aldehydic fragrance. It was so strong and nose-burning, that it was almost like a bomb had hit me right in the nostrils.

I quickly stuffed this sample into my pocket in case I became nauseated from the scent and soon forgot about it. When I finally got home I emptied my pockets and wondered what smelt so elegant, rich and flowery. It was Rive Gauche.

When the aldehydic opening softens, the scent becomes feminine and romantic. The rose note is delicate with the gardenia, magnolia and jasmine creating such a beautiful floral blend.

It has that delightful, classic type scent which I love. It's difficult to re-create these types of scents which hold so much class, sophistication and elegance in a bottle.

Although I feel as if I'm a little too young to start wearing Rive Gauche, I can always look forward to growing older in hopes of one day owning this wonderful scent.

4th June, 2011.

I remember receiving this as a Christmas present from my parents. Knowing how I loved scents, they thought that would be a wonderful addition to my humble collection. Unfortunately, it gave me an instant headache and the scent itself repulsed me. I couldn't get it off my skin fast enough. If I ran across it today I'd probably give it another chance to see if anything's changed.

1st June, 2011.

Absolutely love Rive Gauche! Even though it's been reformulated, it still smells pretty much the same as I rememberfrom the 70s and is wonderful and unique. It's a fragrance I never want to be without.

19th April, 2011.