Eau Sauvage (1966)
by Christian Dior

Genre: Citrus

It's the "Eau" in Eau Sauvage that resonates for me. Right or wrong, I think of this as an update of the classic eau de Cologne formula, with a more lush blend of herbs in the heart and a woody flourish in the base. It doesn’t seem all that “sauvage” in a market that includes things like Muscs Koublai Khan and Parfum d’Habit, but it’s a classic: dignified without being stuffy, elegant without pretense, and eminently wearable. A great standby for daily wear and business.

13 June, 2014

The new formulation is a pungent, green, spicy and elegant version – in the cleanest, most unoffensive and most polite sense ever – of the original Eau Sauvage, which had a superb, lifelike animalic-chypre accord that gave it an unmistakable dusty, rugged, spicy and smoky dark vetiver base. I guess purchasing that new version feels like switching to a jail-like diet. To me, only the vintage version exists.

8/10

17 April, 2014

Very similar to Dreamer Versace (the best of the best) but less tobacco more herbal good sillage and long lasting... best fragrance, elegant and complex...I feel like a Lord when used this parfum

04 March, 2014

Bright lemon opening, supported by basil and rosemary, which dries down to a slightly sour citrus note -as in their later Diorella, which is a copy of Rochas' 1949 men's classic, Moustache.

There's a lot more in this than the spare ingredient listing here suggests. Lemon, Basil, Cumin and Bergamot combine in the top. Jasmine, Carnation, Cardamom and Iris provide the middle. Sandalwood, Oakmoss, Vetiver, Petitgrain, Patchouli, Amber and Musk combine for the base.

Turin gives this five stars and describes it as a citrus floral. There is so little floral in it and mainly undetectable that I would describe it as a citrus chypre. It is really the base for their sparer Diorella, which appeared six years later in 1972. Eau Savage is not as pungent and with more herbal/dry spice support.

Perfectly decent citrus for summer wear, but lacking in originality, hence the neutral rating,

31st January, 2014

Classic,sophisticated, rugged masculinity captured and put in a bottle. Timeless

14 December, 2013

Elegance in Simplicity...

This is an example of something very basic and simple done to perfection. The concept of the classic, citrus "eau de cologne" has been taken here and has been refined, simplified and elevated to a timeless status.

Basically it is a lemony citrus type cologne, but done in a way which sets it apart from many others. Released in 1966 from Dior, it quickly achieved legendary status in France (thanks in part to use of Alain Delon, the iconic heartthrob of 60's French Cinema).

The perfume itself opens with a very simple lemon-citrus blast which stays mostly linear throughout the fragrance. It is coupled with soft lavender and a lingering indolic jasmine accord (hedione) in the dry-down.

This may sound simple, but it works in a way which makes you feel fresh, clean, sexy and also daringly adventurous at the same time. Perfect after a swim or a shower on a hot summer day, but also perfect with a crisp white shirt and business suit.

It is all of these things at once, and still has a place even today. Daring, crisp, elegant and refined, but also pleasingly inoffensive.

Timeless!

21st November, 2013