L'Eau D'Issey pour Homme (1994)
by Issey Miyake

This is a first ballot hall-of-famer for nightclubbing fragrances besides Le Male, Desire, Dreamer, A*Men, and Fahrenheit. I've been using this since '94 and it has never begun to disappoint me in any situations filled with women. A lifetime keeper for me.

I have grown tired of this scent after having worn it on and off for 14 years. Once you've sampled more niche fragrances this starts to smell a bit synthetic. That said, even though every man and his dog seems to have a bottle and it has been imitated countless times, I still think that this is the best of its kind. Top notes verge on being too sharp but middle is simply lovely and it stays 'fresh' for hours on the skin. A smell that can cut through a smoky bar and a bona-fide modern classic

That day I was sitting on the bus on my way to work. Next to me was some young girl (apr. 18-19 years old). I was thoughtful. Suddenly I felt something on my shoulder. It was her chin. Her nose was quite close to my neck. She had a little smile on her face and it was so obvious that she was enjoying. Her nostrils were spread, her eyes were closed. It was no doubt; she liked my scent very much. She didn’t say anything and there was no need to. I must say this: She wasn’t aware of my existence, not even for a moment, and because of that the whole situation was even more likable.
Well, sometimes we receive speechless compliments and they can be more convincing than “oh, my God, how good you smell!!!” compliments.
By the way, I was wearing L’eau d’Issey that day.

Men and women alike really appreciate this scent. The top notes are almost pungent, but in a pretty way. It is kind of a pretty scent. Amazing in summer. AMAZING. In heat. But boring in fall. Nice in winter. That's how I experience it. Dry down is really something. Spicy fresh. Woody lemon. I really like the bottle too. Get it.

There’s one thing I’ve noticed about most newbie Basenoters – they usually tend to latch onto the ‘holy trinity’ of designer scents that, automatically, creates the perfect foundation for any man’s fragrance wardrobe: Le Mâle (cold weather), Envy for Men (special occasions and dates) and L’eau D’Issey (warm weather). Although these may not be the first three scents that a newbie Basenoter will purchase, chances are they will definitely be among their first 5-10 full-bottle purchases. I, myself, have been a victim of this ‘beginner’s crutch’ and it, admittedly, took me some time to bring myself to remove all three from my wardrobe without feeling even the slightest bit of remorse.

L’eau D’Issey was actually the final one that I managed to weed out. A good indication of its ‘superior’ quality compared to the other two, no? Well, not exactly (they’re all just as synthetic and flawed as each other). The fact is summer scents, with decent longevity, are incredibly difficult to come across (especially for those not in the know). Therefore, any reservations I had about L’eau D’Issey were put on hold due to its stronghold on my arsenal for warmer weather (which wasn’t particularly impressive back then). It was only after a period of time (during which I encountered better quality and longer lasting scents for spring and summer) that L’eau D’Issey eventually lost its grip and fully revealed itself for what it is – a highly synthetic and artificial smelling yuzu (grapefruit) composition with average lasting power.

From the very start, I always overlooked the fact that (upon application) it always made me sneeze; for a person who rarely suffers from migraines, for quite a while, I never questioned whether it was the sillage from L’eau D’Issey that was responsible for my subtle headaches; and I always found myself refusing to accept that its longevity wasn’t as great as originally thought (skin chemistry or olfactory fatigue were usually held accountable). Yes, the fear of not having something appropriate to wear on warm days worried me, and L’eau D’Issey successfully tapped into this fear and preyed upon it for quite some time. Now, luckily, those days are long gone…

L’eau D’Issey is a great starting point for any newbie but please bear in mind the hazards mentioned in the above paragraph. If nothing else, it does serve as a decent ‘starting out’ fragrance. Just don’t expect anything more from its shallowness, as your nose becomes more sophisticated, or you may end up being sorely disappointed.

Smells synthetic to me. However the dry down is absolutely amazing. This has woody notes infused with other ingredients to well that it is overall soothing and very mild (i detect light smelling north-indian sandalwood, which is not as strong as majority of fragrances using stronger smelling mysore sandalwood).

Oh and one more thing...this works like a charm w/ the ladies.