Elle (2007)
by Yves Saint Laurent

I have retried it lastweek while trying Parisienne. Well may be i am on the wrong side as this special scent is unique with its base or the beautiful integration of the florals with woods but i am fascinated with the sambac and peony of the first hours. Anyway Elle is a succesfull fragrance that outshines with the bold and sophisticated composition. It has much character which is more obvious when compared to defaced Parisienne.

It took me a while to really appreciate Elle. Didn't like the original campaign (though I like Coco Rocha a lot), the cheap looking bottle (though I like hot pink) and "at first sniff" the fragrance seamed to me like a patchouli version of Stella McCartney Stella (also by Cavallier) . I quickly concluded that it was all too young for a "real" YSL.

Yet, now 2 years after the launch I changed my mind. I'm still not so sure about Elle's fruity topnotes (which remind me of Givenchy's Hot Couture) but I love it's distictive and sexy (if a bit masculine) amber/patchouli drydown. Like all great YSL fragrances Elle has an excellent sillage: it can fill a whole metro car. So, Elle is not really one of those inoffencive office scents. Elle is not "younger" than Opium, the great Paris or Cinema but it is just more contemporary. It's for all sexy women (not girls) 21 and way up.

Love the simple and affective new ad campaign for Elle Shocking, which is much more in tune with the modern YSL fashion lable image.

Still hate the bottle (the refillable handbag spray is way more chic-looking), I would have much prefered to see Elle in the new Parisienne bottle.

Dior makes a more volumptous (and peachy) version of Elle under its Midnight Poison line (Cavallier again). If Elle is a black YSL smoking suit, than Midnight Poison is a black lace push-up bra.

I like Elle a lot! As a fan of dry, spicy, woodsy scents- this is the most patchouli prominent women's frag I've tried. It doesn't smell like a head shop; it smells like the beautiful sexy hippie chick who owns the head shop. The perfect mix between edgy and mainstream. Sexy and fresh. Daring and pleasant. Would also be lovely on a man.

Wearing a sample of this today. It reminds me a bit of Gucci II. It's not offensive but to me there's nothing classy or expensive about the smell and it's typical of a lot of modern perfumes. It's a bit too sweetie/fruity for me so I won't be buying it.

I received a spray mini of this, and was attracted to the pretty fuschia packaging and the fresh, youthful name, so I had hopes it would be lovely. It's not bad, but to my boyfriend and I, it's nothing special. After the intial floral/peppery notes (pleasant), it faded to a definite cedar shaving aroma. While I love the faint smell of cedar on my stored winter woolens, I find it odd and unsuitable for a perfume. As I smelled my hand, I kept flashing back to cleaning out the cage of the pet mice I had eons ago, and the fresh cedar shavings I'd fill it with. I made my boyfriend smell my hand and he said "hamster cage!" Not an unpleasant scent or memory, but not interesting enough to make me try it again.

Elle has a sharp citrusy scent with some woody and spicy scents.
It is a Floral - Woody Musk type of perfume.
I find it extraordinary and mysterious.
It also has a masculine scent, which is what drew me away from it.
I also think it is very similar to midnight poison by Dior, but I prefer midnight poison.