Rive Gauche by Yves Saint Laurent, 1971

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.

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.