YSL Pour Homme Haute Concentration by Yves Saint Laurent, 1983

Dare I say - brilliant! YSL Pour Homme's original bottling came out in 1971 while this entirely different composition arrived in 1983, a full dozen years later. For fans of the genre, familiarity with the classic bottles is essential to understand this composition. It shrinks the note pyramid of YSL Pour Homme, and is not stronger (both are Eau de Toilette) - but it shows us how aromatic compounds can be deeper and more focused. A huge blast of lemon opens this scent but is immediately blended with petit grain. The depth of citrus here is phenomenal - it will last the entire wearing...up to 10+ hours and stay on clothing for several days! The carnation in the top, while just a light nuance in the traditional YSL Pour Homme bottling is much more prevalent here. A key note that brings this together, which I believe is missing from the scent pyramid above is verbena (or lemon verbena) that blends brilliantly with the rosemary and sage to give us the herbal heart. I get a great earthiness in this from the deep patchouli - possibly the best use of patchouli in a citrus fragrance! The wood here is important, but blended well - cedar, sandalwood and a nice, slightly-dirty/bitter vetiver accord that is rounded out by the nutmeg offering a dustiness into the base notes. I love this texture...the depth is stunning! Some people say this is a very strong scent. While it may awaken your olfactory senses - it is aromatically rich and a different scent than its older brother. This is, to me, one of the best Haute Concentrations of an Aromatic Citrus ever produced - because it does what many attempt to do...it decreases the number of notes from the original and, yet, makes the composition deeper and richer (than 'standard' formulation). A modern classic - to be worn with swagger, confidence and honesty. This is a scent with confidence in just a light to moderate application. While I find myself torn on which is better, I reach for the YSL Pour Homme standard bottling to feel cleaner and more gentlemanly (and for a single key note in Vintage, Oakmoss) - this is one I wear when I want to be noticed. I adore both. This is pure excellence in a bottle! YSL Pour Homme Haute Concentration is a scent that stays within the lines of the genre, yet goes at least one (or two) levels richer in olfactory depth than almost any other scent out there in the realm of Aromatic/"Dirty" Citruses - awesome. Profound and to be respected! Only for those who adore what an aromatic citrus can offer when it turned up to FULL volume. This is much like feedback on a tube amplifier - noisy to some; beautiful (and harmonically-perfect) to others. Cheers! Near perfection...

Mmmmmm, what a trip!

YSL Pour Homme Haute Concentration really takes me back! I was given a sample of this in the early 90's and loved it; on my next trip to London (hailing from the sticks ) I bought a full-bottle in Harrods. Unfortunately, being young and careless, I purchased the original Pour Homme and not the concentration; my best friend told me, gleefully, that it smelt like 'Lemon Pledge' (for the benefit of readers not in the UK -Lemon Pledge is furniture polish!) and I was bereft that I'd spent two weeks wages (I was at college then) on a scent I didn't (and still don't) like at all.

Eventually I got around to getting the Concentration and some sixteen years later am wondering why I have never, until now, purchased it again. Probably because I grew into the more agressive Antaeus and was at that kind of age when you change your fragrances all the time. When I tried to get some a few years later it seemed like it had dissapeared altogether.

This is simplicity itself. Yes, the lemon is very prevalent but I cannot detect the sour note that a lot of readers have mentioned. It's gentle, masculine but not macho (unlike (PUKE!) the hideousness that is Kourous) and very comforting. It's like you've sprayed yourself in a goodbye hug...THAT kind of goodbye hug, not the kind you'd get from your Father! You catch wafts of it throughout the day and just feel sensual, clean and confident.
It mellows beautifully, the citrus settles down without dissapearing altogether, and warmer notes come forefront ensuring it can be detected hours after application. Yes, this fella packs a punch so go easy on the application (although personally it wouldn't bother me if you've showered in it.) It's also that rare thing - Pour Homme Haute Concentration is oblivious to time and occasion. It's perfect around both the clock and the seasons, adjusting itself with ease to any social occasion be it work, a formal dinner party, the amped-up, sweaty atmosphere of a club and those more (cough) intimate gatherings. Another big plus is its (now) relative obscurity, meaning it's not worn by absolutely everybody . This will stand out much more than any fragrance from Calvin awful Klein or Le Bland-and-Boring by Jean Paul Gaultier

As Backtable put it, YSL Pour Homme Concentration is class-in-a-bottle. A timeless masterpiece.

I remember YSL pour Homme back in the 80s, the EdT concentration, which as a kid was happy to have a couple of samples of. Memorable and refined, it smelled of class, restraint, sophistication, and a bit of the joie de vivre. It smelled like a classic EdC with a woody musky warmth to it.

I didn't realize there was a Haute Concentration version until joining Basenotes. I found a bottle for awfully cheap and thought that I could relive the good ol' days of classic perfumery. High concentration is damn right! Two sprays created a cloud of sharp citrus that could scare away a thick swarm of mosquitoes!

As you get passed the bright citrus, you are invited to its herbaceous and animalic qualities. Normally one would imagine catching nuances of this at the base, but it appears rather quickly. Verbena, geranium, thyme, and musk, create a sharp and sweaty "unwashed" smell that is almost too much for modern standards. Even Kouros seemed to smell more subdued when it came to its animalic facets of its fragrance. Well, I shouldn't say that--I guess I feel that I'm more sensitive to sharper smells.

It does mellow nicely and at this point, this is where the grandiosity of the perfume lies. The hebaceousness of the perfume recedes and the sandalwood, vetiver, and cedar create a calming feeling of freshness.

Definitely a try-before-you-buy scent, but not awfully regrettable if bought blind because it can be had for around $20, perhaps even less. To compare the two concentrations, I think the EdT is easier to wear without feeling you've worn too much and doesn't smell too animalic and smells more cozy.

It's funny you can remember these fragrances after all these decades, but these newer creations leave nothing memorable to be appreciated that its future seems to be bleak. Perfumery should definitely go back to basics.