Rive Gauche pour Homme (2003)
by Yves Saint Laurent

This stuff is absolutely divine. I don't wear this for compliments, it is pure self-indulgence. That licorice-y note is so interesting.

I would describe this as unexpected coziness, like laying in a couch and being surprisingly comfortable. It is a smooth fragrance that is such a pleasure to wear. Well, it was. Sadly, it is now a vacation spot in my memory that I will not be revisiting.

It is discontinued and too expensive. But if they ever release it again, I'm gonna back up the truck (as Jim Cramer says).

Classic fresh fougère
With spicy sparks, dry woods and
Cuephoric lockcide

Which is known to cause
Chronic nostalgia in men
And acute passion

In the dear ladies
At least according to some
Chronic abusers.

It was always going to be tough for Rive Gauche Pour Homme to live up to my expectations. Revered by many folks whose opinions I value, executing a style that is ultimately very familiar and common, it was going to have to make some special kind of impression to justify the investment. Chasing a tin can is not cheap these days.

And boy does it make that impression.

Star anise and cloves are two notes I’m skeptical of in fragrance, because one of my staple childhood meals was beef mince and peas cooked with star anise on a bed of rice steamed with cloves. Turning my comfort food into high class shaving cream? How the f**k could that work?

The simple answer is incredibly well. The entire thing is more than the sum of its parts and far better than my ability to describe it. What I will say is that projection is light and polite, sillage noticeable enough to garner some compliments and performance is good enough to linger through a cold shower.

Check out Zealot Crusader’s review for an excellent technical breakdown. All I’ll say is that between my dad being a Brut man and the culinary notes of my childhood being so beautifully incorporated, this has overwhelmed me. Easily my new favourite.

Usually not a "barbershop" guy but I really like the fresh, unique scent of Rive Gauche pour Homme. Also, the performance is really good as well.

It definitely hints towards a shaving cream scent but the starring and quite biting anise with herbal geranium, rosemary, and warming cloves really makes Rive Gauche pour Homme stand out from many other scents I've tried. It's soapy, green herbal, fresh and masculine.

I get all-day longevity and projection that others can smell without having to get too close.

I've read the rave reviews, I have no doubt it's a classic of its genre. But clearly that's a genre I don't much like. Smells like soap or shaving cream, as many say. As if someone wanted to re-create the smell of an actual barbershop. It's sort of powdery, presumably from a sweet lavender note: certainly not the intense herbal note of a lavender flower crushed in your palm. The anise and clove don't help me to like it either. It's "clean" in the sense that it smells like soap, but that's not really how I understand the word "clean". So not for me: I will continue to look for an aromatic fougere as my nose imagines it, intensely lavender-herbal-bracing.