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Frequently Asked Questions about Rive Gauche by Yves Saint Laurent
What does Rive Gauche by Yves Saint Laurent smell like?
Rive Gauche by Yves Saint Laurent features top notes of Aldehydes, Bergamot, Green Notes, Honeysuckle, Lemon, and Peach, middle notes of Gardenia, Geranium, Iris, Jasmine, Lily-of-the-Valley, Magnolia, Rose, and Ylang-Ylang, and base notes of Amber, Musk, Oakmoss, Sandalwood, Tonka Bean, and Vetiver.
When was Rive Gauche by Yves Saint Laurent released?
Rive Gauche by Yves Saint Laurent was released in 1971.
I have a love hate relationship with this perfume and clearly it's taken me a long time to bother to review it, something I don't usual afford many perfumes specifically marketing towards women. It's not discrimination on my part, more that I have enough men's and unisex to review. My love hate relationship is basically that I used to hate this and now I don't...well not entirely at least. Always had a problem with aldehydes and floral musks and this starts out very bracing, even this modern version. One thing that has struck me about this fragrance is that it's the perfect counterpart for the Men's version, or sorry...more correctly the men's version is a great counterpoint for this, being as this one predates it by several decades. The green, sharpness in the opening actually has slightly the ammonia smell to me and reminding me a bit of being choked by hairspray, perm kits and hair dye by my mum, sisters when I was a kid and nowadays by my missus! Allow that effect to subside though and you are treated to what is essentially a feminine 'Barbershop' scent. Do women have a genre called 'hairdresser' scents? Anyway the musky, oakmoss clean white florals, slightly minty geranium, vetiver and woods could easily be worn by a man and on my skin actually smells really good. A fragrance I've been aware of for a long time but has come into clear focus for me now, which says as much about my changable tastes as it does about the quality or suitability of various perfumes I may have dismissed in the past.