Do you know that feeling? You have a favorite fragrance that you've loved for years (well, probably many favorite fragrances as members of this forum). You appreciate it and use it often. Then, at some point, your receptors for that scent become a bit dulled, and you start searching for something that smells like your favorite fragrance but challenges your olfactory receptors anew.
That's what happened to me with the Eau de Toilette of Dior's masterpiece Eau Sauvage, until I learned to appreciate and love its parfum variant, which boosts the original in presence and projection but possesses more or less the same fragrance DNA.
Now, during the Christmas holidays, I stumbled upon Eau Sauvage Extrême in a large airport duty-free shop. A fragrance I had long had on my wishlist but had yet to find on the shelf of any perfumery. Right after the first spray on the test strip, I knew: "This is the one"! An impression that was immediately confirmed when applied to the skin.
The fragrance opens with a wonderful citrus note, elegantly rounded off by lavender and probably elm resin, never piercing sharply. From the very beginning, the mint creates a kind of unobtrusive background freshness. The whole is embedded in a beautifully harmonizing, spicy-woody base that appears classic yet modern at the same time. Even though the scents are completely different, Eau Sauvage Extrême evokes a similar image in me as Green Irish Tweed - namely that of perfect freshness! And although Eau Sauvage Extrême is a completely independent fragrance, the DNA of Eau Sauvage Eau de Toilette subtly resonates in the background.
In my opinion, François Demachy has created a small masterpiece with Eau Sauvage Extrême. He takes the classic and skillfully wraps it in a new independent guise, all without denying its roots. Unfortunately, Eau Sauvage Extrême lives the life of a wallflower in this country - and completely unjustly so. Anyone who appreciates the original Eau Sauvage should definitely give it a try.
Great review!