Elegant Woman La Rive 2023

BR 540 divides opinions. Some celebrate the scent, while others condemn it. There’s no black or white here. But there’s also a group like me, who has some difficulties with the original scent but doesn’t actually find it that bad. It’s kind of a middle ground. For us, the affordable cousins of the fragrance spring up like mushrooms. A close relative is Belle Icône, where I like the strawberry scent. So, a spring cousin.

Here with Elegant Women, we are dealing with the summer cousin, as I smell citrus notes at the beginning and a bit of pine resin. It’s like walking through a pine forest in the sweltering heat of summer. Also, the beginning doesn’t smell like hairspray, which is otherwise typical for La Rive. Otherwise, it’s very, very close to BR 540, but still a bit different. Not bad, but I prefer the relative with the strawberry scent. But that’s a matter of taste.

Longevity is 5-6 hours, and later it’s nice to sniff up close. Now in the cold season (it has snowed here in my area in the Bergisches Land), I find the scent fitting.

The bottle is simple and elegant, albeit angular and not suitable for a handbag. But you can always decant it.

This week, the La Rive fragrances are available at RM for 4.99 euros. For that price, it’s an absolutely good scent. Just one should mentally detach from the idea that it’s supposed to be a copy or something of BR540. Rather, consider it a nice cousin, where you can sense... um, smell the family resemblance.