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Notes10/16/2018
Alex1984
44 Reviews
Alex1984
Top Review
8
70’s Paris
Vintage (1978) vs recent (2013) Rive Gauche.
First of, I gotta say; in my opinion this is the best reformulation L’Oreal has done with an YSL fragrance. Actually, the only one that hasn’t completely butchered a perfume. Rive Gauche is still itself, for better or for worse. Main difference lies in the opening and long drydown.
I already really like the current one, but I simply adore the vintage.
The original opens with soaring metallic aldehydes, the ones that sting your nose and give you an instant high. It smells like hairspray in the best possible way, so if you dislike them, stay away. If you love them, like I do, this is heaven! There’s a beautiful tarry quality that further enhances them. Imagine hairspraying a vial of poppers and sniffing. Stunning!
The current one has 0 tar, 0 metallic effect. It’s plain aldehydes with a hint of peach. C14 aldehyde? It will still scare those who loathe them even though the impact is muted compared to the original.
The heart is where the similarities intensify; geranium, Iris, a very French floral bouquet of rose and jasmine, that feels like a finely milled bar of white soap. Blindingly white, in a marble bathroom. Stark and cold, silver bathroom fittings. Vintage has them in spades along a ray of light in the form of lemon and LOTV. Current one dials them down, adds more peach and citrus and feels like a minimalist version. But as a whole, the feel and smell isn’t all that different.
Now the drydown, that’s where you find all the good and heavy stuff.
In the vintage.
Oakmoss galore, vetiver, all smoothed by amber and musk. The new one relies on vetiver mostly, with tonka bean adding a slight fougère effect. Drier, less oakmossy (it still has treemoss), more powdery.
Less green, more grey. The vintage feels more herbal, more full, the oakmoss really shines. The Iris still rocks in a sublime way, the feel is of smoothing body powder on heated skin. Cooling.
With both versions, I get all day longevity and strong sillage. While the new is different, and years of restrictions and reformulations have taken its toll, it’s still very much itself. The controversial aspects have been eliminated or toned down, but it’s a miracle it’s been kept so ‘vintage’ smelling. Fresh, cold (while I never thought of Chanel n°19 as an ice queen, Rive Gauche is definitely a cold hearted one), powdery, green.
It just happens that the 1970’s version gets me high in a way the current one does not. Silver hairspray poppers!
Current? Big like.
Vintage? Absolute love!
First of, I gotta say; in my opinion this is the best reformulation L’Oreal has done with an YSL fragrance. Actually, the only one that hasn’t completely butchered a perfume. Rive Gauche is still itself, for better or for worse. Main difference lies in the opening and long drydown.
I already really like the current one, but I simply adore the vintage.
The original opens with soaring metallic aldehydes, the ones that sting your nose and give you an instant high. It smells like hairspray in the best possible way, so if you dislike them, stay away. If you love them, like I do, this is heaven! There’s a beautiful tarry quality that further enhances them. Imagine hairspraying a vial of poppers and sniffing. Stunning!
The current one has 0 tar, 0 metallic effect. It’s plain aldehydes with a hint of peach. C14 aldehyde? It will still scare those who loathe them even though the impact is muted compared to the original.
The heart is where the similarities intensify; geranium, Iris, a very French floral bouquet of rose and jasmine, that feels like a finely milled bar of white soap. Blindingly white, in a marble bathroom. Stark and cold, silver bathroom fittings. Vintage has them in spades along a ray of light in the form of lemon and LOTV. Current one dials them down, adds more peach and citrus and feels like a minimalist version. But as a whole, the feel and smell isn’t all that different.
Now the drydown, that’s where you find all the good and heavy stuff.
In the vintage.
Oakmoss galore, vetiver, all smoothed by amber and musk. The new one relies on vetiver mostly, with tonka bean adding a slight fougère effect. Drier, less oakmossy (it still has treemoss), more powdery.
Less green, more grey. The vintage feels more herbal, more full, the oakmoss really shines. The Iris still rocks in a sublime way, the feel is of smoothing body powder on heated skin. Cooling.
With both versions, I get all day longevity and strong sillage. While the new is different, and years of restrictions and reformulations have taken its toll, it’s still very much itself. The controversial aspects have been eliminated or toned down, but it’s a miracle it’s been kept so ‘vintage’ smelling. Fresh, cold (while I never thought of Chanel n°19 as an ice queen, Rive Gauche is definitely a cold hearted one), powdery, green.
It just happens that the 1970’s version gets me high in a way the current one does not. Silver hairspray poppers!
Current? Big like.
Vintage? Absolute love!
Carlitos01
