Y Yves Saint Laurent 1964 Eau de Toilette

Version from 1964

Y (1964) (Eau de Toilette) by Yves Saint Laurent

Bottle Design Pierre Dinand

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Y (1964) (Eau de Toilette) (Yves Saint Laurent)

8.3 / 10 135 Ratings

A popular perfume by Yves Saint Laurent for women, released in 1964. The scent is chypreartig-floral. The production was apparently discontinued.

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Main accords

Chypre

Floral

Green

Fresh

Spicy

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Green notes

Aldehydes

Gardenia

Peach

Honeysuckle

Plum

Heart Notes

Hyacinth

Jasmine

Tuberose

Ylang-ylang

Orris root

Rose

Base Notes

Oakmoss

Amber

Sandalwood

Vetiver

Benzoin

Civet

Patchouli

Styrax

Perfumer

Jean Amic

Ratings

Scent

8.3135 Ratings

Longevity

7.293 Ratings

Sillage

6.490 Ratings

Bottle

7.291 Ratings

Value for money

7.511 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 21.03.2024.

Reviews

7 in-depth fragrance descriptions

07/16/2018

Ypsilon
2 Reviews

Translated Show original

Ypsilon

Very helpful Review 13

Y the original from the mid 60s

It must have been around 1977 when I came to the payroll office of my training company and smelled this scent for the first time. A temp (younger than me) had hung him up and I loved him from that moment on. She gave me the sample bottle to say goodbye because she didn't like the scent. From that day on, I indulged in perfume, usually duty free, or bought it in Spain much cheaper than in a shop in Germany. And then suddenly you couldn't get "my" Y anymore. Great joy when I rediscovered it on the Internet. What I didn't know was that it was a "replica" that didn't deliver what Y promised. In addition, this block bottle in powder pink is an extremely unwieldy thing. The original from the Mid-Century is and remains unmatched!

12/27/2012

Krmarich
24 Reviews

Krmarich

Very helpful Review 10

Superb...

I was born in 1964 as well, at the crossroads of modern perfume history when Y was introduced. Y was the cornerstone of an empire that would eventually dominate my world. I had an older cousin who lived in Detroit before it collapsed-say 1973. She played David Bowie and Elton John records and wore Y. She was my idol! Enough said. It was forever branded for cool people only. It was massive and unforgettable. Detroit, my cousin and Y have sadly since disappeared.

I found a perfectly preserved vintage spray last year and have rediscovered its majestic power. This epic masterpiece is perhaps the definitive chypre behind Mitsouko and Coty's original. I have described it like Mitsouko on steroids. Why? Perhaps more redolent florals in the composition? It seems so tighly compressed as if it sat in the vat for centuries! Micheal Hy was a genius in his brief career. Calandre and Rive Guache were to follow. I suspect he worked on YSL Pour Hommme.

The opening is indeed incredible. The fruit has an aged fermented quality to it. This particular bottle takes a good six hours or more to work through the florals. Indeed, the brilliance of the chypre is defined here. Time is required for the novice. It can last 24 hours or more depending on the wearer. Expeiencing it in its original form is the only way.

Around 2002, I tried a mini and was heartbroken. Although Y was never as commecially successful as Opium, it had a cult following. Did YSL think no one would notice? The oakmoss and vetiver was gone! It has finally been raised forever at the brutal hands of L'Oreal Paris. Maybe one day it will return? I cannot loose hope. Until then, I apply a drop at a time and mourn as my bottle gets lower...

11/15/2012

10
Scent

Smellsogood
75 Reviews

Smellsogood

Very helpful Review 5

Y Wouldn't You

Forget Guerlain's "Little Black Dress." YSL made the perfect LBD in Y. This is the epitome of chic and style. The wear anywhere, anytime, with anything fragrance. An effortless wonder that is green, but not too green. Clean, but not too clean. Mossy, but not too mossy......I could go on, it is never too anything, it is just perfect. In fact if I could only have one fragrance, it would probably be this. Wonderful.

08/02/2012

jtd
484 Reviews

jtd

Very helpful Review 5

1964: Y and me

It’s no wonder that people love this scent. It is beautiful from so many angles, and so deftly balanced. And, wonderfully, this balance doesn’t seem the result of consensus. This is not the middle of the road in a bottle. It contains the best of green florals and grassiness, a smart fruit choice, a confident dose of moss and just enough darkness in the basenotes to make it meld with your skin. It is a quality of many chypres to sink into the skin over time. This one becomes a skin scent, but one with sillage, almost instantly.

There is something so poised and charming about Y. It has confidence yet never seems to have to prove itself. There’s just that hint of a knowing smile. God, I wish I were Y. Interestingly, while other green scents suggest flowers, grasses, things you might find out-of-doors, Y is in fact outdoorsy. It has all the city sophistication of similar fragrances (Cristalle, Silences, No. 19) but seems perfectly at home in the woods.

Y was released in 1964, the year I was born and a year I’ve never quite made sense of. I remember what the later 60s were like on the east coast of the US where I lived at the time. Yet photos from 1964 look like the mid-50s to me. Y captures a bit of this for me. A few years earlier and Y might have been Jolie Madame, a few years later, Diorella. Y is a bit like the gen-X of green fruity chypres.

05/25/2018

7
Bottle 7
Sillage 7
Longevity 9
Scent

Minigolf
312 Reviews

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Minigolf

Helpful Review 5

Rear (green) dig, front (green) dig

I like word games and sometimes I use them in my environment.
Also with this fragrance from Yves Saint Laurent. An early representative, without the appearance of an "enfant terrible" ...But in this day and age? Maybe one? Because it doesn't fit the mass taste...?
"Did you loll about in a meadow?" was one of those questions...
or: "Gelle, you stayed in the barn, you smell so "strange"...
But maybe only NEID?
And if it should be envy, then I see that as a huge compliment!.
It is a wonderfully "green" and flowery chypre of the mid-sixties (of course years)...
People of this age can also wear them.
I am still a few years away from it, but I like "Y" very much.
With its early summery charisma, it now fits exactly into the fragrance, but can also be worn all year round.
This scent is also a "little rogue".... Superficially he is very "green" with many great floral notes, with hyacinth and rose predominating, surrounded by leaves and grass.
But it's still hidden, because some surprises are waiting in the course of the fragrance.
The fresh green and flowery gets a fine "shadow" of moss, balsams, wood notes (slightly "earthy") and a hint of "animalism"... Still green, but different green.
From the fresh "Maigrün" "Y" changes to "rich Sommergrün", shows also "pictures" of "Grün, wie es in schattigen Wäldern herrscht".
But also colorful speckles of the "flower meadow", which enrich the whole smell..... Oh, yes... "grass green" also occurs... behind (green) dig......

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