L'Homme Le Parfum Yves Saint Laurent 2020

In 2006, the original L'Homme by Yves Saint Laurent was launched and is certainly one of the bestsellers from the brand, alongside La Nuit de l'Homme. Whether it has been reformulated or not, I cannot determine, but a very good friend of mine has been wearing it for years, and I can always recognize the scent. It is understated, yet very pleasant and still has a distinctive character.

Over the years, YSL has excelled in an almost absurd extent of flankers for both of the aforementioned fragrances. They have really gone overboard with this. So after the Le Parfum for La Nuit de l'Homme, there is now also a Le Parfum for the classic L'Homme.

Around 2010, I had La Nuit EdT and EdP in my collection and must say that at that time, they were the best and most complex fragrances in my collection. Of course, I was just starting out, only had Boss Bottled Night and a few cheapies in my collection, but these two fragrances were heavenly for me. YSL was the pinnacle for me.

In the meantime, I must regretfully note that YSL no longer matches my taste. Perhaps it is because I am gradually outgrowing their target audience, but it still disappoints me. Just like this flanker here, which further underscores my claim.

The first spray of this flanker starts with what is referred to as ozone, which for me simply embodies the classic freshness of an aquatic. However, L'Homme Le Parfum is definitely not an aquatic. It leans more towards fragrances like Y from the same house or Acqua di Giò Absolu by Armani and is thus one of the many developments of the infamous Invictus by Paco Rabanne. I am aware that this fragrance DNA is currently quite popular, but it does not suit my taste. The top note is overall a bit overwhelming. Upon first sniff, I even got a slight headache. It starts off very fresh and yet has an overwhelming sweetness. I can detect cardamom (here in a rather sweet form), but the lemon disappears in the blink of an eye.

This sweet-fresh mix quickly drifts into geranium, which more or less constitutes the centerpiece of this fragrance. The geranium here has no spiciness that can sometimes be detected, but rather leans towards the rosy direction. This blends with the sweet-fresh scent mix that continues to persist and gives it an additional floral character. The sillage is already somewhat fading here.

Towards the end, everything becomes quite unremarkable, as the fragrance becomes a bit woodier and thus fades into a woody-fresh mix with a hint of sweetness. The longevity is quite okay, but I find the sillage really very weak.

The fragrance is probably a crowd-pleaser, but I see it more suited for leisure time in a sunny park (I need to get out of this house) rather than at work. I rate the recognizability on a scale from 0 to 10 as 0, as I couldn't distinguish it from other freshies, like the ones I mentioned above. I find this particularly disappointing, as back around 2010, the La Nuit fragrances were especially marked by their recognizability. The regular L'Homme that my buddy wears, by the way, is too.

This is probably the perfect gift for your young nephew, whose interests and preferences you know nothing about and who will surely appreciate it. For the perfume enthusiasts who have already experienced several fragrances, this scent will either be a disappointment or simply forgotten.

To put it in the words of the poetess Ariana Grande: Thank U, Next.