Libre Yves Saint Laurent 2019 Eau de Parfum

Libre EDP it's a quite soapy, clean, fresh, florally scent. I like the dry down way more than the opening as it can be too citrusy and sharp at times. The lavender can be a bit overwhelming as well and it sort of gives the fragrance a certain "masculine" edge that might be exacerbated in certain skin chemistries and might not be everyone's taste because of it, however I personally love that androgynous edge and find it quite exquisite and unique.

The dry down is delicate and pleasant, the vanilla blends beautifully with the white florals and the amber in such a classy and timeless way! I wear it year round as I find this one a very versatile atemporal scent.

Longevity and projection are not great though...I'm not too sure if it's because I bought a 2019 batch or what, but it doesn't last at all on me and people don't seem to really smell it after around 2-3 hours, I can't even smell it that much after that time on my own skin either which I find odd since all the samples I had before performed better than my actual bottle, but like I said, it could be because it's an "older" batch.

Overall I really like it when I want something quick and versatile to wear that works with pretty much any weather and any occasion and makes me feel quite well put together!

I really don't like saying this, but i kind of dont get the hype? i feel like something is missing. It's a floral lavender, but i think it's non-offensive. It does have that "perfumey" smell if that makes sense, like it's not a natural smell. I feel the Vanilla Couture is more me, because it has something to balance out the sharpness that the lavender has, but still maintaining the Libré DNA

OG Libre and Libre Intense are STRONG, you don’t need much, but they are lovely.
Very similar to each other, the OG is fresher and fruiter and i get more of the lavender than in the intense.
I get lavender, vanilla, florals and musk and the mandarin orange is mostly just in the opening.
Really love them.

Very strong sillage – it consistently choked out the whole room for the first few hours. The flavor profile was all over the place. Vaguely citrusy, super sweet, aggressively jasminey, warm and kind of powdery underneath... And somehow none of those notes mixed together in a cohesive way.

I sprayed it once and felt like I was sitting in a poorly ventilated room with three people with very different perfume tastes (and the same overspraying problem). The smells were constantly clashing and trying to overpower each other, giving me a headache. At first I thought that maybe it would mellow out into something interesting if given a little time? Nope. The composition never came together. Crowded. Loud. Overwhelming.

Neroli and orange disappeared first – in about an hour. Jasmine left the room another ~1,5 hours later. I was left alone with the base notes, which at that point settled closer to my skin – still very sweet, with an unpleasant prickly undertone that I couldn't quite put my finger on. In ~2 hours the base became nice and mellow, and in another ~3 it was gone. I was finally home alone.

It somehow managed to drain my social battery without ever making me speak to anyone, lol. And I don't even have the energy to be annoyed about it tbh – I'm just glad the party's over now.

At first, Libre smells amazing. Elegant, expensive, cultured. She's a delicate white floral and citrus veil against a sturdy backdrop of lavender. Soft cedar and bittersweet vanilla undertones warm her up without turning the florals too sultry or boozing up the fruit.

Libre oozes luxury. Like, you better own at least one sparkly LBD if you intend to have her in your wardrobe or she might just walk out on you for being riffraff. This is what I'd consider a "classically" sweet, feminine perfume, shying away from the syrupy sugar and rich gourmand elements that have been gaining popularity since the turn of the millennium. It feels like a rather midcentury modern concoction, minus the heavy aldehydes typical of that period.

Gradually, that first impression evolves and deepens into something a bit more current, a new twist on the classic femme. Libre becomes a bright, sweet spring day... in fourth grade.

Record scratch.

Yep! That's what I'm getting once the high-powered CEO vibe wears off. Fresh cut grass, clean sweat, half a bottle of root beer, the barest whiff of Fruit Stripe gum? I smell like I'm about nine years old and have been playing outside until the street lights came on. I'm so confused?

Make no mistake: there IS an air of sophistication here. My chemistry can't quite smother all of it, though it's trying its damnedest. I can identify clearly that somewhere in the world is a very professional woman who works in an upscale office and smells like this all the time, without bringing out any of the playground associations. I am jealous of her six figure salary and expensive high rise apartment.

But: Libre also makes me want to go put on some denim overall shorts (probably with a licensed cartoon character embroidered on the chest pocket), "play" with a stack of cinderblocks in a vacant lot, and get my knees all skinned up. This should be sensible but luxe Italian slingbacks and a corner office, but on my skin it's knock-off Chuck Taylors and grass stains.

I do love it, it's still GORGEOUS, but I admit I'm baffled beyond all reason by the way the scent profile has developed on me.