Eau Sauvage
Christian Dior (1966)

As with so many classic scents, there are people who bemoan the current, reformulated version of Eau Sauvage. I am not one of them--I think it's fantastic. Very naturalistic citrus, basil, and jasmine opening. The jasmine tones down fairly quickly but remains an essential part of the composition. In its current form, at least, I find this to mostly be an excellent citrus-vetiver. Yes, there are some herbs and moss, but the core is citrus (mostly lemon) and vetiver, and the quality of the ingredients is apparent. A relaxing spring/summer fragrance that goes well with anything you might wear, from shorts and sandals to a suit. Sunny, optimistic, laid-back.

(222mL splash from the mid 1980s)
I've lathered myself in this - bathed myself in it; back of arms, inside of arms, back of hands, and neck… and it's either weak or I'm anosmic. Has the age of my bottle compromised its integrity? Or, is its close-to-the-skin subtlety and short lifespan part of the original intent? One day I'll do an arm-by-arm comparison with my other vintage bottle and find out; yes, I have two bottles because, regardless of this issue, I can't imagine myself not having plenty of this perfume to last me my life. I'm not the only one that has taken issue with its strength and longevity, and I'm also far from being the only one that thinks this is classic 70s/80s masculinity in a bottle. It's a square-chiseled jaw with subtle brown stubble, refined yet understated clothes, piercing eyes and a disarming smile. The lemon and bergamot top fades very quickly on skin, but lasts a good amount of time on the blotter (maybe this bottle is not as compromised as I suspect?). The first dry down, which happens quite quickly on blotters and skin, goes straight into a smooth but very dry herbal and floral heart. The top is the piercing eyes, the herbs and florals are the disarming smile because that middle is so comforting and smooth. It's rare, particularly these days, for herbs to not have a bracing and sharp vegetal green quality. Eau Sauvage's heart manages to smell like an herbal suspension. Then comes the square-chiseled and stubble coated jaw line in the form of ample oakmoss - real oakmoss! - musks, and touches of vetiver and woods. That real, glorious oakmoss and musk base is what triggers modern noses into immediately saying Eau Sauvage smells too old school or retro. However, we must note that the reason why it smells old school/retro is because we can't use real oakmoss anymore and haven't been able to for quite some time; had it still been permitted today, more masculine perfumes would smell like this - and how much better our life would be. Because this feels a bit dated to modern noses, and because the base is very much the star player when the overall life of the fragrance is considered, not many would want to pull this off nor could they pull it off. It will take a confident gentleman of a particular style to be able to handle Eau Sauvage in today's world. If we were to flash back to the 70s and 80s, when tons of men everywhere wore this, I cannot help but notice the correlation between how much masculinity has culturally changed to how much masculine perfumes have changed with it. This perfume had its heyday, and deserving of that and many more it is. But, perhaps today, we should not mourn that its heyday has passed and it is relegated to the shelves of connoisseurs and collectors since, after all, that's where the most beautiful things inevitably go.

A sparkling juicy lemon, with green herbs, spices, and a vintage oakmossy base. Its pure elegance in a bottle, perfect masculine scent that feels more mature, but its not so strict and formal that a younger man could not wear it, he definitely can wear Eau Sauvage, he just needs the right look and mindset for it. This has a playful, yet restrained side to it. This is a man that smiles, but never makes a clown of himself.

I’m feeling under the weather today and didn’t plan to wear any fragrance at all — but then this “savage water” reared its head. It’s just so smooth and natural, so subtle and comforting, so inviting and sensual… that it’s impossible to resist.

[There’s a reason why it’s still on Dior’s shelves after nearly 60 years, and continues to sell for a little over $1/ml. A testament to the timeless allure of this venerable juice.]

In its current form it’s a fine fragrance, but I find that the vintage has more character in the heart and base. Mine is from the 1980s (a beautiful art deco bottle with vertical grooves and a flared metal cap) and retains all of its integrity and wonder, from top to bottom. It was just the mood lifter that I needed this morning.

My preserved vintage of Eau Sauvage is an impeccable Roudnitska artifact. It's modern through the lens of the cultural decade, a sleek lemon eau fraiche that was given a flesh and pith, seasoned with the sweat squeezed out of swarthy spices. It marked the debut of Hedione, and for me to smell it here is to appreciate it in a whole new way, it has me imagine what its forerunners would be like had the pheromone-like molecule existed years before. Here, it seals all the aromatics with its wet jasmine tea cellophane. Then, it winds down to a smooth finish of moss, sandalwood and musk.

Overall, this a testament of the genius in unadorned simplicity. It is an institution in which so much has already been said. Sadly, it has over the decades become just a bit too watery in the middle and the bottom has fallen out. Much like all of the Dior classics, it is no longer respected by those who now possess its trademark. Its own flankers have outshined it in recent years, and young whipper snappers scoff at it as a grandpa scent, wondering why it even shares shelf space with the likes of "junior" Sauvage and all the vague and sweet-orris-loaf Hommes and their own flankers. In spite of the cruelty of time, it will forever be an icon.

Really nice fresh pick me up scent. I add a few drops to a well known lightly scented brand of Italian barber shop aftershave balm (milky white) at around £7 for 100ml (comes in a glass bottle) rather than spend £50+ on Dior’s Eau Sauvage infused version. A trick my father taught me that works well with any fragrance free/mild balms and decent EDT/EDP’s.

ES… the aftershave version of this EDT isn’t listed here (splash-on) it has decent longevity (at least 3 hours) and gives off a classy mild clean aroma with a hint of white florals.