Yvex Saint Laurent is the french luxury fasion house that everybody knows about. They are well known for their high quality tuxedo jackets for women, shoes, jewellery and, most of all – their perfumes. We have gone through their top perfumes to find the best Yves Saint Laurent colognes this year, both for men and women.
They are iconic, unique, luxurious and elegant. A lot of colognes can be described with fancy words, but when speaking of YSL collection, then you can be sure that they meant every word.
1964 was the year when YSL launched their first fragrance, named Y. It’s been many years since then, and they are still on top. But out of all the colognes that have been released over the years – which one is the best? We’ve found out.
Best Yves Saint Laurent Cologne
The French know a lot of things, but if it’s something they do know more than most others, it’s fashion, colognes, good wines and food. The good things in life.
Thus, we have been extra excited for this guide and test. Nothing beats a good french cologne, especially when it comes from such a well-established fashion house like Yves Saint Laurent.
These are the best Yves Saint Laurent fragrances, starting with the men’s colognes at the end you’ll find the women fragrances.
1. Yves Saint Laurent L’homme Intense for Men
Time: Night
Season: Fall and winter
Signatures: Balsamic, citrus, white floral, woody, animalic
Keywords: Mature, modern, friendly, gentle
The bottle for L’homme Intense for Men exudes cold modernism, mostly thanks to the large silver hexagonal cap. The blend of ingredients gathers its identity from floral, fruit, wood, and animal sources.
The opening begins with the citrus notes of lemon and bergamot, paired with the orange blossom coming out from the middle notes, giving off a sweet scent akin to confectionaries. The opening is far from definitive for the fragrance as a whole, as the dry down reveals its more masculine side.
Most of the time you spend wearing this will be dominated by the warm woodiness offered by leather, suede, and woody notes. There’s a significant floral backdrop to the scent, which may make it seem feminine, but it is perfectly balanced with the other notes to make it just right.
It is a soft performing fragrance in general. It lasts about 6 hours and doesn’t project much from the skin. In a manner, it fares better this way. This is a gentle inoffensive scent for mature men. It’s not meant to dominate the room.
2. Yves Saint Laurent Y Eau De Toilette Spray for Men
Time: Day
Season: Summer and spring
Signatures: Aromatic, citrus, fresh, balsamic
Keywords: Casual, youthful, fun, happy
The notes in YSL’s Y are numerous, but ambergris, bergamot, and violet are likely the most identifiable of the bunch.
This is an aromatic fragrance, with fruits, flowers, and plants doing wonders. The citrus tone of bergamot is prominent just after applying this fragrance. We also caught some traces of green apples, though briefly.
This fragrance is fresh, and with the freshness it connotes, we just know it is meant for younger men. This doesn’t give off the powerful vibes that would make it a dominating show-stopper, and that’s all right.
It’s not the scent for someone who frequently finds himself at the club.
This is what you wear when you just want to go to the office and be yourself. We don’t think it’ll go as well in complete formal wear – the image of a man in a tuxedo just does not compute with this. This is a fun, casual fragrance.
3. Yves Saint Laurent L’homme Sport Eau
Time: Day
Season: Summer and spring
Signatures: Citrus, woody, aromatic, aldehydic
Keywords: Dynamic, casual, youthful
The names that houses give their perfumes can lend an idea into what they are meant to smell like. For instance, the ‘Sport’ that YSL has tagged to the end of L’homme evokes an image of a fresh, modern fragrance.
This is one that shouldn’t be intense or dominating, and should work perfectly for casual days. On that accord, Yves Saint Laurent nailed it. This fragrance is perfect in that regard, and is an energetic, dynamic fragrance perfect for young men.
It opens up with a smooth citrus note thanks to bergamot, and verbena as well. As it dries down, the woody notes and cedar come out, giving a classy masculine base to this. Whether you want to wear this after cleaning up at the gym or to the office, you’ll find it to be perfectly suitable. It’s mellow, and far from overpowering.
We found performance to leave something to be desired, lasting on the skin for about 6 hours. However, this modest performance is what makes it work so well as a casual fragrance, so we’ll let it off on that account.
4. Yves Saint Laurent L’homme
Time: Day
Season: Spring, summer, and fall
Signatures: Warm spicy, citrus, aromatic, fresh spicy
Keywords: Clean, modern, uncomplicated, inoffensive
When it comes to the intricate art of perfumery, playing it safe can sometimes be preferable to being wild and daring. YSL L’homme is the house’s quintessential masculine fragrance, and it plays a safe hand.
It’d be extremely hard to find someone who thinks of L’homme as being too different. It may not be the most unique fragrance, but it works in its favor.
Some of the most prominent notes you’ll pull from this are the ginger and spices it carries. Ginger adds a bit of sweetness to give a fresher scent. Bergamot and lemon add a sweet tartness which when combined with the spiciness give a perfectly sculpted profile. Vetiver and cedar play lightly in the back, adding a subtle layer that gives this scent its maturity.
Yves Saint Laurent does not excel typically when it comes to performance, and regrettably, that’s the case with L’homme. It’ll last about 6 hours, and the smell doesn’t project far at all.
Despite that, this might be one of the safest options for a blind buy as it plays it safe, but plays it brilliantly.
5. YSL M-7 Oud Absolu for Men
Time: Night
Season: Winter and fall
Signatures: Balsamic, oud, patchouli, woody, warm spicy
Keywords: Sophisticated, light, professional, comforting
Oud-dominant fragrances are very frequently best worn for the colder months, and the case is no different with YSL’s M7 Oud Absolu. The exotic richness of oud provides a sense of comforting warmth that is hard to replicate with other notes.
A total of five notes went into this, so in terms of formulation, it’s far from complex.
It opens with mandarin orange, which gives an appealing sweet start. Oud gets a spot in the name of the fragrance, so naturally, it appears very quick.
Paired with patchouli, the scent becomes quite robust and warm. Myrrh and labdanum layer over oud near the heart of the fragrance. It smells almost like a temple with its incense-like scent.
We found this to be one of the lighter oud fragrances available. The agarwood is prominent, but not overpowering as a lot of oud colognes tend to be. It works well as a scent for professional circumstances due to this, and would work well for formal occasions and maybe even colder office days. It is sophisticated, but not authoritative.
6. Yves Saint Laurent L’homme Libre
Time: Day
Season: Summer and spring
Signatures: Fresh spicy, soft spicy, ozonic, aromatic, green
Keywords: Modern, classy, confident, youthful
L’homme Libre comes to you in a mostly transparent bottle. The usual hexagonal cap that is a trademark of sorts for Yves Saint Laurent is now transparent, and the bottle transitions from a transparent top segment to a slightly darker, but still transparent bottom.
Based off the bottle alone, it’s easy to assume that L’homme Libre would be a fresh fragrance, and you’d be right.
The perfume pyramid shows all natural notes, with violet leaf and basil being the most prominent scents amongst the top notes. An aromatic spiciness comes from the heart, with nutmeg and pink pepper as notes, finishing off with patchouli and vetiver at the base. The green in most of the notes makes this a competent summer and spring cologne.
The scent is classy, and with its modest performance, feels like the cologne to wear to get heads turning at the office.
It brings to our minds the image of a young man in a clean shirt, popped open at the top and tucked in behind his belt. He’s confident and stylish, and that’s the best way we can describe this modern scent. It’d absolutely kill on a dinner date too.
7. Kouros by Yves Saint Laurent for Men
Time: Night and day
Season: Winter and fall
Signatures: Musky, animalic, aromatic, powdery
Keywords: Masculine, powerful, intense
Kouros can have its quality assessed by one simple fact about it. It was released all the way back in 1981, about 4 decades ago. It has not been discontinued as of now, which definitely means that something went spectacularly right during the formulation.
This is a distinctly animalic fragrance, thanks to civet musk and leather.
Sometimes referred to as ‘King Kouros’, the fragrance carries an aura worthy of that title. This is one of the more dominating YSL scents on this list.
The musk and civet in it give it a heady, alpha-male vibe. Honestly, we really don’t recommend this one widely, as you need a certain air around you to be able to pull off Kouros. It’s intense and performs like a beast.
It has a raw masculinity that modern fragrances can only dream of capturing.
8. Opium by Yves Saint Laurent for Men
Time: Night
Season: Winter and fall
Signatures: Soft spicy, balsamic, powdery, anis
Keywords: Gentlemanly, inviting, vintage
There’s one thing you can say about Opium, and that’s that the notes that compose this fragrance are uncommon. Atlas cedar, tolu balsam, and galanga are notes that are uncommon by most standards. What really matters is how well it mixes with the other constituents, and in the case of Opium, it is downright addictive.
Opium was launched in 1995, and with this it brings some of the vintage DNA that newer fragrances find hard to replicate. Opium is powdery sweet, yet spicy.
The way the notes coalesce is spectacular, and the end product is an aroma that could easily be a mouth-watering desert. We honestly found it to be that good.
Black currant, vanilla, pepper, and star anise make this a gorgeous fragrance to inhale.
This a warm, inviting scent that definitely fits the colder seasons of the year. The performance is great, easily lasting more than 12 hours on the skin. The vintage YSL formula is the star here.
9. Yves Saint Laurent La Nuit De L’homme
Time: Night
Season: Winter and fall
Signatures: Aromatic, warm spicy, fresh spicy, woody
Keywords: Intimate, romantic, seductive, cozy
The hexagonal cap on La Nuit is as black as black gets, calling out to its name – French for ‘the night’. Such a mysterious title for a fragrance, and with only 6 notes to call to, you might wonder how mysterious and dark it can get.
Cardamom is the top note here, with bergamot, Virginia cedar and lavender at its heart. Vetiver and caraway make up the base.
Like the night it takes its name from, there’s a mysterious seductiveness that La Nuit evokes. The spiciness of cardamom opens the scene, with a pleasantly strong aroma.
As it begins to dry down, the floral scent of lavender mixes in with the spice and the effect is difficult to describe, but it works. Cedar and vetiver add a masculine element to this scent, and they blend in expertly with the preceding notes.
Honestly, this is a warm spicy cologne. It is romantic and comfortable. It is masculine, but not radically so. It is let down by its longevity, as it lasts about 4 hours, which is honestly such a shame for such a seductive fragrance of the night.
10. Jazz For Men by Yves Saint Laurent
Time: Day and night
Season: Fall, spring, and winter
Signatures: Aromatic, fresh spicy, floral, herbal
Keywords: Bold, youthful, energetic, nostalgic
Jazz is another one of those vintage Yves Saint Laurent fragrances. Numerous notes can be detected in this fragrance, but lavender, nutmeg, and coriander the most prominent of them. From the first spritz, the nutmeg and coriander stand out, with cardamom as well.
The opening is rather spicy due to that, though the floral sweetness of lavender and the earthiness of oakmoss are able to balance it out. The spiciness is quite a kick from the onset, though it cools down with time.
Notes like cinnamon and basil show up as the opening begins to give way for the dry down. As this continues, it gets more floral, which is unsurprising as all the heart notes are unapologetically floral. This gives a nice gradient from the spiciness of the top to the floral sweetness of the middle, and then finally ending at the rough masculine scents at the end. Tobacco, cedar, leather and sandalwood seal the deal for Jazz.
This is a scent of youth. Of bold, heady confidence; yet doesn’t scream masculinity, but rather, youth.
11. Paris by Yves Saint Laurent for Women
Time: Day
Season: Spring
Signatures: Floral, powdery, rose, woody
Keywords: Pure, feminine, elegant, attractive
Paris, that beautiful city in France. The name has more significance to this fragrance than merely being a tribute to a city revered for its romance. Paris is the city where Yves Saint Laurent was founded, so it holds more meaning to the house.
The floral scents in Paris are numerous, and the notes in the fragrance are nearly exclusively floral. Rose and violet are the more prominent ones here.
To put it concisely, Paris is a gorgeous scent. It performs spectacularly, with the potential to last the whole day, and it projects with confidence.
Honestly, the overwhelming floral presence in this makes it a purely feminine fragrance, and it’s unapologetic in those traits. This is a definite compliment magnet.
12. Yves Saint Laurent Manifesto for Women
Time: Day and night
Season: Fall and winter
Signatures: Balsamic, vanilla, woody, aromatic
Keywords: Delicate, feminine, sophisticated
The beautifully crafted glass of Manifesto is one of the first things to stand out when you take a look at the bottle. It is audacious, and instills a hope that the fragrance within it is similarly so.
The pyramid for Manifesto moves from fruitier notes like bergamot and black currant down to drier components like cedar and sandalwood.
This is a distinctively feminine scent, and it carries a maturity lent to it by the heavier base notes. The vanilla in the base is powdery and dominant, giving Manifesto most of its character.
Fruity and floral notes are also well noted in this as it begins to sit on the skin for some time.
It is a delicate fragrance, with a maturity that is satisfyingly surprising.
13. Yves Saint Laurent Mon Paris for Women
Time: Day
Season: Spring and fall
Signatures: Fruity, sweet, fresh, white floral
Keywords: Feminine, elegant, beautiful, addictive
Mon Paris is a fragrance that aims to make you lick your lips with its sweetness. YSL has put together a delicious fruity-floral fragrance with Mon Paris, and the effect is intoxicating.
The top notes are essentially all fruits, with strawberry, raspberry, and pear being the most prominent of these.
There’s a wealth that this scent carries, and having its aura around you communicates money. It doesn’t incorporate any intrinsically exotic notes, but the fruits and flowers that Yves Saint Laurent formulated into this manage to give an exotic taste to this.
As it dries down, the fruitiness is replaced by the flowery sweetness, and throughout this, it is never cloying.
This fragrance brings across a heady, elegant bliss, and its flavor is perfectly constructed.
