Elle is the latest fragrance for women from Yves Saint Laurent, and like last year's L'Homme Yves Saint Laurent, is intended to attract younger consumers to the brand. In keeping with that goal, Elle Yves Saint Laurent's launch was online as much as off: it has a spiffy website and a presence on YouTube, a blog, a MySpace page (Elle has 1496 friends! w00t!), and of course Elle had the requisite debut in Second Life. It's probably on Facebook as well, but as I'm planning to be the last person on earth to join Facebook, I can't check.
Perfumers Olivier Cresp and Jacques Cavallier were asked to come up with something modern, urban and feminine, but with "a touch of the masculine", as is the latest style. They've done just that. I'll start with the dry down, because it is so perfectly in tune with recent trends that I can just quote another review:
As is the recent fashion, the whole thing is draped over a darker, drier, but resolutely clean and smooth base (neither the patchouli nor the vetiver are particularly earthy), enlivened here by a smidgen of incense.
That's from my review of DKNY Delicious Night. Substitute pink pepper for the incense, and you've got the base of Elle Yves Saint Laurent (the other notes are citron, lychee, peony, cedar, rose, freesia, jasmine, and ambrette). The opening is crisp and bright and sharp, already rather woody, and moderately sweet; in character, it is exceedingly fresh. The heart is peppery sheer florals — you'll catch the rose and the jasmine, but they're not assertive. The lasting power is good, although it is surprisingly close to the skin once it calms. The end.
It is perfectly nice and perfectly wearable. I probably would have been more impressed if I'd smelled it earlier in the year, before trying a dozen other feminine-but-masculine-woody-modern-chypre-things with clean patchouli (yes, fruity florals are on the wane, but they're not going to be replaced by variety), but as it is, Elle Yves Saint Laurent comes a bit too late in the game to live up to its tag line of "unpredictable and unique". It's well done, but it's a crowd pleaser, and a bit blander than its competition. If you're looking for something on the clean and fresh edges of the "feminine-but-masculine-woody-modern-chypre-things with clean patchouli" spectrum, you might just love it.
Elle Yves Saint Laurent is available in 50 and 90 ml Eau de Parfum and in matching Body Lotion and Shower Gel. In the United States, it can be found at Neiman Marcus; next year it will go into wider distribution.
Have tried it but to be honest, wasn't impressed by it.
Wouldn't it be nice if YSL and other perfume houses would bring their great classics back on the market, completely unchanged..instead of yet another sort of mediocre fragrance?
Robin, I imagine that releases such as Midnight Poison would be on that list of new-style fragrances, and I concur. Glad the tide's turning, although it is turning en masse at the expense of individuality. A couple of months ago I wondered aloud about the tedium of fruity florals, not having reached my own personal saturation point. I have now, however! Wanted to mention that, to my nose, Elle is surpassed by its closest stylistic rival, Miss Boucheron: the former is a little oomph-less, the latter full of youthful oomph. This may not interest those of your contributors into the far more interesting realm of niche fragrances, but, for a mainstream release in the new movement style, I think D&G The One manages to hit the mark solidly.
Unlike some other brands though, most of YSL's classics are still on the market. Unchanged is another story, but it is hard to know who to blame for that these days — the regulatory agencies or the brands trying to save money on components.
So glad you are with me in resisting Facebook (re: my last list, I have broken down on Thierry Mugler Cologne and Salman Rushdie, but I'm holding fast on online networking.) I chuckled for quite a while at the “w00t!” As for Elle, I actually thought it was nicer than some of the genre – I liked the pink pepper – but the ad campaign terrifies me. I mean, look carefully at that girl! I think she's 12!! They've got her made up like clown and her cleavage is out there to distract us from the fact that they're employing child labor…
Interesting what you write Robin. My guess is that there will be more future saturation points with other groups of scents.
And to Robin NST: making fragrances a tiny bit cheaper productionwise is still a crime to our noses. When YSL had his 40 years jubileum fragrance In Love Again, I totally fell for it and bought and used it a lot. Later I gave it to my daughter for 100 ml is still a lot and she loved it just as much.
Then a some years later decided to buy another bottle In Love Again, which was suddenly no longer a limited edition. To my shock it smelled by far not as good and interesting as the previous one! Something was definitely missing, something edgy.
Un Jardin Sur Le Nil reminds me a little bit of the first YSL In Love Again and that was my comfort.
I will never buy a second bottle of the same fragrance again without trying it first for a couple days.
I bought Elle while we were visiting Paris and I like it. Like you said in your review, it's nice and wearable. I put it in the “department store” kind of scent category. Just has that kind of feel. I don't get the marketing about it being geared towards younger women – well maybe that bright opening but not the drydown. The drydown on my skin is more on the dark side which I like. And this perfume lasts and lasts on my skin. That's a plus for me.
Do you like the bottle at all?
Have a nice day.
Dawn
I will try it as soon as I recover from this springtime allergy!!
The ad somehow reminds me of Ysatis, although the notes do sound “younger” (lychee).
p.s. and totally unrelated…. My “agent” in London, snagged me a bottle of 8 88, due in my tweaky hands January 3 :-).
She says that they sprayed her arm at the store in Burlington Arcade and it smelled good. She also said that there were still loads of boxes of the fragrance, but she couldnt tell if they were factices or the real thing.
I am going to be spraying the hell out of that thing up to march here in Buenos Aires, to exploit the exclusiveness factor!! hehehe
p.s.: (I just hope it does not smells like something else, but with CDG I have good chances that it does not)
K, we will be jostling each other at the end of the line — you first, no you!
The fruity floral has not drawn it's last breath just yet, but try Gucci by Gucci & Christian Dior Midnight Poison, you'll see what I mean. Take a smidgen of fruit, some sheer florals, put it all over a dry, relatively dark & rather masculine base of very scrubbed-clean patch w/ some woods & maybe some vetiver. Paco Rabanne Black XS Femme & DKNY Delicious Night are both sweeter, and might be a bridge between fruity florals & this new whatever-you-call-it style (they're going under different names — woody floral, modern chypre, floriental, but they're all very nearly the same thing to me). I do like the style better than the sweet fruits & flowers over very pale woods & musk, but it is going to get easily as dull before it is all over.
Agree Elle is perfectly nice — did say that and hope it isn't buried in all the other humbug (we're going with a Scrooge theme this week, perhaps).
Coco Rocha (the model in the ad) was born in 1988. She looks like a young 'un to me, but I'd probably look just about ready for burial to her, LOL…
Robin (Robin2, I should say) — funny you mention Miss Boucheron, I wore it this morning next to Elle because I thought they must be similar, was surprised to see how little they had in common other than the lychee-pink pepper thing. But Elle smells way more trendy.
I keep smelling D&G The One and then forgetting it — I guess that means I don't like it. But thought it was more sweet-fruity-floral? I don't remember a dark, dry base at all? I guess I need to try it again!
I think the “young” style is changing, whether the “young” like it or not, LOL — the bright opening over the dark base seems to be the latest thing. You're exactly right, it is a “department store” scent. I do like the bottle (which reminds me of YSL lipsticks), but was surprised they went w/ hot pink, which isn't so trendy any more, and given the rest of the presentation thought they'd do something newer. Don't know what though, purple is now overdone too.
I thought In Love Again was an LE that got trotted out on some regular basis, but I honestly don't know. They have been doing LE variations on it, at any rate (In Love Again Fleur de la Passion, In Love Again Jasmin Etoile). But haven't smelled the original in some time.
Yay, I have a sample of 888 (do we HAVE to say 8 88???) on the way too, and looking forward to trying it.
Feel better soon 🙂
Ah, so she's my brother's age – she looks younger than that to me, but my bro looks about 14, so obviously I'm just feeling geezerish today. You DID say it was perfectly nice, and it is. I guess I just liked it better than Midnight Poison, etc. (though no sign of the Gucci around here yet) so I'm feeling defensive.
Seeing as my rock was shaking w/ laughter at your review, I've decided to crawl out from under it and say: a thousand apologies for not yet replying to your email! Last week was busy as hell then the exhaustion melted into a flu. I've been and still am just BUMMED. And no, I won't join the Facebook either, evah, LOL!
So agree that Elle can be found in many of recent launches, MPoison springing to mind first. However, I experienced an about-face with YSL L'Homme – am even considering FB purchase. Fickle, I know.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to gorge myself on the nth cuppa tea today while mentally formulating uber-apologetic emails to E, L and K… 🙂
I wouldn't have pegged her as 19 either. She looks a wee bit more mature in the TV commercial than she does here, I think.
I liked Midnight Poison better, but they're both nice, and both a nice change from what we've seen over the past few years. I do think YSL could have gone a bit edgier with Elle while still doing a crowd pleaser, but I nearly always think that. I do think Gucci went a bit farther out on a limb, but then, it probably isn't so much of a crowd pleaser (and guessing they are going for a slightly older target audience, maybe).
No worries — you know I take nearly forever to email. But so sorry you've been ill, and hope you're on the mend!
Seriously, YSL L'Homme? I'll have to give it another shot, I only tried it very quickly and can't remember a thing about it.
I tired this the other day. I thought it was extremely sweet. Usually, I like sweet more than you do. This is just another generic, easilly forgotten fragrance….out in time for the holidays…so all those pathetic male shoppers will be suckered in to buy it. Sigh.
I would just like to add that Truly by Stephen Burlingham is one of the better fragrances out this year. My only complaint is that the packaging concept needs to be revisited. The refill is $50 less than the regular; however, you don't get the pouch/holder. But, really what does one need a parfum pouch for?
Really, extremely sweet? Curious if you smelled it on a card or on skin? I don't find it that sweet after the top notes fade, and you're right, usually you like sweet more than me 🙂
Truly is pretty, as I remember, although haven't smelled it in a couple years. Sort of like Cristalle EdP, IIRC? Jasmine-y? And wonder whatever happened to the planned follow-ups, Madly & Deeply. It would be cool to have a trio called Truly, Madly, Deeply, in a nice little coffret.
I tried it on my skin.
Has Truly been out for several years? I agree…Truly, Madly, Deeply, together…then maybe he could add a fourth called Crazy.
I love the green bottle…you don't get that with the refill either. And, it says “refill” on the bottle (I think) as if one would not remeber it is the refill.
I don't know when it launched, but I smelled it at Taskashimaya in 2005. The bottle is gorgeous. So what do you get w/ a refill, just a plain clear glass bottle?
And yes, Crazy! That would be perfect.
Then one of our sweet-o-meters is off 😉
Just the clear glass bottle. Even the SA pointed out that for twice as much more juice you save $50 when you buy the refill.
LOL, am joining the reverse queue for Facebook. Almost broke down a few times lately when some die-hard friends capitulated, but thanks to this post am stading strong again! 😉
Elle sounds like another one to put on the list for fragrances to try for a gift for a 16-17 year old daughter of a friend. Am off to the mall shortly! 🙂
Forgive me, everyone, for being a little hazy about all of this. It's such a great topic and I want to keep learning!!! Robin, is the main difference between Elle and Miss B that sets off Elle as the trendier of the two its patchouli base? Does that trump Miss B's edgier chypre allusion? And is the lack of patchouli what disqualifies The One, despite the dark, slightly masculine (to my nose, at any rate) dry-ish amber base over a floral heart? Just when I thought I was understanding all this. . .
R, not sure there is anything to understand other than what's in my own head, LOL…so probably not worth anyone else expending much brain matter on, but to me, what makes Elle more au courant is the darker, warmer, more masculine base. Miss Boucheron to my nose has a very pale & cool base. I don't find either Elle or Miss B at all edgy though.
If The One's got a dark, slightly masculine, dry-ish base, I seriously missed it! I'll disqualify myself since I can't remember it, but wouldn't have thought a man could get away with it. To my mind, a man willing to sit through the top notes could easily wear Elle or Gucci or CD Midnight Poison.
I have almost broken down too, but the recent privacy issues have reaffirmed my resolve. Anyway, at this point, I'd say it is more cool NOT to be on Facebook. Like cool is all I care about, LOL…
Will be curious what you think of Elle. For 16-17, MJ Daisy or Juicy Couture might be a better bet?
That helps tremendously, Robin, thanks. I must go to the stores (^&%$@ Christmas hoards) and do a little more studied spritzing, sniffing and comparing. I guess I get myself a little confused on the whole “masculine” qualifier, too, as the line seems to get blurrier and blurrier. Oh, and if you could please indulge me in one more silly question: would you consider amber to be dark and/or slightly masculine and/or dry-ish? Sometimes its a note that seems dark and masculine, but somewhat sweet, and maybe that's why D & G the one didn't fit the edgy-type criteria to your nose? And how do amber and patchouli compare in this new fragrance wave/tide/trend/movement? Oh, dear. I need to understand basenotes a little better, I think.
i have reviewed ist also earlier these days (only in german, i'm sorry) and i think it is a mixture of InLoveAgain-the fruity, bloomy thing and Cinema-the dry sweet thing, so it is typical YSL. what i did not like about it ist the huge bottle which looks cheap, it might attract younger people then me (i am 29;-) but it costs a lot of euros in germany. it should look like the liptsick package i guess but it is only awfull. the advertisement scares me also, i cannot identify myself with a “business-bitch” – it has no sense of humour which i really liked about the cinema advertisment. and it is not sexy either. going to the domina (male) direction which is also represented by kelly caleche in the add.
such fragrances are sold by imgae, and that does not turn me on.
i received compliments today fot black orchid, decent and clean they said. that is just better in its image. and smells ab bit more different also.
Amber accords can be done so many different ways: dry, sweet, pale, dark, etc. And it isn't the dark/masculine notes that make something edgy — I don't even know how to describe what makes something edgy so will have to hope somebody else chimes in. I don't consider any of the scents we're discussing edgy (they're all too clean & smooth), so it isn't just the D&G. Seriously, nothing is worth a trip to the mall in December, if you can avoid it!
LOL at “business-bitch”, that is the perfect description. Didn't find the Kelly Caleche ad that humorless though (although also didn't think the KC ad fit with the fragrance very well).
I do appreciate your patience, Robin, and I hope I'm sure I'm not the only one assisted by your comments. Definitions aside, what kinds of scents fit the bill in terms of the-height-of-edginess? If you would name even a couple of I might find here in Vancouver, they really WOULD be worth a trip to the mall in December to check out. A sniff is worth a thousand words to a wanna-be perfumista!!
Ack. I didn't even get to try it on skin. I was so overwhelmed by a mis-spray all over me with the L de Lolita Lempicka bottle (I had high hopes for that for her), and after that plus a number of sniffs around the counter (tried the new Gucci), I started to feel like a sugared vanilla pod dipped in patchouli and musk. By the time I got to Elle, I had had it with that genre (whether or not poor Elle even fits it).
I then proceeded to fall head over heals for Jo Malone's White Jasmine and Mint. The only perfume I've ever smelled that seemed distractingly alluring both in hottest of summers and coldest of winters. But of course, I wasn't suppose to be shopping for me (and I resisted!)
The saleswoman DID take pity on my nose and send me home with samples of Juicy Couture and Creed Pink Flowers to try later….Trish McEvoy Mandarin and Green Ginger got high marks as welll for the 16-17 year old. Glad to see you think Juicy might be the way to go as well! 🙂
Ah ha! You've already answered my question, Robin, I see below.
Edgy at the mall: Bvlgari Black, any of the old Guerlains (Shalimar, Jicky, Mitsouko), Piguet Fracas & Bandit, TM Angel, Alexander McQueen Kingdom, Eau d'Hermes, Diorella, Cartier Declaration, Donna Karan Black Cashmere, Rochas Femme, Vivienne Westwood Boudoir
Sort-of-almost edgy: JPG Classique, Tom Ford Black Orchid, Guerlain Insolence.
Being cheap, I'll always take a refill over a “real” bottle, but agree it is a shame they put a “refill” label on it!
LOL at “sugared vanilla pod dipped in patchouli and musk” — yep, you've been to the mall 🙂
One of the cool things about the Juicy Couture, besides it being incredibly popular, is that the packaging is perfect — the purse sprays are particularly adorable, and can be found at discount if you've time to shop online still.
NOW I GET it!!! xo
there should be more purse sizes! you make me curious now:-)
on ELLE: it lasts a pretty while.
really nice and worth a trip to the mall is the new gucci though it reminds me of prada.
on KC: the ad with the whip sould probably express how strong women are, some power and might, as well as the YSL ad, whrere the girl (or guy;-) has “it” in her heand and lumminates. that's psychology i tell you 😉
actually i have to ack that i nothing new on the market at least in germany worth spending money. prices raised also far too much before christmas.
“fruity florals are on the wane, but they're not going to be replaced by variety” – may I use this as my favoaurite trendspotting quote of the year? You're so bang on. Sadly.
To me, YSL Elle smelled like a dead-ringer for Ormonde Jayne's Ta'if. Only, since it's launched several years later, and there is nothing original about it anymore.
To my taste the bottle is not so bad, more of a lipstick color of course but that makes is rather playful.
Maybe Elle 2 will follow in another shade and so on and so on..;)
For Xmas the very same bottle in gold just like the YSL lipsticks with the letters in pink/fuchia/red, could make it sell even better.
Will go and give it a try again today. Haven't tried Cinema sofar so 2 to try already.
Sniffed this and pretty much forgot about it. It was nice enough but not head turning in any way. I have been blissfully unaware of all the marketing though (just seen the TV and magazine ad) so guess I'm not target customer! I will be joining you at the end of the Facebook queue much to some of my friend's despair. But they can't say a word – one of them has two admittedly cute burmese cats who have their own pages??? They have more friends than she has and one person wrote a poem to them. Whilst I'm not seconding Doris Lessings view of the internet I do think some people should get out more!
I thought I was the last person on earth to join Facebook. 🙂 Fine, then I will be the last person on earth to sniff Elle. The list of notes consists of so many of my hates, it's not even funny. Pink pepper! Litchi! Freesia! 🙂
Wow! I haven't seen such discussion over a fragrence before! If anything, Elle YSL has served as a conversational stimulant for those who need or want a “shake up”, a reformulation on the scent of the world. I whole-heartedly agree – the “nose candy and flowers” era has to end sometime. Although, I believe our host Robin is right: it is yet to disappear anytime soon… it will still rear its floral and faux sweet face as long as tweens and Paris Hilton have anything to say about it…
I'm off to Luxembourg today, with a list of things to smell and sniff for both men and women, seeing as fragrances can make such wonderfully personal gifts for people… I guess I'll have to add Elle to the list…! I'll be sure to comment on it when I get back!
M
Loved Doris Lessing's Nobel speech, and although obviously I don't share her view of the internet either, I guess if you're creating Facebook entries for your cats instead of reading a book, she's got a point 🙂
The quote is yours 🙂
Wish I found Elle to be a dead ringer for Ta'if — Ta'if is way more costly.
We'll all be waiting to be last when Facebook goes bankrupt, then 🙂
Have a lovely day sniffing in Luxembourg, and hope you'll find some winners 🙂
Thanks for the quote 🙂
I should have been more careful with what I said: It smells like like Ta'if on paper. Less the dates, which are one of my favourite things about Ta'if… On the skin it is more berry like at first and than the base is a very dry, synthetic patchouli and vetiver. At least you can't say it's too sweet… So I guess you won't be really getting a Ta'if for a cheaper price…
First of all: congratulations, your blog is really wonderful. Today I've finally made it to subscribe. 🙂
I tested YSL's Elle some weeks ago (in Germany) and was more than disappointed. First it smelled like some sort of mixture between Armani Remix and one of those deodorants by Axe male teenagers over here seem to love – quite a repulsive start for a perfume to me. After a while the scent improved on my skin but never got really interesting. It''s a true mainstream perfume with the usual ingredients: lots of red fruits and flowers plus some so called “masculine” touch.
Or maybe I tried the scent with false expectations in my mind, connecting YSL with “Paris”, “Cinéma” and other very “french” and classy perfumes? Of YSL I definitely expected something different and more interesting.
I have to agree that this was a very “mainstream” perfume – there was nothing exciting or different about it. Quite frankly I found it to be pretty forgettable.
i totally understand your concern about the tide turning, but doing that en masse. with the market being so big these i often ask myself, whether there is any room for 'mall' fragrances to stand out of the crowd and brave extravaganzas in a market that's so competitive and risking going under. i sure wish the did. as for elle, i think it's nice, as you said, not overwhelming, but nice, though i wish the drydown would be more in the direction of something raw like vetiver maybe? it misses the edge a bit
Tried again today and liked it even less than the previous time:(
Also tried the fragrance that was standing next to Elle: Paul Smith Rose, and like that one a whole lot better!! A very elegant feminine rose fragrance – long lasting, can still smell it now after abt 8 hours.
Didn' like the box and the bottle though, but life is never perfect…
Oh dear m'lud, guilty as charged! My recent full bottle acquisitions have included Midnight Poison, Gucci by Gucci and DKNY Delicious Night. In my defense, I have sniffed my way though many many samples of scent and love to try new things but I can't help but be drawn to gourmands, orientals and above all Patchouli! Whether dry, headshop, clean or “modern” I love it all. Must go try Elle by YSL now.
Flawless, there will be more patchouli fragrances – Elle patchouli? what patchouli?
LOL — that is ok, I was pretty sure you didn't mean it was a replacement for Ta'if.
Welcome, Linaria! I know Cinema has lots of fans, but I did not like that one either…the last YSL I really liked was M7, which I'd guess puts me out of step with everyone else as it reportedly didn't sell.
Hope you will love Elle then! I don't think it is as dark as Midnight Poison or Gucci, but it has the same vibe.
That is completely true — it is so competitive that it is hard to take chances. But the other side of the coin is that when you've 800 new fragrances and they all smell the same, why buy anything at all? And totally agree the dry down could use a few more rough edges!
I know where I'd smelled Elle recently: it's close to Diesel's Fuel for Life for Women! Talk about being designed to appeal to the modern market, as well. . .just look at their packaging and ads. There's that stretchy lace, that patchouli drydown, those sexy urban kids. . .Sigh. I suddenly feel very old and sentimental, clutching my plain bottle of achingly beautiful, gentle En Passant. . .
You know, you might be right. I tried Diesel only very quickly and it made very little impression on me. It's sweeter than Elle, maybe? Will have to dig out my sample.
Yup, a little sweeter than Elle, but that same “new” dark and dirty under clean profile. It's fruiter, too. With Fuel for Life, I get rotten strawberries a la Pleasures Delight, so it's still got a toe in the “old” trendiness, perhaps as you said Delicious Night does. Can't stand the stuff. Like Elle. Much prefer Midnight Poison. Looking forward to trying the new Gucci, not yet here in Vancouver. Just bought Bulgari Black, but for the life of me didn't find it especially edgy or iconic, as it's been described from time to time — just smoooth and rich and immediately likable. Didn't find the rubber, neither. Hmm.
Wearing Diesel Fuel for Life now — it does have a touch of dark, but gosh, it's awfully bland otherwise. I'd much rather wear Elle, personally, or certainly Midnight Poison, which would be my favorite of those 3.
Glad you like BB, even if you don't find it edgy!
Thanks, R. Wouldn't have bought BB — unsniffed, yet! — without all the raves on this site. I knew it was an “important” fragrance for an aspiring perfumista to understand. Very relieved to find it wasn't nearly as hard to understand as I'd feared. Almost disappointed, in fact, in that I want to sink my nostrils into a real challenge! Bought Mitsouko and find it a fascinating education. Could Miss Dior be the next test? Have failed that one before, but maybe I'm nearly ready. . .
I was able to sniff this one…absolutely beautiful! The florals are lush yet fresh, tending towards the dry end. But all the time you catch the masculine notes at the base pushing up, giving the floral bouquet a lot of texture and excitement and a bit of strength and daring. VERY GOOD! I think it's well done.
If you can take Mitsouko, I'm quite sure you can take Miss Dior!
Glad you love it!
Sorry to pee on someone's cornflakes here, but I like this fragrance. But I guess I am only basing this on my wife's skin. She wears this well.
I do find it very expensive for a YSL though considering I could buy a 50ml bottle of Penhaligons Bluebell (which smells divine on her) for only a little more – let alone the online bargains.
You can like any scent you like w/o peeing on anybody's cornflakes 🙂
i do not eat cornflakes anyway, fattenning stuff.
but i agree the price is too high. i would immediately spend it on “luxury” perfume like l'artisan parfumeur though.
i quite like it because it slightly reminds me of le feu d'issey which was very interesting, but seemingly just for me and a very few others, as it was soon discontnínued and now miyake just sells the eaus which annoy me, or sometimes (but it is waning) you can catch the le feu d'issey light which is nice (it is the only fragrance i have bought twice) but does not have much tzo do with the original one-i find it to be almost an opposite of it in fact.
Interesting, it didn't remind me of Le Feu at all — will have to give it another shot while wearing both.
This is very interesting fragrance, I must go to the perfumerie and try it again.