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Yohji Yamamoto Essential (2013 reissue) ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 30 October 2013 16 Comments

Yohji Yamamoto Essential

Excuses, excuses. I’ve recently returned to school for a year-long course (I’d forgotten what “homework” meant). This week I have the dreaded yearly physical exam to look forward to — so humiliating! I just started giving private tours of a new special exhibit at the museum where I volunteer. Oh, I’m also helping to plan a Day of the Dead event and wrapping up painting the outside of my house before Seattle's six-month rainy season commences. And I’ve been frantically making jams, jellies, sauces and juice from quince; my quince tree produced so much fruit its branches are touching the ground (the yard smells sensational; my ripe quinces produce an aroma I'll describe as “apples-on-steroids meet ripe pineapples”).

I’m not asking for pity, just patience. This week’s review will be short ’n sweet; but maybe that’s a good thing?

A friend who visited England recently (and treated herself to a Yohji Yamamoto cape, lucky woman) was given samples of every Yohji Yamamoto perfume now in production (including all the recent re-releases of old favorites that had been discontinued). My friend is a perfume lover, but is allergic to many perfumes, so I became the beneficiary of the Yohji stash. The “other” masculine fragrance by Yamamoto, Yohji Yamamoto Homme (not to be confused with the more famous Yohji Homme) is rather bland, so I decided to review one of the women’s perfumes today.

Two Yohji Yamamoto feminine scents appealed to me: Yohji Yamamoto Eau de Parfum and Yohji Essential1 (Yohji, honey, the names of your perfumes are so confusing — Yohji-this, Yohji Yamamoto-that — let’s get some marketing people involved in future releases!) I tossed a coin; Yohji Essential won.

I wore Yohji Essential one day as I painted the front of my house; a neighbor, walking her dog, stopped to say: “Your garden always smells wonderful… the flowers!” If she had looked around she would have noticed some unopened rosebuds and a single, stunted nicotiana in full bloom (a self-seeder...I have not sown nicotiana seeds in a decade but one seed survived, somehow, and grew this year, and has been blooming like crazy all summer). What my neighbor was smelling was me…and Yohji Essential.

When first applied, Yohji Essential releases a blast of well-blended floral aromas, with some sugary but green citrus thrown in. As the perfume develops, I detect bright rose, sweet, clean jasmine (with some background linden) and a fruity gardenia scent (almost tropical in character). Though it lists notes of patchouli, musk, galbanum and the like,2 this is a floral perfume; the heftier notes are in miniscule portions (at least in the Eau de Toilette version that I’m reviewing; I’d love to smell the Extrait de Parfum to see if the richer notes are detectable). Yohji Esssential’s dry-down is just a diminishment of the floral notes; they become creamier as they fade. 

Yohji Essential is a heady experience, and brings to mind (and nose) some of the powerhouse feminine perfumes released in the 1970s and 1980s, but every now and then, Yohji Essential reminds me of Annick Goutal Le Chèvrefeuille, too (a green floral). The lasting power of Yohji Essential is very good, and great if you get it on fabric (my workclothes, lying in a heap in my basement, smell wonderful two days after being spritzed with Yohji Essential). If you like your flowers clean, sweet and straight-up…give Yohji Essential a try.

Wow. This review wasn’t short after all, but Yohji Essential did provide the sweetness.

Yohji Essential Eau de Toilette is available in 30 (£39), 50 (£49), and 100 ml (£69); also sold: Yohji Essential body lotion and shower gel. Yohji Yamamoto fragrances are currently "exclusive" (at least in the U.K.) to Selfridges & Co.

1. Originally released in 1998 (the perfume was developed by perfumer Jean-Michel Duriez and has been reformulated by perfumer Olivier Pescheux).

2. Yohji Essential includes notes of grapefruit, clove, galbanum, chamomile, gardenia, rose, ylang-ylang, jasmine, linden, patchouli, ciste labdanum, musk and moss.

Possibly of interest

Yohji Yamamoto Her Love Story & His Love Story ~ new fragrances
Yohji Yamamoto Yohji Homme (2013 reissue) ~ fragrance review
Yohji Yamamoto Yohji Senses ~ new fragrance

Filed Under: perfume talk
Tagged With: jean michel duriez, olivier pescheux, yohji yamamoto

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16 Comments

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  1. CM says:
    30 October 2013 at 1:44 pm

    Nice review! I’m adding this to my ‘to-try’ list but if it’s challenging to find in the US, that prob means I won’t get to.

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    • Kevin says:
      30 October 2013 at 2:05 pm

      cm: SURELY the line will get here eventually?

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  2. engelwurz says:
    30 October 2013 at 2:29 pm

    Yohji Yamamoto is one of my favorite designers but I don’t like the aesthetic of the fragrances, especially not the feminine ones. Oh well!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    • Kevin says:
      30 October 2013 at 2:41 pm

      Engelwurz: the perfumes are mostly “old school”…they certainly don’t “match” the clothes!

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  3. Dilana says:
    30 October 2013 at 2:33 pm

    A quince tree, overloaded with quince.
    PLEASE TELL ME YOU MAKE JAM.

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    • Kevin says:
      30 October 2013 at 2:42 pm

      Dilana…indeed! As quoted above: “frantically making jams, jellies, sauces and juice from quince….”

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  4. djron91 says:
    30 October 2013 at 3:44 pm

    I tested these all when I was at Selfridges last week (along with the Bella Belissima) – the one that wore best on me was Yohji Homme. The price point is surprisingly modest – especially considering the section of Selfridges they are located.

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    • Kevin says:
      30 October 2013 at 4:33 pm

      djron: Yohji Homme is my favorite too…but I do like a few of the women’s (though I’d never wear them in public…HA)

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  5. nancyg says:
    30 October 2013 at 4:29 pm

    Thanks for the reminder to go and buy some quince – just for the scent in the house.
    Right now I have a bowl of osage oranges – they, too, make the house smell lovely.

    I am looking forward to smelling the Yohjis when they finally get to the U.S. Thanks for the review, Kevin.

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    • Kevin says:
      30 October 2013 at 4:34 pm

      Nancy: you’re welcome. Now to go look up “osage oranges!” Buddha’s Hand citrus is also great to scent a room…that should be in the markets soon.

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  6. nozknoz says:
    30 October 2013 at 10:20 pm

    I’m glad you decided to review one of the feminines, Kevin. Given how interesting (but decidedly masculine, to my nose) Yohji Homme is, I’ve often wondered what this one smelled like whenever I ran across it on ebay. And, wow, you do sound crazy busy!

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    • Kevin says:
      31 October 2013 at 10:30 pm

      Noz: I certainly think Yohji Homme is the quirkiest of the bunch…masculine or feminine.

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  7. GateGirl says:
    31 October 2013 at 3:58 am

    I’ve never heard of this brand, but I just wanted to compliment you on the review; your reviews are always interesting and fun to read!
    Have you thought about writing professionally? (if you don’t do it already).

    Log in to Reply
    • Kevin says:
      31 October 2013 at 10:31 pm

      GateGirl: thanks…that’s very kind of you!

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  8. monkeytoe says:
    31 October 2013 at 3:48 pm

    Thank you for the review. I love the original Yohji Homme and am curious about the others, though I am so far behind in my sniffage they will be discontinued before I have a chance to smell them.

    On a tangent, do you know of a scent with a true quince note?

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    • Kevin says:
      31 October 2013 at 10:34 pm

      Monkeytoe: nope…there’s an English brand “UNION” that does a natural quince…but it does not smell like quince to me (though I love some of their other offerings). The best quince ever was by Diptyque…but only in a roomspray (that I would wear…it was heavenly layered with Eau d’Hermes). Diptyque had the AUDACITY to discontinue the roomspray. Now, only a quince candle is available from them.

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