Eau Sauvage
Christian Dior (1966)

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.

Despite being an old geezer, I never experienced the original. Maybe Eau Sauvage was really good back in the day. My sample of the recent blend wasn't, though.

The opening is unapologetically fresh and bold, but immediately gives way to a note that is not only discordant, but downright disturbing. One of the other negative reviews here names the culprit: Indole. Ingredients containing indole are supposed to add an interesting animalic contrast to the fresher aspects of the concept. I suppose that's where the second part of the name comes from.

However, as my Google research confirms, the smell of indole may also produce perceptions of mothballs, bad breath, even feces. I smell a funk similar to that which slowly fills the kitchen when cauliflower is being boiled. Not something I want on my skin. Live and learn, I suppose.

A comfortable and sophisticated classic.

Being that I have never worn a vintage version of Eau Sauvage, I can’t comment on what is missing, but only on what is present.

Eau Sauvage opens with a blast of citrus ranging from lemon to bitter orange, interspersed with cumin and rosemary. The spices stop the citrus becoming generic, and the balance between the components suggests at the sophistication to come.

After about fifteen minutes I get an elegant combination of basil, carnation, and iris, which joins with the citrus and spice and lasts for at least eight hours on my skin.

The base is a combination of soft sandalwood, soapy vetiver, and a little bit of amber and moss.

Wearing Eau Sauvage makes me want to play George Benson tunes on my Nashville telecaster.

Eau Sauvage is probably a bit too elegant for sitting on the couch playing a guitar in jeans and a T-shirt, but somehow it works.

Don’t wait as long as I did to get yourself a bottle.

An excellent all time classic. Roudnitska raised the bar for masculine scents with this superb fresh and manly creation. Very fresh and very complex in the vintage formula and still a lovely citrus scent in today's slightly attentuated version. You must try if you haven't.

Scents are to be weared. This is a statement of the obvious, not so if you take in mind scents can wear the wearer: this happens when the scent is invasive (i.e. mounstrous sillage). This is not the case of Eau Sauvage: it shares many points in common with classic EdCs, a citric base, some herbs, Hedione, a synthetic molecule that provides jasmine - like accords and oakmoss to the extent allowed by regulatory offices.

Expect from it all the beauty of traditional Eau De Colognes plus some more - not notes, I mean, discretion, as demanded by good taste. You might as well contrast it with today's Sauvage to check how things changed in fifty years. Yes, the sense of elegance either changed or dissapeared.