L'Eau d'Issey
Issey Miyake (1992)

The opening is a fruity-floral cocktail. I get mainly freesia and melon, with the citrus-enhanced melon moving into the foreground somewhat, but the freesia, assisted by muguet and and a restrained orange blossom provide the floral counterbalance. Whilst touches of lemon and enteral lime come and go, they are ephemeral additions to the melon core.
There is a host of other notes in the background, including eight of a sea breeze; and a bit later a faint bright cyclamen with a very pale herbal tarragon are blended in.

The drydown sees the florals taking over, mainly a green and night jasmine that is neither powdery not very intense. A carnation provides added depth.

The base remains florally loaded, shoring to a light tuberose that is a far cry from the rich and indolic version found elsewhere quite often. Otherwise there woodsy tones, mainly cedar, with a sandal components that is quite perfunctory in its weakness.

I get moderate sillage, good projection, and six hours of longevity on my skin.

This is the prototype of a fresh fruity-floral scent for warmer spring days, with sone components being done quite well, but others are rather anaemic, like the diluted pastel colours on an impressionist painting. When these colours are piled onto the canvas that most of them are smudged together, the result is not necessarily a convincing one. Here the sheer amount of notes together is not thoroughly convincing either. Nonetheless, a bright and pleasant olfactory cocktail 2.75/5

Strangely savory, not much sweetness. Very light, sticks close to the skin. Soft, clean and aquatic florals pair nicely with authentic, mildly sweet melon. Quite natural, unassuming. Nice summer or beachy scent.

Probably the most horrible fragrance I've ever smelled!!!

A sort of irresistible insecticid which destroys everything around.

How can someone stand this olfactive poison!

A torture! a well deserved 0/10!

It's so long since I owned this I think it's time I revisited. Along with Tommy Girl these fragrances were simply the bees knees before we fell prey to Angel and her clones, but the compliments came fast and furious for L'eau D'Issey in its day. I'm sort of reminded of Apres La Mousson, melon cucumber ozonic notes, and for guys, the lovely Quasar (by Chris Sheldrake)
The beginning of the technological age arrived with L'eau D'Issey, Tommy Girl and Dune. What will we remember in another twenty five years?

yclamen, Freesia, Lotus, Melon.
Carnation, Lily, Peony.
Amber, Cedar, Musk, Sandalwood.

L'Eau D'Issey has been around now for a few decades and other than smelling this on others in passing, this is the first time I've gotten to sample it numerous times. My first thoughts are fresh, lucid, feminine and pleasant to be around.

After numerous wearings, I can't say that impression has changed any. I don't find it groundbreaking in any way like some others, but this is a subjective hobby after all. It is a deserving scent though and most assuredly warrants a test run if this genre floats your boat. L'Eau D'Issey isn't over the top feminine, but just enough so that I choose not to wear it.

The first 5 minutes of applying L'Eau D'Issey graces the wearer with a sheer accord consisting of Freesia, suggestions of fruit and an ozonic-green stem quality. I find it bracing, but not necessarily sharp and it only lasts moments before dissipation occurs. There's an aldehydic aspect to this top accord that's short lived as well. A restrained Carnation note is also evident and it gives the composition a much needed edge.

The fruit aspect is another component that dissolves too quickly for my liking, but it may not bother you. I wish it were tuned a little more assertively as to hang around longer in a more noticeable fashion. On my skin, the Freesia, Carnation, Subtle woods, Stem and remnants of ozone are what remain from the heart accord onward. Some reviewers have stated that this is a strong fragrance, but it doesn't perform that way on me. Granted, the skin phase is considerable, but the time allotted to presence and projection is average at best. Perhaps the bottle I've acquired is a reformulation and I say that not knowing if there has been one.....or two....or three.....versions of this. After all, it is decades old.

At any rate, L'Eau D'Issey is a nice fragrance sans the wow factor. Pleasantly unremarkable wouldn't be inaccurate, but I do think more highly of it than that description. It's a good, feminine choice for the warmer months and smells vibrant for an impressive amount of time.

Sillage starts out good, then reduces to average within minutes. Longevity is approximately 3 hours on me ( tops ) before evolving into a personal space scent. Thumbs up from SS for Miyake's L'Eau D'Issey. A strong recommendation, as always, to sample before purchasing.

Pretty pointless to describe this iconic milestone of modern perfumery, since as like Luca Turin once wrote, each of us has know “a minimum of five people who wore this”... On the other hand, as time goes by, this is starting to become “vintage”, so perhaps younger perfumistas are less familiar with it. Shortly, it's basically one of the pillars and starting points of all “watery-iodine” family of scents. It opens with an aldehydic, mineral, aqueous sort of blend, with a tropical-fruity accord (smelling like melonal), citrus, a sort of thick white musks note tending towards spicy territories (red pepper?), a quite complex yet elegantly thin floral accord, and a light woody base. All blended together with a metallic, clean, unisex allure, an artificial and abstract shade of creamy white perfectly adherent to the brand's aesthetics. A sort of “oceanic-tropical futurism” if you want, absolutely innovative for its era. A little cloying perhaps (despite being “white”, it's not really light, on the contrary it's bold and quite powerful as regards of projection and persistence), and also perhaps a bit outdated due to the subsequent abuse of these notes, but still fascinating, pleasant and (fairly) distinctive.

7-7,5/10