Rive Gauche Pour Homme

[dadsavage]

Well YSL are joining the other big designers in releasing a 'niche designer,' line, or so it seems. They call it the La Collection and while the prices are far more modest than those of Chanel's celebrated Les Exclusifs (much less the likes of the L'Art et la Matière line or D&Gs dismal Velvet collection) they do mirror the Chanel products in one way: the collection appears to be made up entirely of re-releases of classics. Unfortunately in this case most of these classics still exist on the market in superior formulations to those the La Collection is offering. While at least Chanel also gave us some original compositions like Sycomore and Coromandel. Which almost (almost) makes up for their impertinence in discontinuing Egoiste Cologne Concentree and Boise Noire, but I digress.

In YSLs case one of these aforementioned superior formulations is the classic Rive Gauche Pour Homme, made by Jacques Cavallier, who helmed a few of the YSL fragrances made on Tom Ford's watch. It seems like anything Tom Ford oversaw before he struck out on his own is destined to be seen as a lost master work. From the freshly-discontinued likes of Gucci Pour Homme I and II (whose niche analogue, the utterly breathtaking l'artisan composition Tea for Two is also discontinued) to the vaunted Kourous flanker Fraicher, to the likes of Nu, and M7. This classic version of Rive Gauche will soon be in such august company as YSL are discontinuing it in favor of the La Collection iteration which offers us an inferior formulation at almost half the size and for twice as much.

So buy your Rive Gauche while you can! These gorgeous tin bottles (like old fashion shave-cream tins) can still be snatched up off the shelves or online for as little as thirty dollars. Given a year or two for this extant supply to dry up I can promise you these beauties will be selling on Ebay for over one hundred. I suppose I should tell you why I'm mourning this on SRP though. It's because this may be one of the best barber-shop scents ever made: an olfactory ode to to the freshly clean-shaven man.

I won't review the scent itself. My link at the top of this page provides many wonderful reviews. I'm simply going to say that it will soon be gone. So if you haven't, try it now and if you like it get it before its too late.

[rum]

Thanks for this post. It's rare that you often read such good stuff about a fragrance!

[dadsavage]

You're very welcome. I don't know that much about hones and razors; I keep asking questions and getting wonderful advice on the other forums here and feel like I'm not giving much back. One thing I do know is fragrances. So here I can at least provide some information for others and feel like I'm adding something to the forum.

[rum]

Sooner or later, you will be hooked on the whole shebang! I started with razors then went on to soaps and my current craze is fragrances. Then it just goes round in circles or so I'm told. Welcome to the dark side!