Saharienne
Yves Saint Laurent (2011)

Imagine yourself with your new dress of an early spring day after a dusty rain where you can smell the damp from the earth and the grass. Where the sky is almost lavender blue and the trees have fresh green leaves.

it's easy to understand the major accords, because that's exactly what we feel on the skin: a juicy citrusy output, which makes room for a sweet heart that lies on a floral and musky base.

In fact, it has a citrusy, and soft spicy opening that feels sheer at first, but then intensifies as it begins to dry down. The citrusy accord is soft, tempered by a floral undercurrent. The musk is carried beautifully through this composition, balanced on the one end by sweet citruses, and on the other end by delicate floral notes. In the main though, this isn't a spicy scent and the pepper and ginger are virtually invisible to me. 

Saharienne is not a great performer which makes sense since it was designed to be worn in high heat, without being overwhelming.

The opening is a citrus combination, with lemons, bergamot, mandarins, and whiffs of ripe oranges. This combination is not as bright and refreshing as one might expect from its ingredients, but nonetheless it has an optimistic and positive feeling to it.

After this entry, white florals develop gradually. touches of orange blossoms and leaves, with whiffs of magnolia, are most noticeable.

towards the end gently herbal-spicy components develop, with a restrained and light galbanum, and a touch of gingery zest makes a brief appearance, underlined by a dash of a soft white pepper.

I get moderate sillage, adequate projection and six hours of longevity; the last couple of hours are very close to my skin.

A pleasant scent for cooler summer days in the forest half, the second half is marred by the generic character of its ingredients. 2.75/5

This fragrance blew me away. It smells so unisex and mysterious I have no way of identifying any of the singular notes in this, they all just blend so seamlessly. It's like a more masculine Dune, but like I was saying could be worn by anyone. There's a dry spice to it that makes it interesting yet it also smells refreshing in a way if that makes any sense. I can barely understand it myself but I just adored testing this I would so purchase a full bottle of this once I use up my vintage bottle of Dune as that one is getting harder to come by, and this one goes for a very reasonable price online.

Looking at the notes the only thing I can imagine standing out is the mandarin and maybe ginger. I also detect the pink pepper, not its berries. If you like dry spicy fragrances I recommend trying this, but not blind buying.

I must also mention that sillage is out of this world, one dab/drop on my skin from a vial and I could detect it for hours no matter what i was doing, it completely enveloped me in its scent. If you were to buy a bottle of this I'd imagine it lasting for a very long time.

Even though it is long lasting, I don't favor Saharienne at all. I got the full bottle for free from the perfume counter since I bought lots of perfume at the time. Who would turned down a free gift!

Overtime I find it offensive on me and after a while of spraying it, it gives me headaches. I gave it away to my mom and thank god she loves it. Perhaps Saharienne and I have no chemistry. It smells alright on mom; her friends even compliment it on her. Not a waste after all.

Bought at airport on the way for some autumn sunshine which is exactly what Saharienne smells like. Sweet and sunny drying down to dry woodiness, still a hint of sweetness but more autumn fruit and slight soive than the initial citrus rush. Little silage but great for day rather than an evening scent