Y (female) Yves Saint Laurent - Opinions ?

[jaromil]

dear vintage fans,

just realized that yves‘ first perfume on the market never has been on my radar.
but as a huge fan of ysl‘s classic fragrances like vintage female opium, kouros etc i asked myself how it may smells like ?
some say like mitsouko, some think it resembels chanels no19.

somehow this perfume seems to be very underrated ? Y does not even have a thread on this forum it seems.

whats are your experiences with Y ?

best wishes.

 

[jaromil]

 

[grayspoole]

It’s one of my favorites. I think the original Y can be overlooked because the name frustrates search engines and, of course, it has been reissued as entirely different perfumes several times over.

I have both the deep vintage EDT (in the tall narrow bottle shown) and parfum.. Both are exceptionally beautiful scents. Although Y (1964) is frequently described as a chypre, to me it wears more like a rich springtime floral, with the best hyacinth note ever. It bears some similarity to vintage Chamade, although the drydowns are distinctly different.

Have you tried your parfum yet?

 

[jaromil]

and do you may know it i leans more the the classical defintion of a feminine or masculine fragrance ?

 

[jaromil]

just found this used 7.5ml bottle for 29$. it seems to be a fair price. 😀

 

[jaromil]

It’s one of my favorites. I think the original Y can be overlooked because the name frustrates search engines and, of course, it has been reissued as entirely different perfumes several times over.

I have both the deep vintage EDT (in the tall narrow bottle shown) and parfum.. Both are exceptionally beautiful scents. Although Y (1964) is frequently described as a chypre, to me it wears more like a rich springtime floral, with the best hyacinth note ever. It bears some similarity to vintage Chamade, although the drydowns are distinctly different.

Have you tried your parfum yet?

View attachment 327059

dear grayspoole, thanks for your reply.

yes, its a shame; i overlooked this fragrance for so many years until last week and i had no chance to try it in the meantime (i really think i need to search a vintage bottle online..)
there is a topic online about the history of ysl‘s perfumes and after reading the notes (oakmoss, civet, patchouli, orris, amber and sandalwood are some of my favorites..) i got really curious about Y.

after browsing some reviews i got a bit confused; every person seems to smell something elso in this perfume; some say its a bright floral, others think its a heavy unwearable mix of dark moss and animalic civet.
or is it both in one? 😅

 

[grayspoole]

and do you may know it i leans more the the classical defintion of a feminine or masculine fragrance ?

I would say it falls more on the feminine side of the spectrum. It is very floral, at least in the older versions that I have. It is very much a “bright floral” - it‘s sunny and enlivening and I enjoy wearing it in the spring. “A heavy unwearable mix of dark moss and animalic civet” ??? perhaps this refers to a reformulated bottle, or a bottle in poor condition.

 

[grayspoole]

Price is certainly fair. However, it might be worth noting that this is not one of the older parfum bottles (the Y is vertical, not slanted, and the top is different). If this bottle is associated with the box that you posted, the “e” estimated volume sign suggests it dates from the early 80’s or later. The perfume may be wonderful, but I don’t have this later version and therefore cannot speak to it first hand..

Perhaps someone else has a bottle of Y parfum from this period and will be able to describe it.

just found this used 7.5ml bottle for 29$. it seems to be a fair price. 😀

 

[cacio]

Y is usually described as a green chypre (Cristalle and Givenchy III are other green chypre). I have an EDT of uncertain vintage. It definitely falls in the green chypre category, not as galbanum-y as Cristalle, more floral, but still fresh and happy. Definitely not dark or heavy.

cacio

 

[jaromil]

Price is certainly fair. However, it might be worth noting that this is not one of the older parfum bottles (the Y is vertical, not slanted, and the top is different). If this bottle is associated with the box that you posted, the “e” estimated volume sign suggests it dates from the early 80’s or later. The perfume may be wonderful, but I don’t have this later version and therefore cannot speak to it first hand..

Perhaps someone else has a bottle of Y parfum from this period and will be able to describe it.

thank you so much for this usefull informations.

the first two pictures i posted are just random pictures from the internet and do not belong to the bottle i may buy. there is not much info about this bottle; just the front of the bottle. so i dont know wich year this item got produced. 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[jaromil]

Y is usually described as a green chypre (Cristalle and Givenchy III are other green chypre). I have an EDT of uncertain vintage. It definitely falls in the green chypre category, not as galbanum-y as Cristalle, more floral, but still fresh and happy. Definitely not dark or heavy.

cacio

hi cacio,

thanks for your description.
sadly to sas i‘m not familiar with givenchy III but i know cristalle (edt, edp and eau verte) but i never smelled out a lot of galbanum in cristalle (compared to no19 who is very heavy in galbanum to my nose)

your description "fresh and happy“ sounds great. 😬

 

[Scent_Insensibility]

I also love Y and despair that it gets "forgotten" ( you refer to it on regular forums and they assume you mean the modern men's one 🙄 ) .

I agree, it's a bright, green floral. Not as bitter green as say Private Collection closer to №19 or Chamade ( I have no problem with heavy dark, green and mossy but this isn't it ).Giv III and Cristelle are other good calls. If you like any if them, you won't go far wrong imho.

I would happily buy the one you've mentioned. I have different strengths, different ages, and I personally don't think it ever suffered too much from reformulation, it was gone by the time they started ruining the greats. ( What they did to that other YSL fave of mine from that time, Rive Gauche, is unforgivable)