Rive Gauche (for women)
Designer: Yves Saint Laurent Olfactive Group: Floral Aldehyde
!Rive Gauche was created in 1970 by perfumer Michel Hy. Its name - 'Left Bank'- stands for the left side of the river Seine, an intellectual, hip and slightly more bohemian side of Paris, where YSL boutique is situated. Rive Gauche is a fragrance for free and independent women, a gracious inhabitant of the city who likes the sun and wind more than anything but who is also quintessentially metropolitan.
The well-known and much loved composition of floral aldehydes was enriched in 2000s with clear woody and aromatic accords. The aldehyde note is now surrounded by pelargonium and rose absolute, which somewhat softens the sharp metal note of the original composition, ending with a comfortable combination of oak moss, vetiver, musk and balsamic notes.
And yet those changes leave the fragrance very recognizable - all the way to the arty flacon. It is a great addition to any perfume lover's collection due to its true versatility and impeccable, 'very French' taste.
Fragrance Notes
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Rive Gauche Fragrance Reviews:
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My all time favourite ever fragrance which I have been wearing since the 80s. I have nearly finished the last bottle I bought and am sad to hear it has been re-formulated. Don't want to try it and be disappointed. Will keep my memories!
07/02/09 04:28:24
I wear it since elementary (dont ask....) and my mother before me since it was launched in France as she was studying there at the time. It never wears off (literary), that's one if it's strong points but what enchants me more is the comfort it gives after a long day. It's a boost up for starting your day and a lullaby when you commute back home.
My mother and I buy this perfume at least 2 times per year and we never regret it!
(BTW: Try the body lotion too!)
My mother and I buy this perfume at least 2 times per year and we never regret it!
(BTW: Try the body lotion too!)
06/22/09 09:24:59
One of the first perfumes I bought as an adult.
A lovely scent for daytime use; light, fresh and long lived.
A classic.
I still love it.
A lovely scent for daytime use; light, fresh and long lived.
A classic.
I still love it.
06/12/09 22:10:52
I had this one but not all the time use this scent is a lot of soapy but neverthless I love this scent .
06/07/09 07:26:39
I picked up a bottle of this classic for my mother's 80th birthday. She loved it, just like in the 1970, when she used to wear it. My take on it is comforting, urban and fashionable. The bottle alone looks great. As far as the reformulation is concerned, it is barely noticed. It is not "old lady". My mother is very young at heart, and she loves to share it with her granddaughter, who loves it.
05/20/09 11:46:49
My all time favourite, suitable for any occasion, not too strong, not too subtle. perfect :)
05/06/09 08:29:09
I had Rive Gauche for my first term at university in 1977, and to me it epitomised the feeling of being a newly-independent young woman: cool, strong, confident. It's connected in my mind with 'Cosmopolitan' magazine, in the days when it assumed its readership had a certain level of intelligence. I haven't tried the new Rive Gauche, and I daresay it's perfectly pleasant, but I think it's sad when an old perfume is meddled with. It means that nostalgics like me have one less opportunity to take a sniff at a perfume counter and be transported back to a particular place and time.
05/01/09 01:39:31
No matter how good a masetro may be where in this case, I believed was during Tom Ford's realm, something is better left un-touched no matter what Midas touches tbat person has.
Another sad case of tweaking that gone worng as with most classic which is very sad indeed.
I would rather they just simply create another flanker and leave the original formulations intact as it is.
No matter how goos a person is, sometimes it is simply just not good enough.
Another sad case of tweaking that gone worng as with most classic which is very sad indeed.
I would rather they just simply create another flanker and leave the original formulations intact as it is.
No matter how goos a person is, sometimes it is simply just not good enough.
04/27/09 21:14:05
No matter how good a masetro may be where in this case, I believed was during Tom Ford's realm, something is better left un-touched no matter what Midas touches tbat person has.
Another sad case of tweaking that gone worng as with most classic which is very sad indeed.
I would rather they just simply create another flanker and leave the original formulations intact as it is.
No matter how goos a person is, sometimes it is simply just not good enough.
Another sad case of tweaking that gone worng as with most classic which is very sad indeed.
I would rather they just simply create another flanker and leave the original formulations intact as it is.
No matter how goos a person is, sometimes it is simply just not good enough.
04/27/09 21:14:01
Instead of being a man, I had a bottle of this perfume and I have to say something about it: Rive Gauche is the perfume for a determined, free and independent person (especially women). Its blue, silverplated and black bottle, became an indispensable accessory of fashion.
The fragrance combines coolness and smoothness. It is a floral perfume for people who don't feal fear of living life completely. It brings to the memory souvenirs of the left edge of the Sena, in Paris, in full autumn, with Brancusi, Lèger, Picasso…
Powerful perfume of highest lasting. Peace of art in the Perfume's world!
The fragrance combines coolness and smoothness. It is a floral perfume for people who don't feal fear of living life completely. It brings to the memory souvenirs of the left edge of the Sena, in Paris, in full autumn, with Brancusi, Lèger, Picasso…
Powerful perfume of highest lasting. Peace of art in the Perfume's world!
04/03/09 08:35:14
Maybe it seems a bit weird, but I read in a magazine that this is Kate Moss's favourite parfum. I have no clue, if that's right, but it gave me the impulse to smell the scent behind that funny bottle. Yes, I think, it's a funny bottle: totally inappropriate for such a scent. But that, in combination with the distinguished and gentle smell, made it even more attractive to me. I think it's quite a peril to invent a parfum concept like this, but it seems to work.
03/24/09 15:35:57
i had this one from my aunt , i don't know why? because is for a mature , maybe old woman .....it's classy,old and strong ...i don't like it
03/15/09 04:04:59
I have been wearing Rive Gauche for years! From time to time I think I "need or want" a change, but I always come back to it! My day doesn't start fully until I have put it on. Just feel incomplete or let's say....naked(?) without it! When I go out my choice is Dior's Hypnotic Poison. Bought Opium for that reason a few years ago, but it just made me feel a bit sick.
02/19/09 14:36:05
This was my first 'grown-up' perfume which I bought on a school trip to Paris, aged 15. The smell reminds me of sailing down the Seine on a Bateaux Mouche on a freezing February evening!
01/02/09 05:12:48
It's true: the reformulation does not do justice to the original. I wore Rive Gauche for a while a long time ago, and finally got sick of it., yet I still appreciate its unique character. I have about 1/4 left in an old bottle and was able to compare the new and old side-by-side (left arm, right arm). What is unique about the original is that it manages to be fresh and heavy at the same time. The rose dominates, yet I discern other notes especially green notes, each clear and distinct. In the new Rive Gauche, all the notes blend in a nondescript floral mush. There is nothing unpleasant about it, but nothing special, either. While I no longer want to wear it, i miss the gutsy, classic Rive Gauche!
Epilogue; I washed off both arms, but the old formula RG refuses to go away! Now that's the tenacious beauty I remember!
The bottle design was and is still a favorite of mine!
Epilogue; I washed off both arms, but the old formula RG refuses to go away! Now that's the tenacious beauty I remember!
The bottle design was and is still a favorite of mine!
11/29/08 06:54:26
It's a sentimental walk down memory lane with this BoHo chic scent of the 70's, however, Fords's recreation of this classic is disappointing. The previous incarnation was an organic, free spirit scent emitting the silvery dusty feeling from the aldehydes mixed with two of my favorite blossoms, gardenia and magnolia which created an aura of peace. The harmony and strength I feel has been lost in the 2003 version.
11/04/08 06:50:55
I loved the fact that the initial aldehydic, metallic blast was almost intolerable. I find the reformulation BLAH.
For the record, I am not reform-phobic; I love both the original and new Senso by Ungaro, and all the versions of Joy and Chanel #5. Without the shattering aldehydes, Rive Gauche is not itself...
BTW, if you enjot RG (by Jaques Polge & Michael Hy), try Calandre by Paco Rabanne. It was created a year prior in '69, by the same perfumer (Hy), and was a very similar and groundbreaking 70s scent.
For the record, I am not reform-phobic; I love both the original and new Senso by Ungaro, and all the versions of Joy and Chanel #5. Without the shattering aldehydes, Rive Gauche is not itself...
BTW, if you enjot RG (by Jaques Polge & Michael Hy), try Calandre by Paco Rabanne. It was created a year prior in '69, by the same perfumer (Hy), and was a very similar and groundbreaking 70s scent.
10/22/08 21:55:47
I have never owned a bottle of the original Rive Gauche, but I just today received a bottle of the newer version and have been wearing the scent all evening. It had a disconcerting opening note, sort of moldy-floral, but now the scent reminds me of Chanel No. 19 and Calandre, both of which I adore. It is also very much its own scent: a little old-fashioned, a little modern, neither sweet nor tart, and elegant in a way that so few non-niche scents seem to be these days. Very nice.
10/17/08 18:48:27
well...well...where can i begin....i am speechless when it comes to rive gauche...it's simply perfect...at least for me...it makes me happy optimistic and delighted...i know it's weird i never thought a perfume would affect my feelings and emotions that much...but it's true...rive gauche can comletely change my mood...it's perfect for everyday use in winter and fall especially on rainy cloudy days and for special occasions in summer and spring since it's kinda strong and heavy for hot and warm weather....so for everyday use in spring i'd recommand rive gauche fraicheur and in summer rive gauche light is a great choice....
10/12/08 00:58:39
There is only one negative things I can say about this fragrance, I can smell a very unpleasant top note which reminds me of sour cucumber and vinegar, but when this one is gone, Rive Gauche becomes an abstract rose perfume which I quite like. I love the Haute Couture name of the perfume, its metal bottle and the timeless elegance of the composition which is still very good, in spite of the top note and the reformulation.
10/03/08 17:13:43
Nice one! It is quiet, stays close to skin but lasts a long time. I'd say its like a perfume containing masculine notes which are well softened and added a feminine beauty by a woman who carries it.
10/03/08 13:36:07
I tried this 'Rive Gauche' immediatelly after YSL 'Y' and it rendered the first one in a better light.. not as bad as 'Y', but the same smell group for me - unwearable
10/03/08 13:24:47
I hope I will never have to smell this again... I went to wash my wrist, but no, it stayed there the whole day, so tumbs up for staying power. My collegue bought it through internet without knowing what it would like, trusted the review. We were both shocked...blee. I could smell nothing but cinnamon the whole time and it was so strong that I couldnt get rid of headache.
09/27/08 07:24:39
When I was a kid, my mom belonged to a 'beauty club' via mail, and this came in one of her kits. I wore this in my teen years and felt very sophisticated! I would love to be reacquainted w/ this to see if I have the same feelings for it!
07/15/08 07:47:55
Gentle, powdery and soft, but stands out from other perfumes. Classy and one of my all time favourite alltouhgt the huge number of old and new fascinating scents. This one is always good to come back.
06/13/08 14:28:18
A very classic floral aldehyde, the top note is so fresh and the finish is so "French", really. It's elegant, and very well-done, altough it seems to be simple and right for everyday use. However, I have a problem with this: in a few hours it becomes rather similar on my skin to Moschino's Cheap & Chic which I don't like at all:(
04/01/08 01:09:52
Suitable for wearing it during the day and for evening. This gentle, feminine powdery scent is one of my favourite. It is old fashioned in a way, but I like it
03/17/08 12:57:39
I'd rate this 3.5 lippies. I'm not sure which version I sampled but I really enjoyed Rive Gauche. This is a very classic type of fragrance. It seems to have an oaky powdery finish. It makes me think of a cool day & warm quilts but, also reminds me of cashmere & pearls too. It really is a fragrance that you could wear anytime. It's soft and casual enough for office wear, but sophisicated enough for formal times. Rive Gauche lasts quite awhile on the skin too; about 6 hours. I don't think I will purchase a bottle, as I have similar scents. Nevertheless this is a very well done scent.
01/16/08 08:33:47
My mom used to wear it in the 80s. They have reformulated the scent. It is still a lovely aldehyde.
11/29/07 10:46:54
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