Rive Gauche Yves Saint Laurent 2003

Version from 2003

Rive Gauche (2003) by Yves Saint Laurent

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8.1 / 10128 Ratings

Rive Gauche (2003) is a popular perfume by Yves Saint Laurent for women and was released in 2003. The scent is chypre-floral. The longevity is above-average. It is being marketed by L'Oréal. Pronunciation

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Perfumer

Daniela Andrier

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes	Aldehydes Honeysuckle Green notes Peach Bergamot Lemon
Heart Notes	Magnolia Iris Gardenia Jasmine Ylang-ylang Lily of the valley Rose Geranium
Base Notes	Sandalwood Tonka bean Ambergris Tahitian vetiver Musk Oakmoss

Ratings

Scent

8.1128 Ratings

Longevity

8.2103 Ratings

Sillage

7.9106 Ratings

Bottle

8.0107 Ratings

Value for money

7.715 Ratings

Submitted by Seren, last update on 20.07.2021.

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Reviews

06/16/2021

8
Scent 9
Longevity 7
Sillage 7
Bottle

Kurai
80 Reviews

Kurai

Contemporary classic

A slow starter maybe, but with everlasting stamina. Once the floral aldehydes get going, they will wrap you in a Dove soapy aura for the whole day. In the base a clear moss. Bright, rather dry. Vetiver is not pronounced in scent, but I do feel its vibrance boost. The overall scent remains airy, soapy, powdery. In colors white/beige, rather than green.

For me personally, the perfume doesn't trigger any close associations or nostalgia. Obviously, it does feel like something of a while ago. Eighties, I guess. Compared to modern releases, it is quite a peculiar scent. Unique, that is for sure. Not at all offensive or sexy/seductive. Cool, but not cold. So that makes it very suitable for office settings.

1 Replies

01/05/2021

8
Scent 10
Longevity 8
Sillage 8
Bottle 10
Pricing

Tradescantia

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Tradescantia

Top Review 8

Undercooled elegance - Unconventional olfactory aesthetics

This fragrance is really complex. Its durability is really good, just like the trace it leaves.
The opening includes green notes. The lemon is glistening for me.

For me, it would make a good laundry perfume, as it's even a little too intense on my skin at first. Of course, that doesn't detract from it. Unfortunately, it is only available in the 50 ml bottle.

I would probably never consume so much of it. Therefore, I have so far refrained from buying.

It's not beautiful in the strictest sense, it's more beautiful like the Gauss-Jordan method of solving systems of equations to save time. An alien-like metallic note makes it seem undercool. Rive Gauche is a classic fragrance with a futuristic charm. A paradox that unfortunately can not be solved, like many others.

The florality is of a tart, white and fresh nature. It is also abstract. I cannot name here which flowers are to be embodied by the fragrance. A scent for difficult negotiations, so strong that one can pause for a moment while thinking. Suitable literary works would be Zweig's Chess Novella or Lushin's Defence by Nabokov, who has become known not only as an author but also as a collector of butterflies.

The base notes are very pleasant for me. Vetiver and oak moss can be perceived wonderfully. In addition, the fragrance is soapy. I like that. A fragrance that is rare to smell, but should not be forgotten.

The bottle is functional and the color blue fits perfectly as a cool color.

3 Replies

10/19/2020

8.5
Scent 10
Longevity 7
Sillage 10
Bottle

DieNase
17 Reviews

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DieNase

Top Review 17

Slow motion

In slow motion this scent runs. For hours the phase of slowly decreasing soapiness of the aldehydes lasts, paired with an indefinite fruity floralness, the rose probably. The fruity rose becomes juicy in the further course, vetiver, or more precisely vetiver acetate pushes this rose forward and gives it radiance and conciseness. This phase in turn seems to last forever, the power hardly ever diminishes. The next morning I wake up with her.
For me a perfect business fragrance, distant but not unapproachable, brightly beautiful but not erotic, not playful

7 Replies

10/05/2020

10
Scent 8
Longevity 8
Sillage 10
Bottle

Toppine

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Toppine

Top Review 29

Back to the Future Part II

The old Rive Gauche used to be my first perfume and has managed to keep me away from all further fragrance attempts for years. To this day I still can't get along with older perfumes and classics. The first spraying experience overwhelmed me with sharp, pungent and vile poisonous aromas and the absence of any fragrance.
Nevertheless the bottle was bought - youthful exuberance. At the same time I talked my later ex-husband into 'Kouros', which he kindly regarded as a test of courage that he passed bravely. Of course the fragrances were not worn, not even when stoned or on a trip. My first perfume life was over...

Many years later - at the side of another man - I started to be interested in fragrances. The new Rive Gauche is now in my collection. Everything is different and my nose is more trained. Thanks to Mrs Andrier the aldehydes are still there, but detoxified.
A delicate green tone mixes with clear peach and bergamot. Powder covers the flowers gently without suffocating them (or me). And the base is a dream, softly caressing chypré with beautiful vetiver. The fragrance exudes class, style and elegance. It remains cool and transparent, which is what I always like best.

Now he's all French YSL, whose fashion and style I used to love so much. I put on a black sweater, smoke a cigarette and listen to 'Fly like an Eagle' by Tom Petty. Rive Gauche has come back to the future and I think of my ex-husband who died too soon after a long illness...

22 Replies

09/21/2020

1
Scent 8
Longevity 8
Sillage 10
Bottle

Raven222
2 Reviews

Raven222

Too heavy...unfortunately!

I got it as a gift and at first I really liked it but .... it became very heavy and looked like antique perfumes, which I really don't like .It is interesting that although it contains citrus, I unfortunately did not notice them in the least.Definitely not for me.

01/13/2020

9.5
Scent 8
Longevity 8
Sillage 10
Bottle

Rossana

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Rossana

Less helpful Review 3

It was the '70s

when I discovered the scent. A classic, like his name. The typical colour combination of the flacon is a trademark of YSL. The perfume opens powdery and creamy yet discreetly and surrounds the lady with an aura of elegance. The flacon adds extra charm to a bathroom. A must

01/06/2020

9.5
Scent 8
Longevity 7
Sillage 7
Bottle

Seyda

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Seyda

Top Review 15

Rive Gauche

is for me:

-clean
-slightly sweetish
-noble
-not intrusive
-the lost powder breath

It starts very clean almost creamy and even reminds me a bit of Nivea :-D
This impression remains with me for about 20 minutes, until the most beautiful powder note shows up.

I've smelled that scent so many times Since I was little, I was looking for this incomparable powder breath, which many ladies dragged behind them.

At some point I was sure: it's Chanel No.5
But after a while this becomes unfortunately so harsh and any note spoils the fragrance I have tried all variants again and again the same way. Although he has these beautiful echoes, he was not.
An edt I gave away once and it smelled on the other person just as bitter in the finish.

Until I accidentally hit rg.
Sprayed on and only found him like this, Lala Not bad directly but doesn't have to be now.
Get out of the store and after a short time this smell rises in my nose.
The light, slightly sweetish, absolutely divine powdery breath.
It sounds dry and powdery but never harsh On my clothes the next day he smells light powdery a little sweetish.

Shelf life is absolutely ok but he doesn't dope me up. He's a little more restrained than that.
Every once in a while, a breeze rises.

I think it's still perfectly wearable today Naturally absolute matter of taste.
If you like fruity and fragrant, RG will probably be nothing for you
Must also say that the testers were all (no matter where) a little harsher in the top note.
My newly bought bottle smells only clean from the beginning. But then they develop in the same way.

I don't know the old version by the way :)

Fondest regards

7 Replies

08/13/2019

10
Scent 8
Longevity 7
Sillage 9
Bottle

Doctorsdyery

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Doctorsdyery

Top Review 42

Unlike everyone else...

A hint of black lace flashes out under the blazer with shoulder pads. She wears a pantsuit, has her bob tamed with gel and put on red lipstick.

During the day she holds the strings in her hand. Women can be anything. Chief physician, head of a corporation, artist. Men are no longer above things and women.

It's the early eighties.

She determines what she wears, who she is, what she can do and who she sleeps with.
She dresses casually and at the same time elegantly and stylishly. In the evening she quickly swaps the cashmere turtleneck she wears at work for a blazer with shoulder pads. And some earclips. Gold, plain, noble.

She runs off, in pumps towards the taxi.
When she arrives at the café, she orders a glass of wine and lights a cigarette. It seems a bit unapproachable, beautiful and cool at the same time.
So completely different. yes completely different than many women today.
She doesn't think about breast enlargement or eyebrow tattoos.
She is who she is and that makes her irresistible.

Your date arrives and is perplexed again. This woman is driving him crazy. She smiles, a bit timid and challenging at the same time.

She wears the trouser suit, a touch of black lace and Rive Gauche and nothing else.
The evening can begin. Where it ends, it will also determine...

That's how I picture her. The one Rive Gauche was wearing at the time.

And secretly, I wish I could have lived through that time. If there was a time machine, I would dare a small excursion into this tempting time.

And what should women have worn back then, if not Rive Gauche?

A classic that I still find very wearable today. Metallic at the beginning and at the end so wonderfully powdery, without sticking at all, yet very soft and protective. Timeless. Wonderful.
The bottle? You couldn't have done better for this fragrance.

So very different from all the others.

I guess you'll have to move in with me. Maybe even a blazer with shoulder pads... D

Right now I would have a great desire to resurrect the woman of that time and to exchange her for a uniform mush, a beauty frenzy and an influencer. It would be time again...

My first comment, cut me some slack. ;)

16 Replies

06/30/2018

9
Scent 8
Longevity 8
Sillage 10
Bottle

Schwälbchen

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Schwälbchen

Top Review 11

Less is more

When the fullness and bustle of the day exhaust the measure of the bearable, it draws me to Rive Gauche. Not a loud fragrance screaming for attention, but a flatterer who knows how to please with understatement.

The strong aldehyde start shows parallels to Chanel No 5. Where, however, "la Cinque" rises with opulent floridity, Rive Gauche develops reservedly. The blossoms, withdrawn in sweetness, are accentuated wonderfully gently by a metallic-fresh accord. I like it infinite when this cool powderiness surrounds me like a silver veil.

Depending on temperature and activity, a wonderfully pleasing chypre base develops after a good hour. Although the oak moss is clearly perceptible, it is generally softer and rounder. Nothing scratches here, no bitter bitterness. And so reservedly he might also inspire perfumos, which deter the word Chypre Sonst. With the overall decency a wonderful "unagitated" companion, which I like to wear very much.

Rive Gauche lasts me 6-8 hours without any problems. On very warm days he retreats faster and gets very close. I value the Sillage in the upper average and the bottle is unparalleled.

Conclusion: I am glad to have discovered it here with you, because in the end your fragrance descriptions contributed to the test and purchase.
I am glad that I have him and enjoy ;)

1 Replies

04/09/2018

8
Scent 8
Longevity 8
Sillage 5
Bottle

Jazzy76
320 Reviews

Jazzy76

The n.5's alternative brother

Have you ever seen two different twins?
The one , Chanel n.5, is classic, classy, in its precious glass bottle , worn by ladies with strings of pearls. The other, hided in its metallic bottle, is more alternative ,it can be worn with a hippy blouse and a pair of vintage jeans...
but the aldheidic character is the same and mainly in this YSL historical fragrance aldheides cover a little the rich and floral bouquet. Anyway, it remains a great perfume I re-discovered and loved after many years .

Show all reviews (11)