Libre L'Absolu Platine Absolu de Parfum

What the house declares

Yves Saint Laurent opens on a white lavender accord, mandarin and Calabrian bergamot. The center brings together Moroccan orange blossom, lavender essence and French lavandin; the base, Madagascar Bourbon vanilla, an ambergris accord and a heliotrope accord.

The white lavender

The white lavender accord, exclusive to the house, coats the Diva lavender that the Libre line sources from Provence. Anne Flipo calls it “amplified”: lavender, a note of masculine tradition, takes on a very feminine face by contrast, and the orange blossom gains in sensuality.

A plant-derived aldehyde

The house adds to the opening an aldehyde drawn from an aromatic plant, polygonum. Anne Flipo tells Elle that this material, rare in perfumery, gives the bergamot and mandarin an icy sparkle, which the house likens to a silvery shine.

The base

Around the flower, Yves Saint Laurent cites a musk, a powdery heliotrope accord, a balsamic vanilla infusion and an almond-like coumarin, a compound naturally present in lavender. The ambergris accord, mineral in register, melds with the natural scent of skin to extend the trail.

Two presentations

The house’s English-language presentation arranges the materials differently: a natural aldehyde at the top with bergamot and mandarin, the white lavender accord and Diva lavender in the heart, vanilla and ambergris in the base, without heliotrope. The breakdown kept here is the one published in French.

What the label declares

The house’s ingredient list names no essential oil. It declares linalool and coumarin, two natural constituents of lavender, and methyl anthranilate, which is associated with orange blossom; limonene echoes the citrus of the opening.

Hydroxycitronellal brings a fresh floral note, geraniol, citronellol and citral rosy and lemony accents. Ethylhexyl salicylate and butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane are two UV filters, which protect the fragrance from light.