Yves Saint Laurent launched Rive Gauche in 1971; Jacques Polge and Michel Hy composed the formula. An aldehydic floral, it now opens, according to the house, on aldehydes, bergamot, ylang-ylang and freesia, before a heart of rose and jasmine and a base of vetiver, musk, oakmoss and myrrh. Its bottle was designed by Pierre Dinand.
Victoria Frolova of Bois de Jasmin gives it five stars: a cloud of silver dust settling on a lush rose, of breathtaking elegance, though impoverished by the 2003 reformulation.
Olfastory’s review
Bois de Jasmin, a cloud of silver dust
On June 2, 2006, Victoria Frolova gave Rive Gauche five stars. She describes it as a warm cloud of silver dust slowly settling on a lush rose; the starched crispness of the aldehydes answers its metallic facet.
Like Rodin’s marbles, it contrasts in her view the polished ivory of its main accord with the rough haze around it. The two extremes complement each other for a breathtaking elegance; among daring and refined compositions, it has no equal.
She nonetheless regrets the 2003 modernization: with an altered floral heart and weakened aldehydes, the composition lost in her eyes part of its sculptural character. She also recommends the masculine version of Rive Gauche.