Perfume Review: Christian Dior Eau Sauvage

Review by Tom Lee of PerfumePosse and I recently had a 'fume exchange: He sent me some SL's he didn't care for and I picked up a couple of bottles of things he wanted. He also slipped in generous samples of all sorts of things that I had not tried, and one that I had actually owned, but not had in years. Flashback to the 70's: I am a teenager and yes, I liked scents even then. I would ride my bike down to the Steigers in the Hampshire Mall and splurge on something like Halston Z-14 or Pierre Cardin. but my all-time favorite was Eau Sauvage. For me, re-smelling it after years of not having it is kind of an olfactory time-machine: one whiff of the lemons and petitgrain and I am (almost) that teenager trekking to Hadley on his Raleigh ready to plunk down $20. Unlike the Pierre Cardin however, Eau Sauvage is something I would wear again in a heartbeat: it's light and refreshing but it has a definite edge to it. It's manly in a way that colognes aren't trying to be these days, that is of course written with the hindsight of (ahem) a few years. I am sure that when this came out it was considered rather unisex, and I knew several girls who wore (and wear) it. Somewhat like Malle's French Lover, it almost seems like a scent that you might have to dress for, even if that only means pressed khakis and a blazer. It's the scent you would think JFK wore. It certainly should be worn more often. In later years Dior introduced Eau Sauvage Extreme, which I admit I moved onto. It was an 80's version of the scent that amped up to a shout what was merely whispered in the original. I still have an elegant black bottle of it but almost never find myself reaching for it. There is also a new Eau Sauvage, calle Eau Sauvage Friacheur Cuir. I don't know if I need to seek it out. The original is available practically everywhere, and at very low prices. I've always had a hankering for one of those ginormous bottles and think that I will have to avail myself of one very soon. Thanks, Lee.. I think