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Kouros Body by Yves Saint Laurent

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I first posted this review of Kouros Body back in 2014 or so. But, this was one of my go to wear’s in the previous decade also. I love this fragrance. So, I had to do an update for the site. It doesn’t quite fit comfortably in a category, the notes are unusual on their own, and quite weird when placed together.

However, it was always great, and an absolute joy for me to wear. I’m going to cover: how this Yves Saint Laurent cologne smells, what’s in it, how it performs, and when it should be worn.

What does Kouros Body Smell Like?

KO14M

Body Kouros Notes: Incense, eucalyptus, benzoin, cedar, sage

Click here to try: Kouros Body by Yves Saint Laurent for Men – 3.4 oz EDT Spray

I would describe the scent of Kouros Body as sweet with a spice. Not sweet like a fruity scent would be,  but rather a bit like candy. The spice is subtle, more of an undertone, but gives Kouros Body a certain character and warmth. This cologne is highly distinctive and memorable.

On nights I’ve worn it out to a bar, it always seems to have women inching closer before they ask, “What are you wearing that smells so good?”

The scent profile is rather unique, as I’ve never come across anything else like it, and it doesn’t share any real connection with the original Kouros from YSL.

I mean, when the strongest note is benzoin, and you have a smokey incense note throughout the wear…you’re going to be a different type of cologne.

Anyway, Body is pretty warm and enveloping, with a medicinal touch from the inclusion of eucalyptus. I find it to be smooth and soothing.

The benzoin and eucalyptus are paired at the top of this cologne, along with the spicy sage note. It’s not a heavy spice, by any means, just a part of the warm cloud everything is wrapped up in.

As it dries down, Body Kouros, feels quite herbal and sweet but with less of the eucalyptus and more of a cedar coming through. The composition is so simple, but manages to have such a great smell on my skin.

In the end I get, lots of benzoin with burning incense, and sage and eucalyptus flanking that. Very fresh.

I have to admit that Kouros Body is one of my personal favorite colognes and one that I like to have on hand. It doesn’t have the same attention grabbing qualities as other scents. Body is to me, like a slower and more methodical seduction, almost hypnotic in its draw.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Projection wise, this one was always pretty moderate on my skin. Body Kouros isn’t a heavy fragrance and the sillage is going to hang pretty close to you, after about an hour of wear or so.

But, it’s not a total skin scent. Just one that is lighter and not a powerhouse.

The older bottle that I had would give me about 6-7 hours of wear, sometimes better on colder days. I’m not sure what the newer bottles are putting out, but it was always solid.

One draw back for me is that it doesn’t perform as well during the summertime. Especially, if you live in an area of high humidity like I do. No, Kouros Body begs to be worn during chilly days or evenings when it’s warmth can fully emanate outwards.

Stick to wearing it in the autumn through early spring and you should get Body at its best.

This was definitely one of my go to scents during the winter time, in the 2009-2013 era, of my life. I could wear this out for a night at the bar, somewhat dressed up, with an overcoat.

It wasn’t clearing out the room, like 1 Million would, during that time period. However, when women got close to me, a whole lot of them were digging this YSL gem.

It’s got a good age range on it too. It’s not irreverent and young, nor does it smell stuffy and old. Men in their early 20s and older gentlemen, can spray this one on without issue or feeling out of place.

Overall Impressions of Kouros Body

Kouros Body will always have a soft spot for me, after being a great wear for such a long stretch. I should get a new bottle at some point, but I have so many reviews and tests to do for this site, it gets difficult to not have sparsely used bottles laying around.

However, I can recommend this scent, but it’s not going to be one that everybody enjoys wearing. Body is its own thing completely, and kind of a time capsule cologne, that represents the turn of the new century when not every fragrance felt like a clone of another.

Eucalyptus and benzoin are actually a great combination. It’s resinous and herbal, while being smooth and fresh. It’s an easy to wear fragrance, even with its more unique style, and women have seemed to compliment it quite often over the years.

Then, you have the warmth, sweetness, and smokiness from incense. It’s not really anything like the original Kouros, but does its own thing, and does it well.

Again, I’m not sure if the newer bottles got reformulated or not, but it’s one to try out. But, understand that it might not be a favorite for everyone.

Jazz by YSL

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I was very pleased to be able to get a hold of a travel sprayer full of Jazz EDT by Yves Saint Laurent. This 1980s classic has gone off the market and back on, even being offered in a slightly different version, under a slightly different name.

Nonetheless, I was excited to be able to get the original, and experience it once again. In this post, I will share my experiences with how it smells and performs, and whether I think it is still worth a try.

What does YSL Jazz Smell Like?

Notes include: lavender, coriander, nutmeg, artemisia, tobacco, geranium, jasmine, carnation, cardamom, basil, and more

Click here to try: Jazz by Yves Saint Laurent

My Full Review

Jazz is a fragrance which dates back to the late 1980s and you definitely can tell from the very first spray. That’s not to say that it’s dated, but it just has a smell and style that newer releases simply do not. That can be good or bad, based on your tastes.

It opens up with a spicy freshness. The main spices here are the coriander and nutmeg. Anise also comes through. Initially, you can pick up on notes like basil and a slight cinnamon, but that is short-lived.

Underneath the spice, is the ever-present and strengthening lavender note, with other dry notes such as: oakmoss, tobacco, and a bit of leather. It’s a classic clean spice with dry woodsy undertones.

The floral notes other than lavender, do come in to support the main attraction. It’s really blended well and none of the notes stick out too much to me.

As it moves along, Jazz EDT, moves more into a floral clean and somewhat sweet arena. Artemisia, geranium, with some very light amber and tonka bean give it a smoother appeal.

This combined with the lavender, creates a very nice mix, with its more masculine features occupying the base.

The final result is a dry, fresh, green floral/spice blend, that is fairly barbershop in its essence. Jazz is a great fougere example, that is balanced, and still retains a mass appeal. There’s a nice mossy finish towards the end or at least the impression of moss, anyway.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

The sillage is pretty strong at first, but it does become more moderate for the rest of the wear. It is noticeable, but not completely in your face, with its power.

Though not a powerhouse, the longevity, is actually very good on my skin. During testing, I was able to get 9-10 hours of wear from this YSL cologne, without any issue. I was actually surprised that a newer batch, could still bring it with the performance.

Seasonally, it works in any season but the height of summer. I would go with either autumn or spring, as it fits in well with the more moderate temperatures, versus either extreme.

This is best suited for men in their mid-20s and up. If you’re a younger guy and want something different, you could still pull it off. It can be worn casually, at the office, or for an evening out. It has a certain level of sexiness, but isn’t a club banger, by any means.

It’s versatile for many other situations, as it isn’t likely to offend or be obtrusive when wearing it. Very solid all around.

Overall Impression of Jazz by YSL

Do I like this fragrance? I do. That’s saying something, because this isn’t usually my style, but I can wear Jazz and like doing so. It’s not my favorite ever, or even favorite Yves Saint Laurent, but I do appreciate the scent.

It’s a great throwback to another era of colognes. There are others which smell, quite a bit like this one, but this is still a wonderful scent. I wish I could get a hold of Live Jazz, as I remember really liking that fragrance, possibly more so than the original.

This one has been reformulated over the years, so, it probably won’t exactly smell how it used to be. Not too much of a problem, if you’re new to it. Honestly, it still has plenty of life and I have to say that I find it pretty enjoyable.

If you want a lavender blend or something with that classic dry spiciness, Jazz is one to try out. Not going to be one if you’re looking for a super sweet or boozy kind of scent. The fragrance hits the spiciness, floral accords, and gives you a clean masculine finish.

La Nuit de l’Homme vs The One EDT

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La Nuit de L’homme from Yves Saint Laurent and The One by D&G have both been best sellers for over a decade now. They often can get compared to one another since they do have some overlap in notes, while actually being pretty distinctly different fragrances with how they smell. But, while also sharing a similar use case. So, which of these men’s fragrances is better?

Tale of the Tape: La Nuit vs. The One EDT

La Nuit

Notes include: cardamom, bergamot, vetiver, lavender, cedar

Try it out: Yves Saint Laurent La Nuit De L’homme Eau de Toilette Spray, 3.3-Ounce

Read my review: La Nuit de l’Homme

The One by D&G

Notes include: grapefruit, ginger, basil, coriander, amber, tobacco, orange blossom, and more

Click here to try: THE ONE By DOLCE & GABBANA; EDT SPRAY 5 Ounce

Opening

La Nuit opens up with lots of cardamom and a citrus bergamot note, in the beginning. It is fresh, warm, and has that light addition of bergamot. Then, the lavender really begins to come into its own, sometime thereafter. It is a really captivating start, that gives you a nice bit of spice before settling down.

It does later become a bit more powdery and fresh, but above is what I get from the opener.

The One, meanwhile, gives me a bit less noticeable citrus (grapefruit) versus the bergamot in Nuit. Also, the cardamom feels less intense early on, and I get more of a blend with the ginger and light basil note.

The One is warm and has an amazing amber note with hints of the orange blossom giving it a floral touch. Personally, I prefer orange blossom to lavender.

Which is better? I’ve always loved how The One starts off. I enjoy La Nuit also, but with my personal bottle, my favorite part has been the dry down recently.

Edge: The One

Projection

Neither one of these has a monster projection. The sillage of La Nuit is fairly middle of the road for a few hours and then becomes light and finally a skin scent.

The One starts off nicely but really quickly fades, on my skin. It may have better performance for others, but the D&G has never really mustered much of anything for me.

Edge: La Nuit

Longevity

La Nuit used to get 6-8 hours of wear for me. The 2021 batch that I bought is more along the lines of 4-5…6 if I really spray the hell out of it. It’s for sure lost a step.

Again, The One has always had terrible performance on my skin. I might get 2 hours out of it, if I go heavy. With normal sprays, 1.

It may react differently for you, but I wouldn’t expect it to be better than the YSL, even at its peak.

Edge: La Nuit

Versatility

Both The One and La Nuit are best worn in fall/winter, but can venture into more mild temperatures, without issue.

Their versatility as popular signature scents is one of the greatest strengths that these colognes both share. Both lean more towards being nighttime wears, but honestly, neither is out of place in the daytime either.

I don’t really see much of a distinction in this category.

Edge: Push

Overall Scent

Between these two fragrances, which do I prefer?

If we’re going just based on smell alone, I like The One EDT better. It’s got a warmth, lightness, and sweet almost boozy quality about it that I’ve always loved. The downside, is that it just doesn’t work on my skin for whatever reason.

But, if it does work on yours…you should probably go with that.

However, based on smell and performance in conjunction, La Nuit wins this round. It’s not a superstar with how it lasts, but it smells really great and isn’t that far behind the Dolce cologne in terms of enjoyment.

You’re going to be getting plenty of the spicy cardamom, a general freshness, and light powdery finish. So, The One may be more appealing, if that doesn’t sound all that great to you.

Winner: La Nuit

L’Homme Le Parfum by YSL

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L’Homme has become a long running and popular series of men’s fragrances for Yves Saint Laurent. In 2020, they released a Le Parfum version of this scent, and I’ve been recently testing it out to give it a full review on here. What does it smell like? Does it have good performance? Is L’Homme Le Parfum worth a buy?

What does L’Homme Le Parfum Smell Like?

Notes include: lemon, cardamom, cedar, vetiver, amberwood, basil, violet leaf

Click here to try: L’homme Le Parfum by Yves Saint Laurent Eau De Parfum Spray 2 oz Men

My Full Review

The opening of L’Homme Le Parfum really matches the color of the juice. This is a very modern blue-ish fragrance. You can tell the original L’Homme’s DNA is here. But, it is infused with elements of other YSL colognes.

L’Homme Ultime and Libre, come to mind. Those aren’t made anymore, but when it is all blended together, the opening gives off strong Y EDP vibes also. So, it becomes the original L’Homme blended with Y EDP.

The opening act features a strong blend of citrus and the basil. That basil note is what L’Homme Libre was built around and along with the violet leaf brings me flashes of that scent, within Le Parfum.

The basil, lemony spicy cardamom, and actual lemon are all sitting on top of the fresh and dry cedar wood and that synthetic amberwood aroma. The amberwood really steers the blue-ish feeling of this fragrance, like other modern colognes which pair that with citrus.

Unlike Libre, Le Parfum’s basil freshness is tampered down by the sweet spiciness of the cardamom note. Which gives it those L’Homme Ultime vibes, with the geranium. Strip out the sage and apple of Y EDP and Le Parfum is a good approximation, in its early stages.

This fragrance starts out leaning more towards the fresh end of the spectrum, with a solid amount of sweetness. However, in the dry down that flips and Le Parfum becomes sweeter than the other releases that I’ve mentioned.

It’s a woody sweetness with that fresh and hefty dose of geranium in the middle. It ends up being smoother and sweeter in the end, versus the somewhat sharp and synthetic opening act.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

I really appreciate the performance of Le Parfum. I have a recent bottle of L’homme and the sillage and longevity are terrible. With Le Parfum, YSL changes course and delivers something much more substantial.

Early on the sillage is strong. Not a bomb, but one that could easily be over-sprayed. That phase will last 30 minutes or so. After that, Le Parfum fall much more in the moderate camp with its projection. It’s a good deal.

The performance here is also solid. It isn’t elite in regards to how long it lasts, either. But, I’ve been getting around 8 hours of wear on my skin.

So, it will deliver what you will need for most purposes and circumstances. Better than almost any other release in this series (it might actually be, but I can’t think of any which exceed it, off of the top of my head).

Seasonally, I’d wear this in the moderate to warmer temperatures of early autumn, the whole of spring, and much of the summer months. It’s a bit too sharp for the cold and probably wouldn’t hold up all that well in the extreme heat and humidity.

Plenty of use, though.

I don’t consider this to be a formal wear. It’s office safe, if you don’t overdo it. However, I’d prefer to wear this out on the town or casually day to day. Think more of evenings in the spring and summer months.

Can easily be worn be any age group. It might be too sweet for some guys, however. That blue-ish ambroxan mix can be a turn off for some and you get plenty of it with Le Parfum.

Overall Impressions of L’Homme Le Parfum

I like it. It has enough of the DNA of the original and blends it with other releases. Not my favorite by any means, but it can do a nice job of replacing L’Homme, which now has atrocious performance.

I like the basil touches, cardamom, and the cedar freshness. Very easy to wear and versatile. A true ‘blue’ cologne with plenty of ambroxan in the base. It is very much an amalgam of other fragrances from this brand, so if you’ve tried any of the one’s that I’ve mentioned, you basically know what this one is like.

I enjoyed wearing it during testing, but it still wasn’t something that I’d personally want a full bottle of. L’Homme Le Parfum does everything well enough and be a solid addition to someone’s rotation.

L’Homme EDT by YSL

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I am a longtime fan of YSL fragrances. In fact, two of the first three bottles of cologne that I ever bought were Opium and Kouros Body.  Needless to say, there is something about this design house’s scents that really speak to me.

Today, my review is going to focus on another entry from Yves Saint Laurent, L’Homme. Introduced in 2006, this has been a fairly big hit in terms of its popularity. Is it worth buying? Read on to find out.

What does L’Homme by YSL Smell Like?

l'homme

Notes include: Virginia Cedar, Ginger, Violet, Citron, White Pepper, Basil Flower, Ozone, Tonka Bean, Sandalwood, Vetiver

Click here to try: L’homme By Yves Saint Laurent Eau De Toilette Spray For Men 3.3 oz

My Take on L’Homme by YSL

The first batch of L’Homme that I reviewed years ago had really poor longevity. I loved the smell, but I couldn’t get it to last on my skin, it was a similar situation with The One by D&G.

Having essentially forgotten about that experience, I picked up a small sprayer of this cologne to test it out, and see if things would be different this time. Thankfully, it was a much better batch of fragrance this time or my skin is finally adept at taking this.

Note: This has been a continuing review since around 2014, documenting changes as I come back to newer bottles of L’Homme.

YSL L’Homme is super clean and has a soft yet utterly fantastic aroma. I completely dig the way this one opens up. The bergamot and citron is light yet retains their juiciness, but never feel like they ever stand out on their own within the composition.

As such, you don’t get the usual sharpness that you would from these notes in higher concentration.

This citrus aroma is light and joined by a warm and slightly spiced accord of ginger and basil. All of this comes together with the inclusion of a creamy tonka bean, for a very-well blended and balanced fragrance.

Ginger is the standout of the spices. Basil played a greater role in the flanker, L’Homme Libre, but isn’t too much of a factor here.

One further addition at the top is the violet which brings a simple floral touch to L’Homme. The spice on this one is not heavy in the slightest, very herbal/green with enough pepper to make it interesting.

Violet is one of my least favorite notes and I don’t particularly like it here, but it isn’t all that bothersome. To me, that’s the weakness in the mix. In the very brief dry down period, expect some cedar wood and vetiver, with most of the top notes having faded away entirely.

This cologne is a blend of sweet and spicy but under the umbrella of being completely fresh. It is all tied together with a cedar wood base, as the last element to a fairly simple presentation.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Projection wise, this stuff is still very light, quite airy. I really wish they beefed up the sillage. Yes, there is an Intense version, but it really doesn’t smell the same at all.

It’s not going to project much. Potentially, if you spray the hell out of it, you may get some good sillage. It’s a skin scent, in reality. The performance really is my biggest problem with this scent, very frustrating.

Update: 2021 bottles have roughly the same sillage. That actually hasn’t diminished.

The longevity is maybe 4-5 hours on my skin, from this use. Again, I absolutely hate the performance, but love this aroma. I’ve never been able to get more time than this.

Update: I bought a new bottle here in 2021 since it was buy one, get one free with La Nuit. The performance is now 2-3.5 hours with massive amounts of spraying (for both fragrances). For $50 I can afford to overspray this, but just be ready to have extra ready, if you decide to buy.

Also, my skin isn’t the type to ‘eat’ up a fragrance, as I get great performance from many other colognes.

Seasonally, it makes me think of warm weather, not necessarily the heat of summer. However, I do think it can be worn year round without much issue. I’d like it best in early spring or late autumn.

That being said, it works well in the colder months too. Personally, I’d use something else for the winter, but L’Homme is fine there.

It is a casual or dressed up office wear scent. Very pleasant but not really sexy, when people can actually smell it on you, they find it enjoyable. It’s the type of fragrance that you can wear, pretty much whenever, without it feeling out of place. That’s one of its main strengths.

Overall Impressions of L’Homme by YSL

Overall, do I like L’Homme by YSL? I really really like the way that it smells, but still cannot for the life of me, get it to perform up to par. I hate that aspect. Just make it a beast and I would have a bottle pretty much at all times.

Unfortunately, it’s probably a wrap after I finish this newer bottle. At least there are a lot of decent flankers that have stemmed from this name, many of which have been discontinued though.

The original is a great cologne with extremely mediocre performance. L’Homme Eau de Parfum was something that I liked, but the performance wasn’t great with that either.

Performance doesn’t tend to get better, as fragrances have been on the market for longer periods of time. Some batches, may be better than others, but none are super powerful. This has been especially true of this one.

I still enjoy the scent, not as keen on it as when I first started getting into fragrances, but L’Homme does smell very nice. Though, there really isn’t much of a point in owning this cologne anymore.

Maybe the only case is getting a bottle for insanely cheap and not minding re-applying it every 3 hours.

I’ll use my remaining bottle for the gym or just as a quick freshie. As for anyone else, it might be a better idea to look elsewhere, either with YSL or another brand.