Versace Man Eau Fraiche vs L’eau D’Issey

For this entry, I am going to do a head to head comparison between two popular citrus fragrances, that guys like to wear in the spring/summer months: Versace Man Eau Fraiche vs. L’eau D’Issey by Issey Miyake. Which of these two colognes smells better? Lasts longer? Is the better buy overall? I am going to break down each of these scents, by different metrics, and as always I have linked my original review of each below.

Tale of the Tape

L’eau D’Issey

Notes include: lemon, yuzu, tarragon, bergamot, tobacco, vetiver, lotus, nutmeg, musk, cedar, sandalwood, lily

Click here to try: L’eau De Issey By Issey Miyake For Men. Eau De Toilette Spray 6.7 Oz

Read my review: L’eau D’Issey

Versace Man Eau Fraiche

Notes include: Lemon, Rosewood, Carambola, Cedar leaves, Tarragon, Sage, Musk, Amber, Sycamore

Click here to try: Versace Man Eau Fraiche By Gianni Versace For Men Edt Spray 3.4 Oz

Read my review: Man Eau Fraiche

Opening

L’eau D’Issey starts off with the citrus notes of yuzu and lemon but doesn’t have the usual sweet juiciness of other fragrances. It is instead pretty sharp and has a dry tone from the woods, spices, and tobacco. It’s actually my least favorite part from this cologne.

Man Eau Fraiche meanwhile, also starts out with citrus notes of lemon and bergamot, plus, starfruit. It is much brighter and cleaner than is the Issey Miyake. More along the lines of what you’d expect with these kinds of notes. I prefer how this Versace fragrance opens when compared to L’eau D’Issey.

Edge: Man Eau Fraiche

Projection

The Issey Miyake cologne starts off with strong sillage and then calms down into more of a moderate. I would always go 2-3 sprays with this scent. Eau Fraiche has a pretty steady moderate wear for most of its life cycle before becoming lighter. Issey takes this category.

Edge: L’eau D’Issey

Longevity

I get 6-7 hours out of Versace Man Eau Fraiche before it evaporates. L’eau D’Issey is a 6-8 hour wear, depending on the day. The Issey Miyake doesn’t consistently hit that 8 hours, but it is at least capable of it.

Edge: L’Eau D’Issey (slightly)

Versatility

Both of these colognes are built for the summer months, but can be worn in winter too. Casual and office safe type of fragrances, with pleasant aromas, that are delightful but not necessarily sexy. Neither is a club beast, but on certain nights out they’d be fine. Not much separation here.

Edge: Push

Overall Scent

This is actually one of the more balanced fragrance match ups that I’ve done, on this site. These two fragrances have similar performances and sort of occupy the same niche in men’s colognes. The question is which smells better?

I’ve worn Issey Miyake’s cologne a lot over the years, I really enjoy it. The citrus and herbal spice mix is quite nice to wear as it moves along, past the opening. It has a dry woody base, with a clean profile, and notes like nutmeg and tarragon providing the spice.

Versace Man Eau Fraiche, I think smells slightly better overall. I think it’s because it doesn’t have quite the level of spice or musk that L’eau D’Issey does. Though, it actually does have those ingredient too.

I think the citrus opening and that smell as a whole is better, than the Miyake, not by very much though. If I had to choose one to wear, out of 10 times, I’d probably pick the Versace 6 of them. It’s that close.

If you want a spicier, drier fragrance with a tad more musk, go with the Miyake. I prefer Versace Man Eau Fraiche a bit more.

Winner: Eau Fraiche (slightly)

Best Men's Colognes

Best Men’s Colognes started back in 2013, as a way to share my learning experiences with different fragrances, as I dove head first into the hobby. Since then, I have written hundreds of reviews and other pages about perfumes and colognes.