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Le Parfum Essentiel
Stripped back to five materials, Elie Saab Le Parfum Essentiel Eau de Parfum is the plainest reading of the house's signature flower, and the one that works in daylight.
Orange blossom opens it, clean and faintly honeyed, with mandarin orange giving a juicy citrus lift beside it. Gardenia is the whole of the middle, and it is a softer, more buttery flower than the house usually leads with, creamy in a way that sits closer to skin than to a bouquet. Patchouli and cedarwood close it, one earthy and dark, the other dry and papery, and between them they keep the flowers from turning sweet. Maïa Lernout composed it, and the restraint is clearly deliberate: there is nothing here that does not need to be. Five materials means a short composition, and this one holds its shape rather than developing. What you smell after twenty minutes is what you get, which some people prefer and others find flat, so it is worth testing on skin. Expect five hours or so of wear, closer to the body than to the room.
It was released in 2020 and it is the daytime, office, warm weather member of the Le Parfum family. If the original has always felt too heavy for a morning, this is the version to look at, and it is also the easier one to wear in company. It is the member of the family you could put on at eight in the morning without thinking about it, and the one least likely to be noticed by the person sitting next to you on a train.
The couture house was a Beirut business that Elie Saab started in 1982 as a teenager, known internationally for evening gowns and for bridal wear. Its fragrance range now runs from this to Absolu, Girl of Now and Elixir.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
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