YVES SAINT LAURENT
LIBRE VANILLE COUTURE
2025
orange blossom
Lavender
black bourbon vanilla caviar
rum absolute
‘LIBRE VANILLE COUTURE is a new limited-edition golden delight. A decadently sensual reinterpretation of LIBRE, radiating gold inside and out. A reflection of the LIBRE woman’s own radiant spirit. For her, freedom is gold. She lives and breathes her freedom, igniting her own destiny, defining her own rules. A GOLDEN SCENT OF OPULENCE: The juice is a pure rush of golden vanilla caviar, dripping in sensuality. An ambery, gourmand twist on LIBRE’s iconic floral signature. Fresh, androgynous lavender harvested in France, and feminine, sensual orange blossom accord from Yves Saint Laurent’s Ourika gardens in Morocco are enveloped in Rich Black Bourbon Vanilla Caviar from Madagascar. Meticulously hand-pollinated and cured over 18 months, this premium vanilla extract captures the multifaceted essence of the matured pod, amplified by a captivatingly liquorous Rum Absolute. Sweet yet bold, addictive yet untamed, a scent that lingers like a golden fragrance, leaving a trail of pure opulence, as precious as freedom.’ – Yves Saint Laurent
Where to begin with Libre Vanille Couture. Well, for starters, I have never been a fan of the YSL Libre line; finding most of them cloying. So a vanilla flanker to an already cloying scent can go very wrong, although if the scent actually smells of vanilla, it would likely be a positive direction to me. The latter was the case with La Vie Est Belle Vanille Nude, which had a powdery vanilla that was more subtle and mature than its predecessors, making it a clear winner. Sadly, the same cannot be said for Libre Vanille Couture.
This was one of those sampling experiences, where I knew I would not be excited for it from the first second that I smelled it. The generic, abstract, bubblegummy cloud of Sephora isle essence made it clear from the jump; this is not for me. Call me a niche-snob, but there is a certain category of major designer releases that all seem to share one undescribable generic aeshetic that’s simply not enjoyable to me and Vanille Couture does nothing to pull away from that.
I don’t get as clear of an orange blossom as in other Libre’s that I’ve smelled, but instead, I get more of a bubblegum-candied tuberose vibe in this, especially in the drydown. Before that, it’s sweet and airy, which up close reminded me of something akin to Hugo Boss Alive.
As it dries down, a tartness creeps in; like a bitter, hairspray, supercondensed sweetness that doesn’t remotely smell of actual vanilla (or anything gourmand, unless we’re counting bubbelgum). There is a hint of airy vanilla at some point during the wear, but not nearly enough and it pales in comparison to for example Lancome’s Vanille Nude, but also the drydown of recent sweet-competitors like Gucci Flora Gorgeous Gardenia Intense (which I didn’t love) and the Jean Paul Gaultier Divine line including Divine Elixir are much better to me. Even in its ‘best stage’, Vanille Couture smells like a generic, semi-vanillic, tuberose-ish roomspray.
A hard pass for me.
