YSL Fragrances for Men: Which One Should You Buy?

Yves Saint Laurent has a stronger men's catalogue than most designer houses, and it is also one of the most confusing. The names overlap, the same fragrance exists in several concentrations that smell different, and one of the bottles is nearly fifty years old and smells nothing like the rest.

Here is what separates the five that matter and which one fits your situation.

L'Homme: the clean one

L'Homme EDT is the most wearable fragrance the house makes and the hardest to object to.

Ginger, bergamot and lemon open it, white pepper and violet leaf sit in the middle, and the base is cedar, vetiver and tonka. The effect is clean and slightly spicy, with a soapy quality that reads as well groomed rather than perfumed.

This is the fragrance you wear when you do not want anyone to notice the fragrance, only that you smell good. For a shared office in Egyptian heat, there is no better choice in the range.

There is also an L'Homme EDP, which keeps the same character but makes it warmer and denser. It lasts noticeably longer and suits evenings and cooler weather. If you already own the EDT and wear it constantly, the EDP is the sensible second bottle.

Best for: office, daytime, summer, anyone who hates loud fragrances.

La Nuit de L'Homme: the one people buy twice

La Nuit de L'Homme is the most recommended designer fragrance of the last fifteen years, and it has earned that.

Cardamom dominates the opening, lavender and cedar carry the middle, and a warm coumarin base gives it a soft sweetness. There is a trace of cumin in there that keeps it from being clean, and that slight skin like warmth is the whole reason it works the way it does.

Its reputation as an evening fragrance is accurate. It is intimate rather than loud, which means it rewards people standing close to you rather than filling a room.

Best for: evenings, dates, autumn and winter, all year after sunset.
If you buy one YSL, buy this.

Y Intense: the modern one

Y Intense is the house's answer to the fresh ambery style that has dominated men's fragrance for the last decade.

Apple, ginger and bergamot open it, sage and juniper give it a green edge, and the base is amberwood, cedar and tonka. Compared to the standard Y, the Intense is warmer, sweeter and considerably longer lasting.

It is the most contemporary smelling bottle in the lineup and the one most likely to appeal to someone under thirty.

Best for: daytime and evening, all year, younger wearers.

MYSLF: the newest

MYSLF is the most recent addition and the most unusual direction the house has taken in years.

Orange blossom sits at the centre of it, which is a floral note rarely placed this prominently in a men's fragrance. Underneath sit patchouli and a clean woody amber that keeps it from feeling delicate.

The result is soft, slightly powdery and genuinely different from everything else here. People either find it refreshing or find it too gentle, and both reactions are reasonable.

It is also available as a gift set, which is the easier way in if you are buying it for someone else.

Best for: spring, daytime, anyone bored of the usual fresh ambery formula.

Kouros: the one from another era

Kouros was released in 1981 and smells exactly like it. That is either the appeal or the problem.

It opens with aldehydes and bergamot, moves through honey, cinnamon and jasmine, and finishes on civet, leather, musk and vetiver. The combination produces something clean and animalic at once, and the usual description is that it smells like soap and skin at the same time.

Modern fragrance does not do this anymore. Nothing released in the last twenty years smells remotely like Kouros, which makes it either a masterpiece or unwearable depending on who you ask.

Best for: cold weather, evenings, anyone who wants a fragrance with history.
Try it before committing. This is not a safe blind purchase.

Which one should you buy?

• First YSL, no other information: La Nuit de L'Homme. It covers evenings better than anything else at the price.
• You need something for work and Egyptian daytime heat: L'Homme EDT.
• You want something modern and sweet: Y Intense.
• You want something nobody else is wearing: MYSLF or Kouros, depending on whether you want soft or challenging.
• You already own L'Homme and wear it daily: the EDP version.

What about the women's line?

The house's women's catalogue is just as strong. Libre, Black Opium and Cinema all sit in the collection alongside the men's bottles, and several of them wear well on anyone. The full range is on our Yves Saint Laurent collection page.

Wearing YSL in Egyptian heat

Most of this lineup handles heat better than niche alternatives, because the compositions are lighter by design. The exceptions are Kouros and the L'Homme EDP, both of which amplify sharply when it is hot.

• L'Homme EDT and Y Intense are the daytime options from May through September.
• La Nuit de L'Homme after sunset works all year.
• Keep Kouros for winter. The animalic base becomes overwhelming in heat.
• Two to three sprays. These project less than niche fragrances, so you can be slightly more generous, but not with Kouros.

If longevity is your main concern, our guide to making a fragrance last all day covers the practical fixes, and our roundup of fragrances that work in a shared office is worth reading if L'Homme is what brought you here.

Are they worth it?

YSL sits at the top of the designer tier rather than in niche territory, and the pricing reflects that. What you get is reliability. These are well made, widely liked and difficult to wear badly, which is not true of every house at this price.

The honest limitation is distinctiveness. La Nuit de L'Homme in particular is owned by a very large number of people. If standing out matters more to you than being liked, our guide on getting a niche feel without the niche price is the better place to start.

Counterfeits

La Nuit de L'Homme and Y are heavily counterfeited in the Egyptian market, largely because they sell in such volume. The packaging on fakes is now accurate, so the reliable check is performance: a genuine bottle develops over several hours, while a counterfeit flattens within the first one.

Read our checks for spotting a fake perfume before buying anywhere unofficial.

Frequently asked questions

Which YSL fragrance is the best for men?

La Nuit de L'Homme for evenings and L'Homme EDT for daytime. Between them they cover almost every situation.

What is the difference between L'Homme EDT and EDP?

Same character, different weight. The EDP is warmer and denser, lasts noticeably longer, and suits evenings and cooler weather. The EDT is lighter and better in heat.

Which YSL lasts the longest?

Y Intense and the L'Homme EDP, both comfortably eight hours or more. La Nuit de L'Homme is more intimate and sits closer to the skin by design.

Is La Nuit de L'Homme good for summer?

In the evening, yes. It is too warm for Egyptian daytime heat but works well after sunset year round.

Why does Kouros smell so different from everything else?

It was released in 1981, when animalic base notes like civet were standard. That style disappeared from mainstream perfumery decades ago, which is why nothing modern smells like it.

Final word

YSL is the safest designer house to buy from, and La Nuit de L'Homme is the safest bottle in it. Start there, add L'Homme EDT if you need something for work, and treat Kouros as a separate project for when you are curious rather than when you need a fragrance.

The full range is on our Yves Saint Laurent collection page, and the rest of the catalogue is in our men's collection, all authentic and sealed, with delivery across Egypt.