MYSLF Eau de Parfum

MYSLF, launched in 2024, was Yves Saint Laurent's first major new men's pillar in a long time, and the house made two decisions that tell you where mainstream perfumery has landed. The first is the name, a compressed textspeak rendering of myself, and the positioning that goes with it: YSL calls the fragrance a statement of modern masculinity, embracing all his facets and emotions. The second is that YSL sells refills for it and says so prominently rather than burying the fact in the small print.

Three perfumers are credited by the house: Daniela Andrier, Christophe Raynaud and Antoine Maisondieu. Andrier's name is the interesting one, since she is long associated with the restrained, powdery-green style of Prada's Infusion d'Iris, and something of that restraint survives here.

YSL publishes the structure in unusually technical language. The top is a fresh and vibrant accord made of bergamot heart from Calabria and vert de bergamot, bergamot heart being a fractionated distillation, the middle cut, brighter and cleaner than the whole oil. The heart is a raw and beating orange blossom absolute from Tunisia. The base is a sensual and textured woods accord made of Indonesian patchouli heart and Ambrofix, a biotechnology-derived ambergris material produced by fermenting sugarcane, and that material carries the drydown almost entirely: warm, salty-woody and extremely long-lasting.

The result is a woody floral rather than the usual sweet amber. The orange blossom is prominent enough to be the fragrance's identity, soft and slightly soapy rather than white-floral-loud, and the patchouli underneath is the clean modern fraction rather than the earthy raw material. It is smooth, quite sweet through the middle, and modern in a way that will feel familiar to anyone who has followed the last five years of men's launches.

It is versatile across office, evening and warm weather alike, though it is at its best in mild conditions; on a hot Highveld day the Ambrofix pushes hard. Performance is strong, with eight hours or more on skin, heavy projection through the first two, and a long life on clothing. Two sprays is plenty. The refill system is the practical case for it, and YSL clearly expects this to be worn every day.