Wearing YSL La Nuit de L'Homme After Dark

The house of Yves Saint Laurent opened in Paris in 1961, founded by Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé. Fragrance came early, with Y, a green chypre, in 1964. Since 2008 the beauty side has been run by L'Oréal under license, which is why the bottles feel like their own thing, separate from the clothes. YSL La Nuit de L'Homme arrived in 2009 as the nocturnal counterpart to L'Homme, which had launched in 2006. Three perfumers, Anne Flipo, Pierre Wargnye and Dominique Ropion, made it, and the signature is cardamom: a bright, slightly sweet spice over lavender and cedar, with bergamot in the heart and vetiver underneath. It is a cardamom cologne that reads cool and close instead of loud, and that is probably why it still shows up on so many dressers. I think of it as the scent you wear when the plan is dinner and nothing louder. The first grid is the YSL men's shelf, with La Nuit, the two L'Homme versions and a trial duo of MYSLF and Y.

Y and MYSLF are the modern half of the YSL men's line. Y Eau de Parfum launched in 2018, composed by Dominique Ropion around sage, geranium and woods. The bottles here push it in different directions. Y Eau de Parfum Intense adds blue juniper berries and lavender over patchouli. Y Iced Cologne is a cold mint with sage and a patchouli anchor, which is the one I would wear on a hot afternoon rather than a cold night. MYSLF Eau de Toilette Intense is bergamot, orange blossom and warm woods finishing on white musks, and MYSLF Absolu adds cool ginger and cardamom, which makes it the closest cousin to La Nuit in the grid. A useful test: spray La Nuit on one wrist and Absolu on the other and compare at the two hour mark, when the ginger and cardamom start to sound alike.

Every house has its own take on spice, so this grid steps outside YSL. Jo Malone London was founded in 1994 by Jo Malone, and its colognes are designed to be worn together. Mimosa and Cardamom pairs powdery mimosa with crushed cardamom and tonka, and it layers well with something woodier. Armani Beauty works under a license with L'Oréal, and Stronger With You Parfum goes sweet and dark with leathery vanilla, pink pepper and lavender. Azzaro began as Loris Azzaro's fashion house in 1967, and Wanted Eau de Parfum is juniper, sage and vetiver, which is cool rather than sweet. Prada Luna Rossa Carbon Eau de Toilette is lavender, Italian bergamot and ambroxan, fresh and modern. What I would skip is treating any of these as an all day scent on the first wear. Try a date night cologne at home for an evening first, then decide whether it belongs out of the house.

I keep coming back to the idea of a short list. A man does not need nine colognes, he needs two or three that he understands. One fresh one for the day, one warm one for the evening, and one in between that he wears when he has stopped thinking about it. The trial duo in the first grid is a sensible way to start, and the cardamom scents are good ones to test if you have never worn a spicy cologne. Spray once, go out, and pay attention to how it smells at the end of the night.

Once La Nuit de L'Homme makes sense to you, the next question is what else belongs in the evening drawer, and I would answer it with the YSL family first. The Y Elixir and the Y Le Parfum extend the Y line, while the MYSLF Absolu Parfum and the Le Vestiaire Tuxedo with patchouli and vanilla lean toward night. From other houses, I keep reaching for the Prada Luna Rossa Black, the Gucci Guilty Pour Homme Parfum and the Jo Malone London Myrrh & Tonka. The Armani Code Parfum and the Brunello Cucinelli Pour Homme fill in the quieter middle. What I would skip: the Allure Homme Sport bottles from Chanel for a formal dinner, since the name says they are made for movement, not a candlelit table. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Sol de Janeiro 71 and the Brand That Names Its Scents After Years in Brazil.