In the autumn-winter collection of 1966, in Paris, Yves Saint Laurent sent out a tuxedo for women and called it Le Smoking. Only one haute couture piece sold. The Rive Gauche version became a classic, and he kept showing it until 2002. A man's suit, cut for a woman, worn without apology.

That is the Libre idea in one jacket. The original Libre, from 2019, was built by perfumers Anne Flipo and Carlos Benaim as a floral lavender: the brand describes Moroccan orange blossom meeting French lavender, blending masculine structure with a deeply feminine heart. FASHION Magazine called it a play on the traditionally masculine fougère. YSL Libre Intense, which arrived in August 2020, keeps that argument and turns the light down. Fragrantica lists an orchid accord in the heart and Madagascar vanilla, vetiver and ambergris underneath, so it reads creamier and darker than the first bottle.

The trick is to see the first grid as a dimmer switch rather than a lineup. Start with the original Libre with Orange Blossom and Lavender, which is the brightest. Libre Intense is the same bottle after dark. Libre Le Parfum, from 2022, adds a saffron accord from the YSL Ourika Community Garden, plus ginger and honey, for the warm and spicy version. Flowers and Flames is the florale, built on desert lily and coco palm flower, and Cosmopolitan calls it the sweetest of the bunch.

Then the outliers. Libre L'eau Nue is alcohol-free and built on green mandarin and bergamot, the one for people who find a tuxedo too much. Berry Crush, Santal Couture and Vanille Couture are the newer riffs, and the last is the easiest sell to anyone who likes a sweet skin scent.

Start with a blotter, not your wrist. Lavender and orange blossom can smell soapy on a strip and very different on skin, so spray one card for each perfume and leave them on a table for an hour. Whatever still smells good after the hour is the one worth trying on.

The Libre pairing is the reference point, and Burberry Goddess is the closest cousin here, a vanilla and lavender perfume that trades some of the tailoring for sweetness. Obart's Blue Stripe puts bergamot and lavender together for something fresher, and philosophy Amazing Grace Lavender is an eau de toilette, so it is the lighter, easier one to spray freely.

Orange blossom takes a different turn elsewhere. Boy Smells Solar Drip is built around orange blossom alone, while Viktor&Rolf Flowerbomb Nectar wraps it in vanilla. Dolce&Gabbana Your Devotion Intense is the one I would reach for on a cold night out.

Two of the picks are hair and body products rather than perfume. Gisou's Lavender Berry Honey hair perfume and Being Frenshe's Lavender Cloud mist are lighter ways to wear the note, and they layer well under a heavier bottle.

A pairing I like: the mist on your sheets and the parfum on your pulse points, so the room and the wearer agree.

What I would skip: a heavy lavender perfume in a small office in July. Save it for evening.

One rule for vanilla: judge it after an hour, not in the first minute. Vanilla changes more than almost any note, and a bottle that seems sugary on the spray can settle into something quiet and skin-like.

Maison Louis Marie No. 15 Vanille Infinie is the one I would smell first, because vanilla is the whole name and the whole brief. Ellis Brooklyn Vanilla Salt has salt in its title, so watch for what it does to the sweetness on your skin. NEST New York Vanilla Bourbon is the one I would test with a coat and scarf on.

Lake & Skye 11 11 Vanilla and Truly Vanilla Baby are the two I would sample side by side, since the names promise very different moods. Prada Infusion de Vanille is the one to try if you want a designer house's take on the note.

Lancome La Vie Est Belle Vanille Nude and Valentino Donna Born in Roma, with Bourbon vanilla and jasmine, are the two from big fragrance families, so they are easy to find in a tester line.

Any of these makes a good second layer over Libre Intense, because the base of that bottle already leans on vanilla. Put one dab of the plain vanilla on your wrists and spray the Libre over it, and you get more depth without a new smell.

What I would skip: layering two loud vanillas on the same day. One of them has to be the quiet one.

Try this: pick the perfume first, then the lipstick. A tuxedo does not need a big lip, and Libre is really built for that kind of clean, sharp finish.

YSL Loveshine Lip Oil Stick and Lovenude Lip Blusher are the two I would wear with it, a glossy one and a soft, blurring one. Kiss Shaper is the lip liner for anyone who wants edges that stay put. Touche Eclat all-over brightening pen concealer is the brand's classic, and it earns its place in a small bag.

On the eyes, Lash Clash Extreme Volume Mascara is the dramatic option and Lash Latex Sculpting and Lengthening Mascara is the one for length and definition. If you wear a black blazer with a black nail, the way the campaign photos do, either one makes the look feel finished.

For the base, Skin Affair Soft Glow Cushion Foundation is the base I would pick for a soft glow, and All Hours Hyper Blur Loose Setting Powder goes over it to blur the day. Both are easy to keep in a bag.

A pairing I like: a soft brown lip and the darker Libre for evening, and the original Libre with bare lips for the office.

What I would skip: matching every product to the bottle. Wearing the whole collection at once looks like a campaign, not a person.

I think Libre Intense is the one for anyone who found the original a little too crisp. It keeps the lavender and the orange blossom, and it adds an orchid heart and a vanilla and vetiver base, which suits autumn better than summer.

So spray a card of the original and a card of Libre Intense, wait an hour and choose, and do it on a day you are not in a rush. If neither speaks, try Le Parfum for the spice or the alcohol-free L'eau Nue for something lighter. Saint Laurent had his tuxedo. You just need to find the version that fits, and wear it like you meant to. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together YSL Libre Perfume, the Lavender That Took Eight Years and YSL Perfume.