I used to love the original Issey Miyake EDT back in the 90s. Along with cK1, it was always at the forefront of the whole ‘clean’, ‘minimalist’ fragrance trend. It was one of the many fresh-smelling scents I wore along with hideous moon boots, loads of spandex and metallic blue finger nails. (My secret shame? I spent just about every Saturday in high school working in a rave clothing store and boy did I think I was the biznizz. It gets worse; this was in Port Elizabeth!)

Alas, along with a pair of super shiny Lycra bell bottoms that had goldfish and daisies on them nogal, I now can’t wear the orignal Issey Miyake anymore as I now find it utterly boring. However, the brand’s latest offering, Issey Miyake L’Eau d’Issey Absolue, is fabulous.

I love that it’s still got the heart and soul of the original but now it’s as if it’s gotten a little ‘warmer’. It’s almost like meeting up with an old friend who you drifted apart from because they had a baby and become unbearably dull – the kind of person who uses a shot of their drooling kid as their Facebook profile picture – and discovering they’ve dropped the mommy kg’s, finally touched up their goddamn highlights and reverted to wearing heels. Or something like that.

Anyway, the scent is described as a ‘luminous floral’ with notes that include lotus, freesia, night-blooming jasmine, a drop of tuberose, Provence honey absolute, vanilla and wood. While Issey reckons it’s supposed to smell like night-time when the earth is still warm from the sun, to me, it smells like a crisp winter’s morning when the sun surprises you by peeking out of its hiding place. You know what I’m talking about, right? There’s nothing nicer than getting a little winter sun on your face and this is how it makes me feel along with cosy, warm and clean.

In all, I reckon L’Eau d’Issey Absolue is the perfect autumn scent. I think most people would really like it, regardless of whether they were a fan of the original or not.

Keen to give it a sniff? You’ll find L’Eau d’Issey Absolue in stores right now. A 25ml bottle costs R645; a 50ml is R1 055 and 90ml will set you back R1 195.

Love, love

Leigh

P.S. Ironically, I’ve now taken to wearing another Issey Miyake scent as a bit of a signature. It’s called Pleats Please, is riddled with musk and patchouli and smells like absolutely nothing else the brand has ever done before. It was good to hear that it’ll be launching in SA later this year as that means I’ll be able to buy it locally. At the rate I’m going through the bottle my sister brought me from France, I’m going to need another the moment it hits our shelves. Will be sure to give you lots more info on that when it gets closer to its launched but it will be completely and utterly biased as it’s one of my favourite perfumes in the world. Sorry.