Sauvage

Sauvage is Pearl Fragrances' Extrait de Parfum reading of Dior's Sauvage, the best-selling masculine fragrance of the last several years and one of the most widely cloned scents on the market. The opening captures the essential shape well: bright Calabrian-style bergamot with a peppery snap, giving the same fresh, slightly effervescent first impression. Lavender and geranium carry the heart, adding an aromatic, herbal note that keeps things clean rather than sweet, with elemi contributing a faint resinous edge. Where this version departs most from the original is in the base. Dior built Sauvage's identity around a huge dose of ambroxan that gives the real fragrance an unusually radiant, skin-like warmth and hours of projection; here the amber, cedar, and labdanum combination is more conventional and noticeably quieter, fading into a soft woody-amber finish rather than the original's long, diffusive trail. It still reads as a clean, confident, everyday fresh-spicy scent that will be instantly familiar to anyone who has smelled Sauvage before, just at a fraction of the intensity and lasting power. As an easy, inoffensive signature for the office or a casual day, it works well; as a substitute for Sauvage's famous all-day, room-filling performance, it falls noticeably short.