Saturday Night Classic: Yves Saint Laurent NU EDP Review (Jacques Cavallier) 2001 “The Incense Must Flow”

 

Yves Saint Laurent NU EDP

Shutterstock background and Yves Saint Laurent NU by Nicoleta

“Thus spoke St. Alia-of-the-Knife: “The Reverend Mother must combine the seductive wiles of a courtesan with the untouchable majesty of a virgin goddess, holding these attributes in tension so long as the powers of her youth endure. For when youth and beauty have gone, she will find that the place-between, once occupied by tension, has become a wellspring of cunning and resourcefulness.”- Frank Herbert, DUNE

Born way ahead of its time, Yves Saint Laurent NU was a strikingly different creature – starting with the sensual entangled limbs ads, the unusual bottle, and  -of course- the  androgynous incense-y potion. Even if its existence was short-lived, it was the “gateway” incense for many perfumistas, and although gone, is not forgotten, as it’s still present in the memory, hearts, and wardrobes of incense lovers everywhere.

Vintage Yves Saint Laurent NU

Yves Saint Laurent NU vintage ad, photo by Mario Sorrenti

Let’s begin with a bit of history: the Gucci Group added Yves Saint Laurent to their portfolio in 1999 and Tom Ford, the creative director of Gucci, also took on the role for Maison of Yves Saint Laurent, making history (and also becoming the protagonist of one of the most hi-profile feuds in fashion, with non-other than Yves Saint Laurent himself). In an interview for CNN, Tom revealed the fact that even though Yves was initially supportive of the Gucci Group’s buy-out and with Tom’s very lucrative involvement, but once the money started to flow, his attitude changed: ‘I have letters that he wrote to me about it, ’13 minutes on the runway you’ve destroyed 40 years of my career. I’m really happy I have them, they’re written in his own hand, pages,’ reveals Tom. ‘When I’m 85 maybe I’ll put them into a book if anyone’s interested.” NU was the first Yves Saint Laurent fragrance launched under the creative direction of  Tom Ford. The press release stated: “Tom Ford seeks the woman in her naked truth. And finds it in the scent of flesh and wraps it in a sober metal star. An androgynous fragrance with incense, woody and spicy notes.”

YSL NU

 Yves Saint Laurent NU vintage ad, photo by Mario Sorrenti

I have always dreamt of a futuristic take on incense, and for me, Yves Saint Laurent NU provided just that – a conceptual, intricate, sensual, and strikingly beautiful essay on incense. NU is also one of my favorite scents of all time, although I hardly have the heart to wear it as often as I would like (as the eBay prices keep soaring and my beloved opaque bottle sounds depressingly near-empty). For me, it’s the perfect role-player scent – having always imagined this to be the scent a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother from Frank Herbert’s Dune would wear during the gom jabbar test.

Vintage Yves Saint laurent NU

 The Gom Jabbar Needle scene,  Dune 2021, Denis Villeneuve, YSL Bottle

“The test is simple. Remove your hand from the box and you die.”
“What’s in the box?”
“Pain.”

Vintage Yves Saint Laurent Nu 2001

Tituba painting by Menton J Matthews III, YSL Nu bottle

Yves Saint Laurent NU is about control and contrast: dark spices, prickly black pepper, deep woods, counterbalanced by a bright cardamom that provides an unexpected green freshness. A slightly metallic facet of the incense keeps it from turning  “churchy “ and helps it veer futuristic and abstract. The florals are composed in a grand, epic scale that feels not vintage but rather nods to some primordial ritual involving crowns of flowers floating on dark rivers. The dry down is absolutely to die for (no pun intended): carnal muscs, soft sandalwood, deep vanilla, wafting close to skin but expanding its aura with each slight change in the body temperature, making it deliciously erotic, addictively pure, dark and iridescent, all in the same time. Everything about the fragrance is tension, release, surprise, gratification – and rings all the bells of my parfumista pavlovian response, in perfect, precise timing.

Yves Saint Laurent NU EDP was created in 2001 and the perfumer was Jacques Cavallier (read more about his other classic creations: Jean Paul Gaultier Classique, Lancome Poeme,  Issey Miyake Le Feu d’Issey and YSL M7

Top Notes: Bergamot, Neroli, Heart Notes: White orchid, Black pepper, Base Notes: Incense, Vetiver, Cedar, Cardamom, Frankincese, Balsam, Vanilla, Orris, Ambergris

Nicoleta Tomsa, Editor

Disclosure: Bottle from my own collection, opinions are my own

Editor’s note: the eau de toilette– released a year later, was a more tame and floral version of NU

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7 comments

  • Nicoleta, what a fantastic review of an amazing scent. Incense perfumes bringing me the most joy and this is one of my holy grails! So avant-garde for it’s time, this is a definite must own. I’ve only smelled the EDT version and I long to try the EDP.

    I’ll be one of the first in line to read those published papers, should that ever happen.

    -Tony

  • I always try to avoid review about discontinued fragrance. Simply because I am afraid of falling in the rabbit hole of vintage fragrances. And right now I really really want to find this gem.

  • Nice review by Nicoleta of YSL NU. Never tried it, seems very intriguing and lovely. Pity it’s not manufactured anymore. Interesting history of the perfume and connection with Tom Ford, Gucci, and YSL. Thanks for the review. Writing from the USA.

  • wandering_nose says:

    I have an empty flacon of this masterpiece, reminiscent of hockey puck, displayed as an element of decor in my place. I sniff it from time to time and the amazing deep incense’y scent makes me get carried away and dream that the bottle magically refills itself as a gift from heavens one day :). Nothing compares to the vintage NU, nothing really comes close for me. Love forever.

  • I like it very much this spicy woody but fresh scent.Black pepper is omnipresent.Happy to have one.

  • Nu is my favorite perfume. I had the EDP & EDT- 3 different bottles, but my favorite is the metallic one.
    Still have one.
    Have begged YSL to reinstate the EDT at least – nothing. Impossible to find anymore. Such a shame, such a wonderful scent!
    My favorite so far.

  • Iolanda Banfield says:

    YSL Nu was my all time favourite perfume, I would crawl on my hands and knees and beg them to bring it back, but alas I’m afraid it would fall on deaf ears. I am desperately trying to replicate it myself, but its just not got that je ne sais quoi. I really hope someday when he see’s that this perfume is so popular that people are willing to pay an extortionate amount of money for a perfume that is over 20 years old, and not at its best. Perhaps he will re consider making our dreams come true and bring it back. Although the bottle shape could be altered to make it easier to use lol