It’s amazing, isn’t it, what treasures you sometimes unearth when you have to clean up? As in a “go through everything, get it sorted and get it out of this room” kind of project. In the process of returning my formal dining room to its original, intended use, from my own personal perfume vault, I found a partial bottle of Givenchy Ysatis and a tiny vial of pure perfume of it. Oh, wowza!!
I had a sudden urge to dress up, put on high heels (well, these days, classy flats, ha!), elegant earrings and don some killer-red lipstick in honor of this stunner, one of the ’80s greatest hits.
Yes, it’s big — shoulder-pad big, but still so beautiful and sophisticated to me that I can forgive it for that. And it has a little fun built in, too, I think, with its wink of coconut, to keep it from being too serious and over-the-top.
It was launched not long before I began my most glamorous job ever, doing fashion public relations at a big-city apparel mart. I had to dress to the nines every day for work there, and Ysatis was a frequent companion as I wrote press releases, helped organize shows, and handled parties and seminars for buyers who would come in several times a year for the various markets.
Ysatis never failed to make me feel elegant and well-heeled, even as it did just the other day, in my jeans and sweatshirt. Mind you, I wore it sparingly, as one dab/spritz is a gracious plenty (at least for me now), but it was just enough to make my day. Ah, to be that young, thin and carefree again …
So please share with me: Were any of you Ysatis fans? Or if not, when you’re having a retro moment (or would like one), what do you wear and where does it take you?
I wore Ysatis in 1994 during the first months of my pregnancy. I suffered from nausea and it got forever connected in my mind with Ysatis. I could never smell it again.
It was my first extrait de parfum, & the only fragrance to escape the wrath of my sister. Imagine – she thought Diorissimo a toilet refresher! Still have the empty vial in its box. An elegant little time machine suited for ladies and the like
I wore Ysatis in my early twenties, when I was studying in Amsterdam. I was no perfumista, but I suppose the seed was there! I loved it and can recall its scent very well. It would be lovely to smell it once again.
Woo Hoo! Ysatis is fabulous Ann. I have a couple of the extrait dab bottles and a spritz EdT (I think). They come out irregularly but when I get them on I feel ALL the glam feels.
Portia xx
My aunt wore Ysatis in the ’80s — total glamorpuss! My ’80s scents were Coco and Anaïs Anaïs, and later, Safari.
I’ve never smelled Ysatis and I probably should get a vintage sample if available from STC next time I order, so I know what it smells like. Retro for me is Cacherel Anais Anais, Elizabeth Arden Sunflowers, Lou Lou, Le Jardin, and YSL Champagne as a teenager in the 80’s (I’ve found samples of some of her just to take me back). Coco Chanel, Shalimar, No 5, No 22, and Calvin Klein Eternity were my 90’s fragrances. When I sniff Eternity it especially takes me back to that time in my life, most vivid scent memory. And that is the only 90’s fragrance I would never wear now.
Back in those days, I was into Arpege and Chanel No 19, but one of my best friends used Ysatis as her signature scent. She’s not a perfume wearer regularly, so it’s still what she pulls out when she wants to feel all dolled up. I love the notes in it.
Ysatis is beautiful. I remember those days of powerful perfumes and I had so many of them and wore all of them to work in the 80s when I worked in an office in Manhattan….Poison, Giorgio, Aromatics Elixir, Calyx, the iconic Chanels (5, 19, Coco), First, Joop!, Nocturnes de Caron…I could go on and on and on…….
I also remember the perfumes I wore while in high school…Lauren, KL Chloe, Oscar de la Renta, Halston, Tatiana, Cristalle, No 22, Bill Blass, etc, etc.
and my perfumes of the 90s- Victoria, Gap Heaven, all the Escada Limited Editions, Perfect Veil and several other Creative Scentualization fragrances that were made by Sarah Horowitz…..
each decade of my life since the 70s have specific perfumes that come to mind.
I adored Ysatis. I was stationed in England in the early 90’s and came back to the states with it. I felt fancy and seductive wearing it. Yes it was over the top a bit and yes if you didn’t want to be noticed it wasn’t the fragrance for you… but something about it was warm and familiar. It’s been on my mind lately so I’m glad you wrote this post. I’ve been watching some vintage bottles on auction sites lately because I want it again. I’ve smelled the reformulation and it’s lacking a heart and spine; but the old Ysatis was a proud, passionate being that roared.
I wore Ysatis in my 20’s I got my roommate addicted to it was well. I recently added a decant to a sample order but it wasn’t quite as nice as it used to be.
I loved Ysatis and wore lots of it back in the day, along with Poison and Byzance. Those were my days as a young professional woman, back when it was socially acceptable to wear lots of loud perfume to work. Heck, when I first started working you could still smoke at your desk! Thankfully those days are over (the smoking part).
I still wear Byzance but the others are just a cherished memory now as my tastes have changed.
I love Ysatis. Big, Bold , Glam 80’s perfume.
That’s how I felt when I found the Opium I mentioined earlier today on another thread.
Wowsa indeed !!! XXX