For most of perfume history, lavender belonged to men. It was the backbone of the fougère, the great masculine family that runs from old-fashioned barbershop colognes to half the aftershaves in your father's cabinet. A woman's perfume built around lavender was, frankly, unusual. That is exactly why YSL made one.
Libre, launched in 2019, took a deliberately masculine note and dared it to be feminine.
Seven years and a Moroccan orange grove
Libre was not a quick job. It was developed over the better part of a decade by two of the industry's most respected perfumers, Anne Flipo and Carlos Benaïm, reportedly across more than a thousand trial versions. The turning point, by Flipo's own account, came when Benaïm showed her an extraordinary orange blossom absolute from Morocco. She was so taken with it that she asked him to join the project, and the finished fragrance is built on the tension between his orange blossom and her lavender.
That is the whole concept in a line: the masculine and the feminine, the fougère and the floral, held in balance. The name, Libre, means free, and the fragrance was sold as a tribute to the gender-bending spirit of Yves Saint Laurent himself, the designer who put women in tuxedos.
What it actually smells like
Bright, floral and warm. It opens with a snappy lavender lifted by mandarin and a touch of blackcurrant, more modern and luminous than the dusty lavender of old colognes. The heart is where the orange blossom and jasmine bloom, soft and slightly honeyed, and the base is a smooth Madagascar vanilla with musk and cedar that lends a comfortable, skin-close warmth. It is sophisticated without being stuffy, the rare floral that genuinely works on almost anyone, part of why it sold so well.
The £195 question
A larger bottle of Libre sits around £195 in the UK. For the money you get one of the defining feminine launches of recent years and a genuinely original composition. You also get a fragrance that became extremely popular extremely fast, its lavender-and-orange-blossom signature now familiar across every high street.
Which is the reason an alternative market exists. People love the modern, free-spirited elegance of Libre without necessarily wanting to spend close to £200 on something so quickly ubiquitous.
Libre Intenso: the 35% interpretation
This is where we come in, and we will be straight about what we are. Our Libre Intenso is Aromara's interpretation of that lavender-and-orange-blossom character, not a counterfeit and not a YSL product. It carries no branding and makes no claim to be the original. It chases the part that matters: the snappy lavender-mandarin-blackcurrant opening, the orange-blossom-and-jasmine heart, and the warm vanilla, musk, tonka and ambergris base.
The difference is in two numbers. Ours is built at 35% extrait concentration, roughly double a standard eau de parfum, so the florals and vanilla hold for seven hours or more rather than fading by lunch. And it costs £4.99 for a 5ml to test it properly, against £195 for the original. We guarantee the wear time in writing, with 60 days to send it back for a full refund if it does not last.
Our guide to extrait de parfum explains why concentration matters, and the strongest perfume dupes in the UK shows where our range sits. If you love a modern white floral, the story behind Armani My Way is a natural next read, and our My Path is the one to try.
Frequently asked questions
Who created YSL Libre?
It was composed by Anne Flipo and Carlos Benaïm and launched in 2019, after development that spanned the better part of a decade.
What does YSL Libre smell like?
A modern floral built on contrast: bright lavender with mandarin and blackcurrant, a heart of Moroccan orange blossom and jasmine, and a warm base of Madagascar vanilla, musk and cedar.
Is Aromara's Libre Intenso the same as YSL?
No. It is an independent composition inspired by the same character, built at 35% extrait for longevity and sold at a fraction of the price. It is not affiliated with Yves Saint Laurent.
Aromara is an independent UK fragrance house. Our fragrances are original compositions inspired by the character of well-known designer scents. We are not affiliated with Yves Saint Laurent, and all trademarks belong to their respective owners. Every Aromara fragrance is made in the UK at 35% extrait concentration, with a 7+ hour longevity guarantee and a 60-day money-back promise.