Every Dior Sauvage Compared: EDT, EDP, Parfum, Elixir, Extrait

Dior released Sauvage in September 2015: a bright, peppery Eau de Toilette by its in-house perfumer, François Demachy, with Johnny Depp in the advertising. Several perfume critics shrugged. Buyers did not. WWD reports that it became the world's best-selling men's fragrance in 2018 and, from 2021, the best-selling fragrance of any kind. Dior now sells five main versions under the name. The short answer: the Eau de Toilette is the crisp bergamot original; the Eau de Parfum adds vanilla and is the smoothest all-rounder; the Parfum turns warm with mandarin, tonka and sandalwood; the Elixir is the spiced, licorice-dark one; and Sauvage Extrait (2026), Francis Kurkdjian's version, is the woodiest, built on oud.

Sauvage Eau de Toilette (2015): the original

Dior tells the idea as wide-open spaces: a blue sky over a white-hot rocky landscape. The name borrows from Eau Sauvage, Edmond Roudnitska's 1966 classic, though Fragrantica notes the two belong to separate lines, and Bois de Jasmin found no obvious relationship beyond the bergamot. The critics were cool at launch; Persolaise called it "very safe, very predictable and very monochromatic." Buyers decided otherwise. Véronique Courtois, who runs Parfums Christian Dior, told WWD in 2025 that it is "by far the world's bestselling item today in the fragrance business," and WWD put the pace at one bottle every 30 seconds.

Johnny Depp has fronted the campaigns since launch, in films directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino, and Dior renewed his contract in 2023.

On skin it opens with Calabrian bergamot and Sichuan pepper, then settles on ambroxan, an ambery, woody material, with resinous elemi. Fragrantica's Eddie Bulliqi describes it as balanced between woody, sour, herbal and spicy, with a drier ambroxan finish. Dior suggests it for every season and the office, and says it lasts 6 to 8 hours, with about 2 hours of bold projection before it sits closer. Victoria Frolova of Bois de Jasmin, otherwise unmoved, noted that its sillage is big. It suits anyone who wants Sauvage at its lightest and cleanest, and it makes an easy first fragrance. Dior sells the 100 ml bottle at $142 (30 ml $75, 60 ml $115, 200 ml $199).

Sauvage Eau de Parfum (2018): smoother, with vanilla

Demachy returned to Sauvage in 2018, and Dior moved the setting to the desert at twilight, "the hour when the wolves come out." The Eau de Parfum keeps the bergamot and Sichuan pepper, adds lavender, star anise and nutmeg in the heart, and sets vanilla from Papua New Guinea beside the ambroxan. The result is rounder and a little sweeter, with a soft smoky edge in the drydown.

Dior calls it the most versatile Sauvage and says it lasts 8 to 10 hours. Reviewing it for Fragrantica, Marlen Elliot Harrison found it bolder and smoother than the Eau de Toilette and wrote that "the vanilla is tempered by the star anise," so it never turns sugary; he also found it wore close to the skin after the first hour, so reports on strength vary. Bulliqi thought the change from the original small. It suits someone who likes the Eau de Toilette but wants it creamier, or one bottle for office and dinner alike. Dior sells the 100 ml bottle at $173 (30 ml $95, 60 ml $135, 200 ml $232), plus a 500 ml bottle at $550.

Sauvage Parfum (2019): warm and ambery

For the Parfum, released in September 2019, Dior describes open country under a blue-tinged night sky and the smell of a crackling fire. Demachy said at launch that he gave Sauvage "nocturnal accents, an animal attraction and rounder facets." Mandarin takes over from bergamot at the top, then Sri Lankan sandalwood, tonka and frankincense. Dior says the sandalwood comes from a Sri Lankan farm that has worked with it for over 10 years.

Dior places the Parfum one step above the Eau de Parfum in concentration and suggests it for fall, winter, evenings and formal occasions, lasting 8 to 10 hours and lingering close to the skin once the projection fades. Bulliqi described the move as "minimally sweeter and smoother." It suits the Sauvage wearer who wants warmth more than spice: creamy wood and tonka in place of pepper. Dior sells the 100 ml bottle at $210 (30 ml $115, 60 ml $168, 200 ml $265).

Sauvage Elixir (2021): spice, lavender and licorice

Elixir arrived in summer 2021, months before Demachy retired; that October, Dior named Francis Kurkdjian, the perfumer behind Le Male and Maison Francis Kurkdjian, as its perfume creation director. Of all the versions, the Elixir changed the most. Dior says it was made "like a fine liqueur": grapefruit with cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom, a heart of lavender essence from Nyons, then licorice, sandalwood, amber, patchouli and Haitian vetiver.

Bulliqi wrote in 2021 that "Dior threw Sauvage under a barbeque and bottled what came out," and called the new direction exciting and unexpected; reviewing it again in 2023, he called it a modern classic. Dior recommends it for fall, winter and evenings, at one or two sprays, and says it can feel overpowering at the office in summer. It suits someone who likes lavender and dark spice and wants a fragrance that is noticed. Dior sells it at $199 for 60 ml, $265 for 100 ml and $330 for 150 ml.

Sauvage Extrait (2026): the woody one

Sauvage Extrait is Kurkdjian's own Sauvage and, Dior says, its first extrait de parfum for men; Fragrantica dates the release to August 2026. Dior lists a short opening of bergamot and AOP lavender essence from Provence, Vietnamese oud essence with leather notes at the heart, and Indonesian patchouli, Madagascan vetiver and Virginia cedarwood beneath. Dior says the formula matures for 42 days before bottling and calls it the most concentrated fragrance in the collection.

Fragrantica's Igor Masyukov found it softer and rounder than the Elixir and less spicy, with an oud that "does not smell dirty," and suggests it for cooler months rather than the office. Bulliqi called it "the top formula Kurkdjian has produced so far at Dior." Parfumo voters rate both its longevity and its sillage high. It suits a Sauvage fan who wants woods and a little leather in place of vanilla or spice, for evenings more than mornings. Dior sells one size in the US: 50 ml at $205.

Also in the range: Sauvage Eau Forte

Kurkdjian also made Sauvage Eau Forte (2024), a water-based Parfum with no alcohol. Dior describes it as joining the freshness of an eau de toilette to the intensity of a parfum, built on cool spices, bleached lavender and musky woods. It sits outside the usual ladder of concentrations and suits someone who wants a fresh Sauvage without alcohol. Dior sells it at $168 for 60 ml and $210 for 100 ml.

How to choose

For the classic Sauvage that works for daytime, the office and warm weather, start with the Eau de Toilette. If you like it but want it smoother, or one bottle for everything, try the Eau de Parfum. For evenings and colder months the choice comes down to mood: the Parfum is warm and creamy, the Elixir is spiced and dark with licorice and lavender, and the Extrait is dry, woody and leathery.

On strength, Dior's own ranking runs Eau de Toilette, Eau de Parfum, Parfum, Elixir, then Extrait at the top. The five share a name but not a character, so it pays to smell two side by side before buying a bottle. A decant of the Extrait next to the version you already know will tell you quickly which way you lean.