Lenny Kravitz is known for a lot of things. He’s a Grammy winning musician, a style icon, father of Zoë, wearer of the world’s largest scarf, haver of an epic set of abs, the list goes on. But you may not know he’s also very, very into fragrance. The fact that he’s been the face of Yves Saint Laurent’s Y franchise since 2020 may have tipped you off, but it goes way beyond that. To hear him tell it, the 60-year-old (!!) started to get into cologne in junior high school, but his deep personal relationship to fragrance really blossomed when he entered his “hippie era” and discovered things like scented oils and patchouli. In fact, his entire grooming routine could be considered the ultimate hippie era.
Speaking to us from his home in The Bahamas—where he makes his own oils from coconuts he picks right from the trees, slathers freshly grown aloe vera on his body, and more—he says his routine goes way beyond just being clean and smelling fresh. It’s about vibes, man. Which is also why he’s so excited about the newest version, YSL Y Le Parfum—a bolder, woodier, more sensual take on the classic Y fragrance. The newest creation from perfumer Dominique Ropion dials up the woodiness of the original by using a new midnight pine accord at the heart and, when mixed with geranium at the top, delivers a unique freshness that’s somehow both crisp and dark. At the base is a Kravitz favorite (patchouli) and fir balsam, which sticks to your skin like sap and gives the scent an incredible longevity. It is distinctively bold, much like Kravitz himself.
It’s certainly no surprise that Kravitz loves it so much. While he might be a legendary rock star about to embark on a global tour, he is also an earthy dude who is happiest when he’s chilling out, slowing down, and connecting with his higher purpose. This much is evident in our conversation, which started about the new fragrance but quickly evolved into a crash course in Kravitz Life Lessons in which he delivered a master class in Vibing Out.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
“It’s bold, it’s sensual, it’s warm, it’s fresh, it’s modern, it’s crisp,” Kravitz says of the new YSL Y Le Parfum. “I mean, I think it makes a statement.”
Esquire: You’ve been the face of Y since it launched, but this is a new version. What makes you excited about the new Le Parfum?
Lenny Kravitz: I love it. It’s bold, it’s sensual, it’s warm, it’s fresh, it’s modern, it’s crisp. I mean, I think it makes a statement.
In your mind, what’s different about it from the original that you know so well?
I think it’s even more intense for me, but not intense meaning overwhelming, the way some people think when they hear that word. It just has a really nice statement and I like fragrances that are bold and strong and elegant.
How does fragrance play into your distinctive personal style?
I started wearing fragrances as a teenager, like every young boy in junior high school who can’t wait to wear their first cologne. Then I got into more of my sort of hippie phase and I got really into oils. So that’s where my love for strong, bold, intense fragrances come from. Fragrance is such a sensual part of life for me. It’s part of the whole vibe and ambiance, so it’s important. And you know how scents are—they transport you just like music does. You can smell something from your childhood and it will take you right back to that time and place.
Yves Saint Laurent Y Le Parfum Men
Since you love bold fragrances, are you drawn to Le Parfum more than the others?
No, they’re all different. But this one’s got—we talked about my high school times and oils, and this one’s got patchouli and geranium, which I love.
Since you started working with YSL, has your understanding of fragrance changed at all?
No, it hasn’t changed, but I’m so pleased to be doing this collaboration with a house that I have always identified with since childhood, and that it reflects the sensibilities that I care about. One of the messages of the fragrance is about embracing your individuality, which I think is so important; it’s something that I’ve always done and that I strive to continue to do.
When you wear a fragrance yourself, do you tend to stick to the same one or do you switch it up based on how you feel or what you’re doing?
Once I’m into something, I tend to stick to it for a long while and it just becomes part of the vibe—part of the daily vibe of bathing, putting on whatever body lotion or oil that I do. It’s a coconut oil made from the coconuts right from the trees, which I love. And then putting the fragrance on top and then getting dressed and getting ready for your day. You just feel set. The Y puts the exclamation on the whole vibe.
“Once I’m into something,” Kravitz explains, “I tend to stick to it for a long while and it just becomes part of the vibe.”
Speaking of that, what is your everyday grooming routine like? What are your grooming essentials?
It’s so simple and easy. I mean, I bathe with organic soap. I’ve been using Dr. Bonner’s forever, since I was a teenager. And I wash with that. I put on the coconut oil that’s made from the trees here, and then I put on my fragrance. Most of the time I’m washing my face with water or a very light natural soap that’s good for the face. Very simple. I use a lot of the things from the garden, aloe vera that I cut here in my garden every day that’s so good for skin. So it’s very simple, very basic.
It sounds simple, but you clearly know what you’re doing. You’re looking for the right ingredients, you’re searching out these pure medicinal plants and stuff, right?
Yes. And I’m blessed to have the luxury—because it is a luxury—to have these natural things where you can actually pick coconuts and make oil. I mean, not everybody can do that, correct? Or I can go out into the garden and pick aloe vera or whatever, herbs and different things. So that is truly a luxury. These natural things that my grandparents and great-grandparents just sort of did because that’s the way it was done. They didn’t have access to buying things, they had to grow them and make them. So at this point in life, it’s something that I really appreciate. And it’s effective.
Is there anything that you’re doing now that maybe you didn’t do when you were younger that you wish you had known about? Did you go through trial-and-error phases?
It’s always kind of been like this. Also with my hair, I started locking my hair so long ago, so that’s easy. You’re not putting a lot of things in your hair other than natural oils. I’ve never been into overdoing things. My process has always been easy. I’ve always been living my life on the run and moving around. So the least amount of things that are effective, that works for me. But fragrance has always been an essential part of it.
It sounds like you kind of let the fragrance do the talking.
Absolutely.
“I’ve always been living my life on the run and moving around,” he says. “So the least amount of things that are effective, that works for me.”
You’re about to head out on this world tour. How are you preparing for that?
As I say: If you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready. So my whole thing is about continually keeping myself fit, doing my training five, six days a week always no matter where I am, eating the food that I know is healthy for me, keeping my mind, body, and spirit in shape. And that is a daily practice. The thing that I am learning more and more as I mature is the mind and spirit part. Yes, the body, always, but if your body’s in shape but your mind and spirit are not in a calm and peaceful place, it doesn’t really matter so much. So carrying that peace with you wherever you are, regardless of the situation or the challenges, is a key thing that I’m getting better at as I mature and something that I think is important for all of us to think about.
How are you doing that? Meditating? Journaling?
All of that. Meditating, praying, writing things down, staying in a constant state of gratitude. We wake up each day and sometimes we just kind of think, “Well, this is the way it is.” Or we might take certain things for granted. So when I open my eyes every morning and I can see I can get up and walk across the floor, I have food in the refrigerator or on the counter or whatever it may be. Those basic things, I marvel at them. I really do. So that’s a part of being in a constant state of gratitude for the “little things” that are not little. I’ve learned that the little things are actually the big things.
That’s such a good philosophy to have. Personally, I’m trying to be less reactive to everything. It’s very difficult.
Yes, but that’s a big one. That practice for me is essential as well, because we can’t control what comes at us but we can control how we react to it, what our behavior is to that situation. So in cases where maybe I would’ve freaked out years ago or had anger towards something, I’m learning to take a beat, a breath, and try to deal with that with as much grace, love, and elegance as I can. And that’s a daily practice because we are hit with things every day and our emotions can sometimes get the best of it. So what you said, yes, is very important to keep our center, to keep our calm and to use love as much as we can dealing with whatever situation.
That is great advice.
I’m speaking to myself as well. This is not me preaching to anybody, I am speaking to myself because it’s a daily practice. But life is so incredible and we’re here to learn and we all have a different situation and I just wish love for everybody. I really do.
Bringing this back to Y Le Parfum, what’s your advice on how to wear it? What do you want people to get out of wearing it or feel when they wear it?
It’s something just to enhance your own individuality, your own vibe, the biology of your own body. We all wear it differently. It’s the same thing, but it comes across differently on all of us, based upon our body, how much we use, what we put on our body beforehand, et cetera. So it’s just something to give you a kick, to give you that finishing touch, that vibe. It’s a tool. It’s a tool to be part of your individuality. So wear it as you will and enjoy the elements that have been put together very carefully. Enjoy it.
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