The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 15 letter word EAU-DE-TOILETTE
E
A
U
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D
E
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T
O
I
L
E
T
T
E
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "essence" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case essence = eau-de-toilette.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.