Look at that picture. Gaze at it. Take it all in. Stare at it, dwell on it, let your eyes roam like wandering slugs from top to bottom. Then feel free to join me in my initial reaction upon hearing about this new Guerlain, this flanker of my most holy of holies, this unholy misbegotten thing that appears to be blue (blue!) and calls itself Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus, and let out that cry of agony — a cry that in my case went something like AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUGH MY EYES, MY EYES!!!!!! IS NOTHING SACRED ?!?!?!!?
Really. What’s next? Mitsouko Eau Fraiche? Mitsouko Sensual Musk? Mitsouko Strawberry Kiwi?
There was nothing to do, of course, but grit my teeth and order a big sample, so I could examine the monster more closely. I haven’t found a list of notes anywhere, but one could presume this would smell something like Mitsouko with a hint of lotus blossom. And/or possibly a hint of Windex, based on that color.
Sniffing the cap and for the initial spray of Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus, I get a hefty serving of whatever Guerlain’s been pouring out of that vat for the last five years, the powdery-almondy fluff they’ve stuck in various bottles called Quand Vient Plus Que Insolent Purple Elixir – a kind of LHB retread with less interest, although still an improvement over the I-just-puked-up-my-ganache sweetness of their terrifying gourmand scents.
I wish I had a YouTube video of my face as I smelled this, because that would have been the point of the maximum lip-curl – not that it’s bad, just that it’s done already. And what on earth does that have to do with Mitsouko?
And then – then, just as I was thinking whether I really was going to write that open letter on the blog to Guerlain to tell them to go suck an oeuf – then … something interesting happened. A deeper, sonorous note that smells to me like – are you ready? wait for it!!! – something that smells like … leather. Not a super-dark stenchy leather, but that smooth, rich hay/saddle smell you can still get from a vintage bottle of Vol de Nuit in an EDT concentration. It’s a pretty delicious underpinning for the powdery floral smell at the top. I think what I perceive as Vol de Nuit’s leathery smell is oakmoss and narcissus and/or something earthy in the base, and I get a sense of the same thing going on here.
But what’s any of that got to do with Mitsouko? That question gets answered after about five minutes on my skin, which is where The Queen — Mitsouko herself — makes her entrance. You can pick her out; she’s unmistakable. The only major tweaking I can feel is a lot less peach; the whole thing’s less baroque and softer feeling than any version of regular Mitsouko. You can hear the right chords being played, but they’re in the background. Somewhere down the hall, but still there. So. I don’t mean this literally, because I’ve no doubt it would be a disaster, but Mitsouko FdL smells something like: Mitsouko after 12 hours plus L’Artisan Narcisse plus L’Heure Bleue. I think this flanker was destined for the Asian market (hence the lotus blossom). If that’s true, I wonder what they’ll make of it. It’s certainly lighter than regular Mitsouko, but I wouldn’t call it subtle.
Is it an “easier to wear” Mitsouko? I struggle with that. Mitsouko is Mitsouko. You either worship The Queen or you don’t, and there isn’t a lot of middle ground, in my opinion. I’m going to link here to Marina’s somewhat different opinion, which I think is a useful counter-argument – she’s not a Mitsouko fan, and this really won her over.
I’ve struggled with this review, so I’m going to stop fiddling around with this paragraph and throw it in – there’s something cheerfully crass about Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus, and I don’t mean that negatively. Remember Luca Turin saying Balenciaga Talisman “made vulgarity feel like a richly deserved holiday from good taste”? Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus strikes me the same way. It’s unserious, and that’s its greatest difference from regular Mitsouko, which is many things, but frivolous she is not.
Imagine viewing a reconstruction of part of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in an art gallery, and then discovering on closer examination that the entire thing had been made out of colored M&Ms. You’d think, well, it doesn’t measure up to the original, and also how weird is that, are they nuts? And also, wow… that’s cool; I wonder how they did it? That’s how Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus makes me feel. I wouldn’t say, precisely, that it honors the original, but it doesn’t diminish it, either. And yes, I want a bottle.
PS Louise will probably chime in, but unless things changed it was very short-lived on her; also, my sample does not appear to be tinted blue.
Hi, March. I’m late the party, but I wanted to chime in and say that I initially approached Mitsy FdL with a lot of skepticism. The first time I tested it at Bergdorf’s I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed it as a sort of Mitsouko-lite with extra citrus and no real oakmoss. The second time I saw it at Saks, I spritzed it on one arm, and really enjoyed how it dries down to a light floral peachiness. In fact I liked it so much, I had to go back and buy a bottle. By the way, it’s the BOTTLE that is blue/green, not the juice.
I’m someone who *loves* vintage Mitsouko, especially in extrait de parfum and parfum de toilette. But it feels like a bit of a commitment to wear it — it’s not a casual sort of scent. Mitsy FdL is quite pleasant and reminds me of the original, and I think would be a nice choice for a casual summer day. (Well, maybe not in direct sun — there’s apparently a lot of bergamot in here).
Jarvis, thanks for your detailed information and your impressions. It’s nice to hear from someone who tried it and liked it enough and got a bottle. Yes, like my vintage Femme, I really have to *think* ahead of time about whether I’m up for Mitsouko, or pay the price. 🙂 FdL does indeed read as less of a commitment, and I’m grateful, it’s nice to have that option.
It must be serendipity, babe, because I am wearing some of my sample today.
And I am underwhelmed. On me, it does smell like Mitsy…albeit 12 hours later…but without the Narcisse or the LHB. I would call it a Mitsy EdT Lite!
It’s well done. It is like the Sistine Chapel done with m&m’s, but it’s just not happening for me.
I will gladly wear my sample, but I don’t see a bottle of that blue juice in my future.
I just don’t.
Love and hugs to you, March, and thanks for a great review!
Hey, thanks, honey. Clear consensus on here that it can be much too light for some folks. And I know you’re not the shy one when it comes to your fragrance!
Hi all! I’ve been lurking here forever, and loving the posts and comments (you rock, March!) but had to comment here because I too would love to understand Mitsouko and wonder if this could be a “gateway perfume” in that regard. I am a fan of the classic Guerlains (Vol de Nuit, Shalimar, which was my first Perfume Love, and Jicky so far). I also have been coming to love chypres lately, though at heart I’m a skanky oriental girl, and evidently a bit of a perfume slut, in a good way I hope (Viva Tabu!).
My question is, does original Mitsouko smell like old wet latex band-aids on anyone else? Would this come out in the Lotus version? Did I get a bad sample? Do I have alien skin? I am mystified. I believe the sample I tried was EDT, and it was about 2 or 3 years ago, not sure where that falls on the reformulation timeline. When I sniffed it out of the vial it was soft, mysterious and gorgeous, but on my skin, turned drecky.
I am moving back to San Diego next week, which means I will have access to a Nordstrom for the first time in 9 years, thank the Goddess! — should I bother checking it (Blue Mitsy) out?
Thanks everyone!
Def try the EdP before you decide anything. I think Mits EdT smells like dull razors. See all my yammerings somewhere above about Mits EdP v. L’HB EdT, etc, etc…
If you can find that blue stuff, why not? One of the things I’ve learned from hanging around these wackos is to not be a-skeered of the perfume! Do. Not. Fear. The. Fume. I’m going to skulk through Nordie’s Saks and N-M, figuring it will (should) be in one of those – here’s hoping.
You can always wash it off – I always carry a Wet-wipe or two in my bag, in case I’m nowhere near Clinique Number 4 toner which will take off any perfume ya got. Hell, it’ll take off 4 coats of paint!
Even though it’s not my blog, WELCOME!
>-)
Thanks for the welcome, it’s good to know of others who share this hob-session (like hobby + obsession. Too awkward?) When I ask my husband’s opinion, he says “It’s nice. But why do you need another one?” Uh huh.
You’re right, I need to smell for myself. It’s not so much that I Fear the Fume (I’ll smell anything once) I just don’t want to have a negative association stuck in my brain about Mitsouko. It’s like She’s the Last Unicorn — I want some Unicorn love!
Though perhaps it might be easier to love this new one if I have a clean slate, so to speak?
What Musette said. Before you give up totally on Mitsy, please please please either try it in extrait (new) or preferably a vintage sample of EdP or extrait. The two most beautiful Mitsys I have are EdP, I think, from the 60s and 70s. My 3-year-old extrait isn’t bad either.
Have a good move! jealous jealous
Smells like dull razors. Stop plagiarizing my thoughts, woman! As if.
Dull razors like metallic ick, or like “Dear God what is that reek ripping up my sinuses?” Or maybe it smells like the feeling of using a dull razor to shave?
Your guess is as good as mine. I mean who on God’s green earth smells their razor? Only La Musette knows, and she can also tell you what color they smell like too. G’head…ask her 😉
Green. Sort of sick pee-green (like when you eat too much asparagus, knowmean?)
and the razor metaphor is mostly that ‘screechy’ thing that LuTania go on about – Mits’s EdT is like a dull razor across the skin. Or…you know how you are in the shower, desperate to shave your legs (for whatever reason like, say, The Rock is coming over in 5 minutes for some lovin’) and you get in the shower….and instead of a nice hot blast of soapy goodness you are frantically trying to shave in a nearly-chilly spray?
Like that.
xo>-
The initial spritz smelled a little like cat piss, well it did. Then it went quite fresh & pleasant, and wore well in the humidity. It was made even more pleasurable, with 1 dab of vintage Mitsouko, added to each wrist
I must add, that I agree with everyone, this is a very short lived fragrance. Good thing I had added the 2 dabs of vintage Mitsy, or I would have been naked!
Yummy! Must try layering it with vintage Mitsy.
I sniffed it and wrist tested it a couple of weeks ago in Saks. I’m with Louise it seemed like it lasted an extremely short time on my wrist. While it was there it was good but not great. I definitely did not get the leather aspect although I did get the ubiquitous fresh water lotus top.
This is the second new Guerlain that my skin just eats up as Guerlain Homme also had about the same kind of longevity on me.
I’m wondering whether the new formulations mandated by the IFRA are going to make the newer Guerlains less long-lasting?
Longevity. I think that’s a fair question. However, “synthetic” doesn’t translate as “cheap” necessarily. Even when it does, some of the most hideous tat I’ve ever smelled in perfumery, the cheap stuff, lasts decades on my skin, and some of the fancypants stuff is pretty fleeting.
There’s no reason in the world that ANY version of Mitsouko should be blue. Green maybe, but not blue. Of course I’m of the opinion that perfume should always be some shade of gold. It tricks us into thinking that it might have some natural ingredients. Any other color just screams synthetic. I’m all about packaging.
And since we’re talking about Guerlain, I found an interesting comment from Charlie Chaplin. I have a book of Vanity Fair articles from the 20’s & 30’s & he’s quoted as saying that during the day a woman should smell only lightly of an EDT but at night he loves her to bathe in L’Heure Bleue. I wish I had the book in front of me to get the quote exact, but this is pretty close. I knew I liked Mr. Chaplin for a reason. He had really good taste.
I guess it’s sort of a green blue? I’ll be taking a gander at a bottle soon, I believe. The label looks tacky to me.
I’m sitting here staring at my bottle—-it’s not blue,,it’s green! A gradation of green starting at the bottom and slowly fading to clear at the top. Love this one,,a totally wearable Mitsouko,,with lotus only detectable at the end. Don’t be afraid of this one,,,you’ll love it. It’s slowly selling out all over according to MUA blogs. Hope it becomes a part of the permanent collection de Guerlain!!
Thanks for the clarifications. I’m always guessing if I don’t have the bottle in front of me, and mostly I don’t!
I kinda liked it when I sniffed it earlier today.
The trashy whore in me is drawn to the blue pretty (it is a nice colour after all); the realist was terrified at what it signalled. It shouldn’t be blue at all actually. But I like it quite a lot when I resniff the tester strip.
By the way, I’m stinking. Every inch of exposed skin covered in fume, from Iris 39 to Oyedo to Fuel for Men to Homage Attar to Vanille Galante. I had catch up time, but now I think I might puke. On second thoughts, maybe I’ll cover it all in Geranium pour Monsieur from my humungous new bottle.
Squee.
Does this mean…YOU’RE BACK?
Back in the clutches, I mean. Obsessed again and, pretty please, ready to write?
Been writing every other Friday, but I wouldn’t say I’m exactly obsessed again. But intrigued enough to be sniffing new things. Most of which disappoint…
But I do have a ‘to buy’ list… 😉
Not the Homage Attar! Don’t even think it!
I mean, as one of the disappointments, because it just wouldn’t be possible. Oh, the humanity!
It isn’t one of them. Though that blasted perfume emporium at Harrods, loaded with too many SAs wielding the latest Tiffany does the cancan /flash your knickers designer blap does little to increase Amouage’s mystique.
Beautiful. So not me. But oh so beautiful.
yer a pretty-smellin’ trashy whore 😉
Peanutcluster!!!!
You’ll be getting mail soon, if you’ve not gotten already. Tell me your thoughts on Iris 39. I have a little samp of it and am not sure what I’m even smelling, being largely anosmic to iris. Tell your little >-) aaallll abou it.
xo
Every exposed inch? You spritzed your eyeballs?
And inside my ears…
It’s okay. Quite ‘masculine’. I’d skipped over it at le Labo before, wondered if I’d like it, tried it. Top notes exciting but pretty generic after an hour. Not good enough.
Reading that made me laugh. You must have been quite a smell to behold.
Thanks for this hilarious and thoughtful review, March. I have been musing a lot, lately, on this issue of vintage vs. modern, nostalgia vs. resignation, art vs. commodity, and all the other thorny issues that the IFRA regs bring up for me — or rather, intensify, as they were all there to begin with.
I can feel myself beginning to shift a bit in my stance. When I first started sniffing I thought the nostalgia for all the old extraits was a little out of control. You know — how much better could they really be? Then I actually smelled them, understood it viscerally, and went quite far down the vintage rabbit hole. (Haven’t come out yet.) Still, of late I’ve been thinking about perfume as an art that depends, like all arts, on social context, and all those tricky negotiations with laws and money, and have been thinking about how to shift my perspective to take this into account, so that I’m not stuck in a position of perpetual mourning and horror. I don’t just mean this as an intellectual exercise–one of the things I treasure about perfume is that it’s impossible for me to just be intellectual about it. I mean, I guess, something along the lines of what we’ve discussed here before–how to clear away enough expectations and preconceptions to let the juice itself shine through.
Obviously I’m still thinking all of this through… But somehow Mitsouko Le Bleue inspires me to continue, because it seems like an honest and inventive response to the current parameters, rather than a cheap and cynical one, and what more, really, can we ask beyond that?
(I mean, besides the industry actually taking its collective head out of it’s *ss and rallying against the regs. I’m not totally despairing on that one, but I’m not holding my breath, either.)
I’m going to answer this but need a bit more time to order my thoughts. Stay tuned!
Sweetlife — I have been mulling my reply for days, and at this point my response is, I can’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t parrot back right at you what you have written, more or less. I was also a bit late to the vintage game, and smelling some of the sorts of things in vintage concentration (comparing them to current iterations) can make me sad. And I wanted to say I responded really strongly to your particular comment about valuing perfume for your non-intellectual framework when considering it, if I’m paraphrasing that okay. If I had to try to untangle the knot of Why We Sniff, that would certainly be at the base of it for me.
At the same time, I (the poet with the soul of a stockbroker, as my husband once described me in anger, rather more accurately than I’d imagined) am … unable to cling to a romantic vision of the history of perfumery. Granted, all sorts of things will likely be banned for reasons that are stupid and have nothing to do with real health and safety. At the same time, I believe the possibility of synthetics is limitless (although, hey, at what point in the future will some of those synthetics be discovered to be radically toxic? Oooooops. Maybe oakmoss would have been better.) As long as the big boys keep creating new aromachemical components to add to my vast Lego Collection of new perfume smells, I’ll probably be happy. At the end of the day it’s the idea of running out of old Mitsouko when I’m 70 that pains me the most.
Thanks so much for your reply, M. I’ve been thinking about this for days, too. As soon as I’m out of the deadline weeds I think I’m going to try to write about it. But the weeds are thick and strong and they keep growing, goddammit, so I make comments here, instead.
P.S. Poet with the soul of a stock broker! YES!
Arrrghhhh I miss the chat on here!!! Fie on new job that doesn’t let me shmooze in blog-land!!!! Can’t read comments, which is driving me mad!
But. Must. Comment. Quickly. I kinda liked it. lol is that fast enough?
Sniffed @ Sniffa so had eleventy dozen things already up my nose & couldn’t really focus. But I did smell the reference to Mitsouko, she was absolutely there. Did I like it? Kinda, yeah. I’ve only recently found a way to appreciate her so maybe I’m one of those crossover converts, dunno.
OK, must run TEN BLOCKS to get to my #%$#% 11AM mtg.
Ouch. Hope you brought the right shoes to work. Sorry the work is cutting into your blog reading, I know I feel the same way about it cutting into my comment responding!
I confess I’ve reading this blog for years but haven’t commented much because I live in eastern NC, which is allergy central, and my sense of smell is usually pretty compromised most of the time. However, I purchased a bottle of Mitsouko at TJ Maxx years ago to see what it was like and predictably, didn’t like it much. However, I kept it mostly for the bottle and the famous name. After reading about it over and over and over, well, today was the day. I pulled the bottle out this morning and spritzed a couple of spritzes on a cotton ball and waited and I will confess that it has improved over time or maybe my nose has become more sophisticated, I don’t know. But, maybe I will end up liking Mitsouko, after all. However, I will have to call Jicky in extrait The Queen.
Y’all have a good weekend!
Hey, if you love Jicky extrait you are all right by me! Glad you’re warming up to Mitsouko.
I think I must just not “get” Mitsouko. I own it in EDT and wear it every now and then, but it doesn’t particularly strike me as mysterious. It might be worth trying to new one for me to see what everyone else sees in Mitsouko. If I had to wear one thing for the rest of my life, it would be Chanel#5. Not that it is what I wear most often, just that its one I don’t think I would grow tired of.
You would probably ‘get’ it if you tried it in EdP or parfum (only once, years ago, still haven’t gotten over the beauty); Mits EdT is like a dull razor, in my opinion. EdP and beyond opens up whole new olfactory worlds. Like Joe, I find Mits to be a bit of a comfort scent, as I am already so ‘don’t %&#*! with me on a daily basis – wait, that’s not true (well it is, but ….oh, never mind) – what I mean is I use Mitsouko as sort of comfy armor, if that makes sense – vintage Femme, with those sharp little teeth, too!
What’s interesting is L’HB is the exact opposite for me; I cannot manage it at all in EdP or parfum iteration – but throw me some EdT and I am in Hog Heaven!
Do try it in parfum or EdT and let us know what you think!
xo>-)
The one I can’t manage in extrait is Apres L’Ondee. I had a decent decant once (I think it’s difficult to find) and swapped it away. To me it compromised the lightness for the longevity. I felt smothered.
Whaaaa? Ye blaspheme!
How old is your bottle? Unless it’s a decade or two old, you’d be better served by Mitsouko in EdP, they’ve really cut its …. uh … hair off in the newer EdT. To me, it smells like a bad dupe of itself, and shame on Guerlain for producing it that way. Vintage Mitsouko EdP is often extraordinary.
I bought mine at Marshalls within the past three years.
If you’ve any curiosity at all, you might want to try to score a mini EDP on evilBay, or a vintage samp from TPC. It’s quite a different animal.
I had the exact same reaction to the blue tint, but I think mine was even less generous than Windex. Toilet bowl cleaner to be precise. You know, the continuous action type that releases a bit each time you spritz, er, I mean, flush.
Okay, I’m over it. This sounds nice, but I am worried about the longevity. If it disappears on Louise’s skin, mine will slurp it up too. Crap, now my mind is full of silly images. So, along with continuous action blue Mitsouko, now I have skin that cries “feed me!” like Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors.
You’ll probably know soon enough, but yes, I am betting your skin will eat it.
Do you scent suckers try putting on an unscented lotion of some sort prior to spritzing? You probably already know this, but sometimes dry skin is the culprit.
I dip myself in lotion before spritzing, even though my skin isn’t particularly dry ;( .Another theory has it that we have overly acid skin. The fact that I “smudge” even fine metal jewelry back this idea up.
I quite liked the M&M simile, too – it reminded me of that guy on Britain’s Got Talent that sang “Nessun Dorma” in a soprano range. A stunning accomplishment, yes, for a man to be able to sing the whole thing on pitch and in that range, but not really listenable.
I’ll have to look that up on YouTube!
I think it sounds like a fascinating fragrance. I have a small bottle of Mitsouko extrait, and I just don’t love it or even like it. It is the most melancholy scent on earth. But I want to like it. I WANT to like it. So, this flanker catches my interest. I wish for it to be available at NM in SFO, because I’ll be there next month.
The color is jarring. I’m jarred by the color of this Mitsouko and the twee illustration on the Robe bottle. What is up with that??
My best guess is Guerlain is working on attracting a younger fan base, and I can’t really blame them.
Mitsouko is not my friend… she won’t even sit at my lunch table, much less pass me a note or accompany me to the little girls’ room to check out our makeup… so perhaps I should try this one. And yes, I think the Windex blue is disconcerting (hey, my eyes roam like wandering slugs ALL the time!), but it occurred to me that Diet Shalimar is blue as well. Of course, that one made a bit more sense, with the traditional blue/gold packaging of Shalimar. No, you’re right, blue Mitsouko is just weird.
I adore, adore Shalimar Light and its shocking combination of lemon oil and vanilla and warm, soiled bedclothes – it’s quite Naughty on me. I have some vintage PdT Shalimar that is unbelievably sensual and gorgeous, so thanks to those of you who urged, “try the vintage!”
Slightly off-topic question, for anybody who wants to weigh in: do you concur with the theory that one is either a Shalimar Girl or a Mitsouko Girl, but one cannot be both?
I’m sure there are plenty of fans of both, but your theory works for me! Definitely a Mitsouko girl, and always thought Shalimar was too sweet! Great question.
Mitsouko. Shalimar Light I love for 10 seconds and then it goes all bugspray on me.
I dunno , I don’t think I care if I smell this . I see Elvis , swinging his hips…”don’t step on my blue…”
Besides , I just got my decant of Roja Dove Enslaved and anybody going to London ?
And if you are going…. will you bring me back a bottle of Unspoken?!? Pleeeeeaaaaaase……
Seconding Unspoken!
And one teeny leetle bottle of Rose en Noir so’s I don’t have to pay Liberty’s outrageous shipping fee? I refuse on my one principal, but I’m not beneath begging.
I mean above. I am so beneath it ain’t funny.
It looks like mouthwash. The high regard which most perfumistas still seem to hold for Guerlain puzzles me…I can’t see that anything they’re doing in modern times justifies it. *runs away*
I’m not sure anything they’ve done in modern times *does* justify it. I esteem them for their classics, Shalimar notwithstanding. Their best “new” things were good re-releases, right?? (Djedi, how ’bout some more of that?)
But I could argue the same thing about Dior. Depends on whether you’re looking at their oldies/goodies (Diorella, Miss Dior), their decent re-releases (Diorama?), or their newest dreck 🙂
Absolutely you could say the same about Dior but people don’t make such a fuss over an upcoming Dior, do they? Wasn’t meaning to be pointing a finger at you, or even anyone in particular, just a general feeling I get floating about the internets — like Guerlain is like the mother ship or something, and don’t see that they deserve the level of reverence they’re given. I don’t even feel let down when something new from Guerlain is bad, more like I’m surprised when they do something good.
Wait … Guerlain is not the mothership? Insert open-mouthed emoticon here 😉 And at this point, yes, I too am more surprised when they do something good.
More serious response. I can only speak for me — in terms of the “great” houses, I feel more affinity for old Guerlains than the others — Mitsouko and Apres and LHB swept me off my feet in a way that Diorella and Chanel No. 5 never did, gorgeous as they are. I think I fell for Guerlain the way you fall for your first real love, if that makes any sense at all. And the intervening years have not been kind, but I remember the golden ones.
Guerlain is absolutely my mothership. I try to wander, I try to love the others for their greatness (I am the Bandit Queen after all) but I always come crawling back to my breathtaking, heart-stopping vintage Guerlains.
key word there is Vintage, Bandit Queen. Vintage Guerlain (even Shalimar, which ain’t my fave) is, indeed, heart-stopping.
xo>-)
ps. how many versions of Bandit do you have?
I have only vintage extrait (but enormous stockpiles of it) and the reformulated EdP, the bottle being mebbe three years old? The new EdT didn’t do it for me.
I’m with you on that. I used to think if I had to pick a house it would be Guerlain, until I realised that as much as I adore L’Heure Bleu, Shalimar and Mitsouko, there are very few modern Guerlains I like – I don’t like Samsara or Mahora much, let alone the newer ones. What’s more, of all the ‘luxury’ brands they seem to be producing the scents with the most dreadful concepts (Petite Robe Noire, I’m looking at YOU…)
Yes… see my above comment to Robin.
There’s the latest formulation of Insolence, which is wonderful.
LMAO!!!!!!!! You’re one funny lady, March honey!
The first and second paragraph had me literally laughing out loud! (someone actually popped in his head to see what was going on! I should be writing up a chronology primer for pottery…)
My exact same reaction I guess when I found out the news.
So how does your review leave me? I guess I am not exactly elated, as I surmise neither are you (No “wow, a gret Windex-hued Mitsouko! How kewwwwwl!!!”), nor am I sighing with relief (No “phew, that was a close shave!” because I don’t have stock at Guerlain). But yes, it does make me feel a little better. Not that I will forsake my wondrous old extrait batches, but I will be eager to try it and see. You made me a little less scared. 😉
Hey, glad I made you laugh.
I remember the first time I smelled Mitsouko, near the beginning of my interest in perfume (just a few years ago.) It was a revelation. I was gobsmacked. It opened my eyes to the potential of *classic* perfumes, not simply niche ones, which is sort of where I’d wandered in the perfume door.
So, this unsurprisingly has nowhere near that effect on me, and I’ll weep when my vintage stash runs out. But I was shocked to find myself enjoying it, even if it’s no actual substitute for the original.
The M&M version of a classic! Yes! That’s the *perfect* way to describe this! I absolutely adore (OK, worship at the feet of) Mitsouko and was curling my lip up just at the thought of this. Until I tried it. And liked it. But…the blue! It’s just so Paris Hiltonesque. Thank heavens the juice itself isn’t blue or I’d have to apply it w/ eyes closed. Love the actual color, but I do *not* do blue perfumes.
How’s the staying power on you, btw? And is the bottle as heedious in person? It looks so cheap to me.
Elle, it was youze with the Volcan d’amour! I am sore afraid of it! It arrived yesterday afternoon and I timidly spritzed at tiny shot onto one wrist, but I gotta tell ya, it was rough sledding for a while there. Gradually loosened it’s vise-like grip on my throat, but only enough for me to start breathing into a paper bag for the rest of the night. I’m not one to fall of the horse and stay off, but I cain’t say as I’m lookin’ forward to my next encounter. What is that note at the top? Oregano????
March, got the Replique today. So far, so GORGE 🙂
That’s my Louise, LOL !
I really was surprised how much I liked it…truly, I was VERY suspicious, because Mitsouko was one of my first loves;
but I didn’t need a bottle.
It WAS fleetingly gorgeous…
Okay, fleeting on you as well.
I just got a sample from a very generous friend. First app/sniff scared the daylights out of me – all aquatic melon – it quickly dried down to Mitsouko Lite, about 23 minutes into the venture, then morphed into Generic Nothingness. Was it Kathleen who suggested amping this with Mits-for-real? Probably not a bad idea – a little drop of regular Mitz EdP which would kill the weird generic drydown. It’s not an ‘awful’ drydown but it’s certainly not Mitsouko and I’ve smelled this before – about 320,000 times – very generic. Paired with a drop of Mits, though, this could be a very wearable summertime fix for us Mits-heads.
I won’t tell you what the Guerlain rep (not the SA, the GUERLAIN REP) said about this – oh, okay! I will. She said it was simply a celebration of the 90th birthday of Mitsouko and that the formulation was exactly the same. I’m gonna cut her some slack ONLY because she was rushed – oh, hell…no I’m not. She works for Guerlain. She oughta know these things. If she’s right then all of us are inhabiting a parallel dimension wherein Mitsouko smells like the new Chloe or Rumeur.
But on my >-) planet, this is certainly NOT Mitsouko. But it’s not the worse thing I’ve ever smelled, either.
xo
Chiming in here. I thought the Mitsy Light Blue was pretty, but where the hell did it go.
I’m hoping that it just disappeared somewhere under the cloud of the 67 other perfumes we were spraying that day….’cause I have a bottle coming 😉
Honestly, L, I couldn’t smell it at all. Of course we were wearing *how* many things at that point?
I recently tried a sample of this from TPC, and it literally lasted all of five minutes on me! And I have skin that will not turn loose of scent even after scouring (I’m looking at you Fleur de Cassis). A POL’er posted this link last night to an interview with both Thierry Wasser and Jean Paul Guerlain. Very interesting, and in my mind anyway, seems to be a ray of hope in the now somewhat bleak Guerlain picture.
http://www.wallpaper.com/art/guerlain-interview/2918
Oh, it’s been such a long, long time,
Looks like I get you off my mind,
Oh, but I can’t,
Just the thought of you,
Turns my whole world,
A misty blue.
Just the mention of your name,
Turns the flicker to a flame,
I think of things we used to do,
Then my whole world,
Turns misty blue.
(chorus)
I should forget you,
Heaven knows I tried,
But, when I say,
“I’m glad we’re through.”
My heart knows I’ve lied.
Oh, oh, oh, I know I should forget yoooooooouuuuu, but deep in my heart I know I lied. I lied. I lied….
Sorry guys, I just don’t know what’s come over me! I read Louise’s Mitsy Light Blue and suddenly BURST into song! The dogs have run away and are cowering somewhere in the garden.
OMG! Evil Twins UNITE!
xo>-)
The world should be grateful that I no longer live in D.C. or it could be baaaad.
or biiiig fun!
I still haven’t smelled this yet. But of course, it *would* be of the cheerfully vulgar, blonded-up style of most of the latest Guerlains (I mean “blonde” in the philosophical sense, no slander on the fair-haired)… I mean, Mitsouko is *about* the lactones — the peach, and that plummy-nutty smell you get from, say, the pre-reformulation edp…
I’m glad the Blue one is, at least, good, but I can’t think of anything to say that’s not grumpy.
Oh, go ahead and grump! You at least have them talking to you, you’ll probably have all sorts of revelations for us in the future.
(I mean the concept is wrong, btw, not the original review!)
WRONG! WRONG! It’s a blue bottle of That Ain’t Right!
If I lost my sense of smell and could only smell Mitsouko for the rest of my life, I’d be a happy bunny. (It’d make public transport much more bearable, for one thing. I haven’t smelled this, but the very idea of it… I suppose I should be glad that with a flanker, it means they won’t be doing any more damage to the original, but it still cheapens Mitsouko somewhat.
That’s an interesting note. Argh. Okay, I’m with you. Only one perfume for the rest of my life? Probably Mitsouko.
Gah! Of course I’ve gotta try this because Mitsouko is my wear-to-bed comfort scent (well, not every night, of course). I may just stand up to my Fear of the Hovering SA and venture to Nordstrom or Saks this weekend to see if they have it (is it launched as yet?).
Love, love, lurrrrrrve your simile of Sistine Chapel in M&Ms. Almost as good as those people who recreate Van Goghs and such out of colored clothes-dryer lint.
Laughing, it’s your COMFORT scent? Mitsouko extrait layered with vintage PdT is my “f— with me at your peril” scent — that and vintage Femme. Mitsouko is my own personal force field.
I’m glad you liked the M&M thing; it popped into my head immediately when I smelled the scent, and I couldn’t decide if it was too goofy to put in the review.
Bad news is, I think this is really hard to find? I think Epcot and the Bellagio (another bizarre distribution.) You could try Jason at Bergdorf? Maybe someone will chime im.
Joe, I’m with you on the Mitsouko-to-bed comfort scent thing.
I wonder why it feels so heavenly and comfortable to me – not at all the way most fans describe it’s character. I like the EDP, and would love to have just a bit of the extrait someday.
I’m also wondering about whether the IFRA mandates are going to result in lighter, shorter lived fragrances across the board. I’m a bit worried about so many flankers being released now. Is this an industry response to the new limitations?
This sounds very interesting March..Everytime I pass a Guerlain counter, I try out Jicky, Mitsouko, Shalimar and every other Guerlain scent that will ‘fit’ on my arms..The last time I did this, I realized I could possibly love Jicky and/or Mitsouko..I definitely need to order a sample of each and actually live with them..So since I don’t know yet if I love Mitsouko or not, I didn’t exactly feel like tearing my hair when I heard about the flanker..Sounds interesting enough to atleast try!
Well. If you’re asking I’d probably focus on getting samples of the originals, preferably not in the EdT if they’re new (Jicky being an exception). In spite of their recent annoyances, if I had to pick my favorite house in terms of classic scents, I’m a Guerlain girl.
I think I did try the parfum versions of some of them (not sure about Jicky though)..Will definitely try to get samples..Have the pure parfums been reformulated as well?
They never admit to anything, but I think they must have.
That was an amazing journey, that. I feel your pain, sister. I love me some mitsouko (my real baby is L’heure bleu) but my bottle should be here tomorrow and I’m now really truly dying to smell her. It’s been a while since I’ve been so absolutely on the edge of my seat to not only smell a new scent, but relish a review. I couldn’t wait to read what you thought.
This is a dangerous, slippery slope. I try not to fear the future or re-imagine and glamorize the past, but with perfumery, what else can one do? As more and more flankers of masterpieces hit the shelves and more and more icons are defaced, to whom do we complain. I guess we try to be positive, right?
it’s scary
Well, I hope you like your bottle. I do think in the photos it looks cheesy. That label, the blue … it looks like it ought to hold something from Paris Hilton.
I’ve no moral objection to flankers per se – I think Shalimar Lite was an interesting effort (although an epic fail for me.) But this isn’t the direction I’d have guessed.
March,
I dunno. Am I supposed to try this or kill myself?
xo>-)
I’m not sure. How do you feel about powder? LHB? It’s less of a statement, but I’m not sure I’d wear it in the heat. Right now the temperature seems perfect.
I hate that powder accord but I like the inference of powder, as in scents that conjure up a finished look – usually the classics do that (No5, Jicky, Diorling etc) but occasionally niche as well (Fleur de Cassie, L’A’s Verte Violette come to mind) – Lipstick Rose, with its homage to 40’s powder and lipstick somewhat missed the mark for me, weirdly enough.
L’HB in parfum is exhausting – one big powder bomb – but the EdT works gloriously for me. This flanker is def one I would like to try but only after I’ve had a couple of glasses of wine – and somebody needs to be around to hold my hand!
xo>-)
ps. that blue is very disconcerting. I always think of beach scents when I see blue perfume, except for Eau Gloire (Pd’E) which is a pale greeny-aqua, I believe, and is too elegant for words. This does look like Windex, which is unfortunate.
I haven’t seen the bottle, but maybe the photo makes it look extra blue. I don’t think the juice itself is, or it’s tinted so pale I can’t tell in my sample. I don’t know that it’s worth moving the earth for.
btw –
you owe me a white cotton yoga top!LOL!
I read the colored M&Ms/Sistine Chapel paragraph whilst sipping coffee – I have told myself SO many times: DO NOT DRINK COFFEE WHILE READING MARCH’S POSTS!
I didn’t listen so I guess I owe me a white cotton yoga top. Never mind…
xo>-)
Hey, you of all people know how likely I am to write something silly! 😉