Mitsouko (1919)
by Guerlain

Mitsouko and I have been intertwined for many years . I wore her for several years without deviating to any other perfume ,such was my love for this chypre . It's savoury sweet spicey peaches ,leather ,moss. That was what vintage Mitsouko is to me. The EDP and the EDT were my choices then .
I tried the new EDT recently and I waited for the Mitsouko I knew to emerge - I waited a long time. The new EDT is a 'ghost' of what I wore in the 90s. Stil she's there but much subdued.
Mitsu means light, some say it means mystery .

Peach and spice done in a terrible way. But I sledom like fragrances form the early 1900s, but then this is the newer released EdT version I am sampling. I imagine this was very good back then, but to be able to pull this off today requires the right skin. It does smell like a niche something or the other, maybe rich and 'out-there', something only rich people could enjoy only because it's what rich people do...like eating caviar or something.

There's been a hesitation for me to write about this amazing chameleon - as others have posted here, there's something about Misouko that can not easily be defined.

Peaches? Oakmoss? Those are both reportedly in Calvin Klein Obsession, and that frag has always made me smile - but I couldn't even begin to guess that they appear in Mitsuoko. Certainly there's no hint of the cashmere envelope of amber that enriches Obession. And yet there is no mistake - Mitsouko is rich. Heavy. Weighty.

If pressed, I'd say that on me, this is almond toasts - the most expensive ones you can possibly import, and herbal distillations rendered by a turn-of-the-century pharmacist ... and a base of ... oh my, I just can't say.

Leather? perhaps - and sueded leather at that. But only perhaps. Gueralinade? Not the guerlainade that has become familiar to me in the drydown of Shalimar, Spiritulese Double Vanille, and Samsara. However, there is some rich base here in the drydown.

Too many memories are being conjured up by this frag, I suppose. I never knew the name of it at the time, but I'm certain now that this is what aroma surrounded my grandfather's second wife - a brash, energetic woman who wore colorful clothes, big hair, and bright red nail polish - much to the horror of the rest of my family, all fading into obscurity in their tasteful beige and navy and unobtrusive toiletries. Ah, but Emily (she insisted that she was too young to be called "grandma" and she was right) - Emily always stood out. Sometimes jarring, quite synthetic, but in the end, affable, outgoing and unapologetic.

Hrm... I think I just found the right descriptors for Mitsouko.

At least for today it is. I'll wear it again next week, and undoubtedly my mind will change again.

Current formulation of the EdT review. I'll write one for the EdP and perhaps vintage extraits when I get some.

The EdT feels very weak for a leather chypre. And the oakmoss is rather bland. I do like the floral top notes. They are not dominant but are nice and in the background, attempting to give the moss the lead. Same with some slight spices.

Having read so many reviews of Mitsouko, and having found from experience that the scents I seem to gravitate towards are the less 'soft' scents (my favourites are Angel, Givenchy Gentleman, Miss Dior, Cabochard- I like my scent to stand up for itself) I just had to try it.

The very fact that Mitsouko doesn't suit everyone or please everyone makes it all the more interesting for me to try- and this is so right.

It's complex although suprisingly rounded for a scent with so many hard ingredients. It's not at all gentle or warm but I love it for that.

On days when sweet things make my teeth and sinuses recoil in horror there is Mitsouko. On days when I'm being a grown up there's definitely Mitsouko.

If you like flirty, feminine, girly, soft or understated scents then don't try Mitsouko. If you like anything pink or fluffy then don't even think of walking near a tester.

In fact, you can't buy Mitsouko. It's mine.

I've tried this fragrance in the EDP version several times, and I just cannot force myself to appreciate it. I wanted to - I find the name, the bottle, the history....EVERYTHING about it fascinating.........except for the smell. And it kills me. No seriously....the smell could kill, and not in a good way!

I'm not afraid of aldehydes (I'm a Chanel girl and get my kicks from 5 and 22, and I love vintage Joy which is chock full of aldehydes AND peaches...a combo I thought I'd never like 'cause i hate fruity+flower fragrances), and I can handle spicy animalic scents (Jicky and Shalimar are favorites of mine). Unfortunately, Jicky, Shalimar, and Nahema are the only Guerlains that have befriended me so far. L'heure Bleue and Mitsouko do the same thing to me. They make me sick to my stomach. Literally. I've never had to scrub a fragrance off of my wrists before puking until trying L'heuere Bleue. It isn't the "skank" factor that many perfumistas laud and that many fragrance lovers just can't get past. I can enjoy "dirty hippie" smells like spice, sweat and musk...and the ol' "morning after" smell. It isn't the "old lady" factor. Most "old lady" perfumes (powder and all) are awesomely sexy to me, and I usually prefer vintage even though I'm only in my 20's. I'll never understand the statement that a perfume can be "out dated." Fashion never really is. Think about all the inspirations we take from the past and mix into contemporary fashion...just like literature. Classics are classics! But then again, I find many classics over-rated as well....Dickens, anyone?

So, here's the kicker for me: Mitsouko smells an awful lot like mint bubble Orbitz gum on me. Or maybe it's something from Trident? I forget. Smells like a waxy-based, nauseatingly fruity menthol. I swear it does...maybe mixed with a little cough syrup? It makes me think of horrible b-flicks that have a cult following for no other reason than they are "unique," difficult to "get," and rather unapproachable for the "common" person. I'll never understand it. Unique can be great...I love unique (and sometimes kinda weird) fragrances (hah...and admittedly, I love many b-ficks too!), but I just can't handle off-putting and unapproachable. But then again, people say the same thing about my beloved Jicky, and it could just be my body chemistry...so whatever floats your good smellin' boats,people! : )