Reviews of Mitsouko (1919)
by Guerlain

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.

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.

*Sigh* This smelled so much better in the reviews. In 3D land, I just can't take it. I almost like it, but not quite. To say it is challenging is the ultimate understatement ... My boyfriend hates it. It's interesting how it induces nostalgia- how it seems familiar, yet completely unknown. I cannot identify a single note- which is something I'm weak at to begin with. It's very sharp and nonsweet to me. But it can also smell doughy, pasty, makeupy, papery, mossy, musty, and dusty. Effervescent like Alka Seltzer. An impression of spice but not actually spicy. I cannot describe it using any of the 4 tastes- not sweet, bitter, sour, or salty. So many likeable impressions but overall is unpleasant. Also seems to give me a headache ... I feel self conscious in a bad way when I wear this ... Like I might be arrested for wearing it. Which could make it fun if you can stand it! I'd love to smell it on someone else. If I were rich I would own it for novelty's sake. But since I'm poor and will not wear it, I'm giving it a neutral and putting it up for swap. Good luck with this one! (newer EDT version)

This one taught me the value of re-testing. Hated it the first time I tried it -- the base smelled to me like must and cough-inducing spices and I couldn't get over it. The next time I put it on my wrist, it was specifically to show my boyfriend how bad it smelled. To my surprise, he found it "nice" -- and he doesn't care much about perfumes at all. I sniffed my wrist again, and this time I got the lovely lactonic/fruity aldehydes that Mitsouko fans are always raving about. The peach note is very clear, but it's not the juicy, edible peach I'm used to in scents that advertise themselves as "peachy." It's a cool, reserved peach tone. Makes me think more of a color than a taste. Underneath that, the crisp chypre base stays unsettling, refusing to melt into my skin and get cozy. It's a beautiful, awe-inspiring scent, but one that makes me a little uncomfortable every time I wear it. I can't bring myself to give it a thumbs-down, but I can't say it's my friend, either.

Hmmm. When I was kid, my friend and I used to go to her grandma Gertrude's apartment and play dressup in her wardrobe. I think this is a beautiful perfume, no question, I love it... but I can't help but think of it as something someone named Gertrude smells of innately. As a cruel and innocent child, I just assumed old women naturally smelled like this. Her middle name was Mildred.

I am absolutely sure if I asked a selection of teenage girls at the mall what they thought of it, they would say the dreaded words: "Old lady." Of course, I don't ask for the opinions of teenage girls. Nor do I wear Mitsouko. It's not my type.

But they'd better not reformulate it or I will be so mad!

Hulk SMASH EU regulations!

Oh dear. Luca Turin notwithstanding, I just cannot wear this, much as I respect it. it is just too much peach or else the vanilla-peach accord is too much for my skin. Alas, I like the idea of Mitsouko more than the thing itself.

This is a weird fragrance.

I tried both the edt and edp out of historical curiosity and when applied too much with the applicator from the vial or spritz it on too much you get bombarded by oakmossy, bookish POWDER. Lots and lots of cloying powder. The edt turns straight to powder. Headache inducing. I've washed it off twice it got too cloying. However despite this it is also intriguing. On the skin it does melt into the old Guerlinade with perhaps some spices and that's rather nice, no one can say that's a bad smell, it smells somewhat like baby powder and dried peaches I guess.

I guess the trick must be extremely light handling, otherwise you turn into your grandmother or great grandmother complete with blue hair, painted on eyebrows aquamarine eye shadow real quick. Not to say that it's feminine per se, it's just got that old lady je ne se quoi......cultural association more than actual scent. Heed this warning specially for those fellow straight men wanting to steal supposed great scents from the ladies and use them as unisex. This is sweet in a different way than many modern male colones, you just got to like a little bit of powder when used in moderation, otherwise it's pretty much incense, dried fruit and Guerlinade. Too much and you're feel self conscious. It is weird. I did not get the famed peach note that everyone was talking about at first. All I got was a bit spicier version of Vol de Nuit minus perhaps iris. Jicky, L'Heure Bleue, Mitsouko and Vol de Nuit are all somewhat related somewhere in their composition, perhaps in the base. Mitsouko is perhaps the best one though, with Vol de Nuit being behind.....

However the more I smell the edp version, the more I pick up on the warmth. Actually smelling the small decant vial I got I pick up on perhaps the middle notes, there's a note there that reminds me ever so slightly of dried apricots, so I suppose that is the peach note. It is a lurking fruit that's for sure. I need to actually wear it out and see if people react to it or I can get over the slight sinus headache I get from wearing it. Certainly a mystery, it really does skim the line between love and hate....

So guys if interested in this, I would be really hesitant in application, perhaps only small dabs on wrists and neck, or spray on just on your jacket. Being said I got my eyes on Sous le Vent.

EdP.

Balsamic fruity chypre that doesn`t move me into a direction or another. It doesn`t smell bad by any means, but it isn`t especially compelling or interesting either. It smells very vintage, very perfumy. I definitely wouldn`t call this one dated, but it certainly lacks that specific contemporary touch which basically makes it uncontrivated for only numerous types of people.

Out of other biggest feminine classics of Guerlain (Jicky, L`Heure Bleue, Shalimar, Vol de Nuit) I like Mitsouko least.

Hmmmm. I've smelled the EDT before, and found it... not much at all, like Rochas Femme diluted. Then I was very excited to find a parfum tester on a business trip to Rome. I spritzed, I smelled... I found nothing new. This really does smell just like Rochas Femme to me, only less kind, more take-no-prisoners. It absolutely ate all the other scents I tried on my arm that day (to be expected). I... would not wear it. I get that it's a great achievement in scent, and predates Femme by decades, and yes, for the time it was created, it must have been The Bomb. But no. This is too much by far. It smells as if I've rolled in slightly overripe peaches and moss, and not in a sexy way. Maybe I'll grow into it?

I live in a small city and after reading so much about it i had to buy a full bottle online. I waited and paid a lot to try it. And first try was a complete disappointance. The bergamot rose openning is same as a sweet heavy arabic cologne which have been populer among elder (i mean grand parents grand aunts etc.) when i was a child. It made me feel almost sick. At the third attemp i have been able to pass the first ten minutes of sweet nasty bergamot and take the first glimpses of oakmoss. The oakmost in it is really great. But i can get oakmoss inthe very first second off o big sniff then my nose is filled with that clover and spices crowd. No jasmin no peach. i think i will give up trying. It is a rich bold fragrance but too old and disturbing to me...

I love smelling this frag on others, but when I recently was given it as a gift, I find to my disappointment that I cannot bear it on me. It feels too sweet and sickly, it must be the peach. I don,t get the leathery note either. Lasts on me approx 6 hours which is a shame as it usually induces a migraine!!
Needs to be used very sparingly, and I would definitely try before you buy. It also reminds me of old favourite white haired aunts. I havn't got one personally, but if I did, this would remind me of her!!?

I was so excited to try Mitsouko because of all I'd read about it here and because I love Shalimar. I ordered a sample of it, and I find that I still like Shalimar better, also Jicky. But then to me Jicky smells like a more casual Shalimar. Anyway... I like Mitsouko, but there is a sharpness to it that is just a little too much for me. It reminds me of the smell of curry powder, oddly enough. I asked my daughter to smell it, and she said, "wow, all I smell is that it's really, really sharp."

MItsouko fit the bill of what I am looking for: A layered, complex scent with excellent pedigree and a history. Too bad it's so plain on me. Faintly oriental on first application, she dries down quickly to a almost invisible waft of spikey wood. There's no depth and no life to this scent once it hits my skin. My sister had better luck and perhaps orientals just work on her and not on me, but she at least had more layers. Still, this is not as elegantly layered as I had hoped. I'm so sorry to give it a neutral rating.

Peanuts. When I first smelled the bottle, I thought, "PEANUTS!?" It changed on my skin though. I totally don't smell the 'peach' that others adore. It smells old and musty to me, like my very first piano teacher's house. Bvlgari_BLV said it smells like 'flesh', and I agree. It smell like an unwashed old lady.

I've tested this several times, always hoping Mitsouko would decide this was the time to turn on her charms. Unfortunately she isn't for me, or rather I'm not for her. When I wear this scent I always picture ancient rose petals pressed in a musty old volume; when one picks them up, they simply crumble. (Unfortunately this is also my impression of Vol De Nuit.) This is certainly one of those occasions where I assume the fault is with myself and not the fragrance. I can't give Mitsouko a thumbs-down because the legend is too much!