Sous Le Vent (1933)
by Guerlain

The first thing I noticed when I put it on was a great spiced almost lime-like accord. My guess is it actually was a combination of bergamot and tarragon. Whether lime or bergamot, it smelled incredible, and I pretty much knew I was going to like this one. Middle notes were relatively green in nature, with a lot of the top note remnants hanging around. The base of the scent was just a tad powdery with some of the expected Guerlain fingerprint dry-down (maybe iris?), but not as prominent as others I have tried (and to me this is a good thing, as I dislike the Guerlain powdery house dry-down as a general rule) mixing with a nice wood accord. I find Sous le Vent very unisex and men should not hesitate to try this one.

The only issue I had with it was the longevity. I only get 4-6 hours with average sillage, and that is short for me. Oh yeah, I guess the $300 price is an issue too... Too bad, because Sous le Vent is really quite good and I would like to add it to my collection.

5th November, 2011.

Guerlain SOUS LE VENT unfolds in two very distinct stages on my skin. The opening is a bright and cheery floral green with a perfect balance of lavender, tarragon and probably other green elements (such as basil). Gorgeous, but incredibly fleeting, I'm afraid.

The drydown of this perfume is standard old-school chypre fare. If there's no oakmoss in this reformulation, I cannot imagine what accounts for the textbook dark and dirty, somewhat musty quality which dominates everything else, wiping out the optimistic opening to produce a brooding, introspective chypre. The overall effect is more that of a dried floral chypre—though the lavender is no longer detectable to my nose in the drydown—than a fruity one.

Although I generally love complex and layered chypres, this one seems pretty one-dimensional and does not stand out from the crowd. The opening of SOUS LE VENT is clearly unisex, but the much lengthier drydown of this perfume smells like a fairly typical "old lady" chypre—not an insult, by any means, in my lexicon, just a description...

11th October, 2011.

This has become one of my new favorites, and I would say it rivals my love for Derby. The scent is fresh, green, powdery a bit, and spicy. Someone said it somewhere, that is like Derby for women. Well, I don't care for whom the intended wearer is, it goes well on this guy's skin. It lasts for several hours (I wish it would go longer), it dries down with that hint of spice and powder. Just an A+ in my book.

9th October, 2011.

I love this scent - it plays on me like an elegant, cool and green carnation scent. Lovely and austere, I would have it if only it weren't for the $300 price tag :)

3rd September, 2011.

Sous le Vent is an enchanting chypre which opens with a bergamot and lavender accord over an herbacious estragon note. The heart is a gorgeous green and spicy floral accord which includes notes of jasmine, carnation, cinnamon, clove and allspice blended over some elegant green leaves and aldehydes. The base notes are a sandalwood/orris/moss type smell that draws out the spices throughout the entire drydown. Sous le Vent is a highly addictive, complex scent that works perfectly as a masculine. In fact, I thought it was a man's cologne when I first smelled it and was surprised to hear it was marketed to women. It finds fairly decent rotation in my wardrobe. Since the sillage and longevity are quite moderate it works beautifully for either daytime or evening. It's one of the most beautiful chypres available. I wish it were produced in other concentrations besides EDT.

30th November, 2010. (Last Edited: 1st December, 2010.)

Sous Le Vent has notes of basil, bergamot, lavender, tarragon, carnation, oakmoss, iris, woods, patchouli.
This is more a citrus/ aromatic fougere to me rather than a chypre .There is a lot of citrus in this. To start it is all bergamot and lemon. Sharp, tart, fresh ,bracing and then herby spicey .
This is DRY - a DRY scent and absolutely gorgeous. I see no relation to Mitsouko at all .If anything it is probably closer to Jicky but even then I feel that is pushing it. It is its own personality . Extremely refreshing and seems to last on me.
Unisex, daring. This is mine !

12nd June, 2010.