Reviews of Hanae Mori (new / Butterfly) (1995)
by Hanae Mori

This is a pretty decent perfume. To me, it's very, very sweet and musky, and there isn't much development over the life of the perfume. It does have amazing longevity as it lasts longer on me than any other perfume I've ever tried. I like wearing it occasionally, but I probably wouldn't buy it again.

Today I finally got around to sampling the Hanae Mori that someone sent me! I don't know why I waited so long. As soon as I sprayed it on, I started singing, "Sugar! Oh, honey, honey! You are my candy GIRL! And I can't stop lovin' YOOOO!"

It's got the same opening as D'Orsay Arome3. Pineapple! But unlike D'Orsay Arome3, the pineapple doesn't go away! It stays and stays and stays. It's almost 11 hours later, and I'm still smelling like a pineapple upside-down cake. I love pineapple upside down cake. How can there be no vanilla in this concoction? Amazing!

This one is my safe blanket! Whenever I feel down, it is snowing (I am not fond of snow), everything looks gloomy I just spray a little of HM Butterfly and things look better. I remember my mom baking, childhood friends, my sister sharing her cake slice with me... This perfume makes me smile. Big thumbs up!

If I were a teen experiencing Hanae Mori for the first time, I would scream; "This is it! This is the ultimate fragrance I have ben looking for! It is so sweet and likable, but so single-minded, confused and yet non-sensual. It does nothing to my imagination but makes me want to smell more of it for a continuous period of time. Smell it it the room - big yes, smelling like it - no.

I echo the sentiments of Nlb's poetic review. This is an absolutely beautiful perfume which deserves time to develop on the skin to appreciate all its charms. It is one of my absolute favorite comfort scents, and never fails to lift my spirits. Just wonderful.

At first sniff this seems to be a grownup cousin of Pink Sugar but it is actually quite a bit more complex, and morphs considerably on drydown. Definitely gourmand, but with some dry woods and aldehyde added for balance. So if you like your vanilla, almond, and berries with a little something extra, this might be it.

When I first smelled this, I was head-over-heels in love with it. Sweet and fruity and for some reason reminded me of fresh sassafras. I was addicted to it; my then-boyfriend loved smelling it on the sweatshirt I'd borrow. Then, I slowly stopped using it. When I tried to wear it again, it left a bad taste in my mouth all the way through the drydown until I had to take a shower. I've given it several more chances, but I just can't wear it anymore.

I love this, my husband loves it. It is very feminine and light to me. It might be said that is smells a little like almond cookies or a bowl of berries drenched in almond and whipped cream, but it is not just this, it is such a pretty floral oriental with a little wood. It smells like almond cookies, like hypnotic poison smells a little like root beer freeze, but there is so much more to it than just food.

My kids call this "Batterfly" .
They first sniffed it out on me, saying "OH! You smell just like waffle batter"- a compliment, as
I do make these delicious waffles, & realize the batter does smell like Hanae Mori Butterfly. Pure vanilla extract, a few drops of pure almond extract, the smell of the batter as it slowly begins to warm up. Butter, eh, Batterfly! I got a large bottle of this as a gift, & can only wear it once in a while. Like other Sweet Baked Good scents, it will probably always be popular. A lot of People prefer yummy or refined or sexy.

A really sweet powdery fragrance, I knew I had to own a bottle. I really do love it, but I have to admit, that after awhile, I did grow a bit tired of it. It is a strong fragrance, so be careful not to overapply.
If you like this fragrance, but don't like the price tag, I did discover something interesting several years ago. The clothing store Hot Topic sells a perfume called "ragdoll" there which smells so closely to my Hanae Mori, that I have been able to fool people with it many times. I can tell the difference, as the Hanae Mori is definitely richer, but it is an interesting likeness.

At first spray, Hanae Mori "Butterfly" seemed pleasant but common enough. My jerk reaction: "Ah, another fruity gourmande scent". Although "HMB" was released amongst the cellophane freshness of '90s scents(reaching for chypre),the current market hasn't been lacking in those fragrances with "yummy" appeal.

Given this, I was a bit quick to disregard it and sniff onto the next.Things would've gone as usual, except...

"Hanae Mori" grew on me--hauntingly,in a sense. Without my realizing it,the smell developed like some luscious dessert baking on my skin. I would catch drifts of the creamiest, tartest confection I could ever conjure--it couldn't have seemed more provocative if it had a "drink me" sign floating above it, or had been sniffed out by truffle swine.

Just before I could grow sick of it's honeyed-sweetness, flashes of wood and sunlight sparked in my head and I felt like I was walking out of a hayfield into a forest.Berries and bark swirled my cilia, until I reached a dusky dry place, that manifested as...dried leaves...or the pollenesque wings of a butterfly. Amazing, really.

So that is what "Hanae Mori" is to me; flowerbuds in spring, the overipe sweetness and solar haze of summer, the spicy crispness of autumn, the luminous snowbank or holiday pie baking in the oven. It is a rare violin, an ancient nordic church on a hill of berries, the aura around a child amongst cherry blossoms or pop star posters in a plastic house. "Hanae Mori" is every story and will end up seeming all the more extraordinary because of it. It's sort of like becoming friends with a rare and unusual person--the kind you weren't sure you could trust at first, simply because she seemed too patient and gosh darn sweet.

This is one of my personal favorites. At first, I HATED it, but then I grew to love it.
Almonds and berries combined to smell like vanilla...Heavenly.
Sephora always has samples of this one.

I have looked so forward to trying this fragrances... especially after having heard so much about it and read all these rave review :) The funny thing is that on my first try I was even disappointed in it... Something about it was a let down; (that's what happens when I set myself up for something specific and then if it's even remotely off the target I feel cheated)... My husband loved it right away... I sprayed some on before bed the first day I got it, and his face instantly lit up like a little boy... all he could say was: "PETTIT BEURRE"!!!! Ohh you smell so good I could eat you!!!! You smell just like "PETTIT BEURRE"!!!! Well that made me laugh but it did not make me feel like this would be one of my snazzy complex fragrance I would wear and feel really sexy wearing... But I did wear it a couple of times on the weekends (for my DH) and enjoyed it well enough... This morning however, (it's pretty warm and sunny outside), I decided to spray some on before work... I walked to my office in the sun and all of a sudden I could smell sweet incense... sun warming my skin and Butterfly caressing me and flying into my hair... playing on my face :) I remembered instantly a vacation in Tunis when I was a little girl... Walking through the market... warm sun on my bare skin... light breeze in my hair playing with it... and sweet, sweet smell of spices and incense lingering in the air... I don't smell spices in Butterfly, but there is something, a lightest touch of incense there that shows up when your outside in the sun... That was what prompted this review and what will most likely have me wearing this wonderful fragrance thought the summer and having my buy bottle upon bottle again and again... (this review is for EDT... I do agree that it's fleeting and not very "strong" but that was what I actually enjoy about this particular fragrance... that almost far-away sense of fragrant air... elusive almost like it's hiding... but you know that it's everywhere around you).

This just doesn't do it for me. As hard as I tried, because my husband gave it to me for Valentines Day, I couldn't bring myself to like this. It does get better after a while, but just better, not good. I couldn't put my finger on what it was it reminded me of, but someone above pointed out it's Windex and I totally agree! It's sweet and interesting and I agree that it's an original and unique scent but too sweet for me and not beautiful, sensual, fresh, or intoxicating, qualities I like in my perfumes.

Shocking to discover this lovely fragrance has no vanilla notes within...however, there is a strawberry/almond blend that gives a distinct vanilla aroma!!! It is exquisitely blended, the fruity berry notes and the gentle sweet florals combine effortlessly with a connecting base of sandalwood. A quality modern day potion, worthy of praise from this perfume lover!

The first fragrance I thought truly fit me. Like Hello Kitty but also with a serious side... sweet and elegant, and more complex than the first whiff would indicate... I love the strawberry in this, and keeping the sweetness all the way down to the basenotes with the praline and almond is wonderful... and I agree with calchic, a little goes a long way with this one, which is just right.

It is okay for what I'd call a foody fragrance. If I had to choose a vanilla based perfume that was my favorite it would have to be this. On me it first turns to vanilla then to a vanilla/strawberry/sugary cream. If I liked foody scents this would be okay. Not my 1st choice; seems too Brittany Spearish.

I love this fragrance with all my heart ONCE I get past its very aggressive and sharp opening, which never fails to remind me of Windex. (Is that the fault of the topnote of bilberry? I'm going to go ahead and say yes, since it's the one note in the mix that I don't "know" as an individual. Bad bilberry!) I've worn HM through the years in both EDT and EDP combos, and it's an exquisitely adult confection, couture candy with a very real and sensual underlying warmth. Sidenote: to be applied and enjoyed in small doses - do not overspray this one. I've experienced it on others when overapplied and it's not pretty, trust me. Kills the whole effect. Like all great fragrances, a few touches of this, applied in the proper places, takes you through the day in the manner of an exquisitely rendered designer ensemble.

Sweet strawberry cotton candy with a little wood. Hanae Mori is extraordinarily popular, and many men love it (my husband is not one of them). You may find it cloying or too foody a fragrance. I'd peg it as a young woman's scent. It's fairly simple, but has good staying power. I find Chopard's Mira Bai more interesting. I highly recommend comparing samples of each.

Sweet, pretty, feminine, elegant, and classic...I love Butterfly edt and it's a staple in my fragrance wardrobe. Whenever I want a "pink and white" mood, I spray Butterly Pink! It's a sweet fragrance, but its woodsy drydown keeps it from being cloying, and gives it depth.

I was given a sample of this fragrance five months ago, and it was the first fragrance I've ever tried that I loved straight away. In fact as soon as I'd used up the sample I went out and bought it. I've hardly worn any other fragrance since! People are always asking what perfume I'm wearing when I have this on, and use words such as "sexy" and "subtle" to describe it.