Mr. Hulot's Holiday (2005)
by CB I Hate Perfume

Like Fairy liquid seeping through a brown paper bag. Wonderful!

11th November, 2011.

Such a great concept, but such a strange fragrance.

This seems nothing like the other reviews I've read. I don't get airy, breezy, ocean, East Coast, leather suitcase. It starts out smelling a little like suntan lotion, moves into a long plastic phase, and then turns faintly plastic with basil on a slice of pizza.

I tried this on the same day (different arm) as L'Eau Serge Lutens and I must say they are not miles apart, though the Lutens is stronger with far more sillage and longevity.

Too bad. I was hoping CB I Hate Perfume's water fragrances would be more natural, but from my first experience this smells synthetic.

30th July, 2011.

CB is surely a funny brand. I like their visionary concept, I like their descriptions and love the perfume absolute bottle and packaging but very often I don't like very much their scents. Inconsistent and fresh in a very ordinary way. Mr. Hulot's Holyday is ok but nothing special, really. No old suitcase, sorry :(

5th March, 2011. (Last Edited: 4th April, 2011.)

This has replaced Comme des Garçons Odeur 53 as my favorite "anti-perfume." Don't get me wrong--look at my wardrobe and you will see that I like a good old stuffy Guerlain as much as the next guy, but there are times when I'm looking for a vacation and I want something simple, clean, attractive and untaxing to the nose.

Mr. Hulot's Holiday (Water Perfume) is a familiar, warm-yet-cool, relaxing getaway to innocence. Don't spray it on and start looking for the leather suitcases, driftwood, etc. like you're checking items off a grocery list--just put in on, close your eyes and let your mind drift...

It does smell like the ocean, but it's not a rough, foreboding chop of waves; it's a warm, salty embrace on a secluded beach under a gray overcast sky. A cool breeze blows over you every few minutes giving you a few goosebumps. There's a soapy component to it, but it feels so natural and a part of your own skin. Very peaceful and serene.

I've found the longevity to be very good with this also. The sillage is not extreme, but then I'm not one of those people who like their fragances to shout; it does exactly the job it's given. I was a bit taken aback by the alcohol-free water perfume at first, but I came to realize that sometimes the alcohol can interfere with the topnotes-- and the water perfume actually feels really good when you spray it on skin; it's mild and doesn't feel astringent. Also, I've found that this is one scent that does not irritate my sinus allergies; some scents give me a stuffy nose, but this one doesn't. I remember some of the Demeter scents being a bit flat and having little development-- this one is very high quality and while it may seem a bit linear, it's well made and sticks around for a long time.

If you're looking for something relaxing, clean and unlike anything mass-market, Mr. Hulot's Holiday is something you must try,

4th March, 2010.

As an aficionado of watery fragrances, I was disappointed by MHH. It's certainly watery, but it's also intrusively citrusy, enough to get in the way of making this a true aquatic. Ultimately, this frag is just not that special, and I really don't care about it. It would probably work well as a home fragrance.

25th December, 2009.

I haven't seen the movie, but to me this fragrance suggests sunshine, scrub brush and grasses growing in vacant lots, and plastic food containers that haven't quite lost their factory-fresh tang. Clean, subtle, and inoffensive. This fragrance would be very much at home in a bar of soap.

The "water perfume" version is relatively dilute. I applied a full coat to both inner forearms, waited for the water to evaporate, and recoated both arms, using half a 1ml sample. This is about the amount needed for a clear impression of the scent. Unlike some of the other CBIHP offerings, this one is pretty linear; it doesn't start with a loud blast of something that's quite different from the body. Longevity seems like it would be pretty good - I washed it off after a couple of hours to try something else, but there had been no noticeable diminution in scent.

27th October, 2009.