Today I was bored. I decided to go sample some fragrances at my fave independent fragrance shop. Since I'm on an Hermés kick, I grabbed a bottle of Bel Ami-- I like it a lot. Similar to Helmut Lang's Cuiron but a little different. I was looking for one other fragrance to try, and the shopkeeper pulled out a bottle of Monsieur de Givenchy and sprayed some on a card.
The memories came flooding back. THIS was the stuff my grandfather used to wear! I always liked the way he smelled and I remember once when I was really young I looked at his and my grandmother's fragrance bottles and there was one bottle that said "Givenchy" on it. This was most definitely it. Funny thing is, I'd always associated Guerlain Vetiver with my grandparents' house--and I thought I smelled a LOT of vetiver in Monsieur de Givenchy--though when I looked at the notes, vetiver isn't listed anywhere!
I'm not a big fan of the new packaging-- the frosted tall bottle with the goofy little cap. The old bottles looked much better. Still, it's easy to forgive this when the juice smells so great. Sure, it's an old school citrus of the Eau Sauvage/YSL Pour Homme school, but I like this one the best. It's so fresh, clean and classic-- like a new haircut. Along with the fresh citrus, I get a bit of a salty celery seed note that reminds me fleetingly of Yatagan, though only a pinch. This fragrance is outstanding, somewhat minimalist, yet with surprising depth.
I bought a bottle. As I was sitting in my car, I started thinking about Father's Day. My grand dad passed away back in '92, and just smelling the Monsieur de Givenchy brought back so many pleasant memories of him. I ran back into the store and purchased a second bottle-- this one to give to my dad for a Father's Day gift. Maybe it will give him nice memories of his dad.
The memories came flooding back. THIS was the stuff my grandfather used to wear! I always liked the way he smelled and I remember once when I was really young I looked at his and my grandmother's fragrance bottles and there was one bottle that said "Givenchy" on it. This was most definitely it. Funny thing is, I'd always associated Guerlain Vetiver with my grandparents' house--and I thought I smelled a LOT of vetiver in Monsieur de Givenchy--though when I looked at the notes, vetiver isn't listed anywhere!
I'm not a big fan of the new packaging-- the frosted tall bottle with the goofy little cap. The old bottles looked much better. Still, it's easy to forgive this when the juice smells so great. Sure, it's an old school citrus of the Eau Sauvage/YSL Pour Homme school, but I like this one the best. It's so fresh, clean and classic-- like a new haircut. Along with the fresh citrus, I get a bit of a salty celery seed note that reminds me fleetingly of Yatagan, though only a pinch. This fragrance is outstanding, somewhat minimalist, yet with surprising depth.
I bought a bottle. As I was sitting in my car, I started thinking about Father's Day. My grand dad passed away back in '92, and just smelling the Monsieur de Givenchy brought back so many pleasant memories of him. I ran back into the store and purchased a second bottle-- this one to give to my dad for a Father's Day gift. Maybe it will give him nice memories of his dad.
