I am 19, so I have very little experience with fragrance aside from all my sampling. Growing up my dad wore Guerlain's Vetiver which I loved, and actually noticed when it was briefly off the market for retooling (at least that what it seemed like for a few months) and then reappeared. I forget how old I was but I noticed the difference, the color is kinda different too. He still wears it, I think it's watered down.
Anyway I've been sampling stuff, see what I like, I guess build a pallet or try to build my tastes.....a lot of stuff I just don't like. Rive Gauche pour Homme reminded me of hairy 70's celebrities. I can't stand the smell literally POURING out from Abercrombie stores or half of what a lot of other guys smell like. Everyone wears Burbery stuff. Also my younger brother wears AXE, his room smells like a hamster cage to me. Thus I am on a quest to find the best scent for me, and you guys have been a great help, I've found some real keepers ( eau d'orange verte and eau savage - love orange)
Now..the old Guerlain's intrigue me, they seem rather "holy" among the fragrance crowd and I just had to see what all this fuss is about since I'm obsessed with vintage things and am open to unisex scents or even female scents if they smell GREAT on me and will garter compliments from girls.
I've tried samples of;
Jicky Edp (I think)
Mouchoir de Monsieur
vintage Vol de Nuit Edt (Perfumed court's)
Mitsouko Edp
L'Heure Blue
And the response from an sensitive, artsy, but heterosexual 19 year old are:
I've noticed all the fragrances seem related in notes...like, to me there IS that "old lady" not present in all of them..what IS that, the oakmoss? I picked this up in Vol de Nuit the most, which was disappointing to me because I had high hopes it would be unisex for me...and also because the opening smelled like Vetiver to me. When I first smelled it I was like " this smells like Vetiver, this is like a man's cologne, awesome!" and then came the chalkiness and a bit too sweet florals. Maybe I should check out the new edp or the new edt. Whatever the case the "house notes" present there were uncanny, totally the same greens used in Vetiver at first spray.
Jicky was kinda weird, I get the fecal/play-dough quality about it...but in all it was prettier than I had anticipated but still...it was like rose and herbs dipped in something. I couldn't decide if it was nice or offensive...but not in an obvious way.
Mouchoir de Monsieur is interesting to me because I just kept sniffing my wrist with that on. I might buy this one for formal occasions, my dad said it smelled like some alcoholic drink (I forget which). It was just...fuzzy, the Guerlainade in that is really good. Very fancy, not ordinary at all and probably my favorite but in a kind of guilty pleasure way like " Am I really supposed to like this?"
Perhaps L'Heure Bleue was the most disappointing because like one of the reviews here states that it smelled like a soap from a dormitory bathroom, and to me it totally reminded me of some types of yellow soap that you find in bathrooms or hotels...or even that liquid stuff. Somewhere down the line the fragrance was ripped off by far....cause I just couldn't take it seriously. I must have a poor nose cause I wanted it to be as great as everyone says, especially with that name, but man is it a downer. How many strengths does it come in? Maybe an edt would be better.
Mitsouko edp is faring better, a nice sharp green opening, I like those, I think I might have even liked Vol de Nuit's green opening better but it's still a nice surprise. You can see the relation of Mitsouko to both L'Heure Bleue and Vol de Nuit...which is weird because I like this better, it kinda reminds me of my grandmother though...I need to ask what she wears, I wouldn't want to wear the same thing. It's far more subtle than the other old gal Guerlains that I've tried and I think could be passable. I'm not sure I can smell the peach....all I can tell is that it's warmer than Bleue and Nuit and spicier. I haven't gotten the edt version, I have a feeling I might like that more.
So that's pretty much all I gotta say, you all will probably think my nose needs more training, lol. I'm intensely curious about fragrance though. What are your masculine takes on the old Guerlains
Anyway I've been sampling stuff, see what I like, I guess build a pallet or try to build my tastes.....a lot of stuff I just don't like. Rive Gauche pour Homme reminded me of hairy 70's celebrities. I can't stand the smell literally POURING out from Abercrombie stores or half of what a lot of other guys smell like. Everyone wears Burbery stuff. Also my younger brother wears AXE, his room smells like a hamster cage to me. Thus I am on a quest to find the best scent for me, and you guys have been a great help, I've found some real keepers ( eau d'orange verte and eau savage - love orange)
Now..the old Guerlain's intrigue me, they seem rather "holy" among the fragrance crowd and I just had to see what all this fuss is about since I'm obsessed with vintage things and am open to unisex scents or even female scents if they smell GREAT on me and will garter compliments from girls.
I've tried samples of;
Jicky Edp (I think)
Mouchoir de Monsieur
vintage Vol de Nuit Edt (Perfumed court's)
Mitsouko Edp
L'Heure Blue
And the response from an sensitive, artsy, but heterosexual 19 year old are:
I've noticed all the fragrances seem related in notes...like, to me there IS that "old lady" not present in all of them..what IS that, the oakmoss? I picked this up in Vol de Nuit the most, which was disappointing to me because I had high hopes it would be unisex for me...and also because the opening smelled like Vetiver to me. When I first smelled it I was like " this smells like Vetiver, this is like a man's cologne, awesome!" and then came the chalkiness and a bit too sweet florals. Maybe I should check out the new edp or the new edt. Whatever the case the "house notes" present there were uncanny, totally the same greens used in Vetiver at first spray.
Jicky was kinda weird, I get the fecal/play-dough quality about it...but in all it was prettier than I had anticipated but still...it was like rose and herbs dipped in something. I couldn't decide if it was nice or offensive...but not in an obvious way.
Mouchoir de Monsieur is interesting to me because I just kept sniffing my wrist with that on. I might buy this one for formal occasions, my dad said it smelled like some alcoholic drink (I forget which). It was just...fuzzy, the Guerlainade in that is really good. Very fancy, not ordinary at all and probably my favorite but in a kind of guilty pleasure way like " Am I really supposed to like this?"
Perhaps L'Heure Bleue was the most disappointing because like one of the reviews here states that it smelled like a soap from a dormitory bathroom, and to me it totally reminded me of some types of yellow soap that you find in bathrooms or hotels...or even that liquid stuff. Somewhere down the line the fragrance was ripped off by far....cause I just couldn't take it seriously. I must have a poor nose cause I wanted it to be as great as everyone says, especially with that name, but man is it a downer. How many strengths does it come in? Maybe an edt would be better.
Mitsouko edp is faring better, a nice sharp green opening, I like those, I think I might have even liked Vol de Nuit's green opening better but it's still a nice surprise. You can see the relation of Mitsouko to both L'Heure Bleue and Vol de Nuit...which is weird because I like this better, it kinda reminds me of my grandmother though...I need to ask what she wears, I wouldn't want to wear the same thing. It's far more subtle than the other old gal Guerlains that I've tried and I think could be passable. I'm not sure I can smell the peach....all I can tell is that it's warmer than Bleue and Nuit and spicier. I haven't gotten the edt version, I have a feeling I might like that more.
So that's pretty much all I gotta say, you all will probably think my nose needs more training, lol. I'm intensely curious about fragrance though. What are your masculine takes on the old Guerlains
