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Apres L'Ondee reduces me to tears!

post #1 of 17
1/16/09 at 3:46am
Thread Starter 
I was delighted to receive a batch of samples from a very generous
enabler over on POL. The first one to catch my eye was Guerlain's
Apres L'Ondee. I have wanted to try this and L'Heure Bleu for a long
time now, so I immediately dabbed some on my wrists - and burst into tears!
Now that is what I call genius - melancholia in a bottle.

Never before have I had this reaction to a scent; I was not depressed or in
a sad state of mind before trying it. The last time I cried was two weeks ago at the
end of watching the last episode of Anne Frank's Diary. It really is just breathtakingly
beautiful in a wistful, impressionistic way. It reminded me of Eric Satie's music or
a Monet painting. Pure magic. Anyone know a good place to buy it?
Please don't tell me it's discontinued or I might cry again.....
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post #2 of 17
1/16/09 at 4:01am
http://www.escentual.com/guerlain/apres-l-ondee/

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post #3 of 17
1/16/09 at 4:04am
http://www.escentual.com/guerlain/apres-l-ondee/

What made me nearly cry recently is Malle/Ellena's L'Eau d'Hiver, which supposedly pays homage to Après l'Ondée but really only proves that progress doesn't always equal improvement.
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post #4 of 17
1/16/09 at 4:34am
FM Angeliques sous la Pluie is another tear jerker! Recommended for funerals, to which I have worn it.

A reviewer once likened Apres L'Ondee to "mercury trickling down bathroom walls", which I think is very apt. It was one of the scents I tried early on in my hobby, and full-on mania swiftly followed....!
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post #5 of 17
1/16/09 at 4:46am
That's such an apt review of this beautiful fragrance. To me it feels not melancholic, exactly, but vulnerable. Like being a little kid lying in the grass of a small garden, looking up through branches as it starts to rain.
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post #6 of 17
1/16/09 at 6:36am
Sounds like I should stay away from this one...since I have a melancholic disposition to begin with.
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post #7 of 17
1/16/09 at 8:45am
I love and own Apres L'Ondee. It does turn me inward. It is so exquisitely beautiful.

But when I wear AG Songes I can become teary. I must feel quite grounded to wear it.
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post #8 of 17
1/16/09 at 8:46am
I recently fell for this a couple months ago.

I thought it was too, too...dusty and faded on me when I first wore it. Then a certain bath gel I was using opened my nose up to the wonders of mimosa/heliotrope and after that when I sampled ALO it 'clicked'. Now I love it.

I will be going thru my decant very quickly - I could easily see owning a full bottle of this. And yes, it makes me wistful and melancholic too. Perfect scent for sitting at home, in bed, curled up with a book, under the covers.
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post #9 of 17
1/16/09 at 9:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Asha View Post

Sounds like I should stay away from this one...since I have a melancholic disposition to begin with.

Same here, so Après l'Ondée, is not for me unless I have time to turn into Emily Dickinson. However, it is one of those fragrances that must be experienced because it's incredibly beautiful, complex, and evocative! L'Eau d'Hiver is exquisite, yet it doesn't permeate my frontal lobe and cerebrum, making it, for me, a more sensible, less stupefying choice. (The two fragrances are not twins, but Hiver is an homage to AlO).

I must completely avoid L'Heure Bleue. I don't have the emotional resources for it!
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post #10 of 17
1/18/09 at 11:21am
Kewart, it was your identical post on POL that made me bring my bottle of Apres l'Ondee out of storage and onto my skin this weekend. I didn't see this post on BN till just now.

I've never had a good relationship with this fragrance, and the edt fades very quickly to my nose, but I'm now wearing this for the second day. That's a record for Apres l'Ondee. I may wear it tomorrow for work, but only in the hope that it makes itself known to me during the day.
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post #11 of 17
1/18/09 at 4:39pm
I've heard of others having this reaction to Apres L'Ondée.

I'd love to myself, but it doesn't pierce my apparently stone cold heart.

It reminds me of childhood in the sense that on me, it smells like that bubble solution we used to blow. But I occasionally retry it, hoping for a more profound reaction.
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post #12 of 17
1/18/09 at 4:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackCat View Post

I've heard of others having this reaction to Apres L'Ondée.

I'd love to myself, but it doesn't pierce my apparently stone cold heart.

It reminds me of childhood in the sense that on me, it smells like that bubble solution we used to blow. But I occasionally retry it, hoping for a more profound reaction.

LOL, BlackCat. Me, too. I've never had a fragrance make me feel sad, or wistful, or melancholy. Maybe a "stone cold heart" is a good thing!

Kewart, I do find this fragrance to be very beautiful!
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post #13 of 17
1/19/09 at 4:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Haunani View Post

LOL, BlackCat. Me, too. I've never had a fragrance make me feel sad, or wistful, or melancholy. Maybe a "stone cold heart" is a good thing!

Ha, same here, until recently.
The only one that recently managed to make me feel sad was Coromandel. I find something quite sad about that earthy patchouli, probably because it reminds me of rainy, gray, depressing days in drenched forests with your shoes slowly filling with icy water.
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post #14 of 17
1/19/09 at 1:47pm
Vol de Nuit is in the same vein but deeper and has amber at the base. In the parfum, I find it heartbreakingly beautiful, too.
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post #15 of 17
1/19/09 at 2:10pm
Did you try the pure parfum version?
Almost all of the the Guerlains are best that concentration.
TPC has it in samples, half a ml for $13. Pricy.
I got a tiny drop of it when my daughter went to London several years ago.
Oh, bliss.
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post #16 of 17
1/19/09 at 2:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by veuve amiot View Post

Ha, same here, until recently.
The only one that recently managed to make me feel sad was Coromandel. I find something quite sad about that earthy patchouli, probably because it reminds me of rainy, gray, depressing days in drenched forests with your shoes slowly filling with icy water.

Um, sounds delightful, veuve. Are you going to wear it again?
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post #17 of 17
1/20/09 at 3:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Haunani View Post

Um, sounds delightful, veuve. Are you going to wear it again?

Doesn't it just?
Well, i actually quite liked the fragrance, it just seemed melancholy. I will definitely try it again to see if it wasn't a weird one-off at least, and simply because it was beautiful.
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