I hear you, WindyCity!
I certainly hate Guerlain, too. I started the exact same thread last year on the women's board and got the same replies: You don't know all of their perfumes, they'll grow on you, you are no expert like me/us, it's a matter of concentration (and they always try to get you on that, because for this perfume, it must be the 1976 pure perfume, that you certainly like and until you haven't tried it, you can't judge the whole house, or for that perfume you should only try EdT and if you say: "I did", they say: "Try the EdP, silly" etc.).
You can't win by reasoning, because the "lovers" don't smell, what the "haters" smell. We "haters" perceive it differently and I have better to do than search every Guerlain for one bearable, whereas I could spend my nose and time on things I like. To give the "lovers" a picture: You don't go on a waste dump for hobby to find the one thing, that doesn't stink as much as the rest.
The nasty smell is probably the Guerlinade. You could torture me with Guerlain perfumes, especially L'Heure Blue and Shalimar. I cannot understand, why Jicky is called "perfume", to my nose it is bug spray - the really poison one from the 70s. I am a civet lover, but this makes even civet stink. I also hate Must, because it is pretty similiar to Shalimar and even a reminder like Roma repells me because of the resemblance.
I'm on the other hand a big admirer of stinkers, leathers, flowerbombs, 80s bombs and vintage perfumery, as it smells superior to me, so for me it can't be the Ol'Granny Style that repells me.
I also tried what was recommended in the mentioned thread: Spiriteuse Double Vanille and Sous Le Vent and I have to confess, that I don't dislike them as much as I hate almost every other Guerlain, but SDV is an overpriced one dimensional vanille and SLV is weak and overpriced, with an even weaker drydown, which is really unimpressing (it doesn't stink, though). There are dozens of supermarket perfumes out there, that I'd rather spend my money on (yeah, I know, I'm a philistine).
As for the respect for the history of the house: How can I have respect (which is a feeling) for a company, which products I loathe (a feeling)? That's not reasonable and doesn't have to offend anybody personally. I get, that they made a lot of popular perfumes, but I really dislike practically all of them, that makes it really hard for me to have a good feeling about the house at all. I'm on ignore terms with the house: I know, I don't have to try any of their products and I know, that it doesn't matter a bit.
I don't want to offend anybody and I really think, that you "lovers" perceive something else from the Guerlains, especially no garbage, and I certainly don't want to judge anybody for anything (I am a simple user, no perfumista). Maybe it is because I'm stupid or a layman, I don't know. I am happy for anybody who gets happy by anything, may it be Guerlain. That's just not my cup of tea. Definitaly.
we still lub you
