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Challenging the Sacred Cow: Is Mitsouko actually all that?

post #1 of 40
4/2/10 at 7:21pm
Thread Starter 
I am currently wearing Mitsouko EDT.

I've tried the EDP too and have come to this conclusion.

I don't actually rate it that highly.

There is a horrible, sharp note in it which smells a bit like a plastic carrier bag (the high quality bags that you get in boutique stores).

I have a fair few Guerlains and this is not my favourite.

So - is the sacred cow of Guerlain, Mitsouko, actually not that good. Is it a bit like Chanel No 5 and is past its sell by date and should be put out to pasture.
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post #2 of 40
4/2/10 at 7:24pm
I'm glad you said it. I thought the same thing and attributed my general dislike of it to my inexperience or lack of taste. You are not alone.
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post #3 of 40
4/2/10 at 7:25pm
Wait till N_Tesla gets a whiff of this...

Just because you don't enjoy a particular fragrance doesn't necessarily mean it is bad. Anyway, the kind of fragrance that aims to please (or not offend) the masses is usually called 'generic' or 'safe'; it appeals to the lowest common denominator. Mitsouko is clearly not one of these.
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post #4 of 40
4/2/10 at 7:28pm
I guess it just depends on what you like. I didn't care for it when I first experienced it, but I've grown to like it quite a bit. I think it is a matter of personal tastes... but there are some who would disagree and claim that there are only absolute truths in the world of scent, and nothing can be left to interpretation (see the thread on gender).
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post #5 of 40
4/2/10 at 7:31pm
For me, it was a matter of learning to appreciate the sweetened oakmoss. However, I now like Pheromone for Men (Miglin) better, and so Mitsouko goes to the swap list !
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post #6 of 40
4/2/10 at 7:36pm
I'm there with you HDS . . . .
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post #7 of 40
4/2/10 at 7:37pm
Coincidence: I just wore some Mitsouko tonight, a couple of spritzes before dinner with a friend. I always make sure to wear chypres, right before I am going to be eating food, since IMO I think they smell particularly well around food smells. Gosh, I love this stuff...I enjoyed those wonderful little puffs of moss all night. Mine is vintage Eau de Cologne. Very peachy too.

Sometimes I am not in the mood for Mitsouko, but when I am it just instantly clicks into my consciousness.
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post #8 of 40
4/2/10 at 7:43pm
Thread Starter 
I've been into fragrances for a long long time, and my nose is fairly discerning I think after twenty or so years. Some fragrances I didn't like at first but grew to love (Habit Rouge is such a one, Hammam Bouquet another, which is now in my top three). Mitsouko just doesn't hold up well I don't think.
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post #9 of 40
4/2/10 at 8:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HDS1963 View Post

I don't actually rate it that highly.

Nor do I.
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post #10 of 40
4/2/10 at 8:55pm
Mitsouko has been one of those fragrances, like Kouros and Third Man, that I detested at first but truly adore now.
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post #11 of 40
4/2/10 at 8:56pm
In short, no. It was groundbreaking in its day but that day has long passed.
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post #12 of 40
4/2/10 at 9:02pm
I think challenging the holy cow on this site would be criticizing Creed.
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post #13 of 40
4/2/10 at 9:21pm
One man's meat is another man's poison. I'm a newbie and Mitsouko EdT was the first chypre I liked; Coriolan and Eau Sauvage didn't do it for me although ES is much praised here. I'm happy to have a partial bottle of it and got Carthusia's Numero Uno due to its similarity to Mitsouko (and arguably more masculine feel).
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post #14 of 40
4/2/10 at 10:14pm
i share the same opinion as OP
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post #15 of 40
4/2/10 at 10:52pm
Mitsouko is a giant amongst perfumes, and yet, I can't wear it. It goes big-time sourpuss central on me. BTW, I do love No. 5 - go figure?????
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post #16 of 40
4/2/10 at 11:04pm
Is it a vintage or modern formula you're testing?
Whilst the modern version tends to grate on me a little, the vintage is just staggeringly different... full of oakmoss, and with far less sharpness in the top.
50 year old Mitzy is a stunner. But then Ive always had a thing for older ladies.
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post #17 of 40
4/2/10 at 11:52pm
I don't have any of it, but in my tests I thought it was "all that," but only once the peach (which Mike likes so much) went away and left mid- and basenotes.
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post #18 of 40
4/2/10 at 11:59pm
I tried the EDT when I first started reading about perfume a couple of years ago (The Guide, then here) and I thought it was horrible, but figured there must be something I was missing so went back for another sniff, then tried the EDP. Still didn't like it but stumbled on the Extrait one day and tried that and something happened - it had a whole different air about it. Then later I found a vintage Parfums de Toilette and very old Extrait and bought them both - completely different experience. I think a couple of years trying lots of classic and niche has also helped me to actually understand what is going with Mitsouko and why it occupies the historical slot that it does. Frankly I don't see how a perfume so reliant on Oak Moss for it's structure can really continue to exist with the current regulations so it may be all over anyway. I'm glad I persevered because not only do I enjoy it from time to time I figure my understanding of this artform has been enhanced by the effort.
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post #19 of 40
4/3/10 at 12:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruggles View Post

Mitsouko is a giant amongst perfumes, and yet, I can't wear it. It goes big-time sourpuss central on me. BTW, I do love No. 5 - go figure?????

My thoughts exactly.
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post #20 of 40
4/3/10 at 6:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HDS1963 View Post

I am currently wearing Mitsouko EDT.

I've tried the EDP too and have come to this conclusion.

I don't actually rate it that highly.

There is a horrible, sharp note in it which smells a bit like a plastic carrier bag (the high quality bags that you get in boutique stores).

I have a fair few Guerlains and this is not my favourite.

So - is the sacred cow of Guerlain, Mitsouko, actually not that good. Is it a bit like Chanel No 5 and is past its sell by date and should be put out to pasture.

I have to fully disagree with you. Mitsouko is all that and more. One of the greatest chypres of all time.
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post #21 of 40
4/3/10 at 7:27am
Mitsouko for me is probably the trickiest frag out of them all , sometimes I hate it and other times I crave it . I dont get any peach from it at all , just very dry bitter green , maybe I need to spend more time with the old gal , very difficult ...
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post #22 of 40
4/3/10 at 7:50am
I have tried to like the EdT in different incarnations, but I ended up selling my bottles. There was a sharpness I couldn´t get around.

Then the EdC came along. Still obviously Mitsouko, but much rounder and velvety. Great longevity too. This turned out to be my comfort fragrance and go-to fragrance when I can´t decide what to wear. I am actually surprised by this development. But happy!
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post #23 of 40
4/3/10 at 12:11pm
I could happily sell my entire collection and wear Mitsouko exclusively until the day that I die.

I do not agree with the proposition that, if I don't personally love a fragrance, it must be a bad fragrance.
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post #24 of 40
4/3/10 at 12:23pm
I could happily sell everyone else's Mitsouko, and with the money, purchase fragrances till I die.

Honestly, I think it's really nice, but time has built up a reputation around it that no fragrance can truly deliver if you expect the world from it.

I've seen vintage bottles for sale; I didn't buy them. I like it, just not as much as I like other chypres ( hello, L'Arte! )
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post #25 of 40
4/3/10 at 12:33pm
To be perfectly honest , I just really like the bottle
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post #26 of 40
4/3/10 at 12:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HDS1963 View Post

I am currently wearing Mitsouko EDT.

I've tried the EDP too and have come to this conclusion.

I don't actually rate it that highly.

There is a horrible, sharp note in it which smells a bit like a plastic carrier bag (the high quality bags that you get in boutique stores).

I have a fair few Guerlains and this is not my favourite.

So - is the sacred cow of Guerlain, Mitsouko, actually not that good. Is it a bit like Chanel No 5 and is past its sell by date and should be put out to pasture.

nope. shalimar is easily the finest thing they ever produced. mitsouko smells like old musk if you're into that. a real bitter one at that.
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post #27 of 40
4/3/10 at 12:46pm
And if anyone feels so inclined I just spied a 1 litre golden bee bottle on ebay uk for £100
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post #28 of 40
4/3/10 at 12:53pm
I'm not pushing Mitsouko. I've smelled it in store and indeed it didn't bowl me over as the vaunted love of Luca Turin. But I do find that for me, all the Guerlains are constructed such that I can't get to them know them, like them or hate them, in a short amount of time.

I'm mostly focused on traditional maie frags right now, but I may at some point get a bit of Mitsouko to test.
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post #29 of 40
4/3/10 at 9:46pm
While I respect everyones right to their opinions I must, with all due respect, reiterate my personal opinion that Mitsouko is, for me, the Grande Dame of my wardrobe. I will wear it with pleasure till the day I shuffle off this mortle coil. I have the greatest respect for Mitsouko as a work of art. May your way be as pleasant.
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post #30 of 40
4/3/10 at 9:50pm
I think Mitsouko is everything it's touted to be by its admirers, and more. I think it is perhaps the best fragrance I have ever smelled. The perfect chypre in my mind. And I actually prefer the EDT to the EDP!
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post #31 of 40
4/3/10 at 11:30pm
I don't really get it either. The only version I've smelled is the current EDT reformulation and it comes off as boneless and fleeting. I could see how it could be an amazing fragrance if they put the oakmoss back in there for depth and structure but this version just felt half baked.

I'm jealous of the Mitsouko lovers.
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post #32 of 40
4/4/10 at 1:10am
I carried out an interesting experiment yesterday. I visited the Guerlain flagship in Paris, 68 Champs Elysées, and tried all the classics that I had never smelled before, in Parfum (extrait) concentration. They have circular metal boxes that content fabric impregnated with pure perfume.

I was overwhelmed by the beauty of Jicky and l'Heure Bleue, followed shortly by Vol de Nuit and Shalimar. I found Mitsouko to be the less attractive of the 5. This is not at all what I expected from the reviews I read on Basenotes... I was looking forward to loving them in the following order:

1. Mitsouko
2. Jicky
3. l'Heure Bleue
4. Vol de Nuit
5. Shalimar
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post #33 of 40
4/4/10 at 2:14am
When I joined perfume forums as a Mitsouko wearer I was surprised to find people who hated it. Infact just could not wear it at all. On me Mitsouko is all smooth sultry and gorgeous. But after reading over the years other people's thoughts I have discovered Mitsouko is a BITCH of a chypre.
If she does not work for you and you cannot make her work for you no matter how hard you beg or try, then walk away. Mitsouko doesn't care.

Its good old body chemistry, and Mitsouko it seems is the hardest and down right nastiest of them all if she does not work with you.

No5 is the holy cow for many woman. On me I get the plastic thing which the OP mentions from it. Infact for years I thought I could not wear aldehydes and ignored the entire family. But not it was just No5, so I listen to people who rave and fall at the feet of No5 and think so what I don't like it.
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post #34 of 40
4/4/10 at 3:16am
Dont even get me started on No 5 which smells like cheap hairspray from start to finish
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post #35 of 40
4/4/10 at 3:23am
Mitsouko and Chanel No 5 are both wonderful fragrances IMO. I know that they're "all that" to many others besides me.

Not everyone agrees, and that's fine.
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post #36 of 40
4/4/10 at 3:30am
Didn't like Mitsouko at first (smelled the EDT - big mistake!) Then one day I found the EDP. Then something happened after I started wearing Mitsouko EDP: My tastes have changed that quite a few frags in my wardrobe now smells "synthetic" by comparison.
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post #37 of 40
4/4/10 at 5:31am
Mitsouko in any formulation simply does not float my boat. I admit that I did try quite hard to "get" it, but several rather uninspiring applications later - I simply conceded,"not for me". I can appreciate its importance in the general evolution of fragrance, but for me it is never going to get beyond the first date.

Sometimes there is a fear that finding fault with a classic renders you a philistine, but I prefer to see it simply for what it is, just something I tried, and didn't take to.
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post #38 of 40
4/4/10 at 12:20pm
I like Mitsouko very much, although my favorite classic Guerlain is and always will be L'Heure Bleue.
I can see how it would not agree with some body chemistry, fortunately it is lovely on me.
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post #39 of 40
4/4/10 at 12:47pm
Mitsouko is obviously very special. I admire it and like it, and plan to always have a sample on hand. Perhaps a mini is in my future. No fragrance can be a holy grail for everyone, though. I think folks hear about Mitsouko and expect it to be wonderful for them. But there are Shalimar folks and l'Heure Bleu folks, Vol de Nuit folks, and Jicky folks. I have recently discovered that I am a Chamade person. I think it was made for me. ;-)
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post #40 of 40
4/4/10 at 3:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by donna255 View Post

But after reading over the years other people's thoughts I have discovered Mitsouko is a BITCH of a chypre.
If she does not work for you and you cannot make her work for you no matter how hard you beg or try, then walk away. Mitsouko doesn't care.

Perfectly put!
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