How many current versions of Mouchoir de Monsieur are there?

I never remember reading this on BN. This is news to me.

For me, one is too many.....this ranks as one of my greatest disappointments - a fragrance I expected to really like/love and actually hated.

This is a truly like-it-or-love-it scent.

When I first tried it, I found the civet nauseating! Give it a chance beyond the opening notes.

Now this is one of my all-time elegant scents. The vanilla is worth the wait.

I have never heard of "other" versions.

mouchoir de monsieur was originally an extract--and so there have been many versions of it over the years. The best were available for years in a square 8oz bottle with a screw off cap. though this was labeled EdT, it's actually an EdP by current standards. The current formulation available in the spray bee bottle is indeed the lightest version to date. If you order it at one of the boutiques in paris by the liter they will make you an EdP concentration, but only in the liter size: it's what I do--and a liter lasts me just over a year. Mind you, I wear it every day on my skin and in the linings of my jackets as well as on my handkerchief. One liter goes for just over 1K US.

Fantastic insight! Thanks

Wow! A litre a year of Mouchoir de Monsieur is impressive. I love MdM and I rediscovered it again this year - my first, and most recent other bottle I purchased in 1968! But . . . I think my new bee bottle will probably last me for the rest of my life. You may be over applying??? I understand that Bnotes name - I respect he who walks the talk!

MdM is hard to find in the States, so most of us have probably never had exposure to the various formulas that may exist. I doubt the original formula would still be available. In 1904 it is a toss up whether or not Guerlain would have been using authentic animal ingredients and natural essential oils or synthetics. I've smelled some vintage and it was a little flatter, but richer than the new bottle I have. But hopefully, Mr. Guerlain knows more than any of us ignorant hillbillies in the US.

Mouchoir de Monsieur is not available in normal retail stores, at least here in Canada. But Montreal is blessed with a Guerlain spa (in the city of Westmount, actually), where they have not only MdM, but also all the exclusives, including Derby.

I spent one afternoon there with the staff kindly helping me to sniff this, then that, then this, and so on, for hours. I left with a sample of Impériale and MdM, and a few days after I was won over my MdM, came back, and got by bottle. (try to find a place where they will let you leave with a free sample of MdM!!)

If you ever visit them, you can see the amazing Guerlain collection of the owner in a glass case, but sadly, you can't smell it!

Ahhh
That shitty smell you call it civet?

Sorry!

I'm gonna try it again.

After multiple visits to the Guerlain Boutiques in the Bellagio and Venetian in Las Vegas...and trying anything and everything....I ended up purchasing a bottle of MdM. It is so unique. It completely won me over.

No reformulated one, I hope

I think the latest version of Muchoir de Monsieur is outstanding! In fact it far surpasses my remembrance of the fragrance from the 1960's era version. It smells rounder and more layered somehow. The older version smelled much flatter - it still had that animalic basenote, but the new one is better put together in my opinion. MdM seems like a conceptual extension or intensification of the warmth of Habit Rouge edp or Beau Cavalier edtions. These have oud and contain a richness in the base. Well MdM starts with rich warmth where HR leaves off. You can definitely smell the kinship these two scents have with each other. I have no complaints about the current bee bottle MdM fragrance. It is fantastic and smells to me like it may be a little too good to last. A classic formula that is available to all, so I say get one while you can because when they stop making it everyone will wonder why they didn't snag a bottle back when it was easy to get.

To me the civet note in MdM is more a top note than a base note, therefore what you get after 15 min of a full body wear of MdM is completely different from the shitty smell on a blotter sprayed with MdM. I have said it before but the blotter test really doesn't do MdM justice.

Have never heard of a "secret" intenser version of MdM. After years of research I think I would if it had been more than a rumour. According to Atlas' Guerlain bottle bible, MdM was originally an EdC (like anything for men back then), but released to the public as EdT in 1989.

Hmm, I guess I'll have to call my Guerlain rep and ask why I've never been told of this one before. You are the only person I've ever heard speak of such a thing.

Am I alone in being a bit sceptical of le Mouchoir de Monsieur's post, particularly as Mr G has never heard of it? To use almost a litre per year seems unbelievable. That's about 2 - 2.5 ml everyday. Must be a seriously short-lived EdP.

I have the MdM bee bottle and it's definitely a grower.

I've never once heard of anything like what this person is describing, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt until I can find out for certain otherwise directly from Guerlain. He does describe using EDT as a bath in another thread, so used in that manner, I don't think one liter per year sounds unreasonable.

Final reaction: All of you--you can have anything you want at Guerlain if you know the right people to ask, most of whom would not be "reps,"--and the original Mouchoir de Monsieur was an "extrait" in a bottle shaped like a snail. I have one, seal unbroken. Since, there has been everything from "eau de cologne," "lotion pour les cheveux," and "eau de toilette." The Eau de Parfum concentration I order in Paris is made to order for me, and I pay for it: My mistake, having re-read this thread, was the cost. It's the eau de toilette, which, to clarify things, I do not bathe in with a sea sponge, (that was "Pour un Homme" de Caron and that was in the 70's in French boarding school where the showers and baths were separated from living quarters, and, for the record, everyone did it.) The liter bottle of more concentrated MdM I order yearly, which has my initials on it, costs quite a bit more than $1K US. Now I'm done--all of you light your matches. PS: to those of you who marvel at my usage, consider this. In one year, I use: 1 liter of MdM, the supposedly non-existent Eau de parfum, 1 liter of MdM Eau de toilette, 500ml of Jicky Eau de Parfum, 6 to 8 ounces of Jicky Parfum, as well as 12 to 15 eau de toilette refill sprays. Your comments intrigued me about over-usage--so I tallied it all up. All of the MdM EdT goes on to linens and jacket linings, the liter of MdM "Special Edition" gets used in about 8 months, the rest of the time I use Jicky EdP, as I only use this in spring and summer and I live in a cold climate, the Jicky Parfum gets used every day regardless of season and atop the MdM, and all the Jicky EdT refills are used as bed linen spray, and sometimes in my hair. Haters out there, respect me if for no other reason that I keep the dream alive! AND LIGHTEN UP PLEASE!!!!! This is perfume: it's a frivolity!

Come on Le MdM. Stick around. We aren't so bad once you get used to us.

Yes--FRIENDS--shall we be lovely to one another? I PROMISE that I haven't a rude hair follicle--not one: I'm just used to lecturing and instructing in the industry and out of the industry--and so--how to put this? I'm confident? But yes--I POUR it on: I DROWN in it--I'm INSATIABLE. I've RUBBED an entire ounce all over someone--and both of us got high and nearly passed out. Of all the things I've ever said, this is a quote that all my friends and colleagues repeat over and over--and it will speak volumes about who I am "really." (OK, now all of you start madly tapping away---S.U.P.E.R.F.I.C.I.A.L-----) There was "something" that happened a few years back that was pretty substantially catastrophic financially to many people--and, giving a lecture (not about fragrance) I announced to a crowd of about 200, on a microphone, when being questioned about the exorbitant prices standard to the Luxury Industry, that: "Well, for me, the prospect of being penniless means nothing as long as I smell this good." So there you have it.

LMDM, please do stick around. Restez parmi nous, cher Mouchoir.

I am so glad you bumped a few old threads on Jicky, MdM and Shalimar. Sincerely such beautiful fragrances deserve at least as much attention as Aventus and Pure Malt.

Merci bien, cher ami--je compte continuer a poster des critiques--ces commentaires par contre--je n'en suis pas sur! Franchement je suis choque par les reactions de ces gens qui n'y connaissent pas grand chose mais qui se prennent pour des maitres en la matiere. Qui plus-est, faire de la publicite pour en faire, cela non plus ne m'interesse guere. J'aime basenotes et cela m'amuse quand j'ai le temps, ce qui n'arrive pas souvent, malheureusement! Avec mes remerciements pour votre encouragement, le MdM.

Je suis heureux

Remember that this is a forum for enthusiasts, not necessarily for professionals in the field, and it's a very large community. Not everyone is going to agree with you, or understand where you are coming from. But that doesn't mean that Basenotes won't be enriched by your commentary.

Well le MdM I think you may need to lighten up also. It just amazed me, the amount of fragrance you get through - 6 months for you would be a lifetime supply for me ;o)

As above I'm certainly far from expert here, so please feel free to correct me anytime. You certainly appear to be an entertaining character who enjoys fragrance.................... you should post on here as often as you re-apply LOL.

Thank you for that insight, Sir.

So I'm reading this, looking at my bumblebee bottle, and thinking...
anyone interested in forging new relationships and going in on an edp litre split?

Just noticed a very interesting auction for a bottle of Mouchoir de Monsieur:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-BOTTLE...item3f06b57553

I think that's called the 'snail' bottle (like mdm mentions above).

The juice looks VERY brown. I'd be afraid of it possibly having turned (spoiled).


Back on topic: I'd LOVE to smell Mouchoir de Monsieur in an EdP and/or extrait formulation. The EdT is so fantastic to me, the thought of a richer, stronger, longer lasting formula sounds like a dream come true.

Love the idea of MdM as a linen spray - why not?

the extract version is only made for the King of Spain--the E de P version has only been made for me twice--and I had to order 1000ml each time to get it--it takes about 6 months--and you sort of have to know....someone "of importance" chez Guerlain for them to make it. I got a 120ml ground glass stoppered bee-bottle of the extract in 1983--I still have about 30ml of it left. What's in the snail bottle is the extract: That's why it's brown. If the SEAL is still on, there's a good chance it hasn't turned. I own one of these, in its original red leather case: I've never broken the seal, so i don't know what state it's in. The snail bottle is the ORIGINAL bottle, designed expressly for it, in 1906: This fragrance was part of a set, it's mate was called "Voilette de Madame," (Madam's Veil) and they were conceived as a wedding gift to a family friend of the Guerlain family. This snail bottle will surely bid at over $2K US--as they are highly sought after--especially if their seal is unbroken.

That's one lucky king!! For that reason alone, I'd love to be king for a day.

During one of my pilgrimages to the holy shrine of 68, Champs Elysées last year, a sales agent showed me the exact replica of the snail bottle for sale. A reissue of course, complete with red leather case a la Cartier. Unfortunately I can't remember what kind of juice was in the bottle (EDT or EDP?).

What did Jean-Claude Brialy wear? Extrait, EDT or EDP?

Very interesting.

If I owned a bottle of the extrait there is NOTHING that could stop me from tearing open the seal and wearing it. You, sir, have incredible restraint.