Mitsouko (1919)
by Guerlain

I appreciate the significance of this perfume, but I cannot wear it. I don't smell something that pleases me, I smell a museum. Yes, there are too many aldehydes, they almost tear open my sinuses. Yes, I get musty connotations of endearing old ladies who still wear the fashions of long forgotten seasons. Yes, I too get a sensation of heating up peanut oil in a wok - not rancid, but less than pleasant. There is no peach and a lot of dark unconciliatory moss. This review is based on a 7.5ml pure perfume from the 1980s or earlier.

What makes Mitsouko so mysterious is that it's difficult to define. it's so well blended that it's difficult for me to pinpoint many individual notes. I have both the vintage and the new. They are almost the same, but with slight differences. The vintage opens up on me with a more nutty cinnamon note. From the beginning the vintage version seems to maintain a kind of aloofness. However, as the fruity peach note comes to the front the scent gets only slightly warmer. This stage lasts pretty long on me. As it dries down further, I get a vetiver note that combined with the cinnamony peach is really strange, giving this scent the quirkiness that makes it so amazing for me.

The new mitsouko is the same but the main notes seem to be in reverse order for me. In the new version the peach note is there right out of the gate with the cinnamon emerging a little later. The new version is also noticeably warmer and slightly sweeter in my opinion. In germanomio's review he mentioned that the vintage version had a "frying oil" smell and I get exactly the smell he's talking about, except that I'm getting it from the new version. That smell combined with the peach/cinnamon notes evokes a vision of donuts in the process of frying and I actually find that comforting.

The new Mitsouko, unlike most reformulations, has remained true to the spirit of the original. But it's also more "accessible" by today's perfume standards making it a little less mysterious and aloof. I appreciate both and will sometimes layer them for the qualities that they both bring.

Mitsouko is one of a handful perfumes marketed to women that I wear comfortably. I find the EDT works well as a masculine on my skin. It is a mystical experience to wear a chyphre that is so beautifully constructed yet stripped down to its basic structure. Along with that famous peach note, it is a striking chord: Bergamot and Oakmoss. What a concept, and executed magnificently by Jaques Guerlain. The reformulations don't bother me one bit. It's still Mitsouko, and it smells divine. I'm just glad that my skin wears it well, and I don't end up smelling like my Grandmother!

Where have I been all my life? I have been a Guerlain girl since the sixties when a little Guerlain cologne went a long way. But, until recently, I had never experienced Mitsouko. Did I try it and not like it? Did I try it and then forgot about it? Not likely! This is serious perfume. This is something like no other. Every time I wear this, I detect something new. One day I smell ripe peaches; another day I love the bergamot or the spices or the woodsy oakmoss. I embrace the jasmine, even though I am not a fan of flowery perfume. This is my "go to" girl. I wear this anywhere and everywhere. I have searched for another chypre that rivals this one. I have been to Dior and I love Diorella. I am learning to love Cristalle. (My goal is to grow up and appreciate Chanel, but I'd better hurry.) But Mitsouko remains my favorite. If you think that you don't like Mitsouko, try the EDP. It is so much richer and fuller than the EDT.

I am lucky because I live in a world in which Mitsouko exists. I am lucky because Mitsouko likes my body chemistry. I want to put this marvel on a pedestal above the rest of my perfume wardrobe; to give it 6 stars instead of 5.

It is a perfume to be sampled on your skin - for an important reason - this is an old style fragrance that needs your skin as the final element of its composition (much more so than some of the created-to-be-fail-safe modern scents do).

For me, Mitsouko opens with a sparkling, mouth-watering bergamot and a hint of fruit (the fruit - like a peach that has been crystallised, dusted with vanilla, ground to a powder and sprinkled on top of the bergamot). This experience lasts just seconds, after which the fruit fades and the spices, nutty, papery, leathery and soothing powdery aromas come forth. This stage lasts at least an hour - then - the fruit returns, but this time it's covered in cream and caramel, accompanied by sexy woody notes and smoky green vetiver. This lasts for a good couple of hours; then fades to resins, wood and hint of powdery vanilla.

This composition and its development on my skin is interesting, sensual and wearable. My husband likes the smell very much and I like it on me too. It's one to wear when I want to feel comfortable in my skin, confident, sexy and grown-up feminine; without the sweeties.

I like the smell of books, old libraries, leather, pipe tobacco, spices, peaches, apricot, bergamot, jasmine and florals - and I don't care much for the overly "aquatic" aldehyde fragrances, or for the popular "melon" note. I also used to adore very sweet florals (Paris, Jardins de Bagatelle) and still happily wear the latter one of the two. Most of my everyday scents are fairly uncomplicated florals. This doesn't mean I can't also enjoy a walk on the Mitsouko side.

This is one to try and see; don't make up your mind until you've put some on your skin.

I live in a small city and after reading so much about it i had to buy a full bottle online. I waited and paid a lot to try it. And first try was a complete disappointance. The bergamot rose openning is same as a sweet heavy arabic cologne which have been populer among elder (i mean grand parents grand aunts etc.) when i was a child. It made me feel almost sick. At the third attemp i have been able to pass the first ten minutes of sweet nasty bergamot and take the first glimpses of oakmoss. The oakmost in it is really great. But i can get oakmoss inthe very first second off o big sniff then my nose is filled with that clover and spices crowd. No jasmin no peach. i think i will give up trying. It is a rich bold fragrance but too old and disturbing to me...