To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
uriahh – :
I never smelled the original from 1946 but this 2013 release of Ma Griffe still smells to me like something from another age. It’s a dry chypre in the same rather prim, upper crust-y category as Yves Saint Laurent Y, Lentheric Tweed, and Givenchy III. Ylang is very prominent for me. Sillage and longevity are moderate.
Ma Griffe 2013 may appeal to people who, horrified though they are by their grandmothers’ Poison and Giorgio, are nevertheless looking for something ‘classic’, provided it could not possibly offend anyone.
I’m glad to own it though, and maybe a few more wearings will reveal some more character.
progress81 – :
Just blind bought this, found it at an irresistible price and was driven by nostalgia to revisit it.
Now I don’t have a blanket hatred for all reformulated fragrances, some of them are still wonderful even if they are not identical to the vintage, and in any case..I am not confident that my memory is flawless…
So back in the ‘70s, this was a very popular, sort of “cheapie” in Australia. It came in a tall bottle, EDT with a green and white box, you could buy it easily, at chemists and department stores.
The new one isn’t bad, but boy…I can’t relate it to the original in ANY way. Yes it’s a Chypre, it’s got a lovely mossy floral bouquet and the dry down is pretty special. It’s not a good performer though…luckily I am getting marginally more than most reviewers, but it’s quite close to the skin. Maybe around 4 hours.
I think this is going to be a great office fragrance for when you want to be a little low key.
aluha – :
I tried the newer version, I get mostly creamy gardenia and jasmine. Unfortunately the sillage is soft and the longevity weak. I can barely smell the other ingredients, so I won’t be buying it.
I would recommend it if you like clean-smelling perfumes and you don’t want other people to smell your perfume.
Vokbirg – :
quality perfume. a crossbreed of modern shalimar edp and modern rive gauche edt. has the warm oriental tonka-sandalwood eyes of the former+the bergamot complexion and vetiver hair of the latter.
really stands out among all the fruitchoulis and gourmands of 2010s. totally signature-worthy.
PhotLottLot – :
I do believe I may be anosmic to that one. I expected it to be strong, sharp, well clearly detectable at least. After a generous spritz onto a warm wrist, there was simply nothing there. I’m not talking about lacking sillage or lacking longevity, there was nothing much identifiable there, either immediately or, say, 15 minutes later. Even when I crushed my wrist to nose repeatedly and sniffed strongly enough to appear ridiculous. Nothing beyond “this person has recently walked through a perfume department and maybe touched something generic smelling there”.
And I know my general ability to smell things, as poor as it may sometimes be, was working that day because after this failed I tried some other scents and I could smell them just fine.
Had I actually bought this I would have been accusing the seller of selling me a fake. But this was in a reputable department store where I usually get most of my perfumes from, so…
A pity. This sounds like something I might like. Well, the descriptions of the effects do, I’m not at all sure about all the flowers in it.
Kriz2001 – :
I am not able to shop online to chase after vintages, so my best bet with Ma Griffe (which was on my wishlist for so long) was this reformulation.
Despite I never tried the vintage, I believe this one smells the same in essence, only way lighter I guess.
Ma Griffe 2013 tends to sit close to skin and it doesn’t last terribly long. However I kinda fell in love with it on first smell and got myself a bottle.
This is so far the second perfume (after the vintage Fidji) which made my mum cry when I spritzed some on her wrist, namely because it reminded her of my grandmother, long deceased. I actually felt slightly guilty when she got burst into tears… Originally launched in 1946, it’s no wonder Ma Griffe and the similar scents were in my grandmother’s wardrobe.
The notes I immediately detect are jasmine, oakmoss and sandalwood. Unmistakably a lovely, green, very elegant scent.
355344 – :
I love Carven le parfum and l’eau and I think absolue version is also good so when I saw a tester of ma griffe in a perfume shop,I didn’t hesitate to spray it on a paper blotter
Oh well ĺt smells horrible to my nose,I asked two of my friends idea and they both disliked it
I didn’t give it much time to develop so I can’t judge about it’s final scent but what I was smelling in first minutes was an almost bitter woody scent with no soft feminine or sweet notes to balance it.even flowers didn’t smell pretty.jasmine and ylangylang seemed to be oily, dirty and dusty
It definitely has a classic vibe,is mature and is very unique
❤
qkk758speagoessenda – :
After testing this a few times, I can now see how the original version of this would have been popular with young women in the 1940s. I can imagine them getting jobs and meeting new people while wearing this perfume. I find it smells ‘smart’, without smelling very formal. I can imagine this boosting the wearer’s confidence as they step out into a war-scarred but exciting new world. It also smells like it is aimed at ‘smart’ as in intelligent women, just like its more arty niece, Rive Gauche. And like Rive Gauche, it’s ageless and timeless in appeal, while also evoking the time and place it comes from.
The opening has the loveliest gardenia-lemon combination.
When the jasmine kicks in a bit later, it has a slight dirtiness to it that I’m not keen on. It’s the same sweaty jasmine as the one used in other Carven women’s perfumes. Luckily, here it doesn’t overpower the rest of the scents. All the other notes in the heart blend to create a sophisticated scent.
The dry down would be better if it was stronger. It’s a very faint musky/balsamic/woody mix.
The longevity is about 4 hours on me. Projection is about arm’s length (or slightly further) for about 1.5 hours before rapidly becoming quite a faint skin scent. If you’re looking for a powerhouse, this isn’t it. I still love it, though.
I feel like I would need to get a vintage bottle to do this justice, but for now there’s this.
Stypeveidapip – :
A very beautiful, elegant and mysterious perfume. Very classic. Very lovely citrus and flowers , strong and delicious, and then more woody, earthy tones. The rose, gardenia and jasmine I smell most of the day, and the yang-ylang, and after an hour or so, a lovely metallic edge to it, which I love! That goes on right to the end, which for lucky me is still just there the next morning. I love it, it’s beautiful. I feel so rich and classy, and elegant wearing it. It gives me such a feeling of being my own woman. Quietly confident in my own uniqueness. It’s really gorgeous.
Ivan123123 – :
Oh my God! I absolutely agree with mmm777pisces! I absolutely LOVE this GORGEOUS ELEGANT perfume!!!! I think it’s stunning! Oh gosh, I love the Vetiver too, so much! I’m only lately discovering the joy of perfumes, and, really – I have been missing out! And this one is SUPREME for me. The sophistication, the class! The smells are so divine, I have never experienced anything like it!! yang-ylang is such a yummy divine smell isn’t it? Oh dear, and everything else in it – I can smell all the notes listed! And ALL day, to the next day! Fantastic! SUCH a divine smell!!! Aaaaahhhh!!! Sigh……
Evgen2008tt – :
I’m wearing it again today – I can’t get enough of it. It’s so gorgeous! I LOVE everything in it, especially the Vetiver! I just love it! It’s the most amazing smell – I can smell that almost all the time, with strong and lingering wafts of every other beautiful scent that’s in it. Oh my goodness….it is terribly mature and elegant and classy! I could still smell it on me when I got up, after having it on since 5am yesterday, and the bedroom still smells of it – so delicious!…and so, naturally I added more this morning!!, and am truly ecstatic in the gorgeous vapours!!! Incredible. I LOVE CARVEN MA GRIFFE!!! It’s the best perfume I’ve ever had. SWOON!!
maz666 – :
I love it! I think it’s fantastic! Beautiful, heavenly, complex. A fabulous complexity of smells – all different gorgeous aromas wafting around me all day, and well into the night. Just beautiful Stunning. Glorious. Superb. Wonderful, elegant, classy perfume. Very mature I think. Really special. Fantastic longevity and sillage. It’s very different for me, but I really love it, and want to wear it all day, every day. Mmmm, mmmmmm.
savlas – :
This is not good in my opinion, it literally scratches my nose. Overwhelming and very masculine scent. Smells like something very old and dusty.
Not my thing at all.
rvy920speagoessenda – :
Fresh, powdery, soft chypre with restrained florals, and not at all sweet. I like this very much–it’s a really lovely scent. I love this kind of perfume, which makes me feel like an well bred, outdoorsy and expensively scrubbed girl from the first half of the last century. It’s the kind of scent which transports me.
The only reason I am not saving my pennies is that the humble Tweed is extremely similar, but slightly nicer, and beats it hands down in sillage and staying power–at literally a tenth of the price. Why can’t this be better lasting and project more for the cost?
AlexEVP – :
If you find Bandit or Cabochard too strong or scratchy, it’s your choice. Chypre, elegant, aristrocratic, fresh well in the mass of fruitchulie’s. This is a modern chypre, digestible, mild, and clean.
gynclegiche – :
OK, after being disappointed with numberless reformulations (and glad with some others, it must be said), I have adopted a Golden Rule: go try the old scents I had not used in the past, before IFRA.
Ma Griffe is a scent I have been admiring from afar since many years. I can’t tell why I have never bought it before, maybe for the simple reason that I was busy buying something else and my wallet was committed to that – not being a bottomless thing.
Anyway, I like this new Ma Griffe, I had a sample miniature of pure perfume when I was a kid and I am sure there’s something here reminding me that.
I like the opening of the new Ma Griffe, it’s an outburst of citrus and flowers, it promises a lot and I get hues of Futur by Piguet (but Futur is more bitter and with a longer development).
In no time you are thrown to the drydown which is lovely and somewhat metallic, reminding me of Rive Gauche but sweeter.
All in all I love this new Ma Griffe, but I dislike its being so poor on sillage and lasting power: a couple of hours and it’s totally gone.
I hope someone will work on improving the staying power: the fragrance is nice, why should it go so soon? Come on, please stay a little longer!
kartinka000 – :
tried it today. very unique. starts mossy and woody but after about 40 minutes turns into a scent of mixed flowers, moss.. a real nice chypre for the gender lovers. pitty it does not have greater sillage. after all we wear perfumes for the sillage and not only for sniffing it when our nose is stuck in our wrists .not for young girls at all though it is not an oldie. .a bit pricey
edit: tried it again today. now i think i get no flowers. only moss ,wood and vetiver. i think this one suits men pefectiy. even more than women. i would like my private man to try it on.