Description
Mitsouko was created by Jacques Guerlain in 1919. The creation of Mitsouko was inspired by the heroine of Claude Farrčre’s novel ‘La bataille’, a story of an impossible love between Mitsouko, the wife of Japanese Admiral Togo, and a British officer. The story takes place in 1905, during the war between Russia and Japan. Both men went to war, and Mitsouko, hiding her feelings with dignity, waits for the outcome of the battle to discover which of the two men will come back to her and be her companion.
Mitsouko is mysterious fragrance, not allowing everyone to see its beauty. The opening is long, like a play of all beautiful notes, and, of course, this fragrance is not for ordinary day use. On the skin it sounds as if it starts from far away, without any allusion to its intensity and sensual side. Mitsouko is one of the well known aromas of chypre olfactory group with cool top notes and oak moss in the base. But it also has a note of a juicy peach, which gives a clear and quite gourmand nuance. It features bergamot, peach, jasmine, may rose, spices (cinnamon), oak moss, vetiver and wood. The fragrance is exuberant, unusual and elegant, not too sweet, nor heavy, it is well balanced. Eau de Toilette is much sharper, while Eau de Perfume is warmer and nicer. The full richness of the composition, however, is revealed only in the perfume concentration.
The bottle has the same shape as the one of Heure Bleue (1912). It is often said that these two bottles are symbols of beginning (Heure Bleue) and the end (Mitsouko) of the war.
boris-gaerskij lee – :
The problem with perfumes that originate from earlier eras is they are often still worn by older people. I am from the 80’s, where as a young woman I happily wore Miss Dior, Femme, Magie Noir and Opium. However, as much as I enjoy good vintages, I have been told by my children I ‘smell like an old person’, which isn’t a compliment. But not to be fettered, I do wear them periodically.
Mitsouko is from an even older generation. My wicked withered grandmother wore this, much to its ruination.
An old powdery, rancid, dusty smell. She ruined Shalimar for me too! They were her perfumes and nobody else’s. An aristocratic Baroness, from colonial ancestry, who owned her style. And I did not want to smell like her.
She was from the era it came from, born the year of its inception, and hence befitted her.
My enjoyment of perfumes is across the board. I’ll try anything! Even oud ha ha. I am going to try Mitsouko again, because my grandmother has been dead a few years and hopefully I can overlay my experience.
zqh363InsuffBooni – :
Sometimes in our fragrance journey we come full circle to find that what once repulsed us now delights us beyond words. Going from disgust to delight requires a long seperation period, you can’t will it to happen. Mitsouko will open up when YOU are ready, no sooner. If you’re 23 and identify with Mitsouko, you’re probably an old soul. When I was 23, after smelling Mitsouko for the first time, I was confused and thought there couldn’t be anything I’d rather not smell like.
It’s been about 10 years since that encounter and I’ve only recently allowed myself the opportunity to reacquaint with Mitsouko. No longer do I snuff my nose at it. Quite the contrary. I feel privilged to be in the presence of it.
Something magical happens with age. Our vision becomes less narrow and we see beauty through a wider scope. There’s a reason grandmothers have a certain type of scent attatched to them. Their palettes are seasoned with time so it takes a rather complex composition to earn the place and title. This fragrance is not for the naive. Mitsouko demands the wearer be capable of reasoning with her to be understood. Her depth, her joy and her pain, has to be reckoned with before mutual respect is formed.
doorhanlviv – :
Just cracked open a vintage PDT I got from a French eBay seller. Weird but wonderful in its “another time”-ness. If Djedi and Rochas Femme had a love child, this would be it.
houpsquathCah – :
I wanted to like this, but it isnt pleasant smelling on me. I actually like the scent on other people.
sovsemkookoo – :
Current Mitsouko EDT (not a vintage)
Well! I confess, a Challenge of a scent for me! My third Great Classic (after l’Heure Bleue and Shalimar) and I must say, I was quite surprised, if not a little shocked…
The initial impression was (I’m sorry, but with full honesty) of blood. Yes. How awful of me. I guess I could also call this sensation the smell of metal. Rusty metal.
Then I caught something similar to YSL’s Rive Gauche and Y, even a very faint echo of Chanel nr 19 (Poudre). So it’s safe to say we’re deep, _deep_ in the green scents territory. I would even say below the greenery, literally _in_ the ground.
I decided to take my wrist for a little walk in a park and Yes, this scent worked better outside (in modererate +20 C temperature with a little wind) than in a stale inside environment (with no aircon). I guess outside this very earthy scent was in its natural habitat, the woodsy outdoors. Suddenly the scent revealed its freshness.
For me this scent is a puzzle. Somehow totally in its very own category. I have never experienced anything like this. The more contemporary green scents that I’m familiar with do not come even close to the raw earthiness of Mitsouko EDT. An experience quite out of the ordinary. A must try for its uniqueness.
yea486intitytek – :
Alright, I blind bought this one because there was nowhere near me that had it available to smell, and I really just wanted to know what the heck this was all about. Some of you are doing free form poetry in the comments while others are talking about how it smells like piss. Two complete opposites. As soon as my order came in, this was the first bottle I opened because I was DYING to know what was up with this stuff.
Okay, I can completely get why some people think it smells like piss, but… hmm. It’s really hard to express how lovely I think this is because I can totally get why other people think it’s gross. It just has this old lady quality. It smells like Chigusa Tsukikage from Glass Mask, and even though it’s super nerdy to put a manga character on this perfume, she’s basically this middle-to-old aged Japanese woman who was once a theatre actress, and you can tell she was stunning when she was young, and her hair is still voluminous and she’s elegant and wears this long, dark dress, but not everyone likes her because she’s a bit pushy and volatile but she knows what she’s talking about. That’s Mitsouko to me.
I think the reason people think this is a bit putrid is because it just smells so old. I find old things really beautiful, but I think it takes a lot of guts to wear this. You would definitely smell this on a grandma, or your friend who has a penchant for vintage fashion and walks around like it’s the 1920s and wears things like fur stoles. Super dated, and I love that. People often attribute old smelling perfumes to death and dying because of maybe a grandmother or an aunt that made an impression on them. We all have our own version of a weird old lady smell. Some of us hate it, and some of us don’t.
Boy, is the EDT enough. That girl is ENOUGH. If you don’t want to put money into the EDP and just want to have some kind of Mitsouko in your collection, the EDT lasts juuuuust fine. And the sillage is intense. As soon as you take of the top, Mitsouko comes creeping out like some kind of little dark nose- haunting ghost.
Mitsouko is lovely if you want to lay in bed and cry. She’ll always be warm and comforting and make you feel fancier than you really are, and makes you feel more in touch with the past. You can lay in your bed and have the reddest, grossest, puffiest crying face wearing mismatched pajamas with unshaved legs, but if you spray on Mitsouko, all of that goes away and you can pretend you’re a beautiful old Hollywood movie actress dabbing away her tears with a silk handkerchief and it isn’t all that bad anymore.
Where IS that peach, though? Maybe one day I’ll get it.
narneorgap – :
Ok I had high hopes for this perfume! When I first sprayed it , It reminded me of
They way younkers bathroom smelled I mean spot on! When I was a child growing up my mom and I would always go to younkers shopping I can remember it being one of the fanciest bathroom I’d ever seen but it had this smell that wasn’t so great but totally unique to that store! This is exactly what this perfume smells like to me! I can’t get past it! It doesn’t change much on the dry down either! This one wa a blind buy and a scrubber!
ice1375 – :
Mmmmm..Mitsouko….❤️
You smell like class, and your bottle looks classy. Love when the bottle “matches” the scent. Do you smell like you did in 1919? Who knows. But to my nose you smell like a classy sophisticated woman. I love that I can detect each and every note. And there’s nothing synthetic, plastic nor cloying. The oakmoss and spice notes keep this from being too floral/too froo-froo, and add a bit of earthiness, which is nice. Peach and bergamot lend an oh so slight freshness. And the cinnamon lends a soft warmth. Sound like a lot going on? Perhaps..but Mitsouko works it all so magically.. The lilac then lends a comforting, relaxing type vibe. Mitsouko is magical. Special…Unique. Classic and classy. While it might smell vintage or “old lady” to some, I personally love this classy beauty. Sometimes us older gals don’t want to smell like a candy bomb or fruitcholi, and many thanks to the house of Guerlain for still offering this classic beauty.
headshot – :
I am trying this out right now as a blind buy, but it has been two hours now and on my skin it smells like expensive soap. Very pleasant, but distinctly soapy. I think this one is not for me.
igorek5335 – :
Ah, Mitsouko, another Guerlain that’s such a classic that I’m having a hard time saying anything at all about it – everything has been said many times before, and much more eloquently than I can, and on top of that I’m not even sure which version I have. So I’ll just say I’m with the majority who “love” it: it’s unique and wonderful, impossible to describe and unlike anything else I’ve smelled. I can’t discern any specific notes, it’s just blended to perfection, extremely well-balanced. If there’s peach it’s the dry softness of the skin rather than the exuberant, juicy sweetness of the fruit, and the oakmoss and spices just translate to subtle warmth on my skin. In fact, if anything Mitsouko reminds me a little of violets, but I guess that’s just the suggestion summoned by the warm, powdery, subtly sweet character of the typical Guerlain base. It’s oldfasioned in a good way, high quality and elegant, but at the same time very comfortable and versatile enough to be suitable for any situation, in any season. I can definitely picture a full bottle of this one somewhere in my future!
toschae – :
Mitsuoko edt is GORGEOUS……..the first test I could smell some citrus and strong opening notes, when it went to dry down, oooh myyyy it is soooo gooood, I couldn’t wait to get a full bottle so I finally did and I couldn’t stop wearing it, I would spray on my pillow as my bed time scent and my clothes or arms. Mitsuoko smells weird, wet, mossy, very unique&mysterious, definately not for everyone, love it/hate it. It smells like an old building in a very good way or antiques, it brings me back to the time during early 1900s which I love classics. It’s really not a usual perfume.
I imagine reading books in a library during early 1900s that is located in a beautiful woods during fall and seeing sunset shining through the window, that’s the feeling that I get anytime I wear this gem.
The sillage and longevity are good, not so heavy but last me all night long, on pillow it lasts few days. Never tried the edp yet but going to get the edp one day, right now I’m so in love with Mitsuoko edt.
Юрец112318 – :
All I can say is that I must’ve gotten a bad decant from the Perfumed Court of the edt. It smelled like a garage (where car repairs are done) for the longest time! However, I absolutely LOVE the edp. It is gorgeous, warm, and inviting to me.
Quorryhoodo – :
This review is for Mitsouko EDT vintage 2001. (I am very familiar with Guerlain’s Shalimar and the difference between Shalimar eau de toilette and the perfume version are striking, so I’m assuming the same goes for Mitsouko.)
This fragrance is stunning and complex. There is nothing else like it that I’ve experienced before. Sure, the Guerlain powdery dry-down is similar in many of their older fragrances, and Mitsouko has that, but the chypre is very unique. Not sharp, not overly spicy (a light cinnamon note), a definite oakmoss-vetiver-bergamot-and-something-else chypre. Maybe that something-else is peach, but I don’t detect it as peach. To my nose, the notes blend to create something totally original. I love this fragrance. Who is the woman whose signature is Mitsouko? She’s confident, challenging, curious about everything, intelligent, gorgeous. She might be a tomboy. She laughs easily.
I also ordered some l’Heure Bleue and am looking forward to comparing Guerlain’s 1912 LHB with its 1919 Mitsouko. (I have my eye on Apres l’Ondee, too, but it’s pricey!)
apentyawaiste – :
New can not be old although old can definitely by new to the young. This is a splendid scent. Guerlain
vdj380speagoessenda – :
Honestly, just give me a book, a warm bed and Mitsouko and I can die happy.
an_san_2 – :
I have been on a guerlain kick.
i stumbled across a bottle today in an antiques mall. EDT.
cleared the sprayer, sprayed one spritz on my arm. rancid?
thanked the man, ran to the bathroom to wash it off.
was it supposed to smell like rancid peanut butter? strong, murky, oily, dark
hours later i can smell the guerlain base on my skin and the smell won’t go away. smells like jicky and LHB
what i have learned:
if i try this again to do the dab with a q-tip method. dabs only.
i can’t figure out the peanut element of this. was this a bad bottle?
the dry down is not bad. weird stuff. foresty. earthy, tarry.i want to try again, properly. definitely not a sprayer. yikes.
but first i need to know if that bottle was rancid.
Edit: I went to Neiman Marcus and smelled a fresh bottle of edt. I did not smell like the nasty mixture described above. . I was a green chypre. Intrigued, now
КУАНТКАН – :
It’s funny to admit, but I was like reviewer A La Angel below – Guerlain was just not for me. Everytime I tried a Guerlain there was always something bothering me, either too sweet, too old-fashioned or just too strange. And none of the Aqua’s ever seemed to impress me – and I tried, because the bottles are beautiful.
But then something happened a while ago when I blind bought Shalimar Initial L’eau mainly for its boudoir-bottle and low price – I got hit! No, really. And I don’t get hit very often (be it by love, or by a perfume), so I’m still a bit confused by it. I think it’s the Guerlinade, or that now that I’m in my mid-thirties I’m finally ready for it? With every (mostly classic) Guerlain I smell now I seem to understand and appreciate its complexity.
Mitsouko is just absolutely beautiful, and I never thought I would say it, but also very wearable! Shalimar EDP is still too much for me, but I’m working my way up with Eau de Shalimar. I even like Souffle de Parfum now. L’Heure Bleue is in the mail on its way. It’s a tricky thing when you have a big perfume collection to choose from each day, but at least for me now it seems: once you go Guerlain, you don’t go back!
So, if you are a Chanel girl, Dior girl or a Gucci girl, that’s just great! But be prepared though, one day, Guerlain ís going to hit you…
sova69 – :
It’s a bit of a shame that I shunned the vintage on first sniff. I immediately decided it wasn’t for me until I sprayed on the current EdT while in David Jones. I was standing at Jo Malone and the assistant said ‘my, my don’t you smell fabulous?’. I couldn’t work out why he said such a thing… I didn’t come into the store wearing anything. I brushed my fringe out of my face and caught a whiff of the forgotten Mitsouko. I fell in love.
Flash forward a month and a half, my friend was selling a rare limited edition 30mL bottle from the end of the milennium. I had to have it – it was a steal. Now, this week, on Saturday, it arrived by post (along with Poison Eau de Cologne) and I was hyper ventilating… salivating. It was now mine, I own it …. I really, really own it.
I spray it on my hand… from the start, it’s very similar to the 2016 Eau de Parfum, which I disliked, but it dries down so elegantly. The oakmoss and peach in this are just to die for. This truly could be the perfect chypre. Mitsouko Eau de Toilette is sadly void of the animalic qualities I found in the vintage parfum I’d tried. The animalic qualities that brought it quite close to Roja Dove’s Diaghilev. This one is perhaps a bit fresh, a bit urinous (a floral / moss brand of urinous quality) with some very unusual white flowers, roses and spices. Avant garde, but perhaps a bit traditional at the same time
At the present, I have a bit of L’Heure Bleue sprayed on one hand and Mitsouko on the other and I have to say – there’s got to be some sort of connection between the two. There’s something in both of these scents that smells uncanny and it’s unusual to me. Very beautiful side by side.
Plus, if it mattets to you, projects really well and lasts HOURS.
Reznik – :
(The following review might be triggering if you are easily triggered.)
Guerlain is like the Louvre. In theory, it’s très magnifique, come on, it’s the Louvre, it’s Paris, the Mona Lisa, ooh la la! But in practice, for me, it’s walking around on achey feet, looking at a lot of old paintings, which I understand are somehow important in the history of the art world, but are fundamentally meaningless to me and evoke absolutely no emotion for me. Sure, there are some pieces that I found really beautiful, but they were few and far between. By contrast, there are people there who become verklempt before all of the paintings, gushing over the brush strokes, pontificating about the impressionism or whatever, the whole nine, but some of us just trudge through the place, utterly bewildered for the most part. Still, I feel that if you’re in Paris, you have to do the Louvre, you just have to, you simply must, daaahling, do it for the culture, but it probably won’t be the most enjoyable or memorable part of your time there, if you’re like me.
Guerlain is like that. All you hear on the fragrance boards is how there is nothing like the good ol’ Guerlain stuff from the good ol’ Guerlain days. If you are an enthusiast, you have to try vintage Shalimar, L’Heure Bleue, Mitsouko, Jicky etc. VINTAGE, because the current formulations are absolute GARBAGE (pronounced gar-baaahj haha). Try them I have – at great personal cost, mind – and… well, the Emperor doesn’t have any clothes on! I don’t see it at all. They’re just dusty and old and drab to my nose, like a lot of the Very Important Paintings.
Mitsouko is the last of the four that I’ve hunted down samples for, and, yup, dusty, old, mothballs and velvet curtains in an out-of-use theatre building scent.
I guess I’m just not a Guerlain girl! Oh well. I prefer being a Chanel chick anyway lol.
(To be fair, I effing LOVE the current garbage version of Shalimar, I’d happily bathe in that trash.)
barf30 – :
it smells old and reminds me of my mom with all its powderiness but there is a certain kind of beautiful clarity to the powder that makes me nod and understand the love that so many people have for mitsouko.
47418305 – :
I bought a 50ml bottle of Mitsouko edt (2017 batch) because it was much cheaper than the edp, and I actually got a very good deal on it. I own a vintage 8 ml spray bottle and a 2 ml dab-on mini of the extrait. I wore the extrait occasionally for the past 2 or 3 years; I would wear it more often, were it not for my being very careful with my vintages, which I don’t have that many of. I love the extrait – it still has the real oakmoss, it’s potent, thick, and lasts forever on me. A drop to the back of my neck wafts for the whole day. It’s woody, fusty, lovely smell, which to my nose feels like the smell of my own body but better. It’s a somber scent alright, but to me extremely wearable and delectable.
I was a bit apprehensive how the reformulation, and especially in edt concentration, would work for me after my experience with the vintage extrait, but I have to say that I am very pleasantly surprised. I wanted to get a bottle of Mitsouko, because I felt like wearing a woody scent this fall, and I didn’t want to go through my vintages too quickly. The edt nails the oakmoss very well. Yes, it’s thinner, less nuanced, and kind of louder in a way, but it’s very well done indeed. Sillage is great, but I do have qualms with the longevity. This being an edt, I guess it’s only to be extected that the longevity would not be as good as that of the extrait, but I wish it would radiate some more, I only get about 4 hours out of it, and then I have to reapply. It might be my nose too, though, because my boyfriend said he could still smell it on me when I had stopped smelling it on myself already. For the price though, it’s a really good deal, very well-done reformulation, and I’m going to be wearing this beauty A LOT this fall and winter.
Alex121076 – :
Ok, I’m sure a lot of people can’t relate to this, but here’s my impression of Mitsouko EDT. It reminds me of my grandpa on my mom’s side. I’m not saying this perfume is outdated. Grandpa used to take a variety of Chinese herbal medicine. This specifically reminds me of 人丹, which is a medicine for heat related illness, and the medicine infused adhesive for minor injuries. Grandpa passed away in 2010. Today when I tried out this perfume, I felt sad and very nolstagic. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to finish this sample vial. If not, I guess it goes to the giveaway pile too. A good perfume is pleasant and easy to wear. A great perfume can evoke a specific scent memory. Mitsouko is a great perfume, but I can’t wear it, at least not casually.
fddd – :
I made a grown man cry just by leaving the room. I thought, “It’s time to start wearing Mitsouko.”
So I purchased a boxed 2010 nearly-new bottle of EDT off eBay for $22 and wore it every day for three weeks once I moved in with this new lover–one spray to the navel and one to the nape of the neck.
Once while wearing the vintage parfum, I had a psychedelic, erotic vision. The flavors and odors of the perfume were a lovingly haunting allegory to the beauty of the female genitals. The dark and curling oakmoss, the delicate cinnamon spice, the sweet golden juiciness of the peach…
Now weeks later, I still have the man, but I’ve taken a break from Mitsouko and moved on to floral greens and powder, and back into my own apartment. I wore a robe I had used during that time which has escaped the washing machine. A sensuous, spicy smell clings to it. May this forever be the smell of my own Summer of Love.
povar_1 – :
I scored a tester bottle for 1/3 of the price and couldn’t have been happier! Finally i got a mitsouko frag( even it’s not the edp i always wanted- still is mitsouko).
Now for my nose first impression-with only one spray-is sweet and smoked and spicy peaches. Exactly my cup of tea. I suppose the smoke effect comes from moss and vetiver which i love and spices with a hint of cinnamon makes peach sweet and oriental,that’s why for me is more of an oriental/chypre. Next thing i thought is:”wow!sophia grojsman must have loved this perfume throughout her carrier!” Because instantly reminded me of spellbound original bottle!
All in all is magical, is totally a must have. Longevity is great(detect it after shower) and sillage radiant within arms!
jie239InsuffBooni – :
I don’t know if I have ever put on a review of Mitsouko before, but if I did, it was many moons ago!! Just to say that I love it so much, it makes me feel like I’m in a room full of antiques, romance, and all things nice. I am not very technical in my reviews, I say it as it is, but this surely must be one of the most beautiful smells in the whole world. Lots of reviewers say that the current reformulation is not as nice as the older, vintage one, but I can’t really smell much of a difference. The fist bottle I ever had was in 1982, when I just started working for a living, and I have worn it on and off since. Now it is a constant on my dressing table (drawer!!) I have my eye on a 1967 vintage on Ebay at the moment but have to lodge some money first (tomorrow
nоsоk – :
!!). I know it is not as early as the Belle Epoque period, but it reminds me of beautiful scented ladies and old vintage perfume salons. In Paris two years ago I bought a large bottle of it in the Guerlain store on Champs Elysees and I felt that I was in earthly Heaven!! If you haven’t visited this magnificent store you should on your next visit to Paris. I long to be back in my favourite city and go there again…. If I had had a million euro I would have bought the store out. I also love L’Heure Bleue which is a genuine old perfume. I’ve been and gone from hundreds of scents in my life, a true perfumista from the age of dot when my mother wore Chanel No. 5 (now not a particular favourite!) but I always have my trusty Mitsouko which always draws compliments but I am slow to tell, I don’t want everyone smelling of it. It has to be my alltime favourite, and I have given instructions that it is to be sprayed on me (Liberally!) in my coffin (sorry if that sounds morbid but I gave my beloved Mum her last gift of Chanel No.5 in her coffin, liberally sprayed on her and it seemed fitting!) The smell still reminds me of her, but I’m not keen on it on myself… Mitsouko all the way….
lapencia – :
Like Miss Havisham, a shadow of her pre-regulation self no doubt. Still – she manages to hold her own against the young sweet upstarts and the hipsters of the perfume world; the niche and the experimental. Classic and a bit like an old faded beauty, she’s not that expensive and still really rather beautiful in a old school way. And you know what, Miss Havisham was all of 35. Some things are just not ready to be put out to pasture quite yet
I only wear this when it’s raining. Go figure. It just works with damp weather
stas198989 – :
This might not be the right version, I smelled a spray on a tester card and thought it was just like YSL opium which I dislike.
Strong and thick, spicey floral… or something. I darnt spray it on my skin…
Kislot – :
On my beautiful wifes skin, the oakmoss dwarfs peach… and everything else, giving this a musty attic feel. I love Guerlain which is a house remplit with masterpieces but this.. Perhaps with certain skin chemistry there’s a wholly different effect. I absolutely believe it’s beautiful in it’s own way, but in this particular circumstance, on this particular woman it’s a scrubber.
arunomag – :
Mitsouko EDT… is def more wearable than the EDP, in my opinion. BUT…. that also means the heavy, antique, mossy, damp character of Mit is gone.
For some that is good…. I can’t wear the EDP, but ADORE it as a bedtime pillow scent.
This DOES smell like a light Mit, more powder/airy/peach but still unmistakably Mitsouko.
This I can wear, but the EDP is just so much more…. in a good or bad way. The EDP is now a treasure to me, if only for myself at bedtime. (To wear Mit EDP for me, is just toooooo old, damp, musky, mossy…. just not something I’d wear or want people to smell on me. It’s my chemistry… on my pillow the EDP is perfection… drifting off in my dream 1930’s boudoir.)
This EDT is so much brighter and kinda sparkles. I’m in love!
igorolik123 – :
I have only been aquainted with this from crafty squirts in Debenhams perfumery until today.i bought the edt.and that is enough.first squirt,i got spicy cinnamonesque peppery spices,road-tar on a hot day,but something also like a landscaped moss floor of a Japanese acer-garden ! But on the dry-down,it changed,as is typical of Guerlain to give you an Alice-style trip ! It changed to the wonderful smell of vintage expensive make-up….like when you buy a vintage Stratton powder compact from a curiosity shop and it still has some left,with the puff…..or when you talk close range to a lady wjo has been drinking Earl Grey and has lashings of lipstick on ! I thought “Miss Benham ! My old maths teacher in the early 80s” immediately !she was demure and feminine in skirt suits and looked sophisticated as a middle aged woman as Tootsie !she must have worn it ! I have been really enjoying this,all day.Guerlain is my favourite perfume design-house
yuresyad – :
I owned Aromatics Elixir and yes this smells exactly similar on me. Aromatics Elixir is cheaper… but better still out of the three, is Aramis which is the cheapest of the 3 and still has great sillage and longevity. And it evolves more interestingly on me.
xdi742elipseskism – :
Tried Mitsouko many years ago, but I found it overwhelming, not a scent for a 20 year old. 20 odd years later walked into House of Fraser to try the oldies again on my very dry wrist. I’m a fan of oriental/chipre fragrances and I’ve just found they sit on my skin perfectly. The sales assistant sprayed both Mitsouko and L’heure Bleu on test paper strips and, my first impression towards Mitsouko was rejection, it smelled like burnt plastic cables,way too pungent and chaotic, it was hard to pick a dominant note. In the other hand, L’heure Bleu opened up to me easily, fresh grassy start followed by lovely violets, and I do really love violets! Eventually, spritz both on my wrists, and despite my thirsty skin sucking up both fragrances,the scent was developing into a beautiful, bolder chipre with hints of cinnamon and peach. I hardly could appreciate any changes in L’heure Bleu, other than a powdery green violet washed away. After a couple of days Mitsouko, on paper, is the one for me. It’s such a gorgeous, timid and warm scent,it’s like being wrapped up warm by someone you trust… As a very reserved woman myself I would say that, in the world of fragrance, Mitsouko is my alter ego.
itguy16 – :
I was a little disappointed by this one, being a devotee of all Guerlain perfumes, even the old lady ones….
I think I got a reformulated one, as it is in a heavy bottle, and the ‘fume is also heavy. Somewhat rubbery, which seems to overpower the other notes. If I get peach at all, it’s like a sugary bubble bath smell.
I tried it a few times, but have put it back in the cupboard until I have forgotten it.
Then I’ll try a really light touch (I always go in heavy) to see if I can get a better experience.
L’Heure Bleu, and Shalimar are both heaps better to me.
dimas2883 – :
the carpet of a mortuary home after being peed on incessantly by the misbehaving house cat, this is what cruela deville wears.
usds1992 – :
There are a ton of reviews of this one, but it seems a lot of them are for the vintage formula, so I thought I would add my take on the new formulations for people curious to know. Being a lover of perfumes, I recently decided I must at least sample this to know what it smells like, even if I don’t actually wear it, so I ordered samples of the new EDT and EDP, and found them to be extremely different from each other. The EDP felt very heavy and I couldn’t distinguish the peach note under all the heaviness. The EDT, on the other hand, was lighter and smelled completely different to me – I was able to smell the peach, and I found this concentration to be stunningly gorgeous. I then ordered a sample of the vintage EDP and instantly recognized it as a scent that my grandmother wore. Though I adored her and miss her, I didn’t really like it so much, so I will keep it for when I want to be reminded of her, but I won’t wear it. Having smelled all three, I find the new EDP to be more similar to the original (but still not as good) for those who are looking for that, but the new EDT is a beauty of it’s own, and it was my choice to purchase after unexpectedly falling in love with it. If you are looking to purchase one of the new formulations, I highly recommend sampling both before purchasing, as they are very different.
ocbmetal – :
“Classical and everlasting… a timeless reference of its own kind.”
Mitsouko is a 1919 fragrance by Jacques Guerlain, the last in-house perfumer from the Guerlain family, one of the most well-known perfume house in the world. Mitsouko is a legend of sorts in the perfume industry and it is often used as a reference to define the genre of chypre fragrances. Indeed, the influence and story behind Mitsouko is timeless and many who have used this fragrance has many fond memories, for it is one of Jacques Guerlain’s most iconic fragrances of all time.
On my skin, Mitsouko with a burst of citrus-white florals. The magic happens after almost an hour into wearing, where the bitter, rubbery oakmoss and fruity peach come to light. The oakmoss-peach note is what defines this fragrance, and since its debut, it has influenced many other fragrances that uses peach as its main note.
I did a side-by-side comparison between Mitsouko EdT and Amouage Jubilation XXV to see the differences between them. They do smell similar to each other because of the yellow-floral ylang-ylang and spice-incense, but as my friend pointed out, Mitsouko is more earthy (oakmoss) while Jubilation is more balsamic-citrusy (myrrh-lemon). If you layer the two fragrances together, and add some leather on it, you would essentially get Roja Dove’s Diaghilev, an astronomically-priced masterpiece of a fragrance.
I’m interested to see how the parfum version differs from the EdT but in the meantime, I can understand how this fragrance