L’Homme Idéal Cologne

Considering this is one of my favorites, I should probably write something about it... this is an absolutely magnificent scent. The end. J/K So what to expect... well, I’m going to unintentionally reiterate some of what the gentleman beneath me wrote here since he’s pretty spot on. It is mouthwatering... perhaps literally. The opening is bright, creamy, zesty, and so clean and up-lifting... It’s amazing. The smooth, creamy almond and tart, zesty citrus are masterfully blended here and are front and center right from the start, working flawlessly together. However, I feel every note listed here hits you right at first, but as the fragrance dries down and begins to breathe, the notes open up more and are easier to breakdown. Such as the pink pepper, it’s not very prominent at all, it’s more of a supporting note, and as the fragrance dries down and reaches the mid the pepper comes out to play ever so slightly to give it a little kick. Same goes for the neroli... if I search for it in the mid I can pick it up, but at this point the almond is still most prominent. What you are left with after this exciting, energetic, aromatic opening and intriguing mid is a breezy white musk and vetiver, and because of this it makes this fragrance absolutely perfect for layering. Although this is not a heavy fragrance, it’s not very light, either. It has a nice balance, but applying a heavier fragrance like Terre D’Hermes or Chanel Allure Homme Sport after can blend effortlessly. I like to wear this in the morning and/or out of the shower. Because of the bright creamy nature of this, it reminds me of body lotion, so I almost treat it as such. Some refer to this as a semi-gourmand, and because of how delicious it is and how mouthwatering the opening can be I agree, to an extent. However, because of the bright, energetic citrus and the calming and relaxing, creamy almond, vetiver and white musk, I find this to be more of a fougere, and I love it for that. I can easily wear this after my morning shower and a shave, it works and smells incredible along with any standard white bar soap (Jergens) or French milled, any citrus and vetiver body wash (Cremo), any white musk aftershave (the Body Shop), and a primarily unscented body lotion (Jergens “Ultra Healing”). Of course these are just some examples of what works for me, but you get the idea. Maybe it can help some get the most out of certain frags by pairing. As for performance and longevity, absolutely no complaints here. However, as I mentioned, this is a fragrance I like to start my day with, so I’m fine with the few hours where I can easily pick it up before putting something else on, since it’s generally not one I reach for again throughout the day. With that said, if I’m looking for all day performance I’ll reach for something else. I get about 6 hours longevity with 2 hours of noticeable projection, but not loud or brash. It’s very easy to wear and perfect first thing in the morning to help get your day going without wearing something heavy, making you sick. I don’t know about you, but putting on something rum based or sweet, like vanilla or a heavy patchouli just turns my stomach first thing in the morning, so this is perfect. Now I find this to be a fairly unique scent, I really haven’t found any that are too similar, but some off the top of my head from my collection I feel are in the same vein are... -Byredo Bal D’Afrique -MFK Amyris Homme Extrait -Kajal Homme II -Chanel Allure Homme Sport Eau Extreme/Edition Blanche -PDM Pegasus -Amouage Reflection Man -Creed Aventus Cologne -Xerjoff Renaissance -Versace Pour Homme (Signature) -Terre D’Hermes Eau Tres Fraiche -Prada L’homme -Goldfield and Banks Bohemian Lime All in all... 10/10. PS. If you’re interested in this, hurry up and buy! Since it’s been discontinued it’s depleting rather quickly. Fortunately, I was able to pick up another 100mL tester back up for around $50 off eBay. It’s a shame Guerlain chose this one to discontinue.

Oh boy. From the presentation, to the scent, this is such an amazing fragrance. The bottle, as all in the L'homme Ideal line, looks awesome in its simplicity. The square bottles look cool in any collection, especially if you have multiple flankers (once you get one, you want them all- trust me). This one is white and the liquid has a light yellow tinge. The bottle and its colors represent the smell fairly well. The elegance is in the bottle's simplicity. It just looks cool, and different. It's intriguing. I usually don't pay much attention to bottles, but this one is above the par. It's got a good snap on cap, and you can pick it up from the cap- which is still weird to me that this is something that is considered when reviewing fragrances. PROTIP: Don't pick up your bottles by the cap ever, it's dumb The atomizers on the L'homme Ideal bottles are also absolutely amazing. They're extremely well made, just like the Dior ones. I always wondered why people put any thought behind atomizers when reviewing a fragrance, but after encountering good ones and bad ones, you really learn to appreciate a good atomizer. The scent has that beautiful creamy almond paired with an amazing grapefruit note. This smells so fresh, but not in a clean blue-scent type of way. It is not aquatic. It is just a light, pleasant, citrus almond fragrance that smells absolutely amazing. The notes smell perfectly blended, and the fragrance smells absolutely amazing on skin. I believe this is unisex, because it is so sweet, without being cloying or too fruity. It is the perfect balance of sweetness and freshness that works well in the summer. It is very pleasing, easy to wear, and easily mass appealing. But as with all of the L'homme Ideal flankers, you will smell extremely good and different from most other people. This line has mass appealing fragrances, but its Guerlain, so they are going to be unique and of high quality. This fragrance has an especially natural feel to it. Guerlain really shines with making fragrances smell natural. The grapefruit and almond in this just smell so delicious together. It's not gourmand, its not aquatic... its just something completely of its own that is hard to put into words. There is a reason that this is so highly regarded. Sadly, it is discontinued, and I really have no idea why. There are a bunch of other flankers, and they are all are still sold. Of course they are hard to find in the US, but they aren't discontinued. Guerlain should bring this back. If they brought it back under a new name for a cash grab I'd still buy it, it's that damn good. Guerlain makes excellent classy fragrances, but has also come into the modern age and created more masterpieces. Yes the L'homme Ideal line may be "mass-appealing" but this fragrance is so far removed from the popular fragrances out now that to consider it a mainstream mass-appealing fragrance would be doing it an injustice. As I said before, if you wear this, especially in the spring and summer, you will smell good to others, but different. This has a very alluring scent. It is so addictive. It was love at first smell for me. It's one of the bottles that I smell the atomizer of daily, just to enjoy the smell. I have half of my 50ml left and I am cherishing it. I may need a backup bottle. See how much I rambled? That's how much I love this fragrance.

So straight the point... I LOVE THIS FRAGRANCE. I have had this fragrance for almost two months after testing out a 2ml decant and most of my testing has been indoors although I have worn this a handful of times outside meeting friends. In fact a year ago when I had first got into fragrances I had smelt this and wasn't initially impressed but since my nose had developed I decide to give it a second chance AND WHAT A DECISION IT WAS. Best way to describe this scent is that it opens with this really bright sparkling citrus vibe (mainly picking up the grapefruit ) with a hint of creaminess from the almond. The way its balanced is so effervescent that reminds me almond lemonade which is at times so mouthwatering and refreshing whilst wearing for the first 30 mins as the sparkling freshness slowly fades and almond starts to take more of a front seat. As this settles this becomes an amazingly astonishing creamy sweet delight without ever becoming too much which it remains for the majority of the fragrances progression here. In terms of performance it has been a lot better for me as some the reviews from youtube and here online. I seem to get varying longevity between 6-8 hours depending on the climate and its projection is about an arms length away whilst its not a beast people around you will at least notice it. In terms with varying longevity I have tested it out a few times as it is now spring in the UK I find on days of more moderate temperate around 15oc this easily performs well for around 8 hours with it projecting strongly for 2 hours and another 2 hours before settling into a more intimate scent for the most part. I would say on warmer days as I tested today 24oC in the park it projected well for the 1.5 hours before it started to settle gradually with moderate projection until it became a skin scent at around 4/5 hours with it remaining on skin very faintly on skin until 8 hrs... so I would recommend freshening up after 6hrs if you plan to wear it in higher heat (which I did!) or spraying heavy on clothes! But when you consider it is a warm weather fragrance its performance is slightly better than you'd expect. Its bit early for me talk about compliments but so far but I have received two compliments so far with one my friends wanting to buy this a present for someone else. I feel it will also be a very safe pleasing scent and from my perception cant see people around me disliking it. Additionally as previously mentioned I really love this scent it doesn't seem the most masculine and if anything I would say this is a straight up unisex scent but it is done right! It also has this factor of smelling unique when compared to what most others are wearing. Unfortunately this fragrance is discontinued and wish I could get a 100ml. But that isn't a major problem I managed to find 50ml for pretty cheap and because it was so good quickly bought a backup bottle to keep me good. That being said I feel like I want to give a bit more of an update after I spend more time with it hopefully in the coming weeks but so far I'm pretty impressed. Scent 9/10 Compliments has potential/10 Projection 7/10 Longevity 8/10 Overall 9/10

The L'Homme Ideal line, by Guerlain, appeared in 2014. At the time, there were whispers about the brand's attempt to win back the male audience, who had been enchanted by another line, a decade older, and from a brand competitor: Dior Homme. While one was successful and broke paradigms by presenting a powdery iris for men, the other decided to bet on the sensuality of the woody-orientals and brought almonds as a key ingredient in its compositions. And it worked! The first fragrance, L'Homme Ideal Eau de Toilette, was a sales success and, in the following year, Thierry Wasser brought a fresher version of this almond, to face the competition's version, launched in 2013. And the dispute was fierce! L’Homme Ideal Cologne, contrary to what most people think, is not an Eau de Cologne, but an Eau de Toilette. Its fragrance brings notes of orange, grapefruit, bergamot, and pink pepper on top. Then, in the body, notes of neroli, and almonds. At the base, notes of Indian vetiver, and white musk. On the skin, L’Homme Ideal Cologne is endlessly light. But calm down! The lightness is consistent and well built, I would even say...addictive. The bergamot is bright, the grapefruit is juicy and the neroli – a bit rushed – conveys an Italian touch to this creation, which is French. And everything here is perfect, not just in evolution, but in the way the almonds reveal themselves and give a creamier appearance. And best of all: it does not, at any time, leave a scent of moisturizing almond lotion, as it does not lose its citrus and refreshing content. From the base, the musk stands out on my skin, almost overshadowing the vetiver. That fragrance that had everything to behave in a smooth and, dare I say, a little sportive way, proves to be an excellent choice for daily use, especially in places with very high temperatures, such as Brazil. Its performance is incredible and praise comes all the way! Unfortunately, it was discontinued (which is a sin) and they tried to adapt it to other flankers, such as the Sport (2017) and the Cool (2019) versions, but without the same success. The latter versions bring the almonds in the initial explosion and introduce patchouli into the base, ensuring greater longevity. Anyway, one thing is certain: L’Homme Ideal Cologne was Thierry Wasser's way of saying: “Iris, you have no rights here!”.

The ideal cologne ! Guerlain is no longer the same house that it once was. Since 94, when the brand was acquired by LVMH, the fragrances started to take a different direction. Truth to be told, they launched several great fragrances since that time (the Acqua Allegoria Pamplelune and Herba Fresca, the fantastic L'Instant de Guerlain or even Cuir Beluga) but the majority of their fragrances were just mass market impulses. Since Jean Paul Guerlain left the house in 2010, and choose Thierry Wasser to replace him, Wasser is been working hard to keep the heritage of the brand alive and to bring some good ideas to the table. The Les Absolu D'Orient line is decent (Ambre Eternel is absolutely great and my favorite, by far) and Mon Guerlain is doing well but they needed a new masculine line. L'Homme ideal (2014). The concept was to create a sweet-gourmand scent with a everlasting freshness, and the result was quite convincing. I like the tonka-guerlinade-amaretto accord of the fragrance but it lacks something in the overall idea. That's when the Cologne flanker appears. This one took the original tonka-amaretto accord and added a juicy grapefruit note which lasts the entire lifetime of the fragrance. Not a usual thing. The beauty of this fragrance, at least for me, is that is a citric fragrance that actually lasts with the citric being in the front during the lifetime. Longlasting, super fresh and very alluring and even, should I say, sexy! The result is quite fascinating. A grapefruit with an almond-ish impression and a vetiver-musk finale. Thierry Wasser improved the DNA of the original idea and he never reached the right tune again with the rest of the line. Unfortunately, and i don't know why, they discontinued this fragrance and replaced it with Cool, which is supposedly a minty version but fails completely. The EDP is the one that is talked about but I never cared much. Basically a cherry-tonka version of the original. Good but not so masterfully done as the Cologne version. Make me a favor and pick up a bottle (or two) of this fragrance because you will miss it when it disappear completely. 4/5