L’Homme Idéal Cool

It is quite good though! L’Homme Ideal Cool had a very very tough release to cope with. Generally being considered the reason for the “beloved” L’Homme Ideal Cologne being discontinued, most likely sparked some antipathy toward this release. While Ideal Cologne was widely praised, the sales numbers must not have been that great, otherwise Guerlain would not have felt it necessary to put out a replacement. Even before I got this, I got two back-up bottles of Ideal Cologne, because after the EdP it is my favourite of the line and both are among my absolute favourite fragrances in my collection. They complete each other very well, with one being a winter and the other a summer scent. I did not want to take any chances with Cool being a bad release and soon having to pay more than a hundred bucks for the Cologne version on eBay, because there are no more bottles left. Now that it is hitting discounters I got a bottle of Ideal Cool and gave it a test ride for the last three days. I have to say that I love it just as much as L’Homme Ideal Cologne. Is it similar? Yes! Is it different? Yes! It keeps the Ideal line DNA, with the sweet almonds, while the citrus accords are dialled back heavily. While Cologne has the sweet and sour opening of lots of citrus, Cool comes at you with mint and a subtle anise. It retains the bergamot as a citrus note, but this opening is different enough to stand wide apart from Ideal Cologne. I actually do not get that much of a watery vibe until the mid to dry down, but it is present nevertheless. During the mid it is sweeter than Cologne which I will come back to later. I do like/love neroli scents and mixed with the almond it is sweet L'Homme Ideal line heaven. The dry down is very similar to Cologne though. Very weak vetiver, which is too weak for my taste considering that Guerlain actually has some great vetiver scents available and can certainly do more with it. If Ideal Cologne never existed Cool would have been the perfect spring/summer partner to the fall/winter EdP version with its heavenly cherry. That said Ideal Cologne did/does exist and here comes my only problem comparing it to Ideal Cologne. Cool is slightly sweeter all the way through and the anise in the opening actually gives me a bit of a cooler weather vibe, while the citrussy sour notes of Cologne just scream "Come on buddy, go get a refreshment in this summer heat" to me. Therefore, to me as a fan of the line Cool and Cologne would have worked side-by-side very well, with Cool sticking to its name, being a spring and summer even early fall fragrance, which is worn on the colder days. Early spring, when it is 5-10°C in the morning and only gets warm during daytime, with the sun announcing the coming/going of summer. Also during colder perhaps rainy summer days. Ideal Cologne to me always works best on the warmer days. When the first heatwave hits some time during late March to May or later in the high summer heat. To me Cool feels too sweet for those days. So, as someone who is into fragrances I would probably continue buying both and use them as described, but I do understand that from a strict business perspective these two fragrances would cannibalise each other, because casual fragrance wearers will only get one of these and apparently, they did not like Cologne as much as the “fanatics”. Overall, Guerlain replaced a good fragrance in Ideal Cologne, with a good fragrance in its own right. I am sad Cologne is discontinued, but I am not mad at Cool for that being the case. Now that this is off my heart let’s give some actual numbers here: Smell: 9.5/10 (just like I would give Ideal Cologne) Longevity: I get a good 6+ hours out of this, just like with Cologne Sillage: moderate bordering on heavy, especially during the 1,5h opening Sadness factor for Guerlain discontinuing Ideal Cologne: 11/10 What I have to add is that Guerlain is also confusing the hell out of their customers right now. Apparently they removed the coloured frosting/cotaing covering the sides of the Ideal line bottles. (Cologne was white, EdP reddish brown, the original EdT had a black outline). Several people apparently now think they get fakes, because there is a mix of bottles in circulation now. Some older ones with the frosting and the new clear bottles. Mine was actually depicted without frosting, but I received a Cool bottle with the grey frosting around the sides. Just FYI.

This is a very nostalgic freshie for me that reminds me of when I was young and my dad and I would get ready for work and school. When he finished preparing for work the bathroom always smelled fresh and clean and strongly of minty mouthwash and sometimes if I was finished brushing my teeth fast enough I would be able to join him for a quick swig of listerine. Yes! Guerlain L'homme Ideal Cool is a comforting herbal freshie that sustains a very cool medicinal mint at the top accentuated by an aromatic spicy anise creating a strong fantasy pharmaceutical mentholated sensation. The texture is a bit heavy to the nose like a humid bathroom in the morning after getting prepared for work if you can imagine this. On me this is a stellar performer for a fresh fragrance I get some good time off this at the 7-8 hour mark where the spicy anise and ambroxan keep an attractive but creamy modern freshness alive after the top notes of mint die off. I don't smell too much almond but I feel its quiet essence of nuttiness does exist and just helps lower the vibe of the fragrance to feel heavier, since a composition with such zingy notes might make an aggressive and punchy first impression without the staying energy to maintain it. A creamy somewhat watery almond helps to pace the composition through its stages of development allowing them to slowly transform from mint, to fresh, to creamy aromatic and leave you with a much more refined wearing experience - a fragrance that doesn't smell cheap* L'Homme Ideal Cool is a scent that feels like anticipation, like readiness and alertness, like "I am ready and excited to take on today's challenges!". It is a pleasure to have a fragrance that so effortlessly allows me to feel like that in my collection. A great fresh fragrance one of my favorite grab and go's. A very excellently constructed mint fragrance that doesn't rely on a poor performing mint to do its work! This is getting a lot of wear from me in the summer! These Guerlain l'Homme Ideals look like Power-Rangers on my shelf and I love it. I don't mind if the line continues but other great ones in the line will get the boot for it. If another freshie in the l'Homme Ideal line be made I would be excited for it to either be an almond based fougère - probably one of the first, and a good signature scent, or a rummy Mai Tai based fragrance with creamy almond orgeat syrup on top of fresh and understated fruity elements. I know Thierry Wasser and Delphine Jelk have the blending magic! 8.5/10 Edit: This review was based on the grey bordered version of l'Homme Ideal Cool.

L’Homme Ideal Cool seems to be the most-maligned of the L’Homme Ideal line, especially because its launch coincided with the discontinuation of the Cologne. In fact, LHIC is my favourite of them all (I haven’t tried the newly-released Extreme yet) I think one of the reasons that LHIC is heavily criticised is because while other L’Homme Ideal flankers either embellish or strip back the core almond note, here Thierry Wasser uses the almond note to take LHIC in a totally different direction: it opens sweet, fresh and minty. The mint is toothpaste mint, but when combined with other notes such as the orange, anise and almond, the scent is almost that of a refreshing fantasy dessert (instead of the heavy, decadent desserts gourmand perfumes so often emulate) That is not to say LHIC is a gourmand. It is not, but personally brings to mind that association. It’s great for spraying on first thing in the morning - it smells both aromatic and uplifting - with excellent longevity and moderate projection. A clear ambroxan note becomes more prominent as the aromatics slowly fade, but it does not bother me nearly as much as some other ambroxan-heavy fragrances. I also received three compliments in the space of two days wearing this recently.* Guerlain is the master at creating fragrances that are more than the sum of their parts, and LHIC is a perfect example of this. One of my all-time favourites and quickly becoming one of the fragrances that feels like a part of me. It also helps that mint, almond and anise are three of my favourite notes in perfumery. Love the mint-green colour too! * While compliments are nothing more than a pleasant surprise for me - I’m far too selfish to wear fragrances to please other people - for those who may be interested in the context and situation: a down-to-earth late forties/early fifties co-worker in passing; an assertive mid-twenties nurse manager when I entered her office; and a beautiful, tattooed mid-late twenties waitress who shyly asked the name of it.

Got a decant of this from a gracious member of the community. I'm on my way to collecting everything from the line. Big fan. So, I think it safe to say cool bottle (no pun intended), good sprayers, yada yada. As Rick mentioned this is nearly identical to Homme EDP in the opening. I will still purchase it when it hits discounters but since I have and use Homme EDP as my nearly every day scent for work, I'm not rushing out to buy it. Citrus, mint, somewhat "watery". Then the mid hits with white florals and almond. There's the Ideal note. Base is all ambroxan to my nose mixed with the top half of the pyramid but not the "stroll through the mall" type of ambrox overload. Just the right amount. It's good! I'm not one to advocate layering too often but go ahead and try it with the original.. It's amazing. I think the Ideal line from Guerlain is fantastic. Every single release is good, even Sport. This is no exception. They should keep the EDP in production as well. I have enjoyed every single one. I think this particular flanker is perfect for all ages, all situations. Signature scent worthy. It can work in every single season. As Guerlain does, it's sophisticated enough for a suit and modest enough for jeans. Can't go wrong here. I think the OG is still the best in the line but I expect nothing less than stellar quality from this line. Have yet to try L'Intense but I assume I will enjoy it. Performance is the only drawback to an otherwise stellar line but is to be expected with the relevant flankers. The OG, EDP and Cologne (surprisingly) perform very well for me. Sport and Cool are lagging a bit behind but not dramatically. I got about 6-7 hours out of Cool with a good hour or so of very nice sillage. For what it is, how could you be disappointed? Yet another fantastic release from Guerlain!

This is so good, I might like it more than the Cologne. I can see why it replaced it- I don't think it should have, but the two are actually too similar to have both. The Cool has the mint aspect which I think sets it apart more from other fragrances, as there are a lot of citrusy openings in fragrances, especially using grapefruit. As beautiful and perfect as Cologne is, Cool was love at first smell for me as Cologne was. Cool has a minty, menthol opening to it, mixed with that unmistakable EDT DNA. The almond and mint create a beautiful opening, the "Cherry" vibe is here too and it all mixes together quite nicely. The drydown is like the EDT and the Cologne combined, without the grapefruit. The mint is present throughout. It is cooling to spray on, and is a nice herbal, green, cooling mint, not a toothpaste or sweet mint. Guerlain always does a good natural smell. Cool is the summer version of the EDT. Cologne is really good, but I feel like Guerlain should release that as a fragrance on its own right. I think Cool retains a lot of the original DNA and fits into the line more. Cologne should be a standalone release, that should still exist. I really do like Cool a lot, and it may be my favorite flanker. I found a good deal on ebay for this, but it isn't available for that cheap very often, so get it while you can. I am looking to get Extreme, but it is impossible in the US, at a decent price. If anyone can help- let me know.