Metallica (Metalys)

I don't have a full bottle of this. But several years some nice eBay seller offered 10ml decants and I snapped one up. Gosh I wish Guerlain would bring this out again, under a name that actually implies what it smells like. I wore Metallica for the first time in months yesterday and experienced again what a wonderful scent it is, and how bad marketing choices made by Guerlain cost everyone so much. First bad choice: The name doesn't match the scent. No metal notes that I can discern. Whatever metal notes really are, but I'm expecting a sharp chypre scent or something at least crisp. Paco Rabanne's Metal is sort of the gold standard on that, but there must be others. Metallica to my nose anyway is a soft floral scent. Absolutely not bold and brassy, but a steady push of carnation and light rose notes and a light vanilla. Lots of contrasts; muted but strong, floral but lots of amber and vanilla, a little sweet but not cloying. Very long lasting, 8+ hours yesterday on my skin yesterday. Good sillage too. But I don't suppose Guerlain thought that would sell. Or some marketing guru said "we have to bring in the younger, hip customer if we're going to stay in business. What do they like? Edgy rock music. What is that? Oh heavy metal." Obviously this marketing person or team had no idea of the nuances of rock music, or the relatively low percentage of the 20-somethings that were fans of heavy metal. But no matter, they thrust the name Metallica onto a lovely floral fragrance that would have had many customers under another name, put it in a fancy bottle, and marketed it to the 0.5% of the perfume market who would buy a $600 bottle of a perfume they couldn't test beforehand. Because indeed, Guerlain never had testers for those limited edition bottles. (If they had, I might now own one of those Baccarat turtle shaped bottles. But even rosequeen will not drop $600 on a perfume she can't smell beforehand.) And obviously they paid no attention to the real culture of the people who follow heavy metal bands, or they would have realized that an exceedingly small percentage of them would ever have worn a perfume from what they considered to be a snobby French perfume seller, even if it was $20 a bottle, let alone $600. (I don't remember the exact price, but it was at least $600 and maybe even $800.) And then the nearly fatal mistake Guerlain made was misjudging how good the lawyers could be for a heavy metal band. Or how good trademark/ registered name laws really are. You'd think they'd pay attention since YSL had to change its perfume named Champagne to Yvresse because the French Champagne makers complained/sued. Champagne is integral to French culture; sacred especially when so much of it was slipping away. The Americanization of France - horrors. Proof that the wine industry triumphed over the perfume industry. YSL's little blunder must have cost tons of money. Anyway, I've delineated the history of Guerlain's Metallica debacle. All of it on a perfume few people have had the opportunity to smell. So it's an opportunity for Guerlain to bring it back. They sort of did; that Eau de Lingerie scent they brought out a few years ago is similar. I don't follow Guerlain all that closely anymore, but I think this scent could be brought back for another run under a decent name. It's that good.

Where oh where do I start with this treasure? Truly a thing of beauty this one is. Both bottle and scent are just amazing! Metallica is a spicy Carnation with a dusty Amber and a warm semi sweet vanilla base. The Amber note in this scent is very bright and luxurious and is well blended with all the other notes, I find it easy to pick up on individual notes in this fragrance, it's as if it has dimensions but it is well blended at the same time. I also detect some soapiness throughout the whole wear, just slightly. Carnation and Iris are probably the most prominent floral notes in this composition. Metallica is perfect to wear on cold days/nights, it is one of those scents that make you feel warm and cozy with a feeling of comfort and satisfaction. It has a unique dusty, old vintage feel to it and can be easily worn as a Christmas holiday scent. The silage and lasting power is extraordinary! People will be able to smell this on you as soon as you enter a room, it really is one of a kind! I would say that if you're someone that does not enjoy the modern Vanilla scents of today but loves that old school, not so sugary, mature vanilla, then you would most likely love Metallica.

A very warm scent, perfect for winter, perfect for Christmas time. Maybe not a monument in the Guerlain dynasty (the competition is high with those Mitsouko, Shalimar, L'Heure Bleue and all the others around!) but lovely indeed. Very vanillic but not too invasive or annoying; vanilla scents may be obnoxious when the vanilla is too sweet or let alone to play the tune. It opens strong and little by little it settles down flowery and powdery. You can tell miles away this is Guerlain. It has a sensational lasting power and what I love most is the trail it leaves on your clothes, on your skin hours after wearing it: a mix of tender spices, soft flowers, light vanilla so gentle and yet so assertive, never dull, never plain but complex and always changing. It's Guerlain, you know. I bought the original bottle in 2000 and years after it is still wonderful. I have always marveled at seeing such a big bottle while the two Christmas preceding ones (Guerlinade and Guet Apens) were smaller. Who knows? And who cares? Let's enjoy its beauty.

Thank you Xrayer for this generous sample. I love this and I am not usually a fan of too much musk and tonka combined with iris! But the composition of this is so beautifully executed, particularly in the opening notes, that the divine experience of smelling the notes change and unfurl has moved this from the like to love category for me. What sorcery does the house of Guerlain possess?! This is modern and old fashioned at the same time, classy and youthful yet timeless. A light rose dances through the citric top notes in a very feminine and fresh manner - and then comes the iris, partnered with carnation and delicate spices for the second song. The finale comes in the form of a soft, slow dance at the end of the evening, with a sexy blend of non-sugary vanilla and musk. The notes all hold hands, take a sweet bow and exit the room in a softly perfumed, deftly choreographed and delicate dance, leaving the remaining guests wondering where they came from and who they were. Fit for a princess.

Long discontinued, I was lucky enough to find a sealed bottle of Metallica for a reasonable price earlier this year. The bee bottle is a work of art, but the juice itself is equally impressive. Metallica is a spicy-floral-vanilla. The spicy carnation is a prominent note in the earlier phases of scent development. In the heart, ylang-ylang is the primary floral I detect. The classical warm Guerlainde base follows, highlighted by the gorgeous vanilla note that Guerlain has mastered. The fragrance perfumes quite well for an EDT. Personally, I plan on wearing the fragrance all-year-round (except daytime in the summer) and I would classify it as a unisex fragrance. Metallica is a true masterpiece from Jean-Paul Guerlain and is one of the best vanilla fragrances I have come across.