Mitsouko Eau de Toilette

Hmmmmm. I think I don't get this one just yet, but I'm slowly getting there. I imagine this one varies a lot based on skin chemistry, and, based on the comments I see here, I don't think I have the best possible skin chemistry for this. Nonetheless, something about it just won't let me go. My first thought upon sniffing Mitsouko was that this... stinks? This smells, in the kind of way that my mother would want to cover up with a clean department store celebrity floral. It smells exactly like something, though I don't quite remember what... I do understand the old lady comparisons. This smells like it is from another era. It smells like timeless, graceful maturity. It reeks with a certain sourness that I hated at first, particularly in the opening burst of green sharpness and spices, but then it started to remind me of libraries and old book pages, soft cuddly amber and ink... There is nothing sweet in this. Zero. Maybe a whisper of peach fuzz, but not a ripe, juicy peach you'd ever want to eat. Maybe a suggestion of a floral bouquet far, far away, wilting quietly on a dusty piano. Something in Mitsouko is very close to death. She is somber, sour, serious, and oh, so old. And yet... I just can't figure her out. I have to keep wearing her until I know her secrets. I can feel myself slowly falling for her mysterious whispering charm. I'm falling under her spell. On me, the opening of this is sharp and harsh, with spices I can't quite name that have an almost anise-like pointiness. The vetiver is loud and green, like grass screaming as it is cut, and the oakmoss is pungent and inky. I'm surprised by the strength and performance of Mitsouko throughout, but particularly in this first brash stage. That opening punch of spiky spices feels really familiar to me, and rather folk-medicinal. In the first minutes, it's astringent almost like an odd spicy scent of cleaning wipes manufactured in a country with wildly different olfactory tastes for cleaning wipes. I wouldn't usually think of this as something I'd want to smell like, and it's my least favorite part of the scent, but it's growing on me. The suggestion of peach comes out right in the middle, as the green and inky nuances begin to quiet down unevenly and let slivers of fruit and beheaded flowers through their grasp. In the drydown, the amber comes out and softens the green bitterness of the vetiver and oakmoss, which have become soft and tea-like. This stage is so enchanting and lovely, and I wish it projected more. In a day, I've gone from strongly disliking this to wanting to bathe in it. I never buy more than a milliliter of any fragrance, with very few exceptions, but this one tempts me. Enchanting. Update: today I wore Mitsouko EDT all day. First I brought her to work with me in the library. I couldn't tell where the soft, gentle dusty library smell ended and Mitsouko began. I then walked with her down to the farmer's market for some flowers, and promptly got caught in a gale. Mitsouko sang beautifully all around me in the rain. When I finally ran home in the rain, grabbed my umbrella, and walked to a dinner party, Mitsouko was still hanging all around me deliciously in the air. She has a way of magnifying and blending with all of the best things in your own skin and all around you. She sings clear, resonant chords with dampness and rain, with water and rot, with overripe fruit and earth, with spices and sin. She embodies the cool late August nights when the road glistens with rain and the air is heavy with a refreshing wetness. She is divine and she has graced me with her presence. I'll have her as long as she will stay. I'm a chronic sampler who tries everything in the tiniest possible size and never orders more of anything, who cannot imagine having a signature and wearing the same scent every single day. Mitsouko is the first scent to seriously tempt me with settling down. She blends with my own skin and my surroundings gloriously, creating a bridge that helps me appreciate the beauty of both. Unlike some heady sweet or floral thing, Mitsouko never exhausts me. I go to bed thinking how exciting it will be to wear her again. I think of her when I am trying other scents. I'm well on my way to having to order more. Update 2: It's official. I'm a fickle, novelty-chasing forever sampler, and Mitsouko is my first signature scent. Each time I bring her out she shows me something new. Today it is a comforting, delightful cinnamon with an almost-chocolate nuance and something animalic and carnal in the background. Another day, she's rain and dusty books, or perhaps dry vanillin and tea. She changes so entirely based on weather, climate, skin chemistry... she is divine. Update 3: I caved and bought a tester from FragranceX (my first ever full bottle, of anything!) and I like her very much, though she is not the Mitsouko I fell in love with in my 1 ml sample. Gone are the anise-cinnamon disinfectant spices and the moldy peach that I know and love. This Mitsouko feels more earthy, vegetal, and so much more mushroom-y. Perhaps she has a bit more of a citrus sheen, not bergamot, but something like a hint of lemon. Oddly enough, I get something animalic and civet-like, a skanky sexy note that simply wasn't there in my first sample. My batch number tells me my bottle is from 2017. I've heard Mitsouko doesn't keep well, and department store lights probably don't help. (Lesson learned!) I don't know how some of you preserve hundred-year-old bottles of the stuff! Still, she is pretty, though not as plush and mystical as what I first sampled. (The conspiracy theorist in me can't help but wonder whether sample distributors might put EDP in EDT vials to get more people to come back for a full bottle... but no, I think my bottle has simply started to turn.) I do like this damper, more animalic, mushroom-centered, possibly-turned take on Mitsouko, though I still dream of the one from my original sample most of all. Someday I'll find her again.

There is the extrait, the eau de parfum, and this, the eau de toilette. The extrait is undoubtedly the benchmark - as can be said with most Guerlain perfumes - but so complex, mysterious, and multidimensional is Mitsouko that even in three different concentrations the perfume still elicits a weak-at-the-knees reaction from me regardless of the one I'm wearing. The opening of the EdT is the same irrespective of the concentration, that powdery bergamot - a Guerlain signature - nestled on a bed of ripe and juicy peach skin that is quietened down significantly compared to the other concentrations, and the roses and jasmine smell dried rather than freshly bloomed. Notably missing in the EdT is the citrusy-juicy floral sweetness of the ylang-ylang, a key note of the other concentrations. This immediately gives the EdT a sharper, crisper, airy yet more rigid or stately character. In the other concentrations, Mitsouko always felt to me like the soft and polite smile of a kind and beautiful person; a radiant yet restrained smile presented from soft lips and warm eyes. The EdT still smiles like the other concentrations, but their back is straighter, their shoulders pushed back, their neck long and stiffened. Despite this statelier presentation the EdT somehow very successfully presents itself as much lighter and more diffusive than its sister concentrations; it's easier to make perfumes more rigid by adding heavy materials, like those that present woody or earthy notes, but the EdT avoids this cliche with impeccable style and grace. This change of character is evident in the dry down as well, with the vetiver playing a much smaller role and dry amber and oakmoss (a synthetic oakmoss to be noted in this modern formulation) playing greater roles than they do in the other concentrations, encouraging Mitsouko to lean more into its chypre side rather than balance out a bit with balsamic amber notes. For the men out there who might find the extrait and EdP concentrations a bit too feminine - a point I've ranted about before - the EdT is likely going to be more in their lane. Thankfully, for the rest of us that believe this to be one of the best perfumes of all time and couldn't give less of a damn which sex it portends, the EdT maintains the overall character and spirit of Mitsouko whomever she was. Though not as complex as the extrait or EdP, keeping her feelings and thoughts more to herself in the EdT, you cannot help but be allured by her magnetic, gentle, and kind beauty. Many thanks to Guerlain for only slightly changing Mitsouko's mood, and not her person.

A classic warm ripe peach, mixed by earthy oakmoss and spices... . از علاقه وافر و ارادت زیادم به برند گرلن و عطرها و عطارهاش نگم ولی فک کنم نهایتا اگر مجبور به انتخاب ناب ترین ترکیبش باشم میتسوکو رو انتخاب کنم. ساخته دست ژاک گرلن بزرگ به سال ۱۹۱۹ میلادی . مطمئنا میتسوکو عطری نیست که سلیقه های امروزی راحت بپسندنش. آلبوم عکسی کهنه و خاکی از یک فضای با شکوه و مجلل کلاسیک هست. . یک عطر هلویی اما نه هلوی باطراوت و آبدار بلکه هلوی گرما خورده ای که از حالت شادابی و تازگی خارج شده. . یک هلوی حسابی رسیده و بالغ. پرز دار و خاک گرفته. شیرینیش تاحدودی مثل شیرینی بخار هلویی هست که از دیگ پخت مربا یا لواشک هلو خارج میشه. مثل نکتار هلو که نمیتونه حس تر و تازگی و شفافیت میوه واقعی رو بازتاب بده. یک شیرینی میوه ای مات، لاکتونیک و برگه مانند ... . این وجهه از رایحه ی هلو رو عطر تلخ و خاکیِ خزه بلوط و وتیور همراهی میکنن و کلیت فضا رو، رو به چوبی شدن میبرن و البته در نت پایه پررنگ تر و واضح تر حس میشن. درواقع مانع شاداب بودن هلوی عطر هم ، همبستر شدنش با همین خزه بلوط پیر و کهنه سال هست. . . عطر در قلب خودش روایح گلی رو جا داده، ترکیب کمرنگی از رز و یاس و درکنار اون یلانگ یلانگ پرقدرت با حس گلی و موز کال مانندش ... . بعلاوه هاله ای گرم و مطبوع ازشیرینی تیز ادویه ای که به کار جلوه ی شرقی میبخشه عطر رو دربرگرفته. همچنین در پس زمینه ی کار از ابتدا تا انتها رایحه ای تلخ و نفتی طور در کنار بویی کَره مانند جریان داره که نمیخوام به صورت حدسی براشون منبعی مشخص کنم اما نمیتونم هم وجودشون رو نادیده بگیرم. . این ترکیب هلو با رایحه خاکی زمینیِ کهنه به من حس برگه های خشک شده و خاک گرفته ی هلو که مدت ها در صندوقچه ی مادربزرگ مونده و کمی هم خشک شده رو میده . حس ریختن هلو توی گونی های خاکی که هنوز بوی برنج میدن . حس دست کشیدن روی پوست مخملی و شسته نشده ی هلو و رد شدن پرز هاش از زیر انگشت ها و بویی که متصاعد میکنه. یا بعضیا میگن هلویی که روی زمین خاکی و خزه بسته ی جنگل افتاده... . با تست عطر منتظر اتفاق خارق العاده ای نباشید که تحسین و تشویقِ مداومِ بزرگان و علاقمندان به عطر از ابتدای ساخت میتسوکو تا کنون رو توجیه کنه. سرتاسر عطر نمایانگر تعادل ظریفی بین حالت میوه ای و حس خاکی چوبی ادویه ای عطره که حُسن عطر هم همین تناسب و هماهنگ کردن این روایح و خلق شاهکاری کم نظیره.

I wrote this review in 2006 for Makeup Alley and I wanted to share it here as well: How to describe this scent? Not sure I can do it justice, but here are my impressions: They say that scent triggers powerful memories. If that's the case, Mitsouko transports me to my beloved late grandmother's bedroom. I mean that in the best possible way - this is NOT a "grandma" perfume! My grandmother was a lovely, elegant woman who passed away when I was 12. I never really knew the name of her signature perfume but now I would say hands down that it was Mitsouko. This fragrance smells just like her vanity, her jewelry boxes, her makeup collection, her clothing closet, the soft skin of her cheek whenever I kissed her. It's a wonderful scent - truly more nostalgic than the period in which I initially smelled it. It transcends time. Mitsouko evokes for me the early 20th century - classy and classic. The scent conjures up a wooden steamer trunk filled with antique lace, an album of sepia photographs and greeting cards, a stack of love letters tied with satin ribbon, hat boxes filled with beautiful chapeaus and veils, an ivory wedding dress preserved with spices and still-soft dried roses. In case my thoughts above don't convey it, Guerlain's Mitsouko is a stunning, thought-provoking chypre fragrance. From first to last it is striking, but I love it even more on drydown, when it becomes softly powdery and "mysterious" as it's name implies. I can not detect the individual notes, nor do I "get" the peach in here. I smell dried flowers (violet, rose?), some amber and spice, yet it has a decidedly cool and dry feeling rather than a warmth. No, Mitsouko is not for everyone. It is one of those perfumes that chooses you. Try it, and see where it takes YOU.

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.

Aaah I have always wanted to be able to wear this and finally in my 40s I can. This was one of my mothers great perfume loves. And I loved it on her. Haunting and wistful but warm and assertive. Not your average woman. As a youngster I got all the base all the time and it was incredibly pungent on my then oily skin. That would have been the early 90s formulation I smelt and I’m unsure of the strength. But back then EDTs were the definition of beast mode. This week I received a mini edt and then on a local auction site bought an incredibly priced 50ml EDT 2014 batch in the gold box (was factory sealed) and she is divine. I lost my mum in 2013 so it’s a special feeling to sense her with me today in this fragrance. Today I am experiencing joy. It’s a sharp green top with a dive into soapy rose and jasmine. I get a big dose of ylang emerging (much like Samsara). The fragrance has a huge throw for the first hour on my skin (it’s 18 degrees C here today in late late winter) and then fruit appears. A honeyed ripeness and what feels like pink pepper and cloves with cinnamon. The green is dark and moody to boost the fluffy soapy musk that is here too. Like sunshine and shade in the same fragrance. It’s love. I’m now hunting down the edp and extrait for a full experience. Recent versions are completely oos everywhere so I’ll see how it goes. I’m patient and steely eyed when on a mission - there will be success. Mitsouko is discerning - she reveals herself slowly and doesn’t give a damn about what anyone else thinks. She is a jewel, a non conformist and that classic beauty with good bones who looks more stunning with age. She sees the sign “beware, here be dragons”, raises an eyebrow and carry’s on ❤️

I own vintages from 1960's and 1990's; they smell fairly similar on me, a gorgeous subtle scent that I feel like I 'own' (sometimes!). It is the only one I get regularly complimented on. I can't identify individual notes, maybe due to the age of the scent, but I adore it - sophisticated, subtle wood, it doesn't seem overly complex and yet it is capricious and can change with the weather. I feel I can combat the world when we are getting on 'as one'; there's a soul to this composition. Thankfully I had never conciously identified Mitsouko until recently, when I blind bought a sample for comparison. I can only imagine how I would be devastated if it had been part of my entire life, or someone I loved wore it, and the formulation had changed forever. I think I will cry when I can no longer obtain a good vintage - this is the perfume I feel most emotional about. I tried it against the reformulation and, initially I felt that I could wear the modern version. However, recently the new version has been in combat with my chemistry and unfortunately it turns to a powdery cinnamon bun smell that radiates far and wide. It cannot replace my older bottles. I read somewhere that often the top notes deteriorate even if the vintage has been stored impeccably - I wondered if that was why I prefer the vintages. Unfortunately the reformulation remained linear on my skin and after several hours I had to give up and wash it off. I will try the current version again and hope that on another day I can come back here and say, it was all me, it's a mistake, the new version is a masterpiece! What I will say is, if Mitsouko, old OR new suits you - there's nothing much can compete with it.

To sum up all of the beautiful things said about Mitsouko: This is a grown woman's perfume. Mitsouko is a beautiful woman in her thirties or her forties who knows what she's about. She knows what she wants. She wears her beauty in stately elegance, self assured, and at all times with gracious strength. This is not a sweet perfume by any measure though some have described it as having leanings toward the gourmand. I beg to disagree. Mitsouko only has leanings toward the gourmand if one favors dining on incense and dry woods. It was not created for the perfumery palate of today where our noses have been trained by the contemporary gastronomical landscape that says every worthwhile meal must have a dessert as a finish. Such is also the collective requirements that we have for our perfumes: every perfume must have a sweet note somewhere in there creating cognitive confusion as to whether we should be smelling or tasting. Instead, Mitsouko is a golden plume of resinous smoke wafting past the shoji doors of a stately Japanese home and into a blooming garden edged by an orchard of peaches after a cool late afternoon rain. The smoke, thick and filled with heavy spices and woods, collides with the smell of the fragrantly ripe peaches of the orchard and the lighter scent of rose de mai and jasmine. Hanging over it all is the smell of damp green vegetal earth. This is the beauty of Mitsouko. I could not reserve this simply for special occasion wear, but instead wear it on cool days when I want to feel a sense of quiet elegance. I have the parfum/extrait as well as the cologne. The cologne is a vintage formula dated 1973 (yes, it was kept well and it's still a keeper).

My previous review of Mitsouko Edt went only as far as how I read this classic. I didn't wrtie a thing about how the Eau de Toilette ranks amonst the other Mitsouko concentrations. First Ishould mention that I love woody, earthy scents without artificial sweetness. I find perfumes that are difficult to understand at the get go really interesting in the long run, They often aren't similar to their peers.They are not crowd pleasers. If there is anything that makes me suspicious, it is a crowd pleaser. I love perfume with soul! A perfect example of difficult? Mitsouko Eau de Toilette, current version. This kind of scent can go really well. But it is probably nor likely to not, depending on so many factors. Skin chemistry, but then the tastes of the moment just don't seem to jibe with today's conventions of beauty. Not pink, sweet or sugary. My first reaction is shock. All I smell is burnt leaves and wood Not sure ifI like this. Am I detecting the fire burning up at Camp Roberts? As it so happens with my favorites, the Guerlain classics, it takes m a few days for the notes to fall into their place and to be able to smell the progression of notes. Then first, the moss materializes out of the smoke and ashes. Then, there's the dry and very realistic peach. Then, Surprise! The peach becomes VERY prominent. It smothers the forefront. Is most intense of all concentration but this peach particularly amazing. Pure perfection! The truest, and because of that the best depiction of pitted fruit I have found in any perfume is in Mitsouko in all strengths. And it pairs up magically with the earthy cinnamon note that next rises to the forefront.

I won't pretend to have new ideas about a fragrance with so many thorough reviews from better-trained noses, but I do have a sentimental story. My grandmother passed away in 1995, and I was put in charge of sorting through her clothes and sending them for donation. Everything was given away, or so I thought. Somehow, I ended up with a random pair of her pants among my things. She'd been gone a while by then, and I remember coming across them and catching a whiff of her smell. It was a comforting scent that I'd always recognized as hers. I didn't think it was perfume. I thought it was a conglomeration of all the different smells from her house and toiletries. Jump ahead to now. Those random pants still retain the same fragrance, and I occasionally pull them out to sniff to remember her. She was a great lady, and I'm grateful for any reminder of a woman who made me feel so loved. Today I received a small bottle of Mitsouko in the mail. It's my first chypre. It's not vintage. I'm sure it's a modern reformulation. I dabbed it on my wrist and let it unfold, and then...there was my grandmother. I smiled. I teared up. And now I'm on a mission to source some vintage Mitsouko. Anyone who says this smells like an old lady might very well be right. If you have a beloved relative who lived at a time when Mitsouko was popular, this scent may evoke a scent memory that is instantly worth the price of the bottle. I don't see myself wearing this often, but I will definitely wear it anytime I want to experience the flood of memories of a wonderful woman who has been gone from my life for nearly twenty years. Thank you, Guerlain.

Evil Chypre, EDT 1994 What a difference 10 years makes. I've always read about the darkness of Mitsouko--I love dark notes. But I couldn't find this dark version of Mitsouko. I've had 2 bottles of the EDP, a sample of the current extrait (the freshest, most lovely peach I've ever smelled, BTW) and a 10 year old bottle of the EDT. Yeah, they're all mossy, classic, peach, but missing a certain darkness. Well. The oakmoss laden EDT from the 90's--and prior, I assume--is a scary dark perfume that reminds me of old fairy tales. Back in the day the characters that populated these stories were truly without redemption, they were evil and incorrigible and scary. For some reason it reminds me of this old Animae cartoon I had recorded from TV in the 80's. It was about a girl who gets stuck in a night time forest that is populated by a castle, giant trees, a scary evil prince who wants to kill her (truly evil--no evil hiding a soft, sensitive side, just evil) and an indifferent unicorn that she has to goad into helping her. Mitsouko just screams of night time--in fairy tale when roses and peaches and incense are cloaked with moss and trees, and everything is menacing, and your heart is racing and you can't wait for daylight. I just think that Mitsouko is best for some sort of adventurous nightime princess who is young and has long hair and wears dark velvet gowns and doesn't have a lot of friends. Yeah, if you don't like oakmoss and dark perfumes you aren't going to like this. Hard to believe that this is what Mitsouko used to be, but it's exactly what I was looking for.

In the description above it reads: " . . Eau de Toilette is much sharper, while Eau de Perfume is warmer and nicer . . .". I found a 2ml MITSOUKO on Ebay but it states Parfum de Toilette. The juice is a deep amber color but wears like a cologne or EDT, as far as staying power goes. The back of the box reads: (C) COPYRIGHT GUERLAIN 1983 68. CHAMPS-ELYSEES 75008 PARIS MADE IN FRANCE 78% VOLUME Since Fragrantica does not list a Parfum de Toilette, (0xymoron, I guess?)I will go out on a limb and review under the EDT. Mine does start off sharp and calms down to an warmer and nicer version of itself. Since it was created in 1919 and the bottles I now see online are a decidedly greenish color its safe to say this has gone thru reformulations of some sort. I have only tried this one and I do like it. Initially I get what appears to be a run-of-the-mill vintage powdery floral which conjure up memories of my grandmother and mother. My Mom used to use Youth Dew and my grandma had a tin of Yardly talc in the medicine cabinet. These two things combined remind me of Mitsouko's first 1-5 minutes on my skin. If I were to liken it to any other fragrances I would say Opium/Shalimar/Zen (black bottle) combined. This is not so dated that it would not be welcome in our century. It has a timeless appeal for me and softly develops and remains close and personal. It fits my skin chemistry well. Does not last as long as I would wish but may have to find more to remedy that : D

Ah, Mitsouko - how can I possibly begin to review you? I'm 23, so many would say I'm not really the target audience - but Mitsouko is eternal, and anyone wearing it is a little bit bohemian, in my humble opinion - so do target audiences really exist? Actually, a previous reviewer (hotrodangel) said this fragrance isn't timeless, it's dated, and that "dated" isn't an inherently bad thing. I completely agree - you can't argue that it's dated, that it could never be mistaken for a fragrance released in the past couple of decades - and why must "dated" have negative connotations? Mitsouko proves that "dated" can be glorious and beautiful - it belongs to another time, without any pretensions towards modernity. It's possibly the most coherent perfume I've ever smelled, if that makes any sort of sense. On my skin, at least, the notes of peach, ylang-ylang, bergamot and oakmoss are jumping out, but Mitsouko is far more than a sum of its notes in a way I've never experienced before. All perfumes are a careful symphony of notes, but Mitsouko just does it in a way that's exceptionally beautiful; in a way that makes you think each individual note was willed into existence simply for this perfume. I know I'm waxing poetic, but Mitsouko deserves it; she really is an exceptional fragrance, comparable to nothing else. I only wish I could smell the original, one of these days...

Mitsouko is a perfume that comes up definitively as one of the perfumes that is a must sniff for every budding perfumista. So I dutifully ordered my parfum samples of all the Guerlain classics. While Shalimar was easier for me to understand, Mitsouko took some time but when I got it...I was rendered speechless. That peach is to die for!!! And I find myself drawn to want a full bottle of it more so than Shalimar. In a world with a common vocabulary of OMG, LOL, IDK, SMH, TMI, people will refer to this as old lady, as derogatory as that is...because they have no other reference. It really is not their fault, being fed a constant diet of sugar, super clean, and/or fresh, instant gratification, the tendency to overshare, and quick and easy. It's my wish we lived in a world where refined, classic values, mystery, introspection, and deep thought were more normal. I've read reviews that this reminds people of libraries and old books. One of my favorite places to be are bookstores which could be why Mitsouko speaks to me. I know others will look at me funny when I wear this. I don't care. I know that the WTF look is due to lack of exposure not because it isn't devine. I'll just LMAO:) but I would wear Mitsouko with pride. Maybe one day they'll get it too. Maybe one day this style of fragrance will be more normal. Maybe...one day.

The most interesting fragrance I have ever worn. Very Zen. Feminine, but in a non-Western fashion. A Geisha's perfume. Quitet, contemplative beauty that is so different than the direction commercial fragrance has taken. For me, that is a good thing. Not to say all modern scents have one unifying factor that puts them in the same category. But Mitsouko stands alone in it's self expression. I enjoy going into that quiet and comforting place that Mitsouko takes me. I love the meditatative, peaceful sense I get from Mitsouko. It takes me to a quiet space somewhere, possibly in the attic to read or meditate when modern life stresses me out. It reminds me of the dark, windowless room in my attic back in my youth. How the entire attic smelled like aging cedar. The enjoyment of being in an old building, and the earthy, wood scents of these places. I enjoy wearing Mitsouko in spring and summer. A great scent to revisit during exciting and busy periods for the sense of groundedness it gives me. I have all stregnths except for Eau de Toilette.The Cologne is what I am wearing now, and I just love how the notes present themselves.The longevity is a problem in the hot spring and summers here in Southern California. l feel it would be an ideal strength to increase the length of time I could go without re-application.

The first time I sprayed this it was very animalic and juicy yet bitter peach. Now I'm getting nothing but spices and powdery iris. So far I haven't got much from the oakmoss or amber which I love so much. This seems to mutate with the weather. I want to love her but I want more of those sweet and earthy notes to round out the spice. Edit: this is amazing. Went from ok to love in a few wears. Yes spicy (sometimes) but other times all peach. Oakmoss eludes me some but shows up more with over-spraying. [Editing again here to mention--the oakmoss and spice can be hard to seperate, to my nose. I once thought this was SUPER spicy, but I think the oakmoss is what I'm actually smelling, it sort of tickles the throat and nose, which for me is pleasant.] Was Mitsouko the progenitor of all peach fragrances? Just so good I want to spray it in my mouth accidentally on purpose 😂 or lick my arm. Who needs Chanel really? Mitsouko... Warm, elegant, feminine, soothing, very "me" despite all the others who share the love. Try the EDP if you're a fan of this, or on the fence--it's even easier to love.

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!

I am a Guerlain fanatic. Haven't invested in new fragrances for a long while, because there were more important things in life. But I reshuffled. Gave some bottles away that did not rock my boat and made some room for the new. One of my new additions is Mitsouko. Based on some of the reviews here, I almost didn't buy it. But I found a good deal on Ebay, and as Guerlain rarely disappoints me, I jumped at the opportunity. And boy, am I glad I did. It was instant love, right from the initial spray, and its beauty unfolded more and more as time went by. It surrounds me so nicely. Not in a dramatic way like my night time favorite Shalimar, but you can unmistakably detect that it comes from the same house. A bit more tempered, but neither shy nor outdated. So far all the Guerlain frags I have tried are timeless beauties. I am sure they will prevail long time after these modern perfumes with no edge or distinction will disappear in our memories as sad hiccups of this time. Mitsouko, another beauty on my top shelf. And she is a lady for keeps. And she lasts all day long. Amazing.

This is a wonderful chypre perfume. Mitsouko is warmer, and more down to earth than her older sister L'Heure Bleue. I remember all of my Grandmother's wearing fragrances like Mitsouko and I always thought they smelled wonderful. This starts very earthy in the opening, very warm earth, a just misted over dusty earth, the spices are warmer and a bit moist, not as arid as they are in L'Heure Bleue. The peach is juicy and sweet but it never overpowers the spices, this isn't a perfume that wants to smell like peach pie! No way! This is a perfume worn by a lover longing to give her beloved an embrace that pours out all of the affection and warmth in her heart. She will never stray, she is grounded, warm, sensual and giving. L'Heure Bleue is of the clouds, of dreams that can never come true, she is melancholy, and wistful and there are certain times for that type of perfume but Mitsouko is so much happier because she is in the here and now and she is happy. I will cherish both of these fragrances but I see myself wearing Mitsouko on a regular basis. She is more my personality.

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!)