Mon Exclusif

Myth? “The Mon Guerlains are all the same.” Myth? “This is a powerhouse.” Last fall, I sampled Mon Guerlain EDP at the department store and left the tester strip in the car. The next morning I sniffed the air, searching for Obsession for Men. But the spicy culprit was Mon Guerlain. I understand MG EDP is supposed to be a gourmand Jicky. I’ve never tried the legendary Jicky, but she’s a bit of a bad girl. Seduced by the tester strip in the car, I tried one MG blast to the forearm at the department store. I recoiled at what smelled like lavender hairspray. I didn’t touch an MG again until I came across MG EDT in a discount store this summer. I carried it home. Pulling the cello-wrapped box from the bag, the most gorgeous aroma wafted toward me. (Leaky bottle maybe, but divine.) To my nose, MG EDT is a chypre, a la Miss Dior Cherie and Miss Dior EDP (2012). MG EDT has a sweet and juicy opening, then settles into a soft, toned down tobacco/balsamic lavender. Whereas MG EDT is homecoming queen, MG EDP is the darkly pretty girl in boots smoking behind the gym during spirit week. She listens to the Smiths and sublimates her love for the color pink. She wonders who will keep her heart safe. MG EDP will never be homecoming queen. MG EDP’s opening is tobacco and lavender, in an indolic patchouli way. I get the menthol comparisons. MG EDP likes to get a little dirty. This is the Billy Bob-era Angelina, minus the vial of blood. But beneath the dirty patch, MG EDP’s vanilla heart is the mother-and-philanthropist Angelina. Her softness belies her steely, aloof exterior and reveals her vulnerable side. I thought, if they are the same, Mon Guerlain and Mon Exclusif, why not go with Exclusif, the one in the gorgeous bottle? I succumbed to the bow-bedecked Coque d’Or. Now, Mon Exclusif. . . . Mon Exclusif is not the same as the fragrance fronted by Ms. Jolie. It is sweet tobacco initially (brought TF’s Noir Extreme to mind). A couple of sprays suffice. Then she’s like a lavender salted caramel blondie, after which her powdery, woody fougere warms with your skin. This is an alluring lavender, polite and refined. MG EDP lingers lovely as a linear spicy vanilla. Mon Exclusif has a more complex heart. But I don’t think of it as gourmand. I think of it as well blended, in that I can’t pinpoint the notes. Longevity? Neither fragrance is Methuselah. Several hours on the skin and then they seem to be skin scents. I don’t find either ME or MG EDP to be a “bomb” or a “one spray wonder.” EDIT: I used two sprays 12 hours ago. A sweet lavender cloud lingers on my clothing. The scent is lovely, but less discernible, on my skin. Glad I got Mon Ex. It is perfectly composed. Lingers beautifully in a room and on fabric long after sprayed. These Guerlains share DNA, sure, but they are not the same. They are sisters and they comfort like a warm hug. Perfect for cold nights.

Holy wow! Not a huge gourmand wearer on its own except for bed and gym, but do love them for layering. I did get Mon Guerlain when it came out for myself and stepdaughters in their early 20s....it was was like a watered down version of this. The reviews were spot on. I was tempted to buy for $180 on the Bay, but thought MG would fill that desire for me after reading reviews here and thought, at least get a glimpse (curse you guys and gals for that, says my wallet). Then the heaven’s gates opened and all the remaining stock is released. I got this along with Clinique Aromatics Elixir. My husband said, every two years you splurge and I do too (he golfs and got customized clubs this year.). So I’m on a splurge right now. I picked AE because it was recommended as a similar scent as Aveda’s Shampure, which, BTW, completely sucks as for strength, longevity, and depth. (This is relavent BTW). So I spray ME directly in the crook of my left arm, and the first few minutes thought, very similar to MG. Then, it was like diving into warmth and depth. Should have stopped but noooo, I sprayed, directly on my skin on my right arm, AE. I couldn’t believe it...it smelled just like Mitsouko reacts on me...I was sad. I wanted that love affair most others had. Instead, if it was the same, I got the joy of smelling like spiced dirt for what I predicted to be around 4 hrs. I checked 30 minutes later and wait, AE was warming. MG had this amazing lavender deep vanilla and I thought, let me walk my left arm through and wow. MG was already a star on itself, but AE misted....screw Aveda’s weak and overpriced Shampure oil...these two together are amazing! I misted my right hand with AE and yep, I got the sweet spice. I’ll go in depth on that later...on her page. AE deserves its praise when used correctly. I just bought two more bottles of ME after first 3 hrs for backup and may get more of this. The dry down is spectacular. I can’t wait to wear this alone and layered. I’m sad that Guerlain has blamed this juice for poor marketing. Why couldn’t they just dupe this and rename it? IFRA is no excuse as this is recent. I recommend taking advantage of picking this up while it is around $80 right now.

I own both Mon exclusif and Mon Guerlain, and wearing them for a while now I can list quite a few differences. First of all, I am huge Guerlain fan, I would like to own almost all of their exclusive line fragrances, but so far Mon exclusif is the only one I invested in, and also started to collect back up bottles . I adore this fragrance and it is closest to what I can call Signature at the moment. It is warm, cozy, perfectly blended gourmand. Sweet but with the right measure, the lavender is balanced with warm caramel, vanilla and gorgeous milky musk. The almond, butter, musk and sunny notes, whatever they might be, are really the ingredients that make this perfume so silky and stunning. Yes, that is what I love the most: it is musky and smells like bear skin of a young woman enchanted by the sweet subtle lavender. Gorgeous. When Mon Guerlain came out I rushed like crazy to buy more affordable version of the frag I adore. However, the first smell was a huge disappointment. There are two versions at the moment in Europe of MonG : one is cold lilac colour with super strong lavender, completely unbalanced with heavy dose of sour citrus. Sugar is screaming together with the lemons and herbs, and it was all in all a turn off. Later I found different, better version of MG: colour of the juice is more pink, and tonka bean and vanilla are much more prominent. The citrus and sweetness are better here, definitely softer. Still, compared to Mon exclusif it is not that well balanced at all, it screams sweet or sour at moments, it doesn't blend so well with the skin, and it doesn't give the cozy, warm, signature feel where nothing jumps just adds to the beauty of the natural feminine skin scent. I bought the pink version of MG, used it during spring and cold dutch summer, am about to finish the small bottle, and I don't believe I will ever repurchase it again. I would rather invest in another bottle of Mon exclusif since it is perhaps 1,5 to 2 times the price, but it is worth every penny.

I actually smelled Mon Guerlain EDP first and while I liked it, I didn't quite get the hype around it as to my nose, it smelled like the perfume version of Yardley's Lavender powder from my childhood. I liked the intense version better because the vanilla has been amped up and no other house does vanilla as beautifully as Guerlain. This took the edge of the lavender which to my nose smelled very aromatic, like an essential oil almost. Due to this and the constant comparison to MGs', I passed on Mon Exclusif when I had the chance to get it but was struck with the most intense FOMO after hearing fellow fragheads extol how much better ME was. Thankfully, I was able to find a bottle and boy am I glad I did! The hype and glowing reviews that this discontinued beauty from the house of Guerlain gets is well deserved! The lavender in ME is smoother than in MGs', the vanilla is exquisite and I sometimes get the candied almonds, but not always. What really elevates ME is that beautiful salted butter accord the runs through it, which makes for a very realistic toffee (not caramel - there is a difference to my nose!) note and reminds me of soft chewy salted toffee fudge cubes from the UK. In the dry down, the iris and tonka bring a soft powderiness to this composition. This is a very elegant yet comforting fragrance and while MG is similar (especially the sensuelle flanker) and can evoke the same effect, ME is most definitely superior and in my opinion, one they should have included in the exclusive line from Guerlain. Performance is similar to other offerings from the exclusive line, most of which are average performers on me (but the gorgeous scents more than make up for this). Longevity is about 6 hrs, with soft to moderate projection and sillage. Does this warrant the big bucks and agonizing hours spend scouring for a bottle? To me, absafuckinglutely!

I was on the fence about blind buying this gem as I was concerned about the salty notes and how everything would blend together but the curiosity got the better of me and I bought a bottle, unsniffed. Herbs, salts, solar, flowers, butter, vanilla and nuts, how could that possibly work? Well, it does! It really does! Mon Exclusif opens up bright and sweet. It has layers of each individual note so you can easily pick up which note you are smelling. It is like a book, each chapter tells a story. The opening was a little herbal floral. One particular note that was present from start to end was that lovely buttery Vanilla. This fragrance is delicately sweet, feminine and delectable at the same time. It lingers on and on and is quite breezy. To me, this is what a grown up good quality Vanilla based fragrance would smell like, a buttery vanilla that is lightly surrounded by a delicate arrangement of flowers, with sweet tasting orange and mandarin and salty fresh air to give it balance. It is quite long lasting and silage is heavy, I could smell the scent on me the whole time I was wearing it and so could others. I would wear this fragrance all year round as I think on hot days I feel that the solar and citrus notes would be more pronounced and on colder days, the Vanilla takes centre stage. I wouldn't look too much into the notes with this fragrance as you may find them a little odd, I was surprised at what I smelt after looking at the pyramid and thinking I may not like this but my advice, just try it, I think you may fall in love!!