Mon Precieux Nectar

Mon Precieux Nectar is absolutely angelic, as fragrances go. Delicate, deeply natural, lightly sweet. It's so strangely magical that my jaw went slack with awe when I first put my nose to my wrist. Edit: It's been over a month now, and I've moved past my initial awe into a more reasonable and objective phase (lol). It's still lovely, and still truly precious, I'm just able to think in less vague and melodramatic terms, and actually express my full understanding of the scent. I am SO pleased with my purchase, this really invokes a very particular sentiment that I've only ever found within Guerlain offerings. The only way I can describe it is as Approachable Opulence. Definitely high quality, reflected in it's price tag, but no so out of reach as to be merely mythical. When I wear this it's obvious that I'm not wearing a perfume that can be found at the local outlet. It's something different. And it makes me feel very special. This is quite sweet. Not toothachingly so, but clearly within dessert levels, though it doesn't smell at all like food. It's not a gourmand, to me, as when I think of those types I'm considering Choco Musk and Lann Ael, and the salty buttery goodness of L de Lolita in concentratee. This smells like flowers, and like perfume, just doused in cream and sugar. But it's almond cream, vegetal, decadent but without animalic nuance. And the sugar is honey, a warm and sticky golden syrup. The orange blossom plays it part in a polite and clean way, until the late dry down when jasmine brings the barest touch of indole to the arrangement and gives the floral component a fleshy realism. I don't know why the perfume deviates from it's pyramid and behaves this way on my skin, it just does. And I think this is my favorite part of the fragrance, and the moment that inspired much of my earlier review (now redacted for being a long-winded and poetic means of saying absolutely nothing). It's at the end point of the fragrance that the musk and musk and musk and sugar that runs throughout has tapered off and left behind only traces of very real things. Almonds. Flower Petals. An unlit incense stick. I find myself reaching for this often, and then selecting something different because the impression of this perfume is so specific. I smell the bottle and realize that my mood doesn't quite match the sweetly warm, feminine glow that Mon Precieux offers. But whenever I DO wear it I spend the whole time being so pleased with my selection, sniffing the inside of my wrist and marveling at the unfolding of it's layers, like a flower slowly opening in the sun. And I wait with expectancy for those final hours when, to me, it smells exactly like a flower ready to be pollinated.

Absolutely divine. This is exactly what I would envision nectar would smell like, from the bee's point of view. The delicate florals and the nectar smell, yes, to me, it is intoxicating. The nectar accord smells very fresh and juicy and reminds me of what honeysuckle nectar tastes like. I don't get a real intense bitter almond smell, in fact the first spray does smell like heliotrope, but not the full blown, heavy heliotrope in L'Heure Bleue. It is softer, fragile like dragonfly wings. The jasmine is very sheer, which is not at all indolic, no skank here. I do not get much of the incense or the guaiac wood, but the lush orange blossom is very true to the natural scent of the waxy white blossoms. The vanilla and the sandalwood is well rounded and never emerges as too sweet or cloying. The musky base is not dirty or overwhelming, nothing like the animalic Jovan's White Musk, it is more of a comforting scent, reminds me of cashmere. The parfum, yes my bottle and box strictly say "Parfum", not eau de parfum. My bottle dates to 2012 and has a super soft cream colored suede ribbon around its neck. I easily decanted some just removing the stopper and using a pipette to transfer into a Travalo type atomizer to keep in my purse. I happily received this in a swap, and it is my first of the Les Parisiennes collection and it did not disappoint. I love that Guerlain adds an optional high quality atomizer to use with the bee bottle. When I sprayed it, a super fine mist, like myriads of atoms, sprung forth and my body was sweetly enveloped in a kitten soft cloud of the precious nectar. However, I am saddened this doesn't have much longevity and is more of a subtle skin scent with low sillage. I will however think of this as my holy grail fragrance and no doubt be mourning its loss when my bottle is empty and only wispy traces of the scent remain.

This is so aptly named! It really smells like a precious nectar, it actually reminds me of sucking on lilac blooms, even though it doesn't smell of lilac. If you ever tasted the small drops of lilac nectar you will know what I mean. If butterflies and hummingbirds wore perfume, I'm pretty sure some of them would chose Mon Précieux Nectar. It's a fluffy scent that hits just the right spot between floral, fresh and gourmand. The main note is orange blossom, followed by bitter almond and a slightly powdery vanilla. The other notes are just accents, barely noticeable at all. A splash of petitgrain in the opening, a smidgen of white musk to support the base, that's it. I don't smell guaiac wood or incense here. I would classify this as a warm scent, but at the same time as very springy due to the nectar-ish floral juiciness. It smells good right now, on a rainy February evening at home, but I think it would shine outside on a warm day with a sundress. Honestly, if you like Guerlain, orange blossoms, vanilla and almond, I don't think you can really go wrong with this delightful scent. It's a shame that the distribution became so limited though. As far as I know this is still (or again?) in production, but only available in the Guerlain boutique in Paris in the refillable 125 ml bee bottles. I love the scent, but I won't travel to another country to get it. There are enough other sweet orange blossoms out there to enjoy, even though I haven't met one that conveys the idea of a light floral nectar as well as this one yet.

The bottle is old fashion flacon type that can leak if not tightened enough and also will be constantly submitted to mixing with exterior-compromising-air. It comes along with the old fashion bulb like atomizer that SUCKS in its supposed job of creating a clowd-like uniform spray - all you get is a direct jet of juice that is a total waste of it, you are obligated to decant it in order to use it. In sum: the presentation is nice (the bottle itself is beautiful) but its efficiency as a perfume per se is the worse possible in perfumery. That out of the way, to the smell: the very best orange blossom in the game, its ridiculously natural and smooth, it feels like a cotton was bathed in a cream of distilled oil directly extracted from orange blossoms and then presented for you to smell, this is out of this world nice. It is a highly delicate kind of smell and, in that sense only can be perceived predominantly feminine, BUT, hey...I'm a man (who digs women btw) and I fkng LOVE this because I NEVER came across anything like this before scent wise. Good performance overall (some good 4hs around the body scent-bubble and good projection as well for 2hs or so), super versatile, this goes all year round except super high heat, you can wear this in any situation except super formal ones (because it is SUPER uplifting so it may come across immature in those specific situations). Super happy I got myself a bottle of this gem.

Elusive, that's how I would best describe this scent. Perhaps it is my chemisty that just eats it up but it goes from soft to non-existent in short time. This is such a soft light, almost ethereal blend. It's sweetness - not overpowering thankfully - from the vanilla and almond then it entwines with delicate jasmine and brightens further with petit grain. Musk and almost transparent wood notes anchor the blend and keep it from becoming cloying or loud. It's fresh with a breath of innocence, it's familiar and comforting, which draw you in but at the same time it's elusive because it's not too familiar and makes you keep chasing it for another wisp, it's like a mirage in that sense. I have received more compliments with this perfume than any other. Some say it smells clean, some say it smells like heaven, most can't put their finger on it, it just pulls them in, as it does with me. It's hard to rationalize because one part says it's not worth the price tag but the other keeps trying to identify what draws me (any everyone else) to it so I keep putting it on and following its whispering essence. The main down side to this is that it doesn't seem to last and has low sillage. I envy the people that it is strong/long lasting on.