Mouchoir de Monsieur

If you see my first review below, you will wondering why i write a new one. The story starts at the office, one day we were discussing some perfumes with colleagues. i told them that there is a Guerlain that it stinks, smells like shit powdered. All asked which is this perfume and i promised to bring a sample at launch. When i returned to the office with the sample and gave it for a try, i was impressed by the reaction...words like "strange, nice, attractive and very nice" were among those expressed. I really wondering what is going on with this perfume...it is THE controversial perfume...it stinks, it smells, is nice, is shit, is sweet is dusty, is flowery is animalic...definitely a great creation but out of date. Personally, i am not the kind of man who has boundaries on perfumes...i wear everything that is not common but i still try to understand if i like it or not, if i love it or hate it, if it smells or stinks...definitely, i will give it a try on the skin and will see what i get....maybe i buy it soon...or today. The whole thing starts dusty floral and then, civet vanilla and other spices come into the game. the best phase of this perfume is the middle and drydown. There you will smell what this perfume is....the overloaded civet with its sweetness, spiciness...what else to say? A pure man's perfume, the beginning of the century...you have to own a classic beautiful car like an Alfa Romeo, dressed with scarf to be chic, have a pencil moustache like a true English gentlemen, be manly handsome like Clarke Gable and behave with the rules of savoir vivre...At least this perfume does not smell like all other and more than anything else, like 1 million....oh god! you dont smell it in the streets, in the office, in the parties, in the restaurants, in the bus, in the garage, in the theatres, in your friend's house.... How does it smell like? it is like you have spilled some honey from some flowers in an ashtray where there is some dried pee from the previous day.... this perfume to stand in our days where everything is dominated by the fresh "out of shower" smell for men, is very remarkable....try and then you buy...dont buy if not try but you can try and not buy. :-) definitely a winter perfume, you cant wear civet unless the temperature is 14C or less. UPDATE: you cant imagine how this perfume changes when there is cool outside...maybe the bigger change in the perfume industry. once i sniff it in summer, it was very suffocating and disgusting giving you the impression of a very strong animalic scent but when i read some review the last weeks, everyone was say how beautyful is...and there it is. it is indeed very beautyful and unique. i haven't checked Jicky so far but definitely i will do so once i have the change. The only problem which was mentioned is the starting, the first 5-10 minutes although the citrus and lemon verbena are very pleasant, they is something very dusty that makes it dated in a way....once this is passed, then you are left with a lovely lavender and vanilla with civet giving warm to the bouguet. The longevity and sillage is not so good and stays close to the skin after the first 1-2 hours but a perfume like this, cant be so strong because it will destroy everything. I believe that the current reformulation lost a lot of civet together with longevity...indeed, the longevity is nearly bad and i cant understand why. About two years ago, when i first smelled that, it was a monster...now what is going wrong, i dont know....maybe power was sacrificed for the versality.

I was introduced to Mouchoir de Monsieur during a visit to the terrific Colonial Drug in Newton MA (formerly in Harvard Sq, Cambridge, MA) by the owner a few years ago. I was just beginning to explore the house of Guerlain, having only been really aware of Habit Rouge and Vetiver at the time. As it was sprayed on the paper strip (and in due time, my own skin) I was immediately intrigued by the history Mouchoir represented: in the very midst of the Edwardian era of British history, it epitomizes the dandy of this time period. The dandy has his accessories: his monocle, his boutonnière, silk hat, cane, and his handkerchief (mouchoir). The handkerchief is lustrated with a fragrance for his delight. Mouchoir de Monsieur IS this lustration and it's a delight to the right of set of nares, with its opening fanfare lavender, verbena, and bergamot and a noticeable Guerlain 'DNA,' if you will. However, something happens just mere seconds in: something a little, hmm, impertinent, just a tiny bit sullied and profane. This isn't a Disney depiction of the Edwardian era, let's just say. These dandies may have very well had some skeletons in the closet and Guerlain knows the importance of code (perhaps this was the first hanky 'code'?). Even the cleanest pair of drawers laundered in orange blossom water may have residual spots of...er...micturition by eveningtide that could be perceived as naughty and sensual. Mouchoir de Monsieur deftly represents it here, but it does not wear out its welcome (was it invited? who cares!) as moss, iris and florals distract you just enough from this lascivious civet (why is it not a listed note??) so that you start to think it wasn't out of place at all. It may actually BE the representation of both the dandy's rapier wit and unspoken sexuality. Remember, this is all understated. Mouchoir is certainly not a beast, but it's definitely not a wallflower, either. It's all theory though, and in the end, a dry down of classy yet melancholic Guerlainade brings it all back home after a detour into debasement and secrecy. It's all really relatable in a way. One of my absolute favorites.

Time. We do not have enough. Time to move slowly, gentleness with great power. Time for a luxurious shower, time to properly dry off, crop the disorderly whisker at the corner of the lip. Time to take a few sprays of Mouchoir de Monsieur then contemplate the day's outfit and draw your mind into focus while the discordant elements of cat piss and acrid lavender, rough workmen, assemble the most refined assemblage of jasmine and rose. Perhaps that white necktie really will work with that shirt? Rose, jasmine, two of the floral kingdoms most distinctive notes, are bound together by the perfumer's art as Plato's charioteer harnesses reason and passion to drive onward towards enlightenment. The soft under-notes, barely detectable tonka and civet, order the floral scents and speak of control and authority over nature and beauty, recalling the classical manhood of the master and commander. Perhaps the most masculine, and yet softest, scent in my collection. Minimal silage, though, having a rather independent streak, it has a tendency to take a short stroll on its own now and then, inevitably resulting in at least a glance and a smile that shows appreciation for your keeping such good company. While discreet, Mouchoir de Monsieur is indefatigable, applied in the morning, enduring a day in the office, a trip to the gym and a quick shower, I can take my evening repose with the faint and reassuring air of knowledge that I rest as the master of my domain. Lovely stuff, highly suitable for enthronements, inaugurations, third dates, promotions, and any other event for which you will be knowingly fabulous. I think a mere mortal might exhaust himself with the effort of wearing it too much. This could not be my signature scent unless I had a full time valet, dresser and driver. But if you can wear it now and then, you should know that you have what it takes to get it done as a man.

This the most strange perfume I came across for the last years....It does not smell, it stinks. It starts so dirty and animalic that your wondering how someone can wear such a perfume. Later and when the perfume dries on the skin, it terns to be soapy with some dirty citrus slightly sweet. If you have not tried it, give it a try. It is something that you never smelled before. Beyond amber, I was definitely that there were some animal resources there but in any case, I never expected such ingredients. It is a pure man's perfume but not for the younger crowd. You get something attractive at last but also something dirty/smoky/vanillic with civet although is not listed in the ingredients. Kouros is another one animalic/civet perfume but this is much more difficult to wear than Kouros. Try it but be careful because maybe you will sleep outside during the night because your wife will not allow you to enter the house. the last years with all these new citrus/clean/fresh aquatic perfumes, make this to be one of a kind and something that will never be produced again. Someone who likes jardin du nil from matre parfumeur et gantier, may like this one also. UPDATE: Obviously, the perfume was tested in wrong weather....and there, it stinks...try it in cool weather and you will be amazed how things change......in hot weather, the civet seems too strong and the perfume suffocating

Jicky is believed to be one of the first (secret) unisex fragrance, a fragrance androgynous enough to sit in the middle of the spectrum of what is conventionally acceptable for each gender to wear. Now what happens if maintain the signature sparkly bergamot lavender Guerlain swirl in the top and fluffy vanilla in the base, amp up the animalic civet-like elements and bring out more masculine 'barbershop' facets, while also maintaining the rich neroli rose floral backdrop? You get Mouchoir de Monsieur, aka another historical early 1900s masterpiece by Guerlain. As the name also suggests, this is 'the handkerchief of a gentleman', gentle sweet vanillic florals on the outside (a feminine residual from Jicky), concealing the pungent animalic dry aromatic essence of man. 11/10 perfection. The absolute specimen of French oriental perfumery. Unfortunately it is very difficult to pull off unless you are wearing full formal attire. This is my father's signature scent and even a mature gentleman like him, who is almost exclusively wearing a suit, saves it for the most extravagant of occasions, and rightfully so. Personally I find it strikingly virile for how sparkly, sweet and tender it may first seem.