Gaultier2 was launched this year by Jean Paul Gaultier, the French fashion designer. It is the first unisex fragrance in the Gaultier line. It was created by perfumer Francis Kurkdjian of Quest International, and features notes of ambergris, musk and vanilla.
Gaultier had said that he did not want Gaultier2 to have traditional top, middle and base notes, and in fact it is an essentially linear fragrance. The start is amber, musk and vanilla, with a blast of something fruity-floral and very sweet. That 'something' has been compared both to bubblegum and to Classique, Jean Paul Gaultier's first fragrance. It has been some time since I have smelled Classique, but the bubblegum comparison is certainly apt.
The development is minimal, but the fruity-floral thing does calm a bit, the amber and musk get more intense, and the vanilla takes on a creamy, pudding-like character. It is very smooth, with a velvety, almost-powder finish. It also stays very sweet. I would guess that its official fragrance family classification is oriental, but under my own idiosyncratic system, it gets placed squarely in the cozy-comfort scent category.
It is not your traditional unisex fragrance, but then, Jean Paul Gaultier did not want that either:
The perfume is about the idea of sharing. It is not unisex. It is a fragrance for couples, a togetherness perfume. (Women's Wear Daily, 7/22/05)
To drive home the point, the bottles (which come in 20, 40 and 120 ml) are magnetized so that they can cling to each other and be snapped apart as needed.
All of this harkens back to the pre-modern era (in fragrance, that is), before the idea took hold that certain smells were masculine and others were feminine. It will be interesting to see if that strategy can work today. If you are a man who demands a modicum of overt masculinity in your fragrance, you may have trouble with Gaultier2; by modern standards, it leans more obviously towards the feminine.
If you are not such a man, then of course, you have the whole of the women's perfume counter at your disposal, and you could just as easily wear Youth Dew Amber Nude. I am wearing both fragrances now, and see no difference between them on the gender identication scale. But then, I am used to shopping both sides of the aisle anyway. One benefit is that it is much easier for me to get samples from the men's counter: I just say I want to take them home for my husband to try.
Gaultier2 is an Eau de Parfum, and the lasting power is very good. The line also includes a 100 ml massage oil. It does not launch in the United States until next year, but imaginationperfumery has it in stock now.
R, you describe beautifully what I thought about Gaultier 2. Musk, vanilla… squared, cubed, quadrupled! It struck me too as being more distinctly feminine than masculine, making no pretence at citrus or woods or anything 'blokey'. The lack of progression was striking – it stayed the same on me from beginning to end, which was impressive but also a little boring. However, I can see why some people might look for a controllable quality to what they smell like! I wouldn't mind getting this as a gift (you know, where a well-intentioned and kind friend who knows you're into scent buys you something from a store and you just pray it's not Angel or Beyond Paradise because you're not that good at lying). But computer users must surely shudder at those magnets…
Dear R – great review. I have tried this and did find this more feminine too. It really was not terribly impressive but not too uninteresting either. It is a good middle of the road perfume – something that one may want to use without putting much thought to it. I mean that without being rude. Like my Chasse aux Papillion 🙂
N, JPG said something about wanting something that would smell the same at home as it did in the store. It worked, no? The little 20 ml bottle looks cute, and wish I was able to see it in person. Wondering if you could stick it on the refrigerator, which would crack me up enough to make it worth buying.
Thanks N, and that is a perfect description — it is very wearable.
I am eagerly awaiting for my sample to arrive from Holland. 🙂 My ears perked up as soon as I read “velvety, almost=powder finish” and “cozy-comfort”…I am all a-flutter now.
M, All the way from Holland! What we have to go through to get our samples, LOL! Will be curious to hear if you like it. YDAN seems like a more interesting scent to me, but I am not a sweet amber person so what do I know.
This scent for me was hate at first sniff. I couldn't wait to wash it off. I was certain that I was going to love it so when I saw it on a counter in my lunch break. I gave the spray 2 pushes, sniffed my hand and coughed, followed by a sneeze. I thought that maybe it was the alcohol and that it would settle down. Alas it didn't, I was left with this sickly and cloying smell of synthetic vanilla. Couldn't wait to wash my hand.
Barry
I've been wearing and loving it for 2 months now. I was in absolute panic when my sample ran out and I had to wait for my bottle (from Holland too). The panic furthered by hearing the release date for the USA was 2006!
Yes, you can stick it to your fridge! I have a metal breadbox that I keep my toiletries stored in my bathroom, and I have mine stuck there, in easy reach. Very cute!
I have both the fragrance and the massage oil. I use the oil as a layering base. Although it does last quite well on its own.
I fell instantly in love with this one. I love powdery, sexy, amber scents. It seems very soft and feminine to me, hard to picture this as unisex. However according to Basenotes there are a growing number of male followers.
I find a disconcerting peanut note in the opening similar to that in Drole De Rose, but once that quickly passes, I'm in pure heaven. I've been running around telling everyone how much I love this one, but so few have tried it, there is no one to talk to! Thank you for your review, I'm sure more people will be curious now!
Victoria O.
I had a really terrible experience with this one. After reading about it and seeing many ads for it here (in Germany), I was so happy when I saw it in the department store and sprayed it on. The top notes were so harsh to me, that I scrubbed it off. Since you say it is linear, then I will not give it another try. Maybe it just doesn't agree with my chemistry, because it seems like I would like it based on what is in it.
B, we are just about exact opposites. I was certain I would hate it, and as it turns out I don't have any strong feelings about it either way. I know what you mean about the synthetic vanilla: it has that very modern department store fragrance feel, like whatever natural ingredients it contains have been polished past recognition.
Beyond the cloying part, did you think it was too feminine for the “average man” (whatever that means) to wear?
V, Peanut, eh? And in Drole de Rose too? Will have to put them both on together now, wouldn't have thought of peanut for either one — and I adore Drole de Rose, girly though it is.
had it , wasn't moved by it, swapped it…end of story. Too sweet and linear for my tastes.
K, I would say that it calms somewhat…I did find it more wearable after the first 20 minutes when the fruity-floral notes settled. But otherwise there are no radical changes from start to finish, so rather doubt you would fall for it if you didn't love it on first try.
M, that was short & sweet — excuse the bad pun 😉
I do think that the 'average' male nose would be scared of this one. It doesn't 'fit in' with what the other companies are launching which is washy washy rubbush anyway, but the male of the species seems to be comfortable with it.
Barry
Dear All,
Gaultier2 is not based on “Ambergris” (cold, salted, metallic) … (damned marketing !) but on a raw material from french company Delaire called “Ambre 83” (benzoin, vanilla, honey)…
For information
Peter
Hey, R, great review.
This is a fragrance where I love the concept, the idea of sharing, a fragrance for couples, not unisex. However, I found it simply impossible to use, at least for me. I kind of like the ambery, powdery drydown, but the top notes are rather shocking and I think they incline the composition to the feminine side.
I smell a sort of rotten, animalic jasmine note in the middle of the composition. Does anybody get that too?
Regards, R.
B, that is what I suspected, and LOL at “washy washy rubbish”!
P, thanks for commenting! I usually post whatever notes the company releases, but of course you are right that those rarely if ever accurately reflect the actual components of the fragrance.
R, Agree that the concept is good. “Shared” is a more attractive concept than “unisex”, which implies the erasing of any gender-ness.
Did not really smell anything as specific as jasmine — just a sort of indistinct floral. It does get *slightly* more animalic as it dries down, and don't know if that is from the floral, or some synthetic version of musk or ambergris.
Dear R, this is my first post here.
I did not become a perfume affecionado until just this autumn. Perfume sites as yours has really opened my eyes (nose!) to a whole new dimension of feeling good about myself. Thank you for contributing to that! This perfume, Gaultier2, was the first perfume I fell in love with, and the first that I bought (since I am on a tight budget as a student I have bought only one more: L'Artisan – Dzing!, which I absolutely adore). As for Gaultier, I love the bubblegum note, which in my opinion is the perfect companion of the warm and very sexual notes of the musk. The bubblegum makes the scent playful and loveable, when it otherwise could have become just cheap and, well… overly sexual. It is certainly not a scent where you constantly discover new things – there are just something like four notes to discover! But they make up a lovely scent that, as has been pointed out, is incredibly wearable and will be loved by individuals of both sexes.
R, I am always sad when I read some comments of people who talk about “musk” or “amber” or “animalic note”…. what ” sort of musk” do you speak about ? Musk R, Musk GX, Exaltolide, Ambretolide, Galaxolyde, Macrocyclic one, Vegetal one, etc… ??? When people smell for the first time a variety of “musk” as unique component they are always disapointed because they have in mind “Mure & Musc” from L'Artisan or “Musc Ravageur” from EDPFM… which is very very different… If you never had smell an exact “Ambergris” you can't consider “Gaultier2” as an illustration of this… it's just the opposite in fact “Ambergris” is not something sweet and creamy (“Crême Anglaise”) as G2.
“Amber 83” is the perfect link in perfume with warm floral part as in “L'Eau de Circé” from Parfumerie-Generale: it is participating to the “linear effect” of the fragrances…
I know how important marketing is to make a perfume something “new” BUT sales man & perfumer are 2 different kind of person… The first time I read some comments on this Blog I was immediately fascinated by the full of informations, details and almost all by the Passion which come from person taking part, that's why I focus on this point. 🙂
And sorry for my bad english… I do my best.
Peter
Peter, your English is fine, but your knowledge of technical aspects of perfumery is quite beyond my level of competence, which is limited to say the least. You must go and read a recent article on Musk on Bois de Jasmin, Victoria is far more knowledgeable than I am:
http://boisdejasmin.typepad.com/_/2005/11/fragrance_ingre.html
V, Welcome and thanks for commenting. For someone new to perfumes, you have very wide ranging tastes — Dzing & Gaultier2 are so radically different from each other! Wondering what else you would add to your collection if you had the money?
R, I have no idea what I would buy right now! I think it makes more sense to continue broadening my collection when it is this small. Right now I would just like to have more opportunities to smell high quality perfumes more often and continue developing my own taste. I spent last weekend in Stockholm here in sweden. There there is a much wider range of perfumes to smell than here in Umeå. In just two days I made my nose completely numb from all the scents I made it smell! I might buy Odeur 53. I found it to be the most appealing of the CdG scents I tried. It fits me. But except for that I didn't really think about it in a I'd-rather-buy-this-than-that way. I am still just going to the perfume exhibitions!
I got such an overwhelming top-quality vanilla icecream note from this, that I wasn't happy till I'd bought and eaten some. A fattening fragrance!
V, Well then good luck finding the next perfect addition to your collection! My town doesn't have very good perfume shopping either, so I rely on sample purchases and occasional trips to New York.
LOL — I have seen other comparisons to vanilla ice cream, and it is very creamy in the dry down.
I bought this one for myself, and i did surprise myself for the good consistence of flavour, included at the end of the day.
The perfume don't degrade himselh. i like it!
Yes, it has great lasting power and doesn't change much on skin. Glad you found a winner!
Lasting power indeed. I sprayed it on yesterday lunchtime before going out to meet friends. I was out until 4 a.m. and I could still smell it when I got up this morning. I love this scent [I am an avid user of Le Male, and have been since its release]. I approached this one with open mind, and although as said before, it is most certainly at the feminine end of the perfume scale, it does work beautifully as a male fragrance. It has the same 'bubblegum' top notes as Le Male, and the drydown for me, leaves a beautiful warm and cosy fragrance that lasts the whole day. A little of this goes a very long way. A total winner for me.
Perhaps you'll like the upcoming Gaultier2 Eau d'Amour then 🙂
Robin, where can I find this? I’d like to sample it
I was going to say Bloomies, but just checked and they’re not carrying it anymore…so I don’t know. Best bet might be one of those perfume kiosks in a mall? Or a Perfumania?
I just bought a 40ml bottle at my local Perfumania for 18 bucks. Try there for sure.
Thanks!
There was an open bottle at Marshalls today so I gave it a try. I really liked it! Alot actually!! I really need to find me a brand new bottle somewhere. Im hoping one pops up at Marshalls again. Its awesome! Its sweet vanilla powder. Too bad its not around anymore. I like it more than Ma Dame. : )
Gosh, is it not around anymore? I didn’t even know.
Yeah I havent seen it around! Maybe i’m wrong but i havent seen it in a long long time. I really want it though! : )
No, you might be right…haven’t looked for it lately.
Someone introduced me to this today and I immediately adored it. BUT, no more perfume for me for a couple of months, and it is summer here anyway. For some reason I find the scent, though linear, quite strange and unique. The person told me it was the ginger in it. I find Sensuous (another cozy comfort smell) a very wearable, all day fragrance, But its pretty dull next to this! I wonder how it would compare to hypnotic poison?
No perfume in summer? But I guess that gives you lots of time to try it next to Hypnotic Poison 🙂