tl;dr — a diet gourmand; meh.
Perfumistas as a group tend towards Guerlain-worship, and why shouldn't they? Jicky, Shalimar, Après L’Ondée, L’Heure Bleue, Mitsouko, Chamade, Vetiver: these are excellent good reasons. But the respect accorded the Guerlain brand by perfumistas today, in 2017, continues to puzzle me. It isn't like Guerlain hasn't made anything worth smelling since their glory days, but my guess is that if you took all the brand's output in the modern era (let's say, 1990 and beyond) and you released it under some other, less illustrious brand name, that brand would get considerably less attention from avid fragrance fans. Even if you love the recent Guerlain fragrances — and don't get me wrong, I have liked quite a few — you'd have a hard time arguing that they've made anything that might be called "category-defining" since 1990, and many would argue you could easily push that date back even farther into the past.1
The brand's biggest selling fragrance, unless the recently released Mon Guerlain has already surpassed it, is reportedly La Petite Robe Noire. La Petite Robe Noire is fun in its own way, but it's hardly genius, much less category-defining. Still, it's sold quite well, and Guerlain would like to build on that success, and expand their international name recognition while they're at it — their name recognition with the general perfume-buying public outside of France, at the moment, not being quite what it is with perfumistas.2 Their strategy: Mon Guerlain, in support of which the brand is making its biggest launch investment to date.3 Most of that investment, presumably, went to Angelina Jolie for fronting the campaign, and judging by the fevered buzz that met the news of her involvement, it has paid off nicely. Terrence Malick, who directed the commercial, surely got a nice fat fee as well.
The conceit behind Mon Guerlain is that perfumers Thierry Wasser and Delphine Jelk "gleaned inspiration from Angelina Jolie, the scent’s muse and its face"; if it's true, then perhaps their 2015 launch Mon Exclusif (the limited edition with the stickers) was also inspired by Ms. Jolie, as by all accounts Mon Exclusif and Mon Guerlain are noticeably similar.4
Mon Guerlain, at any rate, is a "fresh oriental" with a gourmand bent, featuring notes of bergamot, paradisone (a "radiant floral" molecule from Firmenich), carla lavender, jasmine, rose, vanilla, sandalwood, coumarin and iris. The opening is bright lemon candy, with a touch of berry and a diffuse hum of pale, clean and entirely declawed lavender — think of the soft lavender-lite in fragrances like Burberry Brit Rhythm for Her or Bvlgari Eau Parfumée au Thé Bleu. Almost from the outset, it's cushioned on a bed of cosmetic-powder iris, with a liberal helping of vanilla sugar. The cloud of vanilla-sugar-powder slowly takes over the proceedings, and while there are other players, including a blended floral heart and a slightly bitter almond-ish undertone in the woody dry down, they remain firmly in the background. The whole is less weighty than you might expect — not sheer, exactly, but not deep and rich either.
White musk, which along with vanilla + tonka bean and a thin sandalwood makes up what I think of as the Thierry Wasser / Sylvaine Delacourte5 version of Guerlinade, is strong after about an hour or so. It works here to keep the more gourmand elements in check, so that while Mon Guerlain is indisputably sweet, the finish is too clean to remind anyone of dessert, unless you happen to like your dessert plated with a drizzle of Tide.
The lasting power is good but the white musk does tend to induce olfactory fatigue; you might think it's gone long before it really is. (More than once when I thought it had quieted to a whisper, my family kindly informed me otherwise.)
Verdict: Mon Guerlain might best be seen as yet another fifth-generation spawn of Thierry Mugler Angel via Lancôme's surprise blockbuster hit La Vie Est Belle, with the obligatory nod to Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb along the way. Mon Guerlain takes La Vie's "Angel with Botox and a blow-out" and sends it back to the day spa for a chemical peel and dermal fillers; the result is a highly wearable, office to evening crowd-pleaser, less likely than its forebears to ruffle any feathers. If it's rather late to jump on this particular bandwagon, well, so in its time was La Petite Robe Noire.
Of the many other perfumes of Mon Guerlain's class (in addition to La Vie, I'd include Nina Ricci L’Extase, Armani Sì, Valentino Donna, Ferragamo Emozione, etc. and etc.), it stands out mostly for the relative absence of jammy fruit / patchouli and for the relatively heavy dose of white musk. Whether you will find that an improvement on the theme, of course, depends on your taste. I found it easily the dullest of the group, but then, I hate white musk. If you don't mind white musk, do give Mon Guerlain a shot.
I see no reason why Mon Guerlain should not sell, and if that helps fund the continued production of less popular fragrances like Jicky and Après L’Ondée, then I hope it sells like gangbusters. The glowing reviews on sites like Sephora would seem to indicate that it's off to a good start.
Place your bets now for the name of the first flanker!
Guerlain Mon Guerlain is available in 30 ($66), 50 ($94) or 100 ($124) ml Eau de Parfum in the (engravable) quadrilobe bottle shown at top. It is also available in some markets in 15 ml, in the bottle shown just above, and directly from Guerlain in 250 and 500 ml bee bottles. A 1000 ml limited edition quadrilobe bottle can be purchased at Harrods Salon de Parfums for £2,600, and I think there is a 1000 ml bee bottle available as well. Matching body products include Shower Gel and Perfumed Body Lotion.
1. You could make a similar argument for some other venerable perfume houses, including Chanel, but Chanel has been far more cautious with their reputation than Guerlain. They release new fragrances relatively rarely, so that even less-than-stellar efforts like Chance do not seem like part of an endless stream of meh, and their Les Exclusifs collection has been better executed, edited and presented than similar luxury collections at Guerlain.
2. Guerlain President and CEO Laurent Boillot: “We are going to speak to so many consumers in the world who don’t even know who we are.” Via Guerlain goes global with new feminine fragrance Mon Guerlain at The Moodie Davitt Report.
3. Via Women's Wear Daily, 2/27/2017. Nobody is naming actual dollar figures, but Jolie's fee is assumed to be at least $10,000,000. Reportedly, she will donate it all to charity.
4. I did not smell Mon Exclusif so I can't comment on just how similar it is to Mon Guerlain. I will defer here to Monsieur Guerlain at Facebook:
Mon Guerlain is a “commercial” version of Mon Exclusif from 2015. [...] Mon Guerlain is lighter, softer, and fluffier, with the laundry detergent note of white musk even more pronounced.
and
...with a slightly less sweet and buttery caramel note. Unfortunately, it also means that the lavender-almond accord is not half as delectable as in the original version, and the nondescript base mix of icing sugar and woody notes arrives earlier.
You can also find a detailed review of Mon Exclusif at Kafkaesque.
5. Sylvaine Delacourte was until recently the Director of Fragrance Evaluation and Development at Guerlain. She left to launch a white musk collection under her own name.
Personally found it painfully dull to wear, but like you say, if it keeps Mitsouko et al. in production then I can’t complain too much!
Flankers:
Mon Guerlain Fraiche
Mon Guerlain Intense
Mon Autre Guerlain Est Un Chanel
Mon Guerlain N’Est Pas Une Pipe
Hahaha I love your last two 😀
I was thinking of something more banal like:
Mon Guerlain Cheri
Mon Guerlain de Nuit
LOLOL! Same, and Mon Guerlain d’Extase, came immediately to my (much less creative) mind.
Oh, praying for Mon Guerlain N’Est Pas Une Pipe!
I know they are planning on opening a ton of new boutiques — something like 100. So let’s hope at least some of the money goes to Mitsouko instead of expansion…
That is a flanker I would definitely buy!
Laughed out loud at your 3rd flanker.
Flanker for Mon (My) Guerlain will be Votre (Your) Guerlain! 🙂
Then,
Notre (Our) Guerlain…..
LOL
“Mon Autre Guerlain Est Un Chanel.” Thank you for that hearty laugh, Lizzy!
Yes!
(And, ahem, I might actually say that at some point, being pretty much Team Chanel myself.)
Haha!
Lizzy K. with the mic drop!
Robin, i think you need to retest Chanel Les Exclusifs now they have been redesigned into EDP concentration. I’m sure you won’t find them as good executed as they used to be. Even Chanel seems to care little with heritage (altough a little bit more than Guerlain of course). One could argue too that Chanel never released many fragrances whereas Guerlain has always been doing that, only now in a much faster pace. But i agree, many modern Guerlains are not that wonderful than older ones, but then, the public that purchases vintage-like creations seems to be more of a niche distribution (in the original meaning, not in the market sense of lately) than a mainstream one.
I’d like to see this too. Mercifully, Eau de Cologne remains unchanged.
This was one of the few ones i haven’t tried Lizzy, but many surprised me to seem less rich and to last less than their edt counterpart, which was very odd considering they got more concentrated and expensive.
Totally agree. Sycomore especially is a shadow of its former self.
Agree. Sycomore and La Pausa lost so much in the reform. Very sad.
Well, I don’t want to, LOL — I do hear they are not as good as it used to be. But my point about marketing and brand strategy stands, and I think it’s important to remember that even if perfumistas aren’t happy with the change to EdP, if the general perfume buying public is happier, then they’ve accomplished their goal.
My point was not that Chanel cared more about their heritage, or even necessarily that the scents are better, but that they are much more cautious than Guerlain with how they represent themselves to the public.
I would say the same of Dior’s luxury efforts, even though I haven’t bothered to try most of those. The point of the collection is clear, the packaging and presentation are appropriate.
Guerlain’s forays into luxury collections have seemed somewhat haphazard / random in comparison. The luxury collections come and go, they aren’t presented cohesively, and scents suddenly go away and then reappear in different packaging. Etc.
Well, if you are talking about marketing and brand strategy in terms of general public, then your point about Guerlain is not valid since public seems to be happier about what they are doing.
My point is that Guerlain always worked like that with their brand and heritage, they have only speed up this process. It’s in their DNA somehow. Even the launch of very similar scents under different names. And i think it’s different to compare Chanel and Dior with Guerlain since both are couture maisons with perfume lines and not exactly a perfume and cosmetic brand as Guerlain.
I disagree about thein being presented cohesively since each Guerlain collection has its bottle and package. What i do think it’s really questionable is their pricing and the reapper of scents unchanged in much higher values. But then, as you said, if the overall consumer is happy and buying, they have accomplished their goal, right?
Well, what can I say — we totally disagree!
But there is one Armani Prive line and packaging and one Dior exclusive line and packaging, while Guerlain has L’Art et la Matiere, Les Elixirs Charnel, Les Deserts D’Orient, Une Ville, Un Parfum, and Les Parisiennes off the top of my head. Each with a different bottle than the last group. All of the Chanel Exclusives are in the same packaging.
Exactly. It’s hard to keep track of which of those collections are even still in production. To a casual observer (which is what most perfume consumers are) it looks entirely random — like they’re just throwing perfumes out there to see what might sell.
Monkeyttoe, they are different exclusive lines, not a single one, that’s why i don’t agree with coeherence, since each line has its design. And again, Armani, Chanel and Dior are couture maisons, their business is not perfume but depends on perfume. It’s different from Guerlain since Guerlain is solely a perfume, makeup and cosmetics house. Even if you are talking about coeherence in bottles, it’s interesting to look back and see that changes of bottles happened throughout Guerlain history. At some moments different scents all housed in the same bottle while in others each scent had its own bottle. So, if this is a problem today it should be a problem in the past so and it doesn’t seem to be the case.
Guerlain has always been prolific, criticizing this at this point doesn’t make sense to me. Criticizing the excellence of their prolific offering is another thing, and this i agree.
What i’m trying to point out is that Guerlain has always been prolific and even in their historical past they seemed to operate under the “throw many and stick with the ones that sells”. I’m pretty sure that many (including me) wouldn’t be so bothered if they continued to do variations of their heritage signature. I agree about the brand lack of coherence in doing more affordable scents in much expensive presentations and under different names, but then i think the problem is how those prices escalated, since the Parisiennes collection was born exactly to bring back in a limited distribution and more expensive price range fragrances that didn’t sell well in a more mass distribution.
It’s hard to compare Guerlain with their competitors because if you analyze there is no brand in terms of size and historical catalogue as Guerlain. This is something that has always been the brand strongest and most problematic part.
Wouldn’t Be Surprised to see Mon Petit Guerlain
That would work!
They have Petit Guerlain, the fragrance for children.
It reminds me of those floral waters that I got as a child in the plastic, I think it was Tinker Bell? It gives me a bit of nostalgia when I smell Petit Guerlain.
I liked Petit Guerlain 🙂
Me too! For my inner sophisticate child.
Mon Petit Guelain Noire?
Too funny!!!
Thank you for the review.
Mon Guerlain Noire
Mon Guerlain Noire L’Eau
Mon Guerlain Noire L’Eau Cologne
Mon Guerlain L’Eau de Mon Guerlain
Mon Guerlain L’Eau de Mon Guerlain Couture Intense
I would give the first batch of Aqua Allegorias the last time Guerlain really did anything that shook things up a bit. Was L’Art et la Matiere the first of the exclusive range focusing on a specific ingredients or was it Dior’s?
The first batch of AAs, yes. That whole range used to be so fun.
L’Art et la Matiere was Guerlain (I think that’s what you’re asking).
I was trying to figure out who was the first perfume house to launch a ingredient focused range like L’Art et la Matiere (2005), the Armani Prive, or the Diors, but both the Dior and Armani came first (2004) and the Prada Exclusives (2003) were before that!. I am sure I am missing someone else. (I couldn’t juggle the post and web search on my phone 🙂 )
Ah, gotcha. The first ingredient focused range, but luxury, yes? Good question, and I don’t know the answer.
I think they should stop looking at rebranding,and directing it to the “youth” market,and think again,very very hard this time,about their already well-established herd of perfumistas,those hundreds and thousands of us globally who want a spectacular bottle of Shalimar in parfum,tassle and all.And also want an interesting nostalgic lookback at “the way we were” through L’heure Bleue et al.We are here.We are plenty.We want to keep omn smelling those….!!
The hard true is that most major brands are not caring at all with the perfumista herd. Hundreds and thousands are not enough in a overcrowded and very disputed market; nostalgia do sell, but for a very specific public. I would even say that even niche brands in their most don’t care anymore about perfumistas. And i’m not talking about newcomers, but brands like Serge Lutens for instance. We are plenty, but not enough in terms of bussiness anymore.
Here is where rickbr and I agree — you won’t stay in business by worrying about perfumistas. Perfumistas may help a new niche brand get off the ground, but that’s about it.
It makes me sad to realize that Robin, but then, i can’t do nothing. That’s why i try to support indie brands lately, those seem to still do things for us. And this is something that sometimes makes me sad because i see many complaining about the offerings of major houses but not giving a chance to indie brands – and most of them even offer samples and sample sets, so you don’t need to spend a lot of money on something that you don’t have an idea if you will like or not.
It is too bad. I think many people (myself included!) at this point also have a kind of “brand fatigue”. There are so many new brands all the time, and it isn’t always easy to tell what they even are, indie, niche, whatever.
I know I am not as fast to try new brands as I used to be, just because it gets to be too many frogs to kiss if you know what I mean.
I know, it’s impossible lately to keep up with everything and discover what is good and what is not. I’m focusing on some and on what i receive, but certainly i’m missing many great things. But them, i gave up of keeping with the flow.
Mon Guerlain l’Eau can be the next flanker I think :). Lately I was very disappointed with Chanel 5 l’Eau, it smells like Chanel 5 somehow sprayed together with some still water. I recognize that I was so curious to smell it, the tester from the shop left me a better feeling… but after buying it and after I started to use it day by day I asked myself why I didn’t bought a Serge Lutens that I am sniffing since a while… I recognize, I was a snobe, I bought Chanel. As much as I love Guerlain, this time I will not throw away my money again by buying Mon Guerlain, even somehow I like it, I had Mon Guerlain for testing it a couple of days from the Guerlain distributor in Romania. I think maybe I will buy the body lotion, but for sure my next perfume budget will go for some Serge Lutens perfume, I will not postpone this moment, I was behaving too snobish the last period with all these new perfumes coming as “stars”. La Petite Robe Noire I feel it more Guerlain, I don’t know, much more Guerlain comparing with Mon Guerlain.
Other estimations for new flankers:
Mon Guerlain Tattoo
Mon Guerlain La Nuit or La Lune
I would think a lighter version for the Asian market would be top priority.
I have not even smelled 5 L’Eau yet, I am terrible! But I am not a No. 5 fan so don’t even care 🙂
I’ll just keep my comments confined to saying I am excited about this scent! Anything else might be best left being said on a different blog! I surely want this badly!
Several people commented today on the scent of the day that they were enjoying Mon Guerlain! And as I said the reviews at Sephora are glowing. I think as of yesterday it had about 10 reviews, all 5 star.
Like I said earlier today, I am sticking my giraffe neck out and saying that it wasn’t bad. I didn’t have to scrub it off and found it not offensive.
I sampled it from a vial, not sprayed, but I did suffer from “white musk olfactory fatigue”.
On me it wore close to the skin with no projection and I didn’t get as much lavender as I wanted to I layered it with lavender lotion. I do have perfume “eating” skin. Everyone is different.
I remember watching a documentary a long time ago on BBC about perfume, they showed a young girl being brought into the Guerlain boutique in Paris with her Mom to pick out her first perfume. The commentator pointed out that she was the most important customer of the day, in hopes that she will be a Guerlain consumer for a long time to come. I think Mon Guerlain may fit the bill for younger generations to enjoy and there is nothing wrong with that.
Hey, stick that neck out as far as you like! It is always good to hear the other side of every review.
I have a spray sample and likewise ended up with serious olfactory fatigue, but I promise you, leave it on a shirt sleeve or what not, and check back tomorrow. I accidentally got some on my down jacket and it’s still there days later.
Nothing wrong with that at all, although I’d guess that girl is probably buying La Petite Robe, what do you think? To my nose, that smells younger than Mon Guerlain.
I think in that film the young girl bought insolence.
Very pretty!
Down jackets are tough to remove smells, I have tried washing my sleeves and they still smell of a mishmash of perfumes
Well, this is the magic with many muscs (which some are use in white musks accord) , they survive the washing (they are hydrophobic from what i remember). They started their proeminence exactly in the functional products and got their role in main perfumery since people started searching for scents that transmitted the clean aura (which they associated with those materials used in their laundry products).
All muscs are also huge molecules so they act like olfactory tattoos.
I think I read a story about Ellena visiting Edmond Rodnitska and being turned away at the door because he smelled to much of laundry powder.
I feel like that sometimes, too.
Insolence would make sense too.
Thanks for the review. I’m always suspicious of any pompous perfume campaigns with A list actors directed by A list directors promoting pink colored juice 😀 For Guerlain’s sake, I hope it’ll sell well, but the company’s latest offerings have been so dull lately, which is kind of sad…
Still, I’m curious and will go and try it, that’s for sure.
I am probably alone in thinking that campaign was silly, too, and a waste of any A list actress.
It does not smell pink to me, if that helps at all. It smells beige. (But I think I’ve heard other people say it smells pink, so who knows.)
When’s the last time I bought something based on celebrity endorsement? Uh, I’ll be pondering that for awhile. I’d say it was a waste of money, too, but perhaps Ms. Jolie will choose a wonderful charity.
As an avid Guerlain fan, (as usual) I do not feel particularly excited about their new releases (blockbuster or not). Odd statement, I know… However, as usual, I will feel compelled to try the new release out 😉
I must acknowledge that I have found a few favorites among Guerlain new/newish launches of recent years, and am sure the brand had nothing to do about it (Grudges about packaging, price point, availability, lack of different concentrations). My loves are called Neroli Outrenoir, Attrape Coeur, Bois d’Armenie, Rose Nacree du Desert… and really LPRN is the only fragrance of its genre that I occasionally enjoy, against all odds!
Just to give you an idea, I think 80% of my favorite perfumes were first composed before 1950 (no, I don’t have the vintages, but still). So Guerlain is really ahead of any other brand in my collection for number of perfumes composed after 2005 that I own, wear consistently and deeply, deeply love.
AC and NO have really kept me happy in these first months of 2017… they were not alone, but still. Perfection.
Mon Guerlain, with its apricot juice, lame name, strange and disturbing icon, and unexciting list of notes, has a lot to overcome, but I am curious…and thankful for your review: I’ll keep the Micellar water ready! 😉
That is a lovely list of favorites, and I hope everyone believed me when I said Guerlain still makes things I like! And I can’t complain about LPRN, a brand ought to have a few “fun” scents in its repertoire.
Bois d’Armenie in particular I would love to own, and I’m afraid to try the Neroli for fear I’d love it. The new Tubereuse, from what I hear, is too white musk heavy to be tempting to me.
Don’t buy Bois d’Arménie without testing it again, IMO it is a shadow of its former self. For me it is dead and I will never repurchase.
Well, there you go! Thanks.
Well, there’s the explaination! I didn’t care much for BDA when it came out, but in the last year I retested it and fell in love… It wasn’t me who changed tastes then!
With reformulations, you never really know…
Ha, isn’t that funny? They must have removed something you didn’t like.
Did you see any connection between Mon Guerlain and L’Instant Homme? Because that’s what came to my mind….that Mon Guerlain offered a strained and thin (post divorce) nod to L’Instant. But I think I got much more lavender than you did and I never really sit a perfume out before refreshing with something new – so I tend to miss all the musk at the end. I think Mon Guerlain might layer quite easily. It was the opening I didn’t like.
Well, these 2 (and, for that matter, L’Homme Ideal) all share the vanilla-tonka-almond thing, with thin woods. I would say it’s the Guerlain signature except really it’s way more widespread than just the one brand.
It’s the Jicky thing: cool top notes, warm drydown that to my nose is reminiscent of L’Instant Pour Homme. Will Mon Guerlain Pour Homme be next?
This wasn’t quite my thing either – the whole La Vie Est Belle/Si approach just doesn’t work for me. The only redeeming feature was the lavender. It’s very tame, but at least it’s something – and I just tend to like the lavender & vanilla/tonka combination.
I also cannot imagine Angelina smelling of Mon Guerlain. I don’t have a flanker name, but they could use Brad as the face of the next campaing, if all they are interested in is the publicity.
I like lavender too. I wish they’d used a slightly less tame version of it.
Brad: can he ever get another contract to front a perfume after Chanel No. 5? I suspect not!
A non-speaking part, maybe?
Ha, maybe that!
Thank you for the review, Robin!
I’ve tried Mon Guerlain at a duty-free shop just a couple of days ago. Well, ‘tried’ might be too strong a word – I sniffed it on a blotter, got that ‘bright lemon candy’ opening, said ‘thank you’ to the SA and moved on. I didn’t had high hopes for it, what with all those rumors about white musc and all, but I think that at least they could have put more effort into top notes. I mean, with such a pompous campaign, I expected that the fragrance itself will be able at least to catch my attention. Well, it did not.
The bright lemon candy opening was at least lively! I like it better than the dry down.
I get a bit of citrus up top, not much, and I have to concentrate hard to get any lavender at all. After that I get a lot of almond. Almond all the way on a cushion of tonka and musk, until, many hours later, the scent fades.
The overall effect is pleasing enough. ‘Office to evening crowd-pleaser’ is spot on. Mon Guerlain is tenacious (on my skin at least) and the sillage is radiant, so in that sense it will be good value for money as a signature scent. The radiance reminds me a bit of some of the Shalimar flankers – Parfum Initial and Cologne especially.
I wonder if Mon Guerlain is another attempt at the same 30s and over market that I have always imagined Idylle was supposed to address? Don’t hear Idylle discussed much any more.
I have been very surprised by how many people say it has little or no sillage. I think many people cannot smell white musks, or can’t smell them for long once they’ve been wearing them.
I have been wondering what age they’re going for. You don’t generally aim what you’re hoping will be a blockbuster at the over 30 crowd. But then again, AJ is over 40. You don’t usually hire someone over 40 to get the 25 and under crowd. So no idea! Maybe they’re just hoping that EVERYBODY will buy it 😉
Aw geez, I’m fascinated to hear that some people can’t perceive the sillage. I must by hypernosmic (is that a word?) to MG because one teeny spritz on the back of my hand lasted forever and almost made me wish I could tie my hand behind my back.
Hyperosmia!
I thought the top notes and especially the lavender were nice and fine and then it sort of went downhill from there. But the most egregious waste of money was, to me, the commercial, which I thought looked like just about every other perfume commercial. Whenever I pointed that out publically, though, my comment was immediately followed by breathless celebrations of Jolie and the whole campaign, so, clearly, what do I know? 😉 I couldn’t sell a fan in Phoenix.
Why does my phone always change ‘publicly’ to publically? I swear it’s trying to embarrass me.
Hey, the people of Phoenix would be safe from either of us!
The commercial was weirdly boring AND goofy.
I did not like the Miss Dior commercials w/ Natalie Portman, but they each had a story, and seemed perfectly targeted at the woman who would want Miss Dior and be willing to see it as an aspirational luxury item.
This seemed targeted at the woman who would want to be Angelina Jolie, and maybe that’s all they were after.
Should add that the money won’t be wasted if Jolie does give it all to charity. Hope that Malik donates his, as well.
That commercial was so boring! What a waste of money, talent and beauty.
To me the ad was more like an ad for why not to get tattoos! That’s all I got from it.
I read too many notes I find meh (vanilla, lavender) of bleh (sugar, almond, white musk).
But I’m going to give it a try anyways, probably on a blotter first 😉
Ideas for flankers:
Mon Guerlain aux fleurs (add jasmine, less sugar)
Mon Guerlain d’ete (add citrus and summer flowers, remove vanilla and tonka)
Mon Guerlain d’hiver (with amber)
Mon Guerlain Poudré (more iris and powdery almond)
Mon Guerlain – Musk (more white musk 🙁
Mon Guerlain – Lumiere (add rose)
Mon Premier Guerlain (no acohol)
Mon Guerlain en provence (lavender)
Mon Guerlain Doux (more sugar and candy)
I liked it better on paper than skin, but like Erin above, I like the opening better than the end. On paper, as is usually the case, the opening lasts WAY longer. On skin, it’s dull pretty quickly. To me, of course. You might love it!
Oh, Mon Guerlain en Provence — I might buy that!
I doubt I’ll love it.
Recent releases by Guerlain are really not my style…but I want to keep an open mind 🙂
To be honest, i cannot keep up and try them all, its impossible, they are releasing too much.
And another confession, I do not own a FB from this brand. Heresy, I know. 😉 But I have a lot of catching up to do (started my life as a perfumista as little late, in 2016).
But I do have an adorable mini Mitsouko, supposedly vintage (year unknown) and I love it most after a few hours, when it becomes warm and mossy and a bit salty on my skin.
The only modern full bottles I own are AAs that I found at discount. There are a few I’d others I’d buy right away if I found them at TJ Maxx, though.
Gee, I thought irony was a 1990’s thing. I’m almost as worried about the state of Guerlain as I am about fact resistance and climate change. I don’t know what to say really. Thanks for the warning?
I do enjoy Insolence and when they released Guet Apens in the cobalt bottle I first thought it was a re-issue from their archives of something from the beginning of the 20th century. It was that good! I wish they hired Marhilde Laurent as house perfumer on the spot.
I wonder if Jean-Paul Guerlain’s new brand will deliver?
Gosh, JPG is 80. I have no idea.
By the way, Paradisone is a stronger version of Hedione, a clean jasmine material that is used in almost all perfumes now. The thing about Hedione is that its so weak you can even use it as a solvent for other materials.
It was famously used for the first time in Eau Sauvage, but at 3% you can hardly notice it.
Thanks!
I tried this on a blotter at Neiman’s a couple of weeks ago and let out a chuckle. The SA (in her broken English) asked, “You like, yes?” I said, “No. But I’m smiling because it’s not as bad as I thought it would be.” Then I dug around the back of the display, found a tester of l’heure bleue parfum, and sprayed it wrecklessly before walking out of the store. This is what it means to love Guerlain lately.
I did like the 2009 version of La Petite Robe Noir. Then they removed the licorice and pinkified it for all subsequent versions. I wish I’d known it was going to be a limited edition.
You know, I think I often confuse the two versions of LPRN in my mind. I should probably never say anything about LPRN until I go smell it again.
Loved the original version. Imo, less candified and generic than its replacement.
I loved the original version. Rue the day I lost my bottle while traveling. At that point it has already been reformulated. So no more LPRN for me. Occasionally I’ll scour eBay but I’ve never seen the original.
Since Encens Mythique D’Orient from 2012 is my favourite Rich Lady perfume, I take the attitude that Guerlain is still doing just fine, largely by simply ignoring their offerings for the Great Unwashed.
Signed, Rich Lady
LOL — excellent.
Initially, my spray reminds me of a modern Shalimar. I have to wear it to decide.
I’m tired of flankers. In Guerlain’s case, they need to clean up the line to regain their former status.
I’m not an expert as some commenters are. Just my opinion
So far as I know, nobody here qualifies as an expert 🙂
Thank you! I do not feel so intimidated
I love reading other’s comments. They are an education about olfactory perceptions!!
Oh, you never need feel intimidated, and you never need feel you can’t express an opposite opinion. Everyone is welcome!
I hope to try Mon Guerlain. I love lavender, but caramel in fragrance is usually a big no for me. Meh, indeed.
White musk strikes again. I imagine there’s a secret bunker full of aging white musk aroma-chemicals and the perfume industry refuses to move on until it’s empty.
Even gentle Terracotta Le Parfum has a musk that I generally don’t notice, but sometimes it overwhelms me with a “wait, why I am smelling that?” feeling, so I spritz Eau de Guerlain over the top of it.
Thank you for the review, and thank you to everyone for the comments. I’ve enjoyed the lively discussion.
It is perhaps not a distinction you care about, but to me, this does not smell like caramel — Mon Guerlain called it sugar icing and I’d agree. In other words, sugar but without the richness of cooked sugar. Personally I’d rather have the caramel!
Totally agree about the bunker. It is impossible to escape white musk, and I have grown accustomed to it so long as it stays under certain levels. Many people feel the same hatred towards iso e super, which I happen to love, so it really is personal taste.
Thank you for sharing the caramel/sugar icing distinction in Mon Guerlain. I love the way Eau de Guerlain opens with a super-sweet smell. It makes me think of the sugar that covers a lemon drop candy.
I love EdG too. Have you tried Shalimar Eau Lègére? The opening is a lovely lemon pastry/custard.
I haven’t tried Shalimar Eau Lègére so will add it to my list. I just spritzed on Eau de Guerlain for the evening and am imagining where it take me were there a bit of Shalimar vanilla in the mix. Delicious, I should think. Thank you for the suggestion. 🙂
I tried it the other day and it pretty much is the same as Mon Exclusif. Nothing special if not instantly forgettable. I really wished if they had just changed the bottle to this nicer one and kept it “face-less”; but then again, how do you expect to fight monster La Vie, blessed by the aura of goddess Julia, without some extra help? But it lacks real personality either way, so, whatever.
I am expecting flankers like:
Mon Guerlain Pour Nuit
Mon Guerlain Exceptionnel
Mon Guerlain L’absolu Intense Parfum
And it’s funny, I thought the Julia Roberts commercials were sort of a waste too. I wonder how much they have to do with the success of La Vie.
I agree, with Robin. Most of the target audience of La Vie Est Belle, do not consider Julia Roberts to be a relevant person. They are too young to remember her heyday during the 90’s.
If I had to bet actual money, I’d say the first flanker would be another concentration, either Extrait or Eau.
But looking through the list on Fragrantica, Guerlain has come up with some doozies! E.g., Terracotta Eau Sous Le Vent, Mon Habit Rouge Taillé sur Mesure, Habit de Metal, Insolence Crazy Touch,Insolence Shimmering Edition, L’Instant de Guerlain Eau de Noel Iris Millesime, and Samsara Shine. Perhaps they will surprise us! 😉
I am banking on the light side. It isn’t heavy but I think it might still be too heavy for some markets.
Flanker – Mine…no last name needed because everyone MUST know it’s Guerlain!
I am curious to try this even though all but one review I’ve read were not complimentary. The one positive review is by a well-known blogger who gets paid.
Every review I’ve seen on a beauty blog has been positive, and most of the reviews on store websites are positive. Snobby perfumistas like myself aside, I think it will be a hit.
When I tried it in the store today, two young women (20-something is my guess) were walking by, and one of them pointed to the Mon Guerlain display-table and said “I need to buy that one”.
There you go!
I should clarify – I meant a perfume blogger who gets paid to do revews. In any case, I may still like this when I try it.
Oh, I knew what (and probably, who) you meant! I just meant that non-perfume bloggers were by and large very positive. I think it will do well, just not necessarily with perfumistas 🙂
All this talk of Guerlain has me running for the Shalimar! Don’t think Ill do any running for this though… They lost me at white musk.
It made me curious about layering Jicky and Shalimar….going to try to do that next week.
Is anyone in the United States testing this? I am in the Bay Area and I cannot find this in ANY department stores.
Oh yes, absolutely. Have you checked your local Sephora? Possible the west coast doesn’t have it yet, of course.
I cannot stand how we get everything last these days! I just ordered the 3.4 oz and 6.7 oz body lotion from Macy’s. They are having 15% off of all of their cosmetics and fragrances, except Chanel. Today is the day it starts in stores. Yesterday, it started online. This is the first time I have seen all of their fragrances discounted!
I had two Macy’s gift cards so the whole lot only cost me 38 bucks! Thanks, Robin!
P.S, so funny that ALL of the fragrances are discounted except Chanel!
Wow, even the Tom Ford Private Blends? That’s surprising!
Hope you will love your Mon Guerlain 🙂
Even the Private Blends!! I am sooooo tempted to get Costa ir maybe Mandarino, but I am fighting temptation! Or, trying to, at least.
Ha, good luck!
My Macy’s store told me they were going to include the Chanel’s. Maybe they made an “executive decision” because they are struggling so.
Interesting!
GOsh, I haven’t worn or thought about Guerlain fragrances in a long while – and I’m not sure this release is going to make me a certified “fan boy”. But I will try it if I see it around.
My pick for a flanker: Monoud Guerlain
LOL — that might be the winner. Excellent.
Interesting…..Scentbird just sent an email out that Mon Guerlain is available from them.
Scentbird doesn’t carry any other Guerlain fragrances….this launch is HUUUUUUGE!!!!
(I ordered a vial, a la carte..) 🙂
They launched in 25 countries at once. That’s unusual for Guerlain. They mean it to be big.
They paid Ms. Jolie 10,000,000 to front it….I would have put on a negligee, strolled thru a garden, and sprayed the juice all over me for a 1/10 of that price! 🙂
Whaaaat??? That’s an insane amount (She’ll probably donate it to a good cause)
But but but…what if they’d put that money into their R&D department, to properly reformulate some of their golden oldies 😉 OR to develop a new exciting scent. 🙂
Don’t forget to writhe 😉
Totally included in my discounted rate! 🙂
Well, if this is an EDP, EDT can’t be far behind. If the juice is a success, surely there’ll be an extrait too. Good to see two body products right off the bat. Long for the days when there were a myriad of body products for each major juice.
Pretty sure there is a candle too, but have not seen it yet.
They were giving out candles at the launch. I do love it when the products are all released the same day.
Oooh a candle? Ears prick up.
I liked the opening enough to ask for a sample vial so I could wear it the next day. And by midday the next day I was bored, disappointed and plotting the destruction of white musk molecules (not sure how, wish I had paid more attention in chemistry instead of just playing with the Bunsen burner). Still it sent me off to Vero Kern’s beautiful Kiki voile for a good lavender kick so not all bad and I fervently second (third?) the hope that it is successful enough to bank roll continued production of Jicky, Mitsouko and Vol de Nuit.
My guess is that there will be just as much white musk in the candle…
*slowclap* – Guerlain is LVMH is gone as a perfume house with Monsieur Thierry. I think it’s a pity because they offered affordable and good stuff, an entry to perfume world for beginners as well; but oh yes, Angelina Jolie. Seriously.
So the flanker will be
Mon Guerlain – vert/blanc /blue (choose a color!) or L’Eau or L’Extrait. The latter guaranteed…
I did not find them to get any worse after Thierry Wasser, personally! But then again, nor did they get any better.
Guerlain is like the Johnny Depp of the perfume world. Currently only receives praise, due to being brilliant in the past. Guerlain does make well-crafted fragrances, but their recent offering have been dull as dirt. Not surprised by you review, Robin. Everything about Mon Guerlain sounds so boring. While not my cup of tea, at least, LPRN had a sense of humor.
The Johnny Depp of the perfume world — excellent, that made me laugh!
Glad to hear, that it made you laugh!
I really like Mon Guerlain. It just smells good! I categorise it as a no brainer along with Prada Infusion D’Iris, Chanel Eau Premiere, and Cristalle Eau Verte. For when you just can’t make your mind up or a more challenging perfume isn’t right. Some great flanker ideas in the thread, this could go on and on …..
Mon Guerlain Blanc? Mon Guerlain sur le toit de Paris? I would wear Mon Guerlain des Bois
Glad to see another fan!
Heheheheh, loved the fun around here, ok, let’s see: Mon Guerlain L’Absolue, Mon Guerlain Legere, Mon Guerlain Noire, Mon Guerlain Edition Du Soir, Mon Guerlain Couture, Rouge, Shique, God Bless us all with enough patience. 🙂 It did not wow me either, but if it sells, so be it.
Edition Du Soir sounds good! 😉
Mon Guerlain L’Eau Jolie
Mon Guerlain Parfum Initial L’Eau Intense Legere
Mon Guerlain Mon Petit Insolence Perfecto