Guerlain • Mitsouko • Fragrances

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*TOP REVIEWER* Kysyona on 5/1/2013 9:10:00 AM more reviews by Kysyona

Age: 30-35   Skin: Very Oily, Fair   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Hazel    

Oh no, this sent me heaving and gagging: I have sprayed this with a hopeful heart (and nose) and almost had my breakfast pop up and say hello! I have read through a number of components' lists for Mitsouko, but so far I am not even close to figuring out what exactly creates this "old mouldy nut" note that hits me like a train. I love every single ingredient ( from those that allegedly form the composition) on its own, especially peach! - how I can find this scent revolting is a mystery of all mysteries to me. It was so bad that i don't ever want to even try again, unless it's a vintage ( which usually is a synonym for "much better" to me, perfume-wise ). The bottle is superb, the history is thought-evoking ... What can I say: no love lost between me and Mitsouko, which is still a plus for all its lovers: one person less wearing a perfume - more space to smell original for those who do.:)

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*TOP REVIEWER* browneyedelise on 2/27/2013 12:49:00 PM more reviews by browneyedelise

Age: 25-29   Skin: Normal, Fair   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

For the new EDP: at first spritz it's a blast of pure moss and spice, then quickly dries down to a cinnamon-y boozy peach. I can't stress enough that the peach is not going to be the sweet fresh peach you might expect. This is a peach that's been made into an aged, dry liqueur. Takes some getting used to, but this scent is indisputably glorious. The mossy drydown lasts and lasts and smells of sophistication.

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*TOP REVIEWER* Therealslayergrrl on 2/13/2013 7:03:00 PM more reviews by Therealslayergrrl

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Medium, Warm   Hair: Brown, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Hazel    

The first initial spray had me saying "Oh god, WHAT did I do!" I had to keep reminding myself to wait for the drydown. This is a complex perfume. It goes through a few different stages before the true awesomeness hits you. The hint of sweetness from the peach to the spiciness of the cinnamon. The oak and the vetiver. Wow... This is a big perfume. Not something you can wear lightly. You will get noticed while wearing this. I probably won't repurchase this because I won't be wearing it too often. But I love the way it brings me back in time. My Nana wore this.

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stonewall on 12/21/2012 5:12:00 PM more reviews by stonewall

Age: 44-55   Skin: Dry, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Hazel    

I received my order of Mitsouko several weeks ago. It was ordered based on reviews by other customers, and was I expecting a really great fragrance. However, it is unlike any of the reviews I have read. I love the oriental woodsy type perfumes. One reviewer, I believe ,said it smelled like Cinnabar, which I love. This perfume was awful. Perhaps I was duped and it's not really Mitsouko. It was packaged in a gold type box, not the red one I see by some reviews. Anyone have any idea? Would anyone like to trade?

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SmellyFaerie on 8/29/2012 6:34:00 AM more reviews by SmellyFaerie

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Fair   Hair: Brunette, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Brown    

Warning: I never properly tried any vintage Mitsouko (though I believe I smelled it somewhen in the past), so this is a review on the current Mitsouko EDP (from 2010, I guess). If you want comparisons with pre-reform versions, please skip to another review. If you want to know how it smells like NOW, please read this.


First time I tried Mitsouko, a couple of years ago (probably before the reform, but it was the EDT), it didn’t do much for me. I was just discovering perfumes, trying to broaden my horizons, and knowing this would have a peach note (my signature was Annick Goutal’s Petite Cherie those days) made me want to try it. It was bitter, medicinal and cold hearted. I just scrubbed it off and moved on.


A few years passed since then, and I started to learn what worked and what did not work for me. My scent preferences changed from soft and girly fruity florals to heavier scents. Incense, powder and leather became my favorite notes, but chypre was still a mystery to me. In the end of 2011, thanks to a lovely MUAer, I got the chance to sample some of the Chanel Exclusifs and my favorite from the bunch was 31 Rue Cambon (surprise, a chypre!!!). In the meantime, some of the fragrances I hated at first sniff (like Andy Tauer’s L’Air du Desert Marocain and Miller Harris L’Air de Rien) reached the obsession status for me.


And then, all of a sudden, I stumbled upon a bottle of Mitsouko EDP and thought “how badly do I need to try this again, considering how much my scent preferences changed since the last time?”. I ended up ordering an unsniffed bottle, knowing it would not be too hard to swap it later. The veredict? It is a keeper. Mistouko is a wonderful fragrance as it is now. I do believe when people say it used to be better, but I am a simple girl who appreciates what she can get.


The opening of Mitsouko EDP (at least to my nose) is green and anisic. There is an indistinct blend of florals in the Guerlinade, but it is the green that stands out. After a few minutes, the green subsides, but never really goes away. But the flowers go to first plan… anisic rose and jasmine mostly. When the “glow” on my wrists start to fade away (yes, it is a bit oily) I start to detect some peach. But it is not a gourmand peach, it’s more like the inside of a peach stone, bitter but it also gives almost a velvet texture to the drydown. It continues to develop, bringing a smile to my face each time I sniff my wrists. In the late drydown, it is powdery and I can detect a faint hint of vanilla on my clothes after a few hours.


The lasting power is outstanding, I’m talking about at least 12 hours of pure joy on your skin. If applied to clothes and hair, it will last even longer.


To me, Mitsouko EDP is the epitome of femininity and it doesn’t need to apologize for that. If I weren’t already married, I would drench myself in this for my wedding. It is very sophisticated, special and unique and believe me when I say I’ve smelled many sophisticated, special and uniques scents before, and this is one of the best among them.

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rebelb on 8/8/2012 1:11:00 PM more reviews by rebelb

Age: 44-55   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Neutral   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Hazel    

Memory in a bottle: One December in Amsterdam, many many years ago, I spotted an incredibly chic girl in a knit cap in a canal boutique. She splashed on some Mitsouko and she smelled like...well, like what I wanted to be -- assured and fun and cool. I promptly bought a bottle and had a two-year liaison with Mitsouko until she was usurped by L'Heure Bleu. But that is another memory...

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CobraRose on 7/14/2012 3:22:00 AM more reviews by CobraRose

Age: 56 & Over   Skin: Very Oily, Fair-Medium, Neutral   Hair: Brown, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Hazel    

Mitsy loves me, but I don't think we have a future together. She is gorgeous in her green-and-russet glory. This beauty brought tears to my eyes the first time I put it on my skin. Mitsouko is the smell of a damp forest, and the most female (as opposed to feminine) fragrance I know. That rosy-peach accord takes my breath away. Unfortunately, sometimes she's too spicy to suit me. Usually it's cinnamon, sometimes it's clove, and once there was something cuminous, like B.O. The problem is, I can't predict when the spices will get out of hand on my skin, and Mitsy clings to me lovingly, so if she's getting on my nerves, it's like a long ride in a small car with someone who won't stop talking.

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Tacita24 on 3/8/2012 9:10:00 PM more reviews by Tacita24

Age: 44-55   Skin: Sensitive, Fair, Cool   Hair: Brunette, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Grey    

The wonderful ladies in one of the Paris Guerlain shops described this as my "signature" fragrance. You may imagine how delighted I was! This has been my favourite since 1979 and I just adore it. Oriental, luscious, sophisticated... I always use the eau de parfum which lasts well on the skin. Oh, and the bottle shape is divine. Gorgeous!!

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*TOP REVIEWER* LizWords on 12/9/2011 10:53:00 AM more reviews by LizWords

Age: 30-35   Skin: Normal, Fair-Medium   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Brown    

Amazing! And only 50 dollars dor a 2.5oz edp on oversrtock.com. it lasts all day with no need for touchups. The scent is musky but light and sweet, quite a bit of of spicy citrus that I love. This what I thought coco Chanel would smell like, but no, this is much much better. Definitely worth a try!

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McCartney on 11/26/2011 6:54:00 PM more reviews by McCartney

Age: 44-55   Skin: Normal, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Green    

I ran out of my edp bottle two years ago. I am looking at the empty bottle perched on the end of my desk as I write this. My first bottle was the unimpressive edt. I must have given it away because I certainly don't remember finishing it. At age 42, I purchased my first edp version and loved it immediately. You see, I've been such a fan of Charlie Chaplin's for so, so long now, that owning that scent became very important to me. It's such an intimate feeling, breathing in a scent and thinking about someone whom you know just adored it. I was about 49 or so when I finished up my last bottle--the one on my desk. I haven't replaced my bottle yet with a new one as I love to revisit it my removing the cap and taking a sniff every so often...a classic chypre, the oakmoss and peach pit I really get. This scent is a personal one for me. I will buy another bottle sometime in 2012. I love Mitsouko.

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inglaterra on 10/30/2011 8:46:00 PM more reviews by inglaterra

Age: Unknown   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

I tried this again at NM while pining away for my Samsara parfum (impossible to get in stores it seems). They had Mitsouko, so I decided to road test it. WOW.

She is the fully dressed Geisha who walks in the room. You are, for a moment, excited, embarrassed, thrilled, apprehensive. Its that Guerlain grand entrance. Then you realize she is not coming over to seduce you, like Samsara. She will sit at the table and make eye contact and smile. On me, after the initial "wow, this is weird" peach skin in the far far background, I get a light woods thing going on. Like Opium after 3 days of scrubbing. It is sublime, subtle but hard to ignore because you are in a trance due to its simple perfection.

Mitsouko is not trying hard, nor is her cleavage hanging out. She has charm, dignity, wit, intelligence. An oldie, but not old. I think I've fallen for her! :-)

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Mandella on 10/27/2011 9:10:00 PM more reviews by Mandella

Age: 30-35   Skin: Other   Hair: Red   Eyes: Blue    

Ok,I dont really like it.*wincing* Call in the firing squad! Seriously, I've smelled it twice and there was a note that smelled "off" to me. However, this is definitely one that I will try a couple more times before I throw in the towel.
**update**
Ok, I've had an epiphany. Mitsouko for a novice takes several tries to fully appreciate and, like with any good melody, the hearer has to develop a love for the tune. Wow . I can't wait to see how much more this multi-faceted scent sings for me! Just used the last of my decant and will definitely be hunting for a bottle soon.

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VioletaMarabu on 7/26/2011 2:33:00 AM more reviews by VioletaMarabu

Age: 44-55   Skin: Other   Hair: Red   Eyes: Violet    

Last time I traveled to the U.S., a few miniscule Guerlain stowaways returned with me to the DF.


Their names are vintage Chamade parfum and eau de parfum (big and little sister) and the Mitsouko family: parfum, eau de parfum and eau de toilette.


All stored in vials in a tiny zipped bag, which later came in handy for transporting my large-denomination peso notes around town. I carefully folded the bills, slid them neatly into the plastic bag, and placed the bag flat in the bottom of my shoe. Like all chilangos, I'm aware at every moment of the probability of being mugged.


Once safely in a dressing room at Zara in the Centro Histórico, I removed a few bills from my shoe to pay for the outfit I was about to purchase.


Oh my goodness. The young clerk at the cash register takes my two large bills and ostentatiously holds them up to the light with both hands to check their authenticity. The loveliest, richest, cumin peachy liqueurlike golden pollen cloud subtly envelops the space around the counter. I'm entranced. He's oblivious. Oblivious that he has in his hands the most beautifully fragranced peso notes ever to circulate in the Mexican Republic.


I wonder who has them in their pocket now? Have they retained their aroma of five concentrations of two masterpieces of French perfumery, macerated further by the steps of my Spanish shoes, on Spanish flagstone and cobble, on the way to a Spanish store?


Not too far from Zara in the Centro, there exists a perfumería, one of many on the "perfume street" of Calle de Tacuba, where a lone bottle of Mitsouko, glass spade stopper secured with hand-knotted gold thread, sits regally like a crown jewel in the display window, her juice the color of whiskey, distilling for months now in the tropical sunlight.


xo Violeta

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satsumi on 7/1/2011 1:59:00 PM more reviews by satsumi

Age: 25-29   Skin: Normal, Fair   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

"Reviewing" Mitsouko on MUA would be like reviewing the Old Testament on Amazon. It's all been said already, by people more highly trained in the discourse. Instead, I'll just add this one anecdote about my HG signature scent: The first time i wore it out in EDP strength, a man strolling down-wind of me on a busy city street spontaneously starting singing, "Hello, I love you/ Won't you tell me your name?"

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*TOP REVIEWER* aamna_601 on 6/15/2011 1:01:00 AM more reviews by aamna_601

Age: 25-29   Skin: Oily   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

I rushed out and bought Mitsouko after reading reviews and months of gravitating towards more 'grown up' scents. I used to really like heavy florals and now I am more of a oriental/woodsy type of person in scents, and really crave a good woody oriental musk/classic scent that I can call a signature scent. I also like fresh/green scents for reference, but usually ones that are in conjunction with something else. I have liked and used in the past: Chanel no. 5, Joy, Chanel no. 19, Ange ou Demon, Midnight Poison, Organza, J'adore, Un Jardin Sur El Nil, Un baiser du dragon (cartier), Hypnose by lancome, Armani Code, Dior Addict. So quite a few for being in my early twenties I guess, but I really love addictive smelling people and of course, yearn to be one :). Oh,and I am in the hospital alot as part of work/school and would like to smell nice and not like ward....odors.
Mitsouko started off very strong, like indian incense on me. Warm and spicy, which I don't mind at all, kind of reminded me of Ysatis or Jicky. Actually I dont know if Jicky and Mitsouko are at all different on my skin, and I know that I waited around for a while for Jicky to develop on my skin but it always stayed very incense like and strong. I can see its allure maybe 10 years ago, but now I feel like it is a little too heavy/musky for me. Perhaps it will grow on me with time. But after wearing it for about 3-4 hours now it just seems as warm and spicy as it was in the beginning--once again, not bad things, but perhaps too strong of a chypre for me (a novice in chypres), and better suited to those whose chemistries jive with chypres. Back to the drawing board for me, shame because it is such a beautiful bottle and wonderful lasting power I must say.

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Remy2106 on 6/11/2011 6:36:00 AM more reviews by Remy2106

Age: 36-43   Skin: Dry, Fair   Hair: Brown, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Brown    

not much to add to the previous reviews. Mitsouko is a masterpiece. Elegant, quirky, discreet but deeply erotic. I like that its not ostentatious, not overtly sexy nor sweet - and paradoxically thats why Mitsouko seems more evocative and devastatlingly feminine. i guess it is an orientalist interpretation of a classic Japanese woman (very much opposite to what Jean Harlow represents...) whatever the story or bias behind, i imagine a sneaky sort of sensuality, a dainty, dark-haired woman in a sober outfit in old library or monastery.

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jennybee71 on 5/20/2011 8:25:00 PM more reviews by jennybee71

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Fair   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Hazel    

grown up, resinous, sophisticated, sinfully expensive. i've been in love with this for some time now. although i do take breaks from it, i always return to it. it's got a serious feel to it, and i don't feel like me when i don't wear it. it's one that grows on you like crazy if you just give it a chance....

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Angiewe on 5/11/2011 8:02:00 AM more reviews by Angiewe

Age: 36-43   Skin: Dry, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Brown, Curly, Medium   Eyes: Green    

I adore this sophisticated fragrance.

It's a woman's fragrance and such a classic - always gets compliments when I wear it. My husband likes this fragrance on me too.

My all-time signature scent is Clinique Aromatic Elixir and Mitsouko is along the same lines.

If you like the Clinique, give Mitsouko a spray.

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mindyk on 5/2/2011 10:59:00 AM more reviews by mindyk

Age: 44-55   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Cool   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Brown    

This is one of the few fragrances I buy again when the bottle runs out. I put it on in the morning before work and and at the end of the day, I'm still getting compliments on it. While I love chypres, I generally don't care for peach notes but this is an exception. Rich and complex. Definitely FB worthy but go for the edp.

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Neopatra on 4/25/2011 3:24:00 PM more reviews by Neopatra

Age: 44-55   Skin: Sensitive, Fair-Medium, Cool   Hair: Other, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Blue    

So terribly wanted to like this legendary classic fragrance.

Nope. Smells like a mule barn in August.

{:'-("

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