Guerlain • Apres l'Ondee • Fragrances

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xrayer on 4/9/2013 5:43:00 AM more reviews by xrayer

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Fair   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Green    

I have recently been exploring fragrances and trying to branch out from the usual mainstream perfumes. I read an article about this perfume and it really piqued my interest, I was lucky enough to manage to find a sample relatively easily. Well I have to say that this is the most exquisite scent I have ever worn. It is light but complex, delicate but with depth. It is absolutely gorgeous and the first guerlain that I have been able to wear and truly appreciate. I think it is worth every cent and is of the highest quality, just superb. I will be saving for a full bottle!

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Thirza73 on 3/1/2013 3:26:00 AM more reviews by Thirza73

Age: 36-43   Skin: Normal, Fair   Hair: Red   Eyes: Other    

After all those great reviews I had such high hopes for loving this perfume and I bought it unsniffed (it's rare to find and there was no possability to spray this in a shop).
Oh how disappointed I was when my package arrived....
Apres l'ondee (edt) has a sort of medicinal smell on my skin and it's very longlasting on me (4-5h). Just like Prada Infusion d'Iris, which I don't like either.
So get a chance to try this on your skin before buying. It can go really wrong with your body chemistry.
If you love powdery fragrances with anise, some flower and musk: try Guerlain L'instant pour homme. It's an underrated perfume jewel, also for women!
And when I think of a perfume that's inspired by After the rainflood, A Scent by Issey Miyake comes to my mind.

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*TOP REVIEWER* Gother on 2/18/2013 12:27:00 PM more reviews by Gother

Age: 30-35   Skin: Sensitive, Medium   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Violet    

Aprés l'Ondée is my favourite rainy weather scent. I don't know why I came to chose this violet-iris-powder lovely blend as my rainy-day companion, but I happen to love rainy days more than sunny days (especially the fresh spring and fall rains that are interspersed with shy sun-rays now and then), so I cherish the fragrance.
And the bottle, to die for!

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colorsinbloom on 8/27/2012 2:51:00 PM more reviews by colorsinbloom

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Olive, Cool   Hair: Black, Wavy   Eyes: Black    

DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY as the scent does not last more than 30 minutes.


I love the smell of Meteorites, and since they discontinued the Meteorites fragrance, I knew Apres l'Ondee was the closest smell with the violets and all.


I was excited to purchase this at the Guerlain boutique this past weekend while I was in Vegas. The manager sprayed me generously, told me to warm it up on my wrist, and I bought a bottle. After walking around the shops happily with my Guerlain bag for no more than half an hour, I found my husband and told him about my purchase and had him sniff my wrists. Nothing. My neck? Nothing. WT?!? There was not a TRACE of scent left. Not one tiny bit. Are you kidding me? Yes, it's an EDT, but half an hour is ridiculous, especially when the price point is higher than most other EDPs. I went back to the store, told them about the vanishing scent and resprayed generously with the tester to give it another chance. Half an hour later...nothing. So the next morning, I went straight back to the store to return the bottle. I hadn't even taken it out of the bag, and the pretty bow they tied was still on the bag handle. The same manager that sold it to me the very day before told me they do not accept returns. ?!?!?! Nowhere in the store was the return policy posted, nor did she ever tell me there were no returns. She said it is printed on the receipt (which of course, you get after the purchase and you're already locked in.)


Poor product + poor customer service = the last time I purchase from Guerlain.

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RORYGORY on 5/9/2012 12:51:00 AM more reviews by RORYGORY

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Fair, Warm   Hair: Red, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Blue    

Certain scents are difficult to explain but easily inspire the adjectives "breathtaking" and "heartbreaking." Après L'Ondée is one of these scents. Gaia, the Non-Blonde describes smelling Après L'Ondée in parfum "like entering a dream. It can be familiar, like a memory you can't quite place but you know you've been there, maybe in your subconsciousness."

Like any other art form, at its finest perfume can convey a distinct idea or emotion. The more complex the idea, the more moving the artwork. Après L'Ondée means "after the rain shower," and between the floral, herbal, earthy, and watery notes, it literally translates as a garden after the rain. Yet there is something more to this scent, that inspires consistently more romantic reviews. At its debut, La Liberté said it had "something of the melancholy of a poet's thoughts." (Monsieur Guerlain). Turin's review is also full of dark metaphors, describing the base accord as a "funeral", but for the fact that "Guerlain suffuses the whole thing with optimistic sunlight by using, as in so many of their classic fragrances, a touch of what a chef would call bouquet de Provence: thyme, rosemary, sage. This discreet hint of earthly pleasures is what makes Après L'Ondée smile through its tears."

Après L'Ondée does smile through its tears, for the scent of the earth following the rain parallels a feeling of calm after the passing of grief. The sadness behind Après L'Ondée makes the beautiful notes all the more real, precious, and poignent. This scent brings you deep within your own reflections. It is undoubtably one of the greatest perfumes ever made.

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DrDorothy on 12/14/2011 12:45:00 AM more reviews by DrDorothy

Age: 30-35   Skin: Sensitive, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Blue    

This is the only fragrance I've met that legitimately breaks my heart; it's also--to date--the only fragrance that has made me feel ravished at the first sniff. Is it stupid to be almost moved to tears by a smell? Apres L'Ondee is pure beauty: damp violets, delicate, transparent, a trifle melancholy. It's like Monet or Debussy for your nose (stealing the latter comparison from Luca Turin because it's apt).

It's also fleeting. Only the EdT is in production, and even that is hard to find. Plus, the smell vanishes within half an hour of (generous) application. That's why it breaks my heart. It's the most beautiful perfume I have ever smelled in my life. Not the greatest, not the most interesting or complex, just the most beautiful. And I can't afford it, because even if I did shell out the cash for a whole bottle, it would vanish in no time. I can't justify it :( If you have bottomless pockets, then I congratulate you; buy gallons of this stuff and go swimming, because that's what it'll take.

Guerlain--bring back the parfum, if you have any mercy!

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hyblaean on 9/1/2011 2:29:00 PM more reviews by hyblaean

Age: 36-43   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair, Cool   Hair: Brown, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Brown    

Bright and happy smell to me. Fades quick. Not the type of heliotrope I was looking for, to me it smells more like a garden in bloom. Which is not a bad thing, not what I was searching for, but my wrist will be up in my face for the next 30 min until this goes.

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*TOP REVIEWER* HelenVanPattersonPatton on 8/21/2011 2:39:00 PM more reviews by HelenVanPattersonPatton

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

Oh how I wish I could own this in its parfum form, as it is absolutely divine yet not a scent I wish to spritz over and over with abandon; unless perhaps I'm home alone for the day and/or night. The combination of notes in Apres l'Ondee (some of my favorite notes) make it pensive, melancholic. Because of this, it needs--I need--the pure perfume. I want wafts of aniseed, hawthorn, violet, heliotrope, and iris to softly embrace me, calmly and gently; to handle me with kid gloves. Spritzing throughout the day shakes me up with renewed nostalgia and restrained moodiness. I want old movies, Jeff Buckley and Leonard Cohen. I want solace. This is a perfume I wear for or on a specific "occasion," or at least, as I noted, a day to myself. It's bottled sadness and I love it.

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*TOP REVIEWER* triotrio on 8/9/2011 1:37:00 PM more reviews by triotrio

Age: 36-43   Skin: Normal, Fair, Cool   Hair: Blond, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Blue    

Terribly, terribly pretty in a delicate, fragile way. It's not your typical floral, so you can see how people would find it and think "That's the floral I've been waiting for"

But after just a few hours wear? Can't smell it even with my wrist crammed up to my nose!

Not worth it, tbh.

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erinalberty on 8/3/2011 12:35:00 AM more reviews by erinalberty

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

I tried a sample from Perfumed Court, and I am a little heartbroken that the EDP is not available. I can barely smell the EDT after a couple of hours. That said, the scent is so gorgeous that I will buy as much EDT as I need to keep it smellable every day that clouds are in the forecast from April 1 to Sept. 31. Don't worry, I live in the desert. A cloudy day is a special occasion here. Perfect for a beauty such as this.

As to comments about smelling old or stale: I, too, am sensitive to granny associations in a perfume, at least at first. But I got no granny smell from this fragrance. Just prettiness.

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kaylo19 on 6/29/2011 9:35:00 PM more reviews by kaylo19

Age: 25-29   Skin: Sensitive, Fair   Hair: Other, Straight   Eyes: Green    

I bought a bottle of this about a year ago and the first few times I tried it I thought it smelled like crisp paper and dampness, I didn't like it at all. Over the last few weeks I have been re-trying it and now I use it everyday. I don't know what has changed, but now I get the beautifully lonesome rainy spring morning smell. It is definitely an introspective scent, for me, not something that you would wear to be noticed or for anyone else. Sweet comforting melancholy mixed with faraway thoughts, I adore it.

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hazyhaze on 6/14/2011 12:57:00 AM more reviews by hazyhaze

Age: 25-29   Skin: Oily, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Black, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Brown    

I have the EDT. I wanted to love this, but unfortunately it did not agree with my body chemistry... it did smell like wet violets with some powdery notes, but it was too light and to me it smelled melancholic, like a gray rainy day. beautiful bottle though. I might give it a shot again after some time. I wish they didn't discontinue the EDP.

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crdimalla on 1/22/2011 5:29:00 PM more reviews by crdimalla

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

I like it right off the bat, it speaks volumes about the morning I awoke to. The kind of morning where, curtains drawn and blinds lowered, you have no idea what kind of light awaits you outside...is it sunny? Typically overcast? Or...has it just rained...

Well it had. A warm unusual rain for the season, a sprinkling misty subtropical rain...a southern hemisphere rain that you don't really see around these parts but on a summer morning (which it IS NOT). I kid you not. Apres L'Ondee: "After a (Summer) Rain"

This smells to me--literally note for note--exactly like a Lush deodorant called Aromacreme I used a few years ago which has since then been discontinued. Let me say: it worked horribly as a deodorant, amazing to smell and it did deodorize, but 90% of those who used it broke out in horrible swollen fire rash a few days later. I found other ways of using it (on my wrists, in my hair...) because I simply loved the smell. And today, I daubed some Apres L'Ondee on my wrists for the first time and I wondered why there was something just very strange about it.

Florals (Iris, Violet, Hawthorn ((I have no idea what Hawthorn smells like but supposedly it's there)), Heliotrope? Rose, and I smell some Jasmine too) mingle with top notes of Anise (lots of this) and mint. It's a very refreshing scent but not vegetal....more powdery and resinous. There is an oriental quality about it (ylang ylang-esque). I'm sad to say the orchestration doesn't last as long as I hoped. Perhaps the EDP will be better.

If you, like many, hate the Jovan-esque 80's-90's musks you might also hate Apres L'Ondee. It doesn't directly smell like those, but it just has a faint reminder of those compositions. Visually, Apres L'Ondee is like taking a morning tea after the night rains are being lifted by the sun. It's very atmospheric and ornate. Kind of like my nails today: Revlon's new "Cloud" (milky blue/lavender) with swiss dots of Sally Hansen's "Gilty Pleasure".


I like/love this. I'm glad I waited till I was saturated with musky/spicy/peppery/resinous perfumes to try this one. I love the connotations, I love the warm renewed after-rain smell, I love that it has an oriental richness without being heady, I love that it has minted anise qualities without being cheap (though it does smell a little bit like toothpaste...fair warning). My dying wish is that the EDP will be a little more boastful and as lingering as Piper Nigrum is on me. I'm looking for MY Guerlain smell, because there seems to be that ONE for each person, and who knows...maybe this is it?

(Read my other reviews at swigandtipple.blogspot.com)

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themeanreds on 10/10/2010 11:20:00 PM more reviews by themeanreds

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Neutral   Hair: Blond, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Blue    

This is a delicate, transparent fragrance; I agree with those of you who described it in terms of being a "watercolor." It reminds me of a sidewalk chalk drawing streaked by the rain and I choose this childlike image because to me it evokes gumdrops (from the anise) and bubble stuff. It is expensive (too expensive, I would say) and hard to find so I was very happy to receive it as a gift; after reading Luca Turin's praise I was intensely curious.

6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

*TOP REVIEWER* msm4slm on 3/20/2010 10:45:00 AM more reviews by msm4slm

Age: 44-55   Skin: Oily, Fair   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

Apres L'Ondee brings to mind violets after the rain. It is a gentle, delicate fragrance and doesn't last very long on me. I was initially disappointed. My decant arrived the same day as the L'Art et la Materie collection samples, and they are very different, both in notes and nature of the fragrance. Any one of L'Art et la Matiere collection I would classify as rich and elegant. Some of L'Art et la Matiere I would classify as "sexy". Apres L'Ondee is none of those adjectives, and it also has a little of that "grandma" character to it. However, it has won me over with its charm. It's great for days I'm not trying to impress anyone...:-) Really, it has a pretty, loving air about it. It is very hard to find though and expensive (about $150 on ebay) so I'll think twice before buying a full bottle.

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Jasta on 2/16/2010 7:25:00 PM more reviews by Jasta

Age: 44-55   Skin: Normal, Fair   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Blue    

I love perfume, and I love reading what others feel about it, but most of the time the wonderful descriptions go over my head, and I almost feel left out –I just smell perfume. Yet, with Apres l’Ondee I actually get it. It has a cool stillness, like after a thunderstorm when the clouds part and rainbows appear. It’s an exquisite moment captured with the delicacy of a watercolour. Lovely.

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thelittlelori on 1/28/2010 3:17:00 PM more reviews by thelittlelori

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Brown, Wavy   Eyes: Hazel    

Oh, I know it has been said time and time again that this is a "beautiful" fragrance. What can I add, it has me floored. It is beyond exquisite, yet ephemeral. Like tulle being draped over your face on your wedding day, or like a fine mist descending over you, so light. It reminds me of ee cummings' poem, "somewhere i have never traveled, gladly beyond"--"(i do not know what it is about you that closes and opens;only something in me understands the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses) nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands." Compared to L'Heure Bleue, it is much more delicate, not as heavy, and certainly not as spicy. How sad that in EDT the scent is so fleeting.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

*TOP REVIEWER* drc98x on 1/25/2010 9:58:00 AM more reviews by drc98x

Age: 44-55   Skin: Dry, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Blond, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Blue    

This is a very pretty heliotrope/floral perfume, very well-blended. I bought a small decant of this, but I'm glad it was only a decant. It doesn't last on me at all. If you like very quite fragrances, I would recommend this. I had the edt.

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CaKaT on 12/23/2009 8:07:00 PM more reviews by CaKaT

Age: 36-43   Skin: Sensitive, Fair-Medium   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Hazel    

One of my favorite scents; hope to never be without it. (I have the EDT strength). There is very little out there that is more beautiful than this, that is for sure.

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stayce on 11/8/2009 5:35:00 PM more reviews by stayce

Age: 25-29   Skin: Acne-prone   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Hazel    

Wet violets! Stamps! More violets! And... some other light flowers I can't quite identify! It smells like stamps and envelope glue, and yet I want to keep smelling it.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No