Mitsouko Guerlain

When it comes to writing down my thoughts and feelings about perfumes, I never approach the task flippantly, most especially when it comes to the older iconic fragrances. It took years before I felt I was ready to opine on Shalimar, for example. It’s been around longer than my grandmother after all and what could an inexperienced, beginner perfumista have to say about it anyway? Nothing, that’s what. Nothing worthy of paying any attention to anyway. And Mitsouko is even older than Shalimar, being released in 1919. I just don’t form opinions on things I don’t understand. And it took a long time for me to “get” Mitsouko, but alas, I finally understand.

When I was first introduced to this perfume over 5 years ago by Johnathan Nieto at the Guerlain boutique in Palazzo Vegas, my only thought was why on earth would anyone want to smell like this? I ended up buying Mon Precieux Nectar that visit lol. I knew nothing about Mitsoukos historical context, or what ingredients were even available at the time of its creation, nor the inspiration behind its name, or even its predecessor, Chypre de Coty. No, I knew none of these things and didn’t even consider their existance. All I knew was that it didn’t smell like the squeaky clean, sweetened concoctions that had been in vogue most of my life. To me it smelled sour, musty, and very very dated. And while it IS dated, now that I really understand oakmoss, it no longer smells sour and musty, but sweet and woodsy. I’ve actually grown to adore Mitsouko.

So you might ask, how on earth can something go from smelling bad to smelling good and the only thing that’s changed is a mindset? Well, the nose is funny that way. And really, it’s like anything else that’s an acquired taste. I mean, who really loves beer the first time they taste it? Or “stinky cheese”?

It wasn’t until I started tinkering around with essential oils and absolutes that I developed a love for oakmoss. And after I had tested an original, very rare-over 90 years old formula of Chypre de Coty, the original chypre of mass production, I was inspired to create my own chypre with all natural ingredients just to see what it would smell like. So I researched where to get the best (legit) EOs and Absolutes, researched basic chypre composition, and ended up ordering Patchouli and Oakmoss Absolute from Piping Rock and Labdanum, Cistus, and Bergamot from Gritmans along with a few others, and began my little experiment.

My chypre experiment

Oakmoss has been mostly banned from perfumes in the last 10 years or so due to alleged allergens, but after playing around in it for weeks, I can say I am in no way allergic to oakmoss. And what I discovered was that the Mitsouko I had originally tested was but a shadow of a ghost of its original self, for it contained little to no oakmoss. And oakmoss is an imperative ingredient in any true chypre. Like baking bread without flour, or spaghetti without any tomatoes, a chypre without oakmoss is not really a true chypre.

What I ended up creating over those few weeks tinkering with EOs, was a very “rough around the edges”, unrefined hint of what Chypre de Coty was and I ended up developing a real love for oakmoss. But my experiment was very much lacking, and compared to Mitsouko, the most obvious thing lacking was the peaches.

From my personal collection, Extrait & EdP Mitsouko, both vintage.

It’s funny how things are relative. Like how originally, Mitsouko was sour and musty to my nose with nothing sweet about it. But a side by side comparison of Mitsouko to Chypre de Coty, proved how much sweeter Mitsouko is than Coty because of the peach note. When you cut out all the sugar from your diet, things begin to taste sweeter. And that’s just what I experienced with my nose with my chypre creation experiments and wearing Mitsouko and Coty. I avoided all the sweet gourmands and orientals for a while to focus on chypres, and all the little nuances began to really shine within them.

Screenshot of notes from Fragrantica

The other facet of Mitsouko that I loved even before the fragrance itself grew on me, is the incredibly romantic inspiration behind the fragrance in the first place. Mitsouko was metaphorically meant by Jacques Guerlain, to ring in the end of WWI and to inspire hope for the future. The namesake, Mitsouko, came from the book, La Bataille by Claude Farrere. It is a story of forbidden love between two lovers whose countries were at war against each other. From wiki:

” The story of Mitsouko is found in Farrère’s novel La Bataille (‘The Battle’, 1909), which is a romance based upon Japan modernization and westernization during the Meiji period and upon the 1905 naval Battle of Tsushima when the Imperial Japanese Navy defeated the Russian Imperial Navy . In Claude Farrère’s book ‘La Bataille’, Mitsouko was a beautiful Japanese woman whose name meant both ‘honey comb’ and ‘mystery’, who was married to a noble Japanese Navy officer and who had an ill-fated love affair with an English officer. ”

So that brings me to how I grew to love and appreciate Mitsouko. And after swapping my reformulated EdP for a decant of Royal Extract, I decided to replace it with a vintage edp, that still contained all that glorious oakmoss. And I just looooove it!

Mitsouko is definitely an acquired taste for the young noses of today, that have been spoiled by clean sugary sweet, mass market fragrances. Not only is it an acquired taste, it can be somewhat of a difficult taste to acquire because Mitsouko can be a bit on the temperamental side. The notes that dominate can depend on the weather, humidity, and the moisture levels in ones skin. Sometimes I get lots of peaches and Mitsy is sweet and well behaved, other times, I get more bergamot and vetiver, which do not play so nice on my skin. So if you try it out and do not like it at first, do yourself a favor and try again at another time. I’ve known lots of perfumistas that disliked Mitsy at first, but I don’t know many that didn’t grow to just love it. There’s a good reason, after all, that it’s still in production after almost 100 years when many new fragrances get discontinued within a decade. Despite its temperamental nature, Mitsouko is truly an endearing classic fragrance that I’m sure will be around many more years to come.

Vintage Guerlain print Ad

Season: All
Top: Citrus, Jasmine, Bergamot, Rose
Heart: Lilac, Peach, Jasmine, Ylang, Rose
Base: Spices, Amber, Cinnamon, Vetiver, Oakmoss

Vintage Guerlain print Ad

Chypre Coty (1917 formula)

First of all, I am very lucky to have been able to test this legendary fragrance in the first place.  This frag, especially the earlier stuff, is getting ever more rare and hard to find with each passing year.  The version I got a sample of is apparently from 1925 or at least that’s what’s printed on the card that came with the sample that I bought from PK Perfumes.  The card also has a picture of the bottle. As you can see, I only bought half a milliliter as it is pretty pricey juice at $24 US for just a few drops.

For being roughly 91 years old, the juice really seems to be in incredible shape.  Chypres are known for aging well though. But I have tested vintages half that age that were very “off” so this has obviously been stored properly and very well taken care of. Afterall, a lot can happen in 91 years lol.

Upon application, the dark juice is rather flat in the top notes but that was something I was expecting. Bergamot, and citrus in general, tend to be the first thing to go in perfumes. It breaks down faster and also evaporates faster. Even now, getting longevity with citruses remains a challenge to perfumers, but I digress.

The top is very heavy with oakmoss and rather tart and sour to my nose. But I wait and give it more time to dry before going back in for another sniff.

I have several oak trees growing in my backyard that are covered thick in oakmoss. The branches hang out over the swimming pool that we keep very lightly chlorinated. Occasionally a small branch will break off into the pool, saturating the oakmoss with water.  I try to collect those little branches to scrape off and save the wet, spongy oakmoss whenever I see a good piece floating. Oakmoss is much too leathery to remove from the branches when dry. But I love the way it smells naturally, even though I’m not a huge chypre enthusiast.  It’s sweet and earthy. Like walking through a damp humid forest that has a thick canopy.  Oakmoss is a lichen though, which is a type of fungus, so while it’s sweet and earthy, there is still a very slight truffle/mushroomy smell to it.   

My initial impression of Coty Chypre was of Mitsouko, only less sweet. Way less sweet. Ok minus the sweet altogether lol. Coty is much colder and more savory to my nose than Mitsy but they still smell very similar nonetheless.

After the juice dries and starts to settle, I can faintly smell the hint of rose, which was surprising because rose doesn’t typically age well at all.  I can also smell iris, patchouli, and carnation along with the oakmoss. 

The oakmoss stays prominant all the way through and after about 4 hours on the skin, the heart begins to dry away and the musky base is left. It’s a little bit smokey and slightly animalic.

I test it again, reapplying a dab to the back of my hand, only this time I dab my vintage Mitsouko extrait on the other hand to compare. I let them dry before sniffing.

In comparing the two side by side, Mitsouko is much sweeter, creamier, warmer, and rounder. The Coty smells a bit bitter in comparison, cold, and aloof. Mitsy also smells a little boozy next to Coty but Mitsy does contain peach and is a chypre fruity.

The influence is obvious though. Coty is definitely the stoic, austere parent and Mistouko, the carefree, adventerous child.

Personally, I think Mitsouko was an improvement, but that’s a story for another day lol.

Overall, I’m very glad I got to try this historical perfume. And even more so that I got to compare it side by side with Mitsouko as they are both legendary perfumes. 

I highly recommend trying it out for yourself if you ever get the opportunity. Though neither Coty Chypre nor Mitsouko are perfumes I would generally wear casually in my day to day, there’s no denying their influence on modern perfumery and for that I have great respect for these trailblazers.

I am not only a fraghead, I am also a history buff and exploring old perfumes is really a very special treat for me. Two of my favorite things collide in Vintage perfumes.  So for me this whole experience was a history lesson; a fragrant little glimpse into another time. Many thanks to Paul Kiler of PK Perfumes for giving me the opportunity to try this! ❤

Season: All

Top notes: Bergamot, Orange, African Orange Flower, Amalfi Lemon

Heart notes: Carnation, Rose, Ylang, Jasmine, Lilac, Iris

Base notes: Incense, Musk, Civet, Oakmoss, Patchouli, Styrax

Angel Thierry Mugler

This is such a strange scent. Angel seems to be very dependent on body chemistry. This controversial fragrance either ‘picks you’ or it doesn’t. I bought it recently as a complete blind buy, knowing the reviews were very polarized. Still my curiosity got the better of me.

I can somewhat pick up the chocolate, cotton candy, and patchouli. But there’s a very dirty note that makes me think of body odor and not in the oud kind of way but more in the Putain des Palaces way, only this one is much dirtier and very offensive, putrid even.  Also there’s a soapy note in there somewhere believe it or not.

 I would never picture an angel smelling like this unless it was, well, the fallen angel Satan himself, ‘the morning star’…  ha!

I’m positive it didn’t ‘pick me’ because I don’t smell divine wearing it or even get the nice gourmands; quite the opposite actually,  a little dirty and naughty. Mostly it confuses me.  It’s scandalous. It presents itself angelic but it’s very carnal and smells like sex. I keep wanting to smell my wrist where I sprayed it but am repulsed by each sniff but somehow keep being drawn back again for another sniff lol I don’t think I’ve ever been so perplexed by a perfume before. I don’t really know what to think. Makes me feel kinda weird actually.  But bottom line: it smells disgusting on me.  

It DOES last a very long time and is a sillage beast. Do not, I repeat, do NOT over spray. You will share this frag with anyone within a meter of you. So it may not be an office appropriate frag. Also, unless you have a little money to burn or just want this icon in your wardrobe, which I did, I would not recommend this as a blind buy.

For being mainstream mass market, it does have the quality of a niche and the bottle is awesome! Also impressed by the fact that, in all its years of production, it has never been reformulated.

Whether you love it or hate it, anyone serious about perfumes must experience Angel at least once and pray it likes your chemistry! 🙂

Season: Winter/Fall

Top notes:  Melon, coconut, mandarin orange, cassia, jasmine, bergamot, cotton candy

Heart notes: Honey, apricot, blackberry, plum, orchid, peach, jasmine, lily-of-the-valley, red berries, rose

Base notes:  Tonka bean, amber, patchouli, musk, vanilla, dark chocolate, caramel