Les Colognes

Eau de Guerlain Guerlain 1974

Bottle Design:
Robert Granai

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7.8 / 10 210 Ratings

A popular perfume by Guerlain for women and men, released in 1974. The scent is citrusy-fresh. It is still in production.
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Main accords

Citrus

Fresh

Green

Spicy

Woody

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Lemon

Bergamot

Petitgrain Basil

Basil

Caraway

Heart Notes

Carnation

Jasmine

Patchouli

Rose

Sandalwood

Base Notes

Moss

Musk

Amber

Perfumer

Jean-Paul Guerlain

Ratings

Scent

7.8210 Ratings

Longevity

6.0160 Ratings

Sillage

5.5155 Ratings

Bottle

8.4151 Ratings

Value for money

7.234 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 06/23/2025.

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the "Les Colognes" collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Eau Sauvage Eau de Toilette

L'Eau de L'Artisan Eau de Toilette

Eau de Rochas Fraîche

Eau de Rochas (1970) Eau de Toilette

Sous le Vent Eau de Toilette

Eau de Cologne Impériale

Reviews

5 in-depth fragrance descriptions

04/26/2015

7.5
Bottle 5
Sillage 7.5
Longevity 10
Scent

MasterLi
375 Reviews

MasterLi

Helpful Review 1

Invigorating! Fresh and Aromatic!

Jean-Paul Guerlain's Eau de Guerlain is yet another take on the fresh, citrus Eau de Cologne style of fragrances. These were typically used for a refreshing experience at the start to someone's day. The idea is you put on an Eau de Cologne after a shower or morning ritual, and you could go on with your day ahead.

Although Eau de Colognes came in many interpretations, they often followed a similar formula. Bright, zesty citrus at the top, light, sometimes sweet florals in the mid, and very little base (maybe some light musk). The examples are endless... 4711, Farina Cologne, and even Guerlain's own Eau de Cologne Impériale and Eau des Fluers de Cédrat.

With Eau de Guerlain, I feel like it stands out from the others. By including a few unique notes. Aromatic notes such as caraway and zesty spearmint. When I spray this, it reminds me of freshly cut herbs in the kitchen, coupled with fresh, ripe lemon. It has a bitterness and a freshness that is undeniable, and very unique. It's like a cool gin-and-tonic drink which has carbonated water and slices of fresh lemon & lime. It really lifts me up and refreshes me. Almost like hiking in the mountains where you find mountain streams where the water is pure and full of minerals. I would describe it as very "mineral" like. I really love it!

I think that out of all the Guerlain "Eaux", such as Impériale, Cédrat etc. This one is the most unique, has the strongest lasting power (it's in Eau de Toilette, whereas the others were Eau de Cologne), and ultimately... is the one worth your money. If you have to buy one, buy this one. Definitely worth trying out, especially in spring!

06/22/2016

BrianBuchanan
351 Reviews

BrianBuchanan

Helpful Review 1

Eau de Cologne - Guerlainade style

Eau de Guerlain bursts out with a bright éclat of citrus and then transitions into a light EdT.

After the initial excitement of the citrus calms down the atmosphere becomes one of decorous restraint. But even if the feeling is rather conventional, the structure of this cologne is not ordinary at all.

Jean-Paul Guerlain wasn't trying to create something new however, he was attempting to conserve, for as along as possible, the fleeting effect of the cologne formula. He takes a similar approach to that of Acqua di Parma's Colonia (1916) but where they boost the heart accord right up with rose, he uses the fixative action of EdT base accords, including the trademark Guerlainade, to extend the basic cologne structure in a different direction.

In EdG the emphasis is very much on the opening, and then it runs straight down to the base at the expense of any distinct middle phase. The effect of this is to make EdG technically heartless. Not quite the void displayed by the much admired Jicky - which contains no heart notes at all, but the similarity is there, and I believe his grandfather's masterpiece may have influenced Jean-Paul when he composed this.

The transition from extrovert citrus to musky amber base with occluded neroli makes EdG coherent - its a managed decline rather than change of direction, but the price for this is the muted feeling the profile has for much of its life.

After the citrus hit (and on exposed skin this is fleeting) Eau de Guerlain doesn't really shine. What you get is musk, amber and sandal, with a neroli overlay, and a touch of moss; the whole of which seems to go against the spirit of a citrus cologne.

01/18/2025

8
Pricing 9
Bottle 7
Sillage 9
Longevity 9.5
Scent

Smeriglio
72 Reviews

Smeriglio

2

You can't not have it

It is a relative of Dior Eau Sauvage. It is not identical, but it has a great resemblance, probably Jan Paul Guerlain was inspired by the composition of Edmond Roudnitska, created 8 years earlier or, given the anagraphic proximity of these two fragrances, the reason is that this is how perfumes were made in that period, that is, wonderfully. I tested this perfume from the last type of bottle used by Guerlain, the one with the white label. As soon as you spray it you feel a high intensity citrus component, it is lemon and bergamot in equal measure that are released into the air, and faithfully reproduce the true smell of the fruits. In the background there is the presence of basil, which remains for a while to keep the citrus company, in a moderate way. After a few minutes, the citrus is still strong and while the basil disappears, a not very intense mint note appears, more similar to Nepitella mint. The presence of mint and basil is a touch and go, to make the composition green, but not excessively. So far it differs a bit from Eau Sauvage which is more herbaceous and has no mint in the opening notes, but rosemary. Then the citrus fruits begin their de-escalation and in the heart notes I feel the clove, dosed in a measured way, it only creates a support for the citrus fruits. The other notes listed by Parfumo, (cumin, petitgrain, jasmine, rose, sandalwood, white musk and amber) are not detectable, I believe they are not included in the notes actually present apart from a hint of lavender that joins the clove, but together they quickly disappear to leave room for the base, which is practically state-of-the-art oak moss, therefore without the presence of vetiver that distinguishes Eau Sauvage. The quality of the raw materials is high, the duration is that of an eau de toilette, I feel it, very faint, on the skin even 24 after having tried it

05/12/2020

8
Bottle 5
Sillage 7
Longevity 8.5
Scent

JackHunter33
89 Reviews

JackHunter33

Lovely Summer Fragrance

A beautiful burst of natural smelling lemon with mint and watery notes is what I get on first application. It smells very refreshing in a lemonade way.

Soon after you get light herbs and lavender with a very subtle floral rose note. The scent is very light and aromatic and weaved with a complexity that has you thinking how have they done this.

Eventually moss and musk with a lovely airy light jasmine note dominates the drydown. Very nice and what a lovely journey from start to finish.

It stays close to you and I get about five to six hours longevity which is great for this type of scent.

All in all a pleasure and they truly do not make them like this anymore. Big thumbs up!

05/22/2020

8
Bottle 5
Sillage 5
Longevity 7.5
Scent

FvSpee
249 Reviews

Translated Show original

FvSpee

Top Review 28

Colonia instead of Corona, No. 12: A stream springs up in Eden to water the garden.

Strictly speaking, "Eau de Guerlain" does not qualify for this series, as the manufacturer does not refer to it as "Cologne", but as Eau de Toilette. However, it is treated as a Cologne almost all the time and belongs together with Cologne du Parfumeur, Cologne du Coq and Cologne Impériale to the "Les Eaux" series of the house of Guerlain, which justifies a guest appearance at this point.

Since we are already on the subject, it should be mentioned in advance that the shelf life of this fragrance is long compared to a classic cologne, but short for a toilet water: about two hours of active (moderately room-filling) projection plus two to three hours of skin-near residuals I make up.

The spring discharge of this water is brilliant: despite tiny traces of sweet sorbet creamy texture, it is a hard crystalline, extremely (near sterility) clean, white-yellow citric with a slight masculine touch. Voilà. That sits. Here a paragraph must follow; this statement must stand on its own, because this is the essential first impression, which is probably the most important one with a (quasi-) cologne.

Basil and caraway from the top note, carnation and sandal from the heart and moss from the base could suggest that this Guerlain water is experiencing a twist towards the green powerhouse masculinity of the 80s or brown spice cologne of the 60s and earlier decades. But there is no sign of this. In my perception, all these notes only lead to adjusting the brightly glistening citric even sharper, with as it were overdrawn contrasts.

This is impressive and certainly effective cooling at high temperatures, but it touches the boundaries of monomania a little bit. After about half an hour to an hour, however, an unexpected drift towards a not only grassy but almost lazy green-Indolic note sets in, reminding me of the highly controversial, often muggy and threatening "Eden" scent by Cacharel.

Since Eden is a nominal Nineties, but I have always felt it to be a Soul Seventies, also in the design of the bottle and box, this fits the release year 1974 of this fragrance here: The year of the forced resignations of Nixon and Brandt, the death of Pompidou in office, the revolutions and coups in Ethiopia, Portugal, Greece and other places
This turn to the swampy, which I attribute to the triad of jasmine, patchouli and rose (which also occurs in "Eden") is now a highly surprising development after the almost rigidly radiant citric of the beginning, but I would have perhaps gladly done without it. It doesn't seem to suit summery fresh water any more than the strange stab (or houndstooth) into the dirty-animalistic that I hear in Eau du Coq.

It is a little consoling that the powdery-dry freshness of the final phase, which is very close to the skin, is much better behaved and more tolerable.

I may only give three points for the name because I find it too boring (or, to speak with Horst-Kevin, too venereal).

Call for a search as an appendix:

I have collected some ideas which fragrances could still be treated in this series, which is dedicated to the classic, fresh, light (usually citric) colognes.

And I'm thinking of starting another series to explore the world of "brown colognes" at some point: fragrances that go by the name of "cologne" or "eau de cologne" and also have a fresh aspect, but are richly enriched with leather, spice or barbershop notes.

For both series, the current one and the one that may follow, no completeness is of course intended. Rather a representative selection of beautiful, interesting, distinctive fragrances. An appropriate representation of expensive and cheap products and those from several scent nations (I think, especially the "brown colognes" should be strongly represented in America and Spain).

My previous collection of ideas I have stored in my collection under "Colonia instead of Corona open" and under "Series brown Colognes planned". I would be very grateful for good ideas for the extension of this card box, either by PN, pinboard, or here under the comment. Thanks in advance.