32
Top Review
Nevertheless....
.... good ole Mitsouko may not be quite as oakmossy anymore - I still love it! I believe Eduard Fléchier really did a great job, and the alternative would have been to stop producing Mitsouko altogether (as has now happened with Parure!). No, I am glad it is still here, still wonderfully herb-bitter smelling - but I am also glad to possess so much old Mitsouko in all concentrations that it will probably last me several more lifetimes! Yes, and if I were ever forced - God forbid! - to choose just one perfume, I would resolutely reach for Mitsouko amidst loud protest, because without Mitsouko, it just doesn't work!
To the men: Please try the new Mitsouko EdT, the probably most masculine version of Mitsouko that has ever existed - it simply smells fantastic on men's skin!
Addendum, 13.01.11:
Speaking of concentrations: By now, I have tested all the new Mitsouko variations (EdT, EdP, and Parfum) over and over again, and I can't shake the suspicion that they are constantly tinkering with it. The latest 'batches' suddenly smell a bit more mossy again, although still - albeit somewhat less - bread-like than the last ones, after the comprehensive reformulation by Edouard Fléchier. Have they now decided to use Orcinyl 3 or Evernyl (or Veramoss, an oakmoss substitute) more generously?
On the other hand, the latest Mitsoukos (especially the EdT) also smell quite restrained, as if all the non-mossy notes have been toned down to give the mossy ones more prominence.
Currently, the EdP seems the most balanced - the previously somewhat loud peach note has been toned down a bit, now standing in better balance with the floral-spicy heart notes and the bitter base, which furthermore reveals a delicate animalic accent.
The Parfum, on the other hand, offers - like the old Extrait - the full, now new (thus more iris-focused) Mitsouko sound, which is accompanied by an almost tar-like aroma. I don't know if this tar facet is inherent to the oakmoss substitutes or if it was intentionally added to give more weight to the dark-bitter undertone of the perfume - it is certainly irritating. However, after some time, it increasingly merges with the other notes, and the perfume develops similarly to the EdP.
For Mitsouko lovers like me, these constant, albeit sometimes minimal changes are quite a jumble and a burden. On the other hand, I can also understand that a fragrance with such a history (the quintessential Chypre fragrance - a legend like no other!) must be painstakingly restored after such an assault, like the more or less complete ban on its existentially important ingredient. Little by little, it seems they want to approach the old versions (but which ones, there are so many!?) while simultaneously working on more adequate substitutes for the incriminated oakmoss and tree moss. So what will come next?
Mitsouko has been tampered with so many times - for example, in the 70s when a large part of the nitro musk compounds was banned, or at the beginning of the 90s when the use of oakmoss was once again severely restricted and they generally switched to the supposedly less dangerous tree moss, and most recently a few years ago when the latest IFRA regulations heralded the end of the classic Chypres. Time and again, Mitsouko has survived, somehow, and with sometimes serious injuries, and it has probably been on the chopping block more than once. That they ultimately decided against taking it off the market (like the aforementioned Parure) honors Guerlain, but it also constantly exposes the house to accusations of mutilating one of its own masterpieces.
This masterpiece was created by Jacques Guerlain with the help of the synthetic aldehyde C-14, which smells like herbaceous peach. He integrated it into the Chypre concept developed by François Coty (whose Chypre was supposed to be a rather bitter brew) and thus created a delicately shifting perfume between fruity and bitter. These two cornerstones were somewhat intact until recently. Now, however, one of them is quite battered, and since then they have been trying to limit the damage.
Mitsouko will probably never smell the way Jacques Guerlain created it, and the question of whether it would have been better, given the significant interventions, to create a new fragrance in the spirit of Mitsouko (see Opium or Acqua di Parma's Profumo) instead of trying to save the old one at all costs, is a valid one.
However, I cannot answer it, as I am somewhat satisfied with the new Mitsouko, even though I grew up with the old one, which is more familiar and a bit dearer to me. Future generations, however, will not know the old one at all (the possibilities for that are quite limited, as Mitsouko is one of the fragrances that unfortunately do not age well - it oxidizes quite quickly) and one day will only have the new Mitsouko aroma in their noses.
No matter.
We do not need to pity them, because who knows if one day it will smell just like it used to. And until then, we still have the new one - and it is damn good!
To the men: Please try the new Mitsouko EdT, the probably most masculine version of Mitsouko that has ever existed - it simply smells fantastic on men's skin!
Addendum, 13.01.11:
Speaking of concentrations: By now, I have tested all the new Mitsouko variations (EdT, EdP, and Parfum) over and over again, and I can't shake the suspicion that they are constantly tinkering with it. The latest 'batches' suddenly smell a bit more mossy again, although still - albeit somewhat less - bread-like than the last ones, after the comprehensive reformulation by Edouard Fléchier. Have they now decided to use Orcinyl 3 or Evernyl (or Veramoss, an oakmoss substitute) more generously?
On the other hand, the latest Mitsoukos (especially the EdT) also smell quite restrained, as if all the non-mossy notes have been toned down to give the mossy ones more prominence.
Currently, the EdP seems the most balanced - the previously somewhat loud peach note has been toned down a bit, now standing in better balance with the floral-spicy heart notes and the bitter base, which furthermore reveals a delicate animalic accent.
The Parfum, on the other hand, offers - like the old Extrait - the full, now new (thus more iris-focused) Mitsouko sound, which is accompanied by an almost tar-like aroma. I don't know if this tar facet is inherent to the oakmoss substitutes or if it was intentionally added to give more weight to the dark-bitter undertone of the perfume - it is certainly irritating. However, after some time, it increasingly merges with the other notes, and the perfume develops similarly to the EdP.
For Mitsouko lovers like me, these constant, albeit sometimes minimal changes are quite a jumble and a burden. On the other hand, I can also understand that a fragrance with such a history (the quintessential Chypre fragrance - a legend like no other!) must be painstakingly restored after such an assault, like the more or less complete ban on its existentially important ingredient. Little by little, it seems they want to approach the old versions (but which ones, there are so many!?) while simultaneously working on more adequate substitutes for the incriminated oakmoss and tree moss. So what will come next?
Mitsouko has been tampered with so many times - for example, in the 70s when a large part of the nitro musk compounds was banned, or at the beginning of the 90s when the use of oakmoss was once again severely restricted and they generally switched to the supposedly less dangerous tree moss, and most recently a few years ago when the latest IFRA regulations heralded the end of the classic Chypres. Time and again, Mitsouko has survived, somehow, and with sometimes serious injuries, and it has probably been on the chopping block more than once. That they ultimately decided against taking it off the market (like the aforementioned Parure) honors Guerlain, but it also constantly exposes the house to accusations of mutilating one of its own masterpieces.
This masterpiece was created by Jacques Guerlain with the help of the synthetic aldehyde C-14, which smells like herbaceous peach. He integrated it into the Chypre concept developed by François Coty (whose Chypre was supposed to be a rather bitter brew) and thus created a delicately shifting perfume between fruity and bitter. These two cornerstones were somewhat intact until recently. Now, however, one of them is quite battered, and since then they have been trying to limit the damage.
Mitsouko will probably never smell the way Jacques Guerlain created it, and the question of whether it would have been better, given the significant interventions, to create a new fragrance in the spirit of Mitsouko (see Opium or Acqua di Parma's Profumo) instead of trying to save the old one at all costs, is a valid one.
However, I cannot answer it, as I am somewhat satisfied with the new Mitsouko, even though I grew up with the old one, which is more familiar and a bit dearer to me. Future generations, however, will not know the old one at all (the possibilities for that are quite limited, as Mitsouko is one of the fragrances that unfortunately do not age well - it oxidizes quite quickly) and one day will only have the new Mitsouko aroma in their noses.
No matter.
We do not need to pity them, because who knows if one day it will smell just like it used to. And until then, we still have the new one - and it is damn good!
Translated · Show original
7 Comments
As always, a lovely and very informative comment, Profumo!