Liesa

Recently, I received an inconspicuous little sample in a swap package. I sprayed the fragrance on without any research and thought - hm, quite pleasant. It smells sweet, somewhat lightly fruity, floral, a bit of vanilla-patchouli, "noir" as they say. Ten minutes later, it suddenly seems very familiar to me. Isn't this Mon Guerlain Eau de Parfum Intense? Sniff sniff. Then I look here on the site - suede? Vetiver? I don't smell that. Where is the coumarin/lavender? Anyway, I check the comparisons and - lo and behold! Aha! - others also find that it smells like Mon Guerlain. Since I own both the original and the Intense version, I can now share my official direct comparison.

The fragrance:
In fact, due to its sweetness and weak (non-existent?) lavender note, it feels a bit more like MG Intense, although in the middle part, for about half an hour, it almost smells like a dupe of MG. The progression is - you can already hear it - not linear. At first, it is stronger fruity-sweet with a bitter note (sage? In any case, really great!), then for about 2-3 hours very monguerlainy. Later, it transitions into a sweet, powdery vanilla cloud.

Longevity:
I must mention here that fragrances generally do not last well on me, so it could certainly be more noticeable on others. The composition lasts about 4 hours on me, the base vanilla lasts longer. Comparable to MG, which I actually like much better in terms of the base scent, as you can definitely notice a quality difference. MGIntense lasts at least twice as long without the scent changing significantly, so it is not comparable.

Sillage:
It radiates rather low-medium, somewhat less than MG, and significantly less than MGIntense, I estimate about arm's length. Note my low dosage here; by spraying more, you can certainly create a decent scent bubble, even as an edt.

Bottle:
What can I say - it's okay. Not a feast for the eyes, but also not a candidate for hiding in the back of the closet.

Price-performance:
I saw it at dm for I believe €15. Compared to the MG fragrances, that's of course little, but in my opinion, you don't quite get the same quality.

My little summary:
It's worth it, even though it's a bit sweeter and less complex than Mon Guerlain Eau de Parfum, it can still easily be confused with it if you don't spray them side by side. I would still prefer my beloved original, especially since I miss the lavender note here. However, Mon Guerlain Intense is in a distinctly different "performance" league.

Basil with blood orange? Will it be a bloody boxing match or a heart-wrenching romance? Neither, rather an intimate friendship where you simply accept the other as they are, without wanting to change or even understand them. Basil and blood orange complement each other surprisingly well despite their differences, creating a wonderfully zesty-fresh-green scent that lingers around me for about 4 hours, and in my hair, it lasts even a few hours longer. Simply great for a really hot summer!

Ah, I love apple juice. And applesauce. And real old apple varieties that you eat mealy and crumbly in spring because you still have them. Not that this perfume smells like that, but just to emphasize: I love apples, just like many other people do.

I quite liked this perfume, received it as a gift at some point, wore it often, but it was never true love. The little apple, which doesn’t smell like apple, often accompanied me on trips because it had such a nice size for packing. But not on vacation trips, no, rather short trips to the countryside or business trips, mostly in summer. The fresh-sweet scent doesn’t clash, has no monster sillage, but good longevity, and smells neither stale, nor too sweet, nor too intrusive. Over the years, due to these narrow usage windows, I haven’t even come close to finishing my mini bottle, but now the time has come: I plan to empty it this summer. Since I’ve now moved to the countryside and work from home a lot, it also fits well with its previous uses.

But to finally address the question again - what does it smell like? Well, for me it smells like big Munich fairs and summer trips to the countryside. A bit floral, without being able to define them specifically, and also a bit cucumber-like, overall synthetic-fresh. Just not like apple, that’s not what it smells like to me :)

Recently, I purchased the Zara layering set, which combines this scent as a base click pen along with samples of "Zara Emotions N°07 - Fleur de Patchouli | Zara" and "Zara Emotions N°08 - Bohemian Bluebells | Zara." The latter scent does not do justice to its description, as it has already dissipated by the end of the sentence (It’s hard to go without a base, after all). I quite like number 07, and it also lingers a bit longer on the skin... But aside from the fact that I already have too many patchouli scents, those are not the focus here.
I now actually use the click pen exactly as suggested: as a layering base. It’s a bit sour at first, clove-like (hmmm...), later sweet and woody, pleasant for my nose, and really quite long-lasting. Thus, it forms a good foundation for my often far too light floral scents, which usually lack a base as a foundation, you know ;) So it’s a wonderful addition to the rest of my collection; let’s see if the large bottle will also be allowed in after I finish this one.
P.S.: During the test of "Perles de Lalique | Lalique," it hit me like a ton of bricks: What is probably most present here is Iso E Super. Feel free to share if you feel the same way or if I’m mistaken. By the way, the bottle of the scent has now also joined the collection.

"You smell good! Is that l'heure bleue?" No, it wasn't today. But as hinted in one of the previous posts, the buttery base here, despite seemingly completely different ingredients, is not unlike that of a classic Guerlinade. Personally, I found it almost too strong at first, too old-fashioned-floral, a bit musty. However, the drydown is really very beautiful for me; over time it becomes warmer, creamier, powdery, more lovely. I won't buy it for now, but will it know if I end up falling in love?...