Perfume Short: Mitsouko Eau de Toilette by Guerlain
Mitsouko eau de toilette is still available but I wanted to call your attention to the fact that it does not really exist anymore. What is left is the shell; the bottle reproduces the lovely inverted heart design found on the perfume bottle, the label says Guerlain Mitsouko, but the perfume itself has gone wrong, very wrong...
It used to be a rich, complex, and warm scent even in the lighter edt version. The transformation that has taken place is horrific. A 15 year period or so separates me from my last bottle of Mitsouko edt so the shock was genuine. I cannot say enough bad things about the new version. It smells horribly cheap and the analogy to bug spray is entirely appropriate in this case. Whatever happened to quality control at Guerlain? I simply cannot believe how bad this reformulation smells. I am even wondering if Guerlain might be dumping a sub-par version on the US market. There is nothing I can say to save this scent. It does not even smell like Mitsouko. Now I am hoping with a quivering heart that the edp and the parfum have not been disfigured like the edt. How sad.
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I'm so glad you brought this tragedy up for discussion. I have a lovely old bottle of Mitsouko EdP and it's, well, beyond anything. So I bought some EdT to go along with it, and "bug spray" is being kind. What were they thinking???
Posted by: Masha | September 21, 2006
Masha,
One may wonder indeed whether certain bug sprays do not release a pleasanter smell than this edt.
It is beyond me as to how they were capable of letting this awful jus pass muster. There is a huge dominant synthetic accord and underneath this messy brew, a very pale thin and diluted jus that is but the disfigured ghost of Mitsouko. Tragic it is indeed.
Posted by: Mimi | September 21, 2006
Yes, yes, yes -- God, I wish they would stick your post up Everywhere!!!! To everyone who says, Mitsouko smells awful! my first question is, did you smell the EDT? Except for Jicky (which smells very citrusy, quite different from the other concentrations) in my opinion all the Guerlain EDTs are just crap. Thank God Saks and NM around here generally have at least a bottle of EDP to smell.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 21, 2006
That's good to know! I do have a recent Jicky edt and it's okay.
Why do they even bother to put the edts out one has to ask? If anyone in Paris thinks the edts there are okay, please let us know, just in case the formulations might differ depending on the local market.
Posted by: Mimi | September 21, 2006
Mimi -- duh. That was me above. Sorry. (slinks off) The Mitsouko EDT is maybe the most wretched, Shalimar is bad. L'Heure Bleue is a travesty. Guerlain should be ashamed. It's like shooting yourself in the foot. I do like the Jicky, though -- it's like a completely different scent, and not in a bad way. The PDT of that one is very hard to find... vague recollection is that Luca Turin said it was the "correct" concentration. I have and love a wee parfum...
Posted by: March | September 21, 2006
Hi March,
Do you know what pdt means for Guerlain, if it's different from the edp as it seems to be the case here?
Posted by: Mimi | September 21, 2006
I called the house of Guerlain to ask about the difference between an eau de toilette, a parfum de toilette, and an eau de parfum for them and they confirmed to me that parfum de toilette = eau de parfum.
Posted by: Mimi | September 21, 2006
You have all the initiative!
My understanding was that Jicky, for some reason, was only available in PDT (=EDP) unlike the rest of the line, which is in EDP. Clear as mud. There used to be one online perfumer (imagination?) that sold Jicky PDT, but you're better at finding things than I am...
Posted by: March | September 21, 2006
Mimi...this sounds so disappointing.It is a shame. One word of comfort, though: There is quite a lot of vintage mitsouko around...
Posted by: Andy | September 22, 2006
Andy,
Thank you for your comforting words. I am afraid to smell the other versions now as I fear I might feel terribly disappointed and see, once more, a whole period of my life disintegrate. I would prefer to keep the olfactory memory of the Mistsouko I knew and not have it covered up by the more recent incarnations of it.
Posted by: Mimi | September 22, 2006
Ack! Guerlain! Don't even get me started...
But for now, I'm holding tight to my old bottle of Mitsouko EdP. :)
Hugs!
Posted by: violetnoir | September 25, 2006
Helenska-
You know this was my first love, so I don't have to tell you how I feel...
Are you sure you don't want me to send you a little of the parfum?
Je t'embrasse-
Posted by: Chayaruchama | September 26, 2006
Well Chaya, that's very nice of you. I'll email you.
Posted by: Mimi | September 26, 2006
I've recently ordered from Neiman Marcus a bottle of Mitsouko edp.
Please, is this edp okay, and not like the edt?
Your input is appreciated!
Posted by: Jeannemarie | June 22, 2007
Jeanne Marie,
It does not compare with the old formulation of Mitsouko in my opinion but if you don't have that reference you might like it. The edp I think is less jarring than the edt.
Posted by: Marie-Helene | June 22, 2007
Thank you Marie-Helene
I am quite happy with my edp version of Mitsouko. It's a full, round, opulent scent--spicy, soothing, I could go on!
The edt version is horrible. The edp is quite beautiful!!!!
JM
Posted by: Jeannemarie | August 19, 2007
Hello, I was searching Mitsouko on the web and found this conversation.
I have worn Mitsouko for years and since the late 70's noticed that sometimes I'd get what I thought was a 'bad' bottle. Seemed one bottle smelled good and another bad. I could only trust the perfume and soap to smell like I wanted it to.
Then they stopped making the soap.
I loved the bath gel too and recently found one on ebay only to find it had that awful smell. Which still makes me wonder if there's some ingredient that goes bad under certain conditions.
I have wondered if it was because it was 'old', or how it was shipped to the states, maybe got frozen in the air..?
I didn't know until I read these posts that the bad smell might be intentional!!
I agree "what were they thinking??"
warm regards,
Patti
Posted by: Patti | October 3, 2007
I am glad we helped take a load off your conscience! :)
Apparently they realized it themselves and are reformulating Mitsouko.
I wasn't living in the States in the 70s so I would not be able to know how it smelled here back then. I have been wondering about the existence of export versions, but it is not exactly publicly released information:)
Posted by: Marie-Helene | October 3, 2007
I've just purchased and am waiting for delivery of EDP Mitsouko.....you've made my knees knock....am I guaranteed a decent bottle ? I only smelt it on someone passing by and asked them the name of the perfume they were wearing...any reassurances !
Posted by: bimbledwadle | December 17, 2007
I think that many new users of Mitsouko are happy with their purchases. It is more old users of the perfume who might feel it has lost some richness. Having said that I got a bottle of Chamade that did not smell nice at all at first but after it had aged some it started smelling better. Or I got used to its new smell. Usually it is the Mitsouko edt that is incriminated more than the edp, so I hope that you will enjoy your new Mitsouko!
Posted by: Marie-Helene | December 17, 2007
Actually it IS STILL AROUND! I have a bottle that is at LEAST 60 YEARS OLD. My uncle bought it for my grandmother just after WWII. It still had the string the ties the top on when I received it in 1992. I have never used it.
Posted by: Jan | October 13, 2008
I used Mitsouko in the 60's and 70's and stopped using it in the 90's. Although the full body of Mitsouko was there there was also a bitter smell. Perhaps the fragrance was reformulated in the 90's also. Last week I bought a bottle of EDP at Neiman Marcus. It is very flat and just not Mitsouko until it dries down,then Mitsouko comes out. However, I would like to buy the older version bitter smell and all. Does anyone know where I may be able to find them?
Dilek
Posted by: Dilek | August 23, 2009
I have seen all there's to see and this advice do I give to you. Go to the mall sales in the farthest, most isolated small villages and ask to your perfumery witch-salesperson for the oldest Mitsouko knockoffs she may have stashed from past times. There you will find the original sprit of Mitsouko. And you'll rejoyce in it.
Posted by: Lola | August 24, 2009