Monday, April 25, 2016

Your "Best in Show" Guerlain perfume: Which Is It?

When erotic authoress Anais Nin reminiscences about her relationship with Henry Miller's wife, June, it is a bottle of Guerlain's Mitsouko she is asked for as a gift by the statuesque yet destitute woman amidst sapphic caresses.

via pinterest

When Séverine, the bourgeois heroine of the cinematic adaptation of Joseph Kessel's novel "Belle de Jour", sets out to work the afternoon as a prostitute, it is a bottle of Mitsouko that she accidentally smashes in the bathroom, immersed in her sadomasochistic reveries.

When Jean Harlow's husband, Paul Bern, allegedly driven by impotence, took his own life, a mere short week after his wedding to the silver screen goddess, it is Mitsouko by Guerlain he was drenched with; her perfume.

Originally meant for brunettes, Mitsouko took the gentle but poignant star-crossed lovers of a Japanese brunette and a Russian naval officer meeting at wartime, to inspire women (and men) of all hair colors and ethnicities ever since. Always implicated in sex in a "screw in the brain" sort of way, Mitsouko, with its tender peach skin heart and troubling inky base, is not just Belle. She's Belle Toujours.


You can find my entry on the Best in Show on Fragrantica. Please share in the comments here (and there, if you like) which is your own pick for Best in Show Guerlain perfume! I'd love to read during the holidays for Orthodox Easter.

Fragrance review & perfume history for Guerlain Mitsouko on this link

10 comments:

  1. Plus Que Jamais for me! Or "Plus Jamais" as it must now be known...;( I like it because it has a foot in both the modern and vintage Guerlain camps, and I find it wistful and romantic and comforting in a slightly gourmand way.

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  2. oh, that is a very difficult choice for me. i semi-panic whenever i see that i am nearly out of any of the classic guerlains, and i wear them all year 'round, day and night, chosen depending on mood and weather... apres l'ondee, l'heure bleue, vol du nuit, mitsouko, shalimar. if i had to pick just one, it would be either mitsouko or shalimar. i might have to set the two bottles side by side, close my eyes, and pick one, because i can't imagine being without either!

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  3. Anonymous15:18

    I love several of the classic Guerlains including Mitsouko, but my favorite is Chamade. I happen to be wearing it right now. Happy Orthodox Easter!

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  4. Mimi G16:58

    Mitsouko and Vol de Nuit extrait plus Cuir Beluga.

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  5. It's a toss up for me, it's either Mitsouko, Shalimar or Nahema for me. Apres L'Ondee is gaining ground because L'Heure Bleue is a little tough with all the powder but I do appreciate it's significance.

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  6. I love Parure but that is not on the scene anymore :( love Jicky and Mitsouko - if I have to pick the tippy top Best - Mitsouko would be the winner.

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  7. Oh Mimi G ..... I love Cuir Beluga too !!!!!!!!!!!

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  8. So many Guerlains, so few hours in a day. However, the bottle I would take with me to a desert island would have to be L'Heure Bleue Extrait, my absolute jam!

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  9. I've been wearing unisex (and somewhat obscure) Heritage for a decade - it's one of my frequent fragrance choices - very woody and warming

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  10. This and the link on Fragrantica both make me want Mitsouko so much!
    Have a wonderful Easter holiday!
    xox jean

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