This is the vintage pure parfum of Mitsouko (old brown box). Launched in 1919, and created by Jacques Guerlain, Mitsouko is a chypre that is complex and mysterious. Much loved by starlets like Jean Harlow, who wore it in the movie "Dinner at Eight," as well as a favorite of Sergei Diaghilev of Les Ballets Russes (curtains were full of the scent), Charlie Chaplin and Anais Nin. In the movie "Belle du Jour" Catherine Deneuve's character smashes a bottle of it before leaving to pass the rest of the day as a prostitute. An oakmoss, peach chypre, it is an unmistakable old-world perfume that surprises, puzzles and enchants.
This is the version to try to get the closest you can to the original
Notes of bergamot, lemon, mandarin, neroli, peach, rose, clove, ylang-ylang, cinnamon, oakmoss, labdanum, patchouli, benzoin and vetiver.
From March at Perfume Posse (possibly the person who loves Mitsouko the mostest) - "In perfume circles, Mitsouko is one of those givens – like Mount Everest, or death. It exists in its timeless majesty, whether or not you appreciate it. It has an air of inevitability. I suppose my first tentative sniff of Mitsouko was like a budding oenophile´s first sip of wine that didn´t come in a gallon jug from the supermarket. Mitsouko was my gateway drug. It was my introduction to the kind of ecstasy a scent could provoke. I had no understanding of it; I had no concrete idea of what I was smelling. Mount Everest doesn´t care whether you understand it."
From Bois de Jasmin - "Though undoubtedly beautiful, Chypre was brutal in its impact. Guerlain took the idea behind its famous forerunner and made it elegant and refined. A soft accent of peach skin gives Mitsouko a tender quality and a teasing gourmand impression. A classical Guerlinade accord of tonka bean, vanilla, iris and rose further refines and rounds out the composition. Mitsouko is a kiss to Coty Chypre’s slap in the face, and for this reason, its popularity endures to this day. Nevertheless, Mitsouko can be a difficult perfume for someone unaccustomed to the inky bitterness of oakmoss. An integral component of a chypre style of fragrances, moss lends a beautiful bittersweet sensation. Like other grand parfums of its era, Mitsouko is also a temperamental creature."
From Cafleurbon (Ida) - "Critics of Guerlain Mitsouko profess that she is too difficult, too dark, too cerebral/brooding. Mitsouko has never shown me that cheerless visage. My experience has been that of finding myself before I even knew who I was or whether I was lost. Hers is the countenance of sotto voce sensuality, deeply reflective and smoldering. A volitional surrender to the glorious unknown, palpable as a pulse: no fear, uncertainty as I softly tread the path from Eden to the Underworld. I am welcome in both environs."
From Persolaise - "It remains pensive, mature and unreadable, but now, it also sparkles. Whereas in recent years, it had become somewhat more inward-looking, its current iteration gazes straight into the heart of the world with a smile that is welcoming and magnetic in equal measure. Mitsouko had started becoming all about breadth, but now its height has been restored, plunging from bergamot to woods to mosses with irresistible clarity. It is a multi-faceted shimmer of delight. Seek it out… and fall in love all over again. "
