Shalimar Millesime Jasmin

I almost bought a full bottle of the new Shalimar L'essence But I thought you know what why don't I wait for my sample of the Jasmine flanker. And boy I'm glad I did. Even though I gave the new Shalimar L'essence a very good review, The Jasmine interpretation of Shalimar, is so much more beautiful and complex. While still taking away a lot of the excess of the original. What I love about both of these shalamar's is they take away all of the harsh citrus opening that the original and many of the other flankers had that I've smelled and I've smelled quite a few of the flankers and I did not like any of them. There is just no harshness in the opening at all in both of these flankers. The difference between the Jasmine and the new L'essence is in the heart of the fragrances. While the L'essence is more about the iris and the vanilla. The Jasmine is about the Jasmine. I get touches of orange blossom and a little bit of pedtigrain in the opening. But that fades away. The extra Jasmine in the heart of this fragrance is just absolutely stellar. This is probably one of the best jasmines I have smelled other than Jean Patou's Joy. This is not an indolic jasmine though. But there's a fresh spicy exotic sexuality going on in this fragrance that I find extremely attractive. I like sensuality in my fragrances and this one really delivers. Is it heavy on the vanilla of course it is it's Shalimar. But this one has an edge to it in my opinion. While the L'essence it's kind of like the good girl vanilla. The Jasmine flanker is the bad girl vanilla. I could see Betty from the Archie comic books wearing the L'essence flanker. But Veronica wears the Jasmine. And I've always been more of a Veronica. This is my Shalimar. This is the one for me. I'm not a Shalimar collector at all but I've always wanted a version of it in my collection and I only need one and this is it. Although if they do a rose I will try and might buy. Lol.

I finally got this, a Christmas present from my husband. I made sure he ordered it as soon as it was available and lived in suspense (or frenzied anticipation) until Christmas Eve. It's immediately recognizable as Shalimar, but it smells a bit cleaner and greener in the opening; instead of the bright bergamot blast in the original Shalimar, you get a discreet whiff of bergamot along with a kind of humid green accord, a bit like rain-slicked new leaves. The jasmines--two varieties, neither particularly indolic--are present throughout, intensifying as the citrus notes die down and the ambery-vanilla Guerlinade base notes emerge. Yes, Shalimar Millésime Jasmin is powdery, perhaps less so than the OG Shalimar or Shalimar Millésime Tonka, but powder haters are not going to dig it. Leather or osmanthus isn't listed as a note, but I can definitely smell it here. It might register more as a soft suede note than as a butch leather, but it's definitely there: sexy and animalic. Like all Guerlains, it still smells clean and classy, appropriate for nearly every occasion as long as you don't overspray it. Well, you might not want to wear this at the office, but only because offices don't deserve this much beauty.

I initially smelled it in London in November, but I passed on it because it honestly didn’t smell pleasant enough for the price. Fast forward to the spring when an online retailer had it for a great price. Given many good reviews, I really wanted to give it another try in warmer weather. It seemed like a great Mother’s Day gift. Right? Now she is mine. Oh my goodness! Is this even the same thing I smelled in London? Did I judge too soon (there is a weirdness in the beginning)? She is beautiful! My husband and I both think this is our favorite Shalimar thus far (I have several), and I am considering a back up. Since Texas weather is generally warm to blazing hot, wearing Shalimar can be tricky. I put this one on after I was gifted it, staying inside most of the day. Then, late afternoon, I took a long walk. It was warm out. As my skin warmed, this became more lovely. It morphed into something more lactonic, but not soured. While tea isn’t listed, when it’s warmed up, I get a jasmine tea like fragrance that morphs into something somewhere between London Fog and crème brûlée. Très magnifique!

This is my absolute favorite version of Shalimar! There's an old saying: "Good girls don’t smoke, dance the tango, or wear Shalimar", and it couldn’t be more true as far as what the OG Shalimar stood for in its day! Shalimar was known as a ‘bad girl’ fragrance and I think that this version comes closest to maintaining that persona out of all the recent flankers. Now—don’t get me wrong—I love my L’Essence version ( I can’t get enough of that powdery, boudoir scent remnant that remains the morning after spraying) but this version—Jasmine Millésime—is just outright sexy at first spray! Every time I wear this one my husband comments that I smell gorgeous which is a rare thing as he usually doesn’t notice my fragrances! There is a raw edge as a result of the strong green jasmine presence that really captures one’s attention and it just can’t be denied by all who smell it! A true love for me and I even bought a back up bottle which was my FIRST time EVER doing such a thing!

I’ll start by saying I’m not the biggest fan of Shalimar. When I really started getting into perfumes a few years back I tested the edp and edt and found both pleasant but nothing special. But in the last year I’ve been collecting mostly from the classic houses currently focused on Chanel and Dior. Of course Guerlain was on my radar but I hadn’t gotten around to making a purchase. Enter Shalimar Jasmine. There was some talk on Facebook about this flanker and since I love jasmine I decided to blind buy thinking even if I don’t like it I could sell it. What I did not realize is how much I would love this perfume. In addition to getting Tobacco Honey after trying the sample I now need a back up bottle of this beauty. I’m not usually into super powdery perfumes and even though this is powdery the creaminess from the jasmine tones it down. It lasts all day and is perfect for any occasion although I will probably save it for the special ones.