Guerlain L'Homme Ideal

I have said this before of Guerlain, but they really don’t like to rush fragrances out. It’s been nigh on 6 years since they released a men’s fragrance. I may be overstepping the mark here, but I often feel Guerlain doesn’t get a fair slice of attention, and this really is a shame.

Guerlain, despite having been around since the dawn of time it seems, are still relatively new to me.  It’s only recently that I have discovered that they are quite the place to go for assured quality and proper attention to detail when it comes to practically everything they do.  Even their packaging is to die for.  I am a big fan of pretty much everything, from skincare, to makeup, and certainly their fragrances.  And you should be too. They already have a stellar line up of men’s offerings that many have grown up with, and like me, some people are discovering only now.

Many of them have stood the test of time, classics such as Vetiver, Habit Rouge, and the more modern and very flirty L’eau Boisee (easily a second date fragrance if ever there was one), and I think this is testament to their integrity as far as taking time to make sure it is right before setting it free upon the masses.  The same level of attention to detail and time has clearly been taken over their newest release for blokes, which is the L’Homme Ideal (Ideal Man, obvs).  Thierry Wasser is always a bit of an innovator, and he doesn’t seem to shy away from this here either.

The top notes are rosemary and citrus, giving it the kick it needs to really launch it, but they don’t last long, as most citruses don’t on me. Not to worry though, the best is yet to come.  Now, reading the press release (as with most that are associated with men’s products) they are keen to let you know that this is a ‘masculine’ fragrance in every sentence.  So the irony of it containing nuts is somewhat of a macho giggle. Stop yourself; the nuts that I’m talking about here are almonds.  At its heart there is an ‘amaretto’ note that gives the fragrance a beautiful dry, almost sandy feel to it, not at all sweet, and it doesn’t disappear into the marzipan end of the almond-scale.  This is accompanied by sugar cane and the increasingly present tonka bean.  It really is almost good enough to eat, and a very, sexy smell indeed. Almonds. Who knew?! The only thing is, it doesn’t project terribly well on me.  But, it does last a fair while. So you’ll have to invite people to get closer to smell it.

The bottle itself is also rather fabulous.  A faceted square cut gem, surrounded by a lacquered band of black.  It almost looks like a very smart men’s watch, which is also mirrored in the cap which has the look of a dial.  The box is also a hero.  On the monochrome front, the very classic silver and black letters all merge into each other to read ‘No need to be L’Homme Ideal anymore. You have your fragrance.’

Well, that’s a relief for us all then isn’t it.


L’Homme Ideal is out September 1st Nationwide, and starts from £48 for a 50ml EDT.

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