I have to say I really enjoyed this fragrance, I kinda expected monsieur geranium to be a modified version of Monsieur, despite being from different perfumers and the fact FM doesn't do flankers, not sure why I thought that then? In any case I love geranium as an ingredient, it's up there with labdanum as a favourite of mine and I appreciate that it does have somewhat of a minty quality but this is definitely amped up by the addition of a hefty mint note. I really like the smell of fresh mint and always have it growing in my garden but I can't say that I like it so much in perfume. I suppose the little hint in some perfumes is nice and I do like stuff like Guerlain Homme intense so why not? This stuff is UBER minty and opens with a real smack in the face of mint, but it's still very refined and not too sharp and in some senses addictive. There's a kind of woody powder surrounding it and hints of clove and anise but very fresh like a fennel sort of vibe. It's lovely and as the minty smell dies back (which incidenatally takes a couple of hours) the geranium really shines as a lovely thing. Masculine, clean and just plain lovely, I'm huge fan of geranium and this smells very high quality and precise in it's delivery. It's a low lying scent for me which does project to begin with but becomes more subdued. I have to say I adored the drydown, I thought it was heavenly but makes me want to seek out the Guerlain and Dyptique listed in the smells like because I'd like a cheaper alternative. Without smelling either this could be far superior but a very nice perfume when the geranium starts to shine and the base comes out later on. I liked it.
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It's incredible how much a nose can develop and learn to distinguish perfume notes. Never has this seemed more apparent to me than now, having just sprayed GPM on my inner elbows while lazing around on a Sunday. The first time I got my nose on this in the boutique on Avenue Victor Hugo (RIP) it was on card, and I smelled almost the whole range with the wonderful sales assistant (my first time experiencing Frédéric Malle fragrances). I immediately thought "toothpaste blast"! Months later I got my hands on three 10mls in a set, and wore it properly, and of course I noticed a whole lot more, notably that the dry down was vastly different to the opening, and there was more complexity to the minty geranium (although it was still giving me Colgate freshness). I noticed some sort of fixative base after a few hours, my least favourite bit of this scent. Now, today, I get spices! My first thoughts were "woah, this is skanky". I never noticed the skank before. Perhaps it's the cloves. I've been delving into retro spicy scents recently (Tabu, Équipage, Derby, Opium, Sybaris, Mandate, Parfum Sacré...) plus some less retro ones (Serge Noire, Fate Man, Figment Woman, Heaven Can Wait, 8 88...) and so I feel like my nose has started perceiving spices differently. Géranium Pour Monsieur seems like a different scent now, a shifting, complex, earthy, spicy, green, foresty bouquet. While the mint is there, it's far from my mind. Of course I shouldn't blow my own sophisticated nose horn too much, this is actually a testament to the genius of this perfume. I'm really taken aback by how much can come from a simple little flacon. It's never going to feel like me, as in I don't think I'm ever going to buy a full bottle, because I just don't wear it that much. It's more olfactive art to me than the type of scent I reach for, but what a marvel, honestly.