Year of release: 1965
Classification: Amber Woody
Nose: Jean-Paul Guerlain, who's created other masculine classic at Guerlain such as Vetiver and Heritage. He was the last of the family master perfumers, being the fourth generation Guerlain to work as the master perfumer of the brand. He retired as the head perfumer in the early 2000s and stayed on as advisor but removed from the Guerlain brand in 2010 for racist remarks made on French TV regarding his inspiration for one his classic perfumes Samsara.
Top Notes Lemon, Brazilian Rosewood, Orange, Bergamot, Lime, Tangerine, Basil
Heart Notes Rose, Carnation, Sandalwood, Cinnamon, Patchouli, Jasmine, Cedar
Base Notes Vanilla, Leather, Amber, Benzoin, Oakmoss, Labdanum
My take: Opens up with a deep lemon opening, it's rich and refreshing, but has a woody and slightly woody spicy backbone, coming via the Brazilian rosewood. There are other citrus' in the opening such as the Orange, Bergamot, Lime and Tangerine, however these are very much the backing players, the lemon is the main star, along with the Brazilian rosewood.
As the scent develops, it's joined by a slightly sweet floral rose, though it's very light on my skin, and the heart is mostly about the carnation, which gives off a slight cloves nuance, warm and spicy. The citrus lemon from the opening is now only a whisper on the skin.
In the drydown, the scent completely changes, and it's almost like it's a different perfume you've worn on your skin. For me I get this dusty quality, the drydown on my skin, is this sweet woody leather, which comes across quite dry and dusty.
My wife wasn't a massive fan of the scent, and make comments such as "It seems like I've been teleported 60 years", "you smell really old", "your scent smells like an old soap that grandma would use".
Performance: Unfortunately for me, this one doesn't perform as well as I would like, which is contrary to what other reviewers experience, where this one performs excellently on them. It must just be my skin chemistry. The longevity is around 6 hours on my skin, with the projection being good for the first 2 hours after which is becomes softer on my skin, the drydown especially is very subtle on my skin, though the top and heart stages project much more noticeably.
Season: This could work all year round, though it's best suited to Autumn/Fall, and I would avoid in the blazing hot days of summer, where the drydown could get a bit cloying.
Occasion: This is signature scent worthy, and could work excellently as a work and formal scent.
Rating: 8/10 - it's a classic, just wish it would perform better on my skin, if it did, it would get a solid 10/10.
You can watch my video review here: https://youtu.be/ImoSRRNjUGM
Whereas the EDP is an exquisite perfume, whilst being very similar the EDT crosses the line into smelling like incense. This increases over the first hour resulting in pot pourri. Not a fan. Update: After wearing this a couple more days, I feel I was harsh, as it is a lovely fragrance, and expertly blended. However it does whisk me to a spooky knick-knack shop, try as I might to rid my mind of this idea. Strangley the EDP doesn't do this despite having the same list of notes. I think I will enjoy this on my bedding and dressing gown in the evenings, as it's a step too far for me to use out and about. Another update: OK I take it all back, I'm in love now. It's such a joyous fresh, sparkly burst, and the dry down becomes more and more delicious. My only gripe now is that it doesn't last very long... Another another update : Just wear Shalimar EDP for the best part of Habit Rouge.
There's something so enticing, confusing and frankly overwhelming about this scent. I tried it a couple of years ago and thought 'woah! that's potent stuff!' But it felt too old for me. Now that I have it I'm still not sure about it? I wanted something different for my collection a potent go to fragrance that was a little more sophisticated and older to add some depth and it certainly does that. Something about it (maybe the floral notes) just make me think feminine, but everytime I start to think that the more I sniff O find I get the strength and masculinity coming through which balances it. The notes are so varied and well blended some are easy to pick out, others not so easy but make it a truly bewildering mixture. One thing I know for sure...it's strong as a motherfucker and as some others have mentioned, beware not to over spray. I did 3 squirts to my neck and chest and initially it knocks you out!! Really!!! The scent out of the bottle is massive and does have an almost medicinally harsh quality probably takes a couple of hours to settle down and certainly gets nicer. With other fragrances I normally get more of the basenotes, (woods or what have you) in the dry down but this changes very little (after the initial harshness of course) and I get the same throughout, but it's more and more pleasant as it mellows. For me personally...I have no idea when would be an appropriate time to wear this? I needed the variation in my collection so it's only a good thing that I have it in my arsenal I think maybe crisp winter days as it has inherent warmth to it. One thing is for sure you're not going to smell like your average joe in this.
