In bed with Mitsouko

Serge decided to stay in bed this morning instead of accompanying his mama while she went about her daily blitz about the bedroom before rushing to work. Since he was being unusually docile, I decided to use him as an unpaid model to pose with my Mitsouko EDP bottle. He seems to like the smell of it ( I had just spritzed some on before taking the photo) enough to jump off the bed and nuzzle me before going back to his snooze sans Mitsouko who was lounging in the safety of my bag.

Anyone with a passion for perfume knows Mitsouko whether they love her or not and even her admirers are divided amongst her various reformulations. Thankfully I have never felt the need to venture into vintage Mitsouko and apart from preferring the EDP to the EDT I am quite content with my bottle of EDP pre-2013 reformulation ( I think the batch code on my bottle points towards 2011, I used Raiders of the Lost Scent's "How to recognize Guerlain perfumes" to date mine). I do intend to get hold of a bottle of the 2013-thereafter Mitsouko since it's been widely acclaimed to have recaptured the old glory of Mitsouko and I am curious to know what the current formula smells like in comparison. 

I've never smelt oakmoss or tree moss dried or fresh and like many other ingredients I've not had the good fortune to come across in their natural state, I compare what I'm smelling to what it's meant to smell like according to various articles, blogs and whatever information source I can get my hands on. P.S: Dear Santa, I would really like to have  Steffen Arctander's Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin for Christmas this year please.

Mitsouko is hauntingly beautiful. I can't do justice in describing the experience but it's a melancholic beauty despite its name "Child of Light", a powdery haze, darkness, rich and earthy, a touch of ripe fuzzy peaches, spicy musk, all these elements blended seamlessly together to create a special fragrance that is distinct and unique with a soul of its own that carries cherished memories and hidden desires. Reformulated or not, still beautiful.

Like Serge is in the photo above, Mitsouko tends to leave me daydreaming and lost in its plot weaved with complexity, sophistication, romance and tragedy.