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Tuberose Disappointments: Thierry Mugler's A Travers Le Miroir & Guerlain's Mahora

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Thierry Mugler: A Travers Le Miroir

This is in no way related to Tubereuse Criminelle, despite a number of people noting a similarity to the Lutens fragrance. To my nose, its closest relative is Caron's L'Anarchiste, due to a shared cedar-leaf accord. In fact, I'd say this considerably out-does L'Anarchiste in the metal L'Anarchiste is famous for ( I've always felt L'Anarchiste's copper stopped at the bottle ). The entire thing is dominated by a searing metal tang that's is very edgy but not that uncommon. There are certain chemicals often used in cheap men's products that have a harsh metallic edge, and whatever they are, there's buckets of them in here. It's the olfactory equivalent of biting down hard on a quarter.

Tuberose? I can't smell tiniest hint of floral sweetness, buttery richness, or floral headiness that makes tuberose what it is. It's not even some weird, alien tuberose like Caron's Tubereuse. I get metal and cedar leaves, followed by more metal. It's extremely synthetic overall.

So, to sum it up - I can't stand it! And to think, given all the lilting praise of this, I nearly bought it blind...

House: Thierry Mugler
Perfumer: Alexis Dadier
Release Date: 2008
Stars: None

Guerlain: Mahora

It's not awful, but I'm underwhelmed. If I had to describe it in one sentence, I'd call it "Sub-par buttery tuberose", and that's about it. Coconut and tuberose, and just a hint of cheesiness that skips over gardenia and heads right to the faintest whiff of Doritos. It's not very floral smelling for a floral, and its nearest tuberose kin is probably Caron's Tubereuse, minus a lot of that fragrance's depth and oddity.

House: Guerlain
Perfumer: Jean Paul Guerlain
Release Date: 2000
Stars: 2
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Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 25, 2010 at 9:57 AM

    I've not tried either - I don't think I will bother now ! Maybe I will get around to sampling Mahora because it is Guerlain and I am sucker for Guerlain !
    I do LOVE that picture though !

    ReplyDelete
  2. SugandarajaJune 25, 2010 at 3:25 PM

    Yes, Guerlain and me have... problems, though I like a number of their fragrances. So Mahora might work for you!

    The picture is kind of cool, isn't it? I'm not actually sure what it is, it just popped up on a search for "metal flowers".

    ReplyDelete

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