Another Guerlain classic: Habit Rouge (meaning red jacket) combines notes of bergamot, patchouli, vanilla and leather.
Habit Rouge fragrance notes
Head
- Bergamot, Lemon, Rosewood, Basil, Pimento
Heart
- Sandal, Carnation, Patchouli, Cedar, Rose, Cinnamon
Base
- Vanilla, Amber, Moss, Leather, Benzoin, Labdanum, Olibanum
Where to buy
Latest Reviews of Habit Rouge

After about 4 hours it starts to settle down. The spiciness and lemon fade away into a soapy rose fragrance, not unlike Acqua Di Parma Essenza to my nose, but more powdery with more rose. At this point it’d make a good blousy black tie fragrance or any well-dressed occasion. But it does occasionally teeter on the edge of smelling like grandma’s pot pourri basket.
To me, it’s a bit of a stand-offish scent, but not in an impolite way, just reserved, wary and unwelcoming of any physicality.
The craftsmanship and quality of the fragrance is definitely obvious in tge dry-down. It’s just not my vibe.

It's composition is compelling.
The thing is I've had a dozen wears of this and I've tried really hard to like this,but alas I can't.
It has all the old fashioned barbershop qualities that people rave about,but unfortunately all I can really smell is the sweets I used to eat as a kid.....Cola Cubes.
I have however kept hold of my old bottle as I just can't bring myself to part with it.
I've just got a funny feeling that at some point I will finally like it as I head through my fifties towards my sixties.
So for now it's a solid neutral.....but maybe time will eventually bring that thumbs up rating.
ADVERTISEMENT


Essentially it's a powdery amber - dry vanilla, with hints of resins. There's a noticeable citrus / bergamot note in the beginning, hints of orange, and touches of rose and carnation in the mid phases. There's a slight leathery element, but very much in the background for me. I don't think of it as a leather perfume.
What I love most here is how it wears - rich without being heavy, and a very restrained sweetness. It is distinctly dressy, but would pair equally well with smart casual outfit or even something bohemian but well put together. For what it's worth, I find it more versatile than Heritage.
Over the years I've come to appreciate Habit Rouge even more, because of its airiness, and the fantastic blending. One of my bottles leaked a bit during transit, and the residual scent in the package is one of the best things I've ever smelled.
5/5
Current (circa mid 2010s) - The mid and the base seem to lack a bit of depth as compared to vintage, and there's a pronounced musky element not there in the vintage version. A fine scent on its own if one has never tried the vintage. Also, a bit weaker.
3.5/5


But what if a perfume does nothing for you: you don't love it, you don't hate it, it's just meh.
What do you do then? What do you say?
It's hard to get worked up about something that doesn't move you:
Nobody writes hymns of praise to plain vanilla.
And that's what this is to me, plain vanilla; sweet, with orange and rose (and a whole lot of other stuff spices, balsam, blah blah blah)
It isn't bad, or cheap, or clunky, it just that it doesn't say what I want to hear.
I've tried to like it, Ive had it for years and it's sat at the back of the shelf.
Even the vintage doesn't float my boat.
It's polite and affable, but complacent; a crashing bore.
There, now I've found something to say about this perfume that doesn't move me...


How classy is this rosy glow? It feels like a perfectly tailored black suit coat, white shirt, proper trousers with fine leather shoes driving a loaded black/deep burgundy 1965 Buick V-8 Riviera that has been waxed and detailed to perfection. That is how classy this rosy glow is.
Out of all my fragrances Habit Rouge made the best first impression of them all.
The first time I sprayed this I was enveloped in this amazing scent orb that was mesmerizing. It was like I was floating in this glowing burgundy bubble of bliss.
That original decant still has some left, but the bottle I have while still fantastic doesn't measure up as the woodiness is way more pronounced and their isn't a magic bubble of rouge-y glow quite like I experience with the decant. I wasn't expecting Habit Rouge to be one of my most worn scents but it is.
Thumbs up for the greatness that is Habit Rouge.

I find the rose very light and clean and not chemical as others have said. The balance of citrus zest freshen the composition wonderfully and carnation adds that slight spice tone to it. The benzoin-vanilla powdery dry down starts to grow within 15 minutes of application.
If you would like a male rose scent then try it. If you don't like powdery scents then don't try it.

Found another EDT bottle from mid 2017 that was much more powdery, had a soapier quality ..
The drydown has a classic musky vibe, like a more floral stetson. Unfortunately the almost ten year old bottle was much better in my opinion and more of a fresh EDT performance

Somehow, I just entered the biggest powder party in the world. Oof. I guess I might be a product of modernity, but these heavily powdered scents smell very dated to me: the smell of a dandy, a man about town. This, to me, is hardly timeless.
After temporarily feeling like I might be my grandfather, 10 minutes in you get a good citrus-cedar opening combination with florals (rose and sage?) for a light, semi-sweet scent. It's not natural, this is very artificial smelling and not in a pleasant way: I'm not sure if it's because this is a newer bottle or not...citrus scents that have elements of artificiality is a particularly dangerous game, and here Habit Rouge is on the losing end. As it further dries down, the patchouli and vanilla combine to make a dark sweetness on the very base that is probably (definitely) the best feature of this for me.
I don't care for this, and likely won't wear it again. There are a lot of ingredients in here, but they smell rather cheap. Some of the elements work well and some don't, but for me ultimately, and at least with the new formulation, time has passed this by.
5-5.5/10

There is still some good citrus on top. Lots of lovely lemon. Basil and pimento are vibrant as well. Funny - if I'd blind-tested this, I'd recognize this as a Guerlain - it has that profile / signature.
The heart is a treat of evenly balanced flowers and woody-green things. Just enough cinnamon to give some heat. Carnation is well-behaved (for my nose). HR could easily be androgynous.
The base is a fine, mellow mix. Some green, old leather, a slight fizzy resinous feel. Overall, a sturdy great offering.