Habit Rouge Eau de Cologne
Guerlain (1965)

The entire Habit Rouge line, to me, is well done. Habit Rouge Eau de Cologne is smooth, but it’s not a generic “smoothie”… it’s pretty rich and deep honestly, a beautiful mix of herbal/floral with some vanilla and spice to really add depth and solidify the fragrance.

At first sniff it may seem deceptively soft and smooth, and it is compared to the others, but it’s still rich and pretty deep for an EDC variety. It’s rounded out by this underlying woody/floral/vanillic warmth, which I really like. It feels rejuvenating and refreshing, but fairly classy and relaxing at the same time. 

It has a freshness that's clean and masculine, but very sensual and light. Not much more I can say except it's not an old man scent. It's not a high school scent. It's for those that know quality fragrances and have had their nose on the good the bad and ugly.

A slow dance with a favorite partner. Intimate, exciting, an aura of nice reaching out and slipping its hand softly around both of you. Citrus mix first, then a later giving way to cinnamon, sandalwood and then into delicious vanilla leather. Slowly it spins layers off its base and middle notes to finally showcase itself in the center of the dance floor with oakmoss and labdanum joining the party. Classic.

A soft and blurry version of Habit Rouge.
The vintage Eau de Toilette is more dynamic than this, contrastingly sweeter -and- sharper.
It's also louder - as you'd expect - being a stronger concentration.
But, on the other hand, this Cologne sample is in a plain script bottle, clearly older; it could have faded with time.

Well-blended top notes; not too bitter, even-keeled citrus, very masculine... The heart is a beautiful mix of lavender, of course, with gentle spice and it is aromatic with the other florals and woods. Hard to pinpoint individual notes, which is what I prefer in a fragrance.

Becomes powdery, leans towards the feminine now. Tender rose.

Base is lightly amber-ish, with a mossy note. Base is well-mixed as well. Good scent overall. It seems as if from another time...

As luck would have it, my samples of the vintage EDC and the current EDP arrived almost simultaneously, so I have a modern version to compare with this 1987 cologne edition.

The first word that leapt to mind smelling the vintage was "suave". That lightly sweetened citrus and powder: Mmm, a Fred Astaire of a scent. In a tuxedo. But my favorite part might be the moss, which to me is a clear green, without the mustiness that often comes with moss. I didn't pick up much floralcy in it (fine with me!), but the light spice (nutmeg? clove?) and vanilla in the base, along with the woods, carried that suave feeling right through to the end.

By comparison, the modern EDP is denser in every department, as if the whole scent had gone from a tenor to a baritone. Everything's darker, especially the moss and spice. It's not bad, but if the EDC was tapdancing on my skin, the EDP is clogging in wooden shoes. (I'm mixing my singer and dancer metaphors, but hopefully you get my drift.)

Now the sad part: as admirable and pretty as the vintage EDC is, it isn't really something I would want to smell on a man. Unless, possibly, that man was Fred Astaire. It's almost too lovely; I think I prefer my masculine scents to be a little more.... spiky?

it's like the current EDT , but with lots of added little bells and whistles...a little more bittery than the EDT with some bitter/sour citrus...i get mostly orange supported very nicely by some lime...a little more bittery roughness added by carnation/herbs...smells more rugged than the EDT...more formal and business like...a little dusty/powdery...some nice woodiness that strikes me as the sawdust or shavings of the woods...sweetens up with some vanilla , but doesn't give me the dreamsickle effect I get from the EDT...this retains its seriousness...the vanilla is more ambery than super-sweet...like this one a lot...something I would really enjoy wearing...