Mandragore Annick Goutal for women and men

This has a fresh but almost bracing opening. I detect bergamot, mint, a floral that's not listed (it's not iris, it's a lighter perhaps yellow floral), and what seems like a leather or suede note.

After opening, it settles down into a spicy soapy definitely masculine stage.

It ends with a powdery finish. Speaking of end, it fades rather quickly. It reminds me a little bit of 8 88 in that it's a bit of an old style barber shop type of smell.

Peppery and gingery. The bergamot stays throughout. I get the peppermint 30 minutes in. Very fresh uplifting fragrance. The ginger note reminds me of Tocca's Brigette,

Yay! I've been looking for a fragrance like this to fill a gap in my collection. Was looking for a unique light sparkling spicy scent, but one that through all its effervescence still has some depth and mystery- this is it!!

Fresh but warm, rooty and herby, peppery and light with soft wafts of sweetness and mint, it smells like the color of the bottle would smell! Translucent but dark, deep and "knowing". For a specific personality to pull this off, it's unique and beautiful.

It is unisex, but for me is too masculine. It is really nice natural smell,very peppery, minty and fresh. Just not my cup of tea!

it is a very unique fragrance, It is very fresh and cool. suitable for summer use.

This is probably one of the most bizarre fragrances I've ever sampled and owned. It's strange and yet captivating; a perfume that stays close to the skin and whispers its secrets.

It's very green, herbal bordering on medicinal, with a side of spice. On my skin Mandragore opens with soft citrus that slides into a long bergamot note. Somewhere around the middle, a ginger and woody note comes out, overlaid with something kind of sweet (Anise? I think?)

While the sillage isn't huge, the scent can linger three or four hours before finally drifting away to a pale clean scent. In my experience Mandragore is a summer scent. Warmth makes it bloom; cold makes it kind of funky.

I gave Annick Goutal's mandragore a good long try on my skin for a number of hours. At first I was assaulted by a bitter anise and pepper note like the twang of a broken guuitar string and the same with the ginger when it came in- bitter ginger with no sweetness to balance it.

Then there was a very strong and absolutely overwhelming green note which I realized was mint. The mint became stronger and stronger until the entire juice smelt like a mint julep without any bourbon. The the bitter notes joined in again. The combination was very offputting. At this point, I had to force myself to leave it on my skin to develop.

Only in the final drydown does this fraqgrance exhibit anything approaching pretty. The sandalwood and labdanum finally come out with some soft floral notes and it is pleasant after about 3 or 4 hours, but the longevity is so poor that you have to bury your nose in your arm to smell the drydown.

The topnotes are overwhelming strident, a cacaphony of discordant notes and the drydown so pianissimo that you miss the one good scent that finally comes from this fragrance. Shame, with a different balance of ingredients this might have been at least interesting. I will not even be using up the rest of my sample.

So fresh, gentle, natural and a bit masculine on my skin. But i love it!

I was prepared for a woody, aromatic and heavy aroma.

On my skin Mandragore is quite fresh, clean, very citrusy.
Nothing revolutionary.

I'm surprised by it's normality.
Unfortunately it lasts for about 15 minutes and than it's gone for good.
Not worth the price.

Rooty-tooty, fresh but not fruity.

Quite a change from the other Annick Goutal scents I have tried, and interesting, but alas, not for me. Too sour, too earthy, too fleeting.

I got off to a bad start with the house of Annick Goutal when I first decided to test their perfumes because I purchased samples online which may have been off. Slowly, however, with the help of some of my generous fragrant friends, including Miss K, who sent me a sample of MANDRAGORE, I have come around.

I really had no clear expectations about this fragrance before testing it. I have seen it for sale in many places, especially in the square made-for-men bottle format used by this house. The color of the liquid suggested to me that this would be a heavy oriental perfume, but aside from that, I had no prior impressions, having never heard anyone say much about this creation. I see below, however, that many fine noses have already weighed in on this fragrance.

MANDRAGORE opens with a bright citrus demeanor and a fairly hefty dose of spices, especially pepper. This is not, however, the bloblike expansive synthetic pepper of Marc Jacobs BANG, among other examples. The pepper here is more along the lines of Hermessence POIVRE SAMARCANDE.

Upon applying this fragrance, I thought briefly of Bond no 9 WEST BROADWAY, another spicy citrus. However, in a side-by-side comparison, I find that the two compositions are very different. MANDRAGORE lacks, above all, the Bond no 9 cedarish base common to most of the masculine fragrances of that house and which dominates WEST BROADWAY and makes it more masculine than this. MANDRAGORE is more citrusy, but has poor longevity aside from a very low-level residue of spiciness, especially star anise and pepper. I do not know what boxwood is or smells like, and this fragrance does not smell very herbal to me, despite the sage listed among the notes.

This is a pleasant and subtle fragrance. It would perhaps be too subtle for some, but precisely because it is so low key, MANDRAGORE seems to me a good choice for summertime. If I had a bottle, I'd use it as a cologne on hot days, in the precisely the manner in which I use Berdoues 1902 CARDAMOM, which offers a similar experience, albeit with a different spice.

I love to layer it with AG "vanille exquise"...
Mmmmmmh! :-)
LOVE from LOUVE

Fresh and Spicy! I must admit that whilst this perfume may be well made and such, I personally found it quite linear. The pepper, ginger and bergamot give it the zingy opening, and the anise comes through to back them up. But that's about it. It stays like that throughout. A fresh, zesty, spicy scent like citrus (lime) rind and pepper (someone below I think mentioned a type of salad dressing), and I will admit that unless people buy or try this fragrance with a specific intention to have that fresh citrus, peppery/gingery feel and nothing else, they will be disappointed as it goes no further. If that's what you're looking for, you'll love it. Otherwise it's not worth the price.

It's a rare day when I encounter a scrubber, especially from Annick Goutal, a House I've always loved. On my skin, this was purely pepper, wood, and something synthetic. It smelled completely masculine, and regardless, I would not think it would smell good on a man either. It was just awful.

Nice perfume. Very well-made. I like an anise note in it (I like the licorice/ anise notes in general)but it is too lemony for me.

I just wrote the following review without looking at any of the notes and I must say I dont get any of those notes on my skin... Heres my review....

Mangragore is a zesty, zingy, lemony, herbaceous scent that is perfect for an aromatherapy experience, but as a perfume? You can count me out. Dont get me wrong its a very enjoyable summer perfume that conjures up feelings of being in an herb garden with intimate company, and enjoying some fresh, unsweetened lemonade. Problem is... with all this goodness, it lasts but an hour on my skin and then whats left is a faint soapy scent, kind of like aftershave. If your in it for the experience of a pick me up scent that you just want to enjoy temporarily after a shower or for a refresher on a hot day, then go for it! Its a nice tang of a scent. But I can think of other citrus scents with better fixation than this.

just citrus and mint....a lot of mint.....

I liked it when I tested it. The very first seconds I smelled it were incredible but before I leave the encounter, almost all of the smell had already dissapeared! What a great dissapointment for such a price...

I just got my bottle from Fragrancenet and I couldn't wait to try it. I finally understand the concept of fresh spicy, that it what I get in the top notes. Beautiful. I love it.

A tantalizing scent both alien and familiar. When I wore it the image of a herb cabinet popped into mind. Dried herbs sealed in mason jars but their aromatic molecules escape the glass and dance a saraband along with the scent of wood the cabinet was made of. You are aware that the smell comes from things you know but it's impossible to identify each facet. You are not given much time either as the magical scent scatters into invisibility within minutes since you opened that cabinet exactly as this magical perfume falls flat and disappears within minutes from application. All that's left is a wash of herbal tea, not the most exciting of scents...

Mandragore could be said to be in the same league as classic green scents like Nº 19 and Diorella, but it's an uncommon variation on the category, a disquietingly sourer but alluring reinterpretation. After all mandrake has always been notorious for its harsh smell...

All the word Mandragore brings to my mind is witchcraft, and indeed this fragrance starts out quite mysterious and unusual, with an extra-bitter citrus blast. Later, it morphs into a gentler, sweeter scent especially thanks to the anise and the mint, and then it (very quickly!) develops into a very woodsy and discreet drydown.

This concoction almost has a taste, a very dry and acidic one, like the love potions of medieval tales, made of herbs, roots and spices (just like Mandragore) and gathered by the witches and wizards of our legends. The otherworldliness of this scent doesn't seem to be accidental. In fact most of Mandragore’s ingredients (see celina’s great review below for the complete list) have often been subject to superstition and regarded as esoterically meaningful in many cultures. For example, I had never seen boxwood as a note in any perfume that I knew of so far, and evergreen boxwood has always been associated to immortality and used to adorn graves from as early as the times of ancient Egypt.

Mandragore is bewitching, it really leaves you spellbound with its mysterious dark greenness, much darker and earthier than the greenness in more conventional, cleaner, aromatic scents. But I'm afraid this fragrance is terribly pricey for such a weak staying power and non-existent sillage! It may well cast an initial spell but then in less than two hours my edt totally vanishes into thin air, and that is not exactly the kind of magic I expected from such an intriguing gem!

I like it, but on my skin it is a bit too masculine and sharp. I find it suitable for summer months.

I'm with some other reviewers who say "bergamot" instead of lime- though I'd also wonder if petitgrain weren't involved. I love the anise/pepper combo- so beautifully balanced- like a section of garam masala was taken out and placed here. But the overall effect is a dry one- not gourmand. There are subtle woods in the base not listed here that cradle this beauty like a rare flower in the arms of an enchanted forest; as well there is an herb that I have smelt before- it is indeed in the mint family, but it is not one of the common ones. I will have to get back later on that.

I'm not quite settled in placing this as a "daytime" fragrance. If so, it is for a "dark" day- overcast, drizzly- in spring and maybe summer. And yet I'd also be tempted to wear it in the evening of such a day to extend the mysterious mood. How about: late spring at dusk?

I am somewhat biased toward Annick Goutal fragrances, but I waited a while before trying Mandragore. Why did I wait? One reason: Anise. I really like star anise in my tea in the autumn, and I put some in the stock pot when making chicken stock, but otherwise I really don't like the scent of anise on my skin. It's far too foodic, and doesn't alter much from itself the way that other spices do, such as cardamon or caraway.

BUT, then, I gave it a try. Again, I'm amazed at what Annick Goutal can do. They've managed to take pepper and anise and marry them in a dry, linear couplet that is as natural as pepper and salt. It's a really miraculous scent, at so many turns spicy, warm, cool, firey, even slightly aquatic. The opening is a fantastic pepper & lime blast, followed by the entrance of star anise with a fizzy top of mint, and ending with a warmer anise and slight bit of cypress.

The only complaint I have is that the scent stays very close to the skin, and is a very light. Of course many of Annick Goutal's fragrances are light (it seems to be part of the general ambiance of the house,) so it requires quite a few sprays to really get the full effect of the fragrance. In spite of that, it's an incredible creation: Proof that a note that you formerly didn't love can transform into something wonderful.

I just got a bottle of this and I loooooove it. I am, generally speaking, a big lover of Annick Goutal perfumes and this one is probably top of my list. I find all her creations very romantic and this one is also reminescent of some fairytale/dreamy like atmosphere, it transports me to a world of revery where I imagine diaphane, delicate like , feminine creatures dressed in silk, traversing a wood, feeling the moss under their feet, a wood where it smells so fresh and earthy, where the rays of sunshine barely penetrate through the trees but the light is so gentle and soft. I get a lot of comfort from this scent, I find it mysterious, sensual, strong.
Pitty it doesn't last too long...

This is a very nice unisex scent. It smells herbal and naturally woody. The lemon in the opening is fresh and bright, which is my favorite part. Besides the notes listed, there is also rosemary which is noticeable in the middle and during the dry-down. The EDT can last 3 to 4 hours on me in hot weather. All in all it's a very typical scent in AG's woody-aromatic line.

I own this one, edt version. it was a gift, I don't know if I would bought it onmyself. It's a well composed perfume, on the citrus wave, not at all common in his semplicity. the problem is that it doesn't last more than half an hour, so I don't use it very often.
maybe the edp has more sillage

It reminds me "Zig-Zag"by Dana. "Mandragore" is just much more expensive but the difference of these two scents is not so prominent for my nose. The lasting power could be better too.

I love Annick Goutal compositions.:)I like the uniqueness in her scents. Mandragore is another well-composed masterpiece.
Mandragore is fresh, bright, uplifting but solid, faint,bit woody at the same time.It's opening with shiny citrus blast, the peppery bergamott very strong for long minutes on me, I can't detect anything else and after 10 minutes the herbal notes comes slowly. Anice is the dominant note the mint note is very faint in the middle phase.
As the beginning was very energetic, the end is sweet, soapy,slightly spiced,woody,lemoned anice-candy undertone on my skin.Amazing,rich and alluring scent with personality.

I love Mandragore but it does not love me back. After a week of wearing it I realized that the headache I've had all week was being caused by this lovely unusual scent. :( I'm so sad. The star anise and bergamot combo is just gorgeous, positively addicting really.

Make sure you try it several times before you buy.

There is only one word to describe this perfume: WOW!!!! (with exclamations).

This review is for the edt from a vial on card.

Mandragore possesses so few ingredients that it almost presents as a linear perfume. Fresh Bergamot dominates the entrance, if only for a short while. Within a minute, the fragrance settles into what it remains for about 4 hours; a sharp, simple, spicy melange of Bergamot, Black Pepper, Mint, Ginger, and (barely noticeable) Star Anise. The Bergamot and Mint are lovely, and manage to stand up well to the potentially overpowering Pepper. This is one of the more exemplary uses of Bergamot I have encountered. It is used throughout the composition to create balance, rather than existing solely in the top notes. The Star Anise is lost in the mix; I can't discern it. However, with so few ingredients, it must have some subtle effect. The Ginger is almost edible, and supports the Pepper in its role. The drydown is woodsy, similar to Sandal or Cedar, but more subtle, as it cannot compete with the Spice and ubiquitous Bergamot. I have never had the opportunity to smell the Mandrake Root, or Mandragore, so cannot comment on its presence or lack thereof. Due to its potent hallucinogenic effects, I can only imagine that it is used in minute amounts as a marketing tool...like cocktails containing Absinthe.

This is almost a gourmand, like gingerbread without the sugar. Mandragore gives the impression of being created predominantly of natural materials, but very carefully, and with some synthetic boosters. I see this on both men and women, but would prefer it on a man. This fragrance lacks roundness- without the addition of a voluptuous base like Tonka, Vanilla, or Amber, it requires the oilier skin of a man to have depth. I find it sits atop my skin, but never melds into it, even on a warm day.

Compare to current Idole by Lubin, which is both creamier and boozier, and has more character.

A mysterious, layered scent---evolves significantly as you wear it. Made me feel like I should be readying a spell to cast by moonlight...The star anise is clear but not obtrusive, and the other spice and green notes drop into place almost one by one amongst the woods and whatever is anchoring this scent, eventually smoothing into a scent that walks a line between crisp, nearly brittle, and paradoxically rich and unctuous. It is delightfully uncommon, but very well-constructed; never random or "unfinished"-seeming. I liked it at all stages, but it is not a perfume that others are going to notice after the first 15 minutes or so, as it becomes very subtle quickly, and indeed my biggest issue with it is that, on me at least, it doesn't last. I love it, but wish it didn't need to be reapplied hourly.

I love it, even if it's quite light (four "pshitt" a day). This one is perfect for summer, and smells very fresh and natural.Few notes, but perfect and real notes: bergamot, mint,star anise,ginger, mandragore...
Mandragore is a nice unusual scent: it changes from talkative fragrances that have finally nothing to say!
Men's bootle is beautifull...
9/10

Annick Goutal Mandragore-EDT version.
Dark, sensual and enigmatic, is love at first "test" ...

It is very difficult not to appreciate the richness of this unisex dramatic essence yet, confortable at a time.

Although for many evolving slowly, in my skin is different: citrus and herbal opening fades, leading quickly at the delicious wood and ginger ... hiding for a while the secret of the purple plant has given its name (not listed).. spices, star anise dazzling, are "staggered" at this phase and after the "dry down" did not disappear ... simply irresistible.

-Although most people find the duration in skin problematic for most of the EDT of this niche, different in my skin: has optimal longevity (more than six hours), and medium to low Sillage.

A very nice fragrance, which reminds me of Eight hours cream by Elisabeth Arden!
I have a sample of the EDT. It is such a pity that it doen't last long enough to really enjoy it. I wonder if anyone knows if the EDP lasts much longer?

i have the men bottle edt, i don't know if the juice match with women bottle, at perfume store they told me only 2-3 of Annick Goutal perfume are the same (men bottle = women bottle), i didn't remember which is which

Mandragore start with spicy with touch of citrus , at drydown i got leather and spicy

on my skin longevity is real problem 2-4 hour with weak silage .

i like it ,but its not super , retail price is too high for it

I love AG, I probably have 10 of their scents. I also love woody/spicy perfumes, so I had to get this.

On me the opening notes are mostly licorice and spice, and a sort of minty basil thing. It's very nice but lasts all of 15 seconds. Afterward it settles down into a powdery spice. After an hour or two, you have the drydown, which is when the wood emerges,along with iris powder. The wood is pretty, but faint, and gasps along for about an hour.

I am not big into sillage, and letting people 20 feet away know what I am wearing, but this perfume is extremely weak and does not last long at all, 4 hours max, and that is with a very liberal application. The ending I can barely detect. I have a bottle of the EDP, I can only imagine how quickly the EDT formulation would fade out.

I think that for the retail price of this EDP, it is not worth a full bottle. I like this fragrance, but I don't love it. I do feel like a bewitched, chilling wood creature at midnight when I wear this, but only for about five minutes, because the composition fades quickly from those notes into an OK heart and base.

Try before you buy to see if you absolutely love it before investing in this short lived perfume. The top notes are fabulous, but it is not worth spending $115 on 1.7 oz of perfume that works well for less than a few minutes.

Madragore starts out like a cold blast of citrusy eau de cologne. The bergamot is prominent, and the mint does not detract from the overall citrusy smell, but rather serves to provide the effect of green coolness.

The citruses subside quite quickly, and the fragrance warms as the pepper and herbal notes come into play. Iris provides a soft powderiness that persists throughout the development of the perfume. The scent ultimately settles into a gentle green aromatic, with pepper and ginger providing a bit of a spicy kick.

While the cool initial blast suggested to me that this was strictly a warm weather perfume, that effect is fleeting, and the drydown is warm enough for year round use. I personally would have preferred that the citruses stayed around longer, but that is a minor criticism.

All in all, Madragore is a very lovely, restrained and elegant fragrance. I see it as a perfect office scent. I can't imagine this offending anyone, but it isn't a common scent that everyone wears either.

Projection is medium and longevity medium to good. Absolutely unisex.

This perfume is amazing!!!!so fresh but whith personality.
And the botlle is georgeus and very femenine.

Gin and tonic!

For me there is a wonderful blast of anice and mint at the beggining and even if I consider this more to be a masculine kind of scent I find this extremelly alluring, refreshing and mouthwatering (damn me, gin&tonic lover).

It's very unique and I haven't seen anything like this before. I don't think one needs "guts" or anything to wear this in public, because this is very wearable scent, perfect for hot summer days in a garden party with cocktails and music. Very, very addictive. I think everyone should give a try to this one, because this is absolutely lovely.

One of the most unique and bizarrely addictive scents Ive ever wore. The fact that she used Mandrake root in this scent tells me about the woman Annick was. It wears very earthy but dries down sweet. It has an immediate effect on my mood when I wear it, which is the point of a tonic. This one definitely casts a spell.

As per Annick Goutal site the notes are: bergamot, star anise, ginger, mandrake, black pepper, peppermint, sage, boxwood, iris, ciste roots, labdanum.

This is a citrus aromatic fragrance. I expected something more exotic and woody but I discovered a perfume that I could have called "Escale a Portofino" very well. This is my olfactory imagine for Portofino.

The opening is pleasantly refreshing lemony aromatic. There is a competing tone waiting in the background: mint. It will take a full hour for the last one to take the leading role.
The short description could be: one hour of lemon on a minty base followed by an eternity ( well 3-4 hours, top) of mint with a lemony heart.

It doesn't sound too original but the twist comes with two great choices: ginger and anise. They are not big players but combine beautifully with the main notes. The lemon feels more sophisticated and the mint less trivial. I can't stand mint in fragrances , especially because of its weird dry down that lacks freshness. However, this note was mastered wonderfully here. The end result is a well balanced, refined summer composition that is spiced up with a hint of black pepper .

The woody tones are hard to describe and become more extroverted in the dry down. At this moment the fragrance grows into a warm- woody- aromatic construction with a sheer resinous- amber- earthy note: labdanum.

Late in the dry down, a soapy note comes in and out: iris. I was wondering where it was...just a whisper at the end.

Lovely. I could use a whole bottle...


7.8/10

I have a sample and I tried it few days ago and loved it, however it didn't seem to last very long, but I thought that I will give it another go before writing a review...
So I tried again today and I still love it! Maybe even more. The opening is very lemoney (bergamot?), refreshing and aromatic and the simple, yet fragrant combination of the herbal/breezy/spicy notes really seems rather unique on me. It is very fresh and green (very slightly woody and earthy perhaps) kind of beauty, that later morphs into gently (naturally) sweet, but still aromatic soapiness. Lovely, lovely, lovely! The longevity though is really poor...a little more than an hour later and it's completely gone. :-(

OMG I'm sorry I can't review the scent but I'm going to try and I so hope I will like it because I just LOVE the bottle, where does that come from, from a fairytale? The one with the butterfly lid must be Alice in Wonderland's tinkture bottle.

Within the first few minutes of application, to my nose, the fragrance is warm, fresh and bursting with citrusy, peppery and slightly bitter orange flavoured green tea notes. After about 15 minutes I get the first hints of a somewhat masculine aromatic spice - slightly bitter and herbal, predominantly made up of sharp and soapy ginger and a warm hint of nutmeg to my nose. The scent is warm, spicy yet refreshing and is quite subtle to wear even when spraying a generous amount.

After about an hour, the fragrance softens and mellows down dramatically and is now greener, mintier and lighter with the aroma of fresh lemon still being the most noticeable. When smelled close to the skin, the deeper, richer and spicier aromatic notes are the more dominant while the rest of the sillage contains the lighter fresher tones of lemon, pepper and mint.

Only 3 - 4 hours after the application, the fragrance becomes subtle and just noticeable close to the skin. It has a dry, woody odour with a hint of lemon. I almost thought it went off on my skin as it seemed to turn spicier and drier at the end, producing a sort of earthy, dusty tone like something like the smell of aged wine or mouldy odour of a cellar.

Mandragore is an alluring, green aromatic scent that at the start promises you an unusually timeless and ageless olfactory experience by skilfully blending mellow and fresh notes for an ultimate unisex idea of a fragrance. That's why it's even more disappointing when as soon as the rich, earthy tones start to develop, the story suddenly ends and the image fades away.

I found Mandragore a scent that tries to be too sophisticated in favour or being humble, wearable and down-to-earth, more like us mere mortals.

i tested it today(the square bottle)!
the opening is very energizing and citrusy, but not heavy. it also seemed a little bit herbal.
At the drydown stage the scent was more gentle, even feminine, summery scent!
I like it a lot!
not sure about the longevity - it's been 3 hour after i sprayed it, and it's still there. will see later!

i hated mandragore at first, but then after the drydown, i was captivated. this is such a unique fragrance; it is subtly earthy and fresh but in a modern casual way, not like a hippie. the citrus does not overpower the mandrake and anise. some say it smells weird, but its that weirdness that grabs peoples attention that makes this scent worth wearing.

this fragrance is very spicy!!!!!!

Luckily, AG fragrances stay long on my skin. I got a sample of Mandragore today and it smells just like Mandragore Pourpre but a lot softer and more feminine. I prefer this version.

Itś energizing and earthy at the same time. The bergamot resembles verbena here, with the pepper added. Itś spicy, but not heavy at all, itś very "thin" like other Annick Goutal fragrances. I could not detect the mint or star anise individually. Itś very natural and makes me think of soil, roots, and dry and fresh leaves, too. I absolutely love this perfume, I had promised myself to buy it, finally having found a light, zingy, and seriously keen and piquant cologne to use in the very hot climate here, but, like all other Annick Goutal creations, it disappears so very quickly. I tested the EDP an it did last just a tiny bit longer than other Annick Goutalś I have tested in the past.

The first advice I can give in regards to this scent, you must try it on your skin first. When I smelt Mandragore from the bottle a look of horror, disgust and nausea must have crossed my face. Since I had only recently been quite ill with the flu, Mandragore instantly reminded me of a decongestant I took on a daily basis which was in the form of a lemon flavoured powder which when added to hot water, created the foulest smelling and tasting concoction on the planet.

I didn't think I would be touching a bottle of Mandragore ever again, until now. I was brave and applied a few small sprays to my wrist and waited.

I'm not a fan of the citrusy bergamot note, I never will be, however the pepper, mint and ginger notes balance the scent out nicely. After ten minutes the fragrance is quite pleasant and soft, certainly not nauseating like it was from the bottle.

I think to fall head over heels in love with this scent requires an acquired taste. It is certainly very different from my other Annick Goutal love, Passion.

I don't get a lot of woods in this fragrance, I think of it as more of a citrus aromatic rather than a woodsy perfume. It's unfortunate that this fragrance has poor lasting power, because it's perfumes like these that make people give up on Annick Goutal fragrances, which is a shame because she makes such lovely scents.

I have concluded that I do like Mandragore, but only in small doses. It's certainly not something that I can picture myself wearing every day. I might wait until the warmer months to try this again, because I am eager to see how well this is worn during the hot Summer days.

I probably wouldn't purchase this fragrance in a full bottle, however I'm content with my 15ml sample.

I received a sample of Mandragore some time ago and after testing it a few times I can safely say that the more I wear it, the more I like it. The opening is of a very strong and bright bergamot, quickly joined by what are, to me, the two stars of this fragrance: ginger and star anise. The blending is really nicely done. There is a very good balance between these two notes, both in terms of strength and movement, sometimes mixing perfectly, sometimes resurfacing individually.

Mandragore is a light and, in a way, playful and unusual fragrance. Most people seem to report that it is quite fleeting but surprinsingly it manages to last fairly decently on me. Progressing toward the base, and after reading reviews, I was expecting it to become more green; perhaps also darker or mysterious (because that's the association I make with the word "mandragore") but this didn't happen. Of course as I never had the chance to smell mandrake before, it's hard to know what to expect. What I do get is a faint but pleasant tea note, and a simple woody accord which I imagine comes from the boxwood, with the ginger still discretely present.

All in all, Mandragore is not at all what I expected but a pleasant surprise nonetheless. It works for me and develops nicely on my skin. Nice to wear in Spring but I have the impression that it could be worn in most seasons. Clearly it's not going to be a match made in heaven for everybody but I think it's definitely worth trying. I'm certainly happy that I did...

Light, fresh, clean, but with a dry spicy cast to its freshness. I was expecting more of the boxwood, since I love that note, but didn't get much greenness. Strikes me as perfectly unisex. I get mostly ginger, anise, and bergamot, with some greenish woody notes. Very pleasant. I tested the edt, but it is apparently stronger in the edp version (only sold in the women's bottles).

The men's bottle is absolutely gorgeous: square, and deep purple with gold filigree. Oddly, though, this smell is more what I would associate with green than with purple.

This is so clean and fresh with a slight citrus, but nothing I have ever smelled before. It is so different, down to the point of darn right delightful. I guess it could be unisex, but I clearly think this should be used on a woman only. It doesn't seem to fade like others have said. This is one I would seriously look into paying the price for the parfum, but would be ok with the EDT. Not sure if it is the magical mandrake root, but it is worth it to at least give it a try.

Another one that i'm seriously anosmic too, it seems perfectly unisex but all i can smell is an anisic dry and peppery citrus (bergamot i guess)in a fresh green woody background.Very faint for me to love, although it seems nice when i first spray it on.

Mostly bergamot, ginger and black pepper. A bit green, maybe, like summer. A sunny plant smell, very good for summer months, but wearable year round. I love this one for it's light, bright feeling.

I can't remember what it smelled like for the first 5 to 10 minutes, but afterwards it just turned into plain citrucy smell..just that

I loved this on a scent strip, but on my skin it disappeared within ten minutes, never to return.
Though I liked it for that ten minutes, I had to put nose to wrist to smell it at all. I'm not anosmic to anything, so I can't explain this.

Ah well, I guess I'll give this one a miss.....

Now this is what I call a fresh, clean and natural scent! It's so nice; I love it!

I went the other day to my local perfumery and I was talking with the lady owning the store about my favourite subject: perfumes... She suggested to try this one and said is on her top 10. I found it beautiful. Like Jeca is saying, it is an unusual perfume, however really gorgeous, great scent - not your mass produced, celebrity wear typical one... fresh and also fit for a man as for a woman. I would love to have it and share it with my husband.

This perfume is unusual, earthy, rooty, but light, very comforting.