Apres l'Ondee Guerlain for women

it is a unique perfume indeed, the burst of flower with transition to classy smells..some might misconstrued during the transition it produces a smell of stomach medicine..to me admittedly it is similar but so does the smell after the rain which is not strong...i feel this is a classic honest to the end smell....

I've already written a review time ago about this beauty. I think the world must scream aloud how wonderful this scent is.
I've been using it (together with many others, let's confess) for years and years. Old version, new formula, reformulated, original, whatever.
Well, this is a beauty. Period.
Was it better in its original formulation? Maybe.
Is it a masterpiece today, with restrictions on allergens, limitations of natural ingredients? Definitely, without the palest doubt.
So?
So, go and find a bottle and use and love it. And be sophisticated, elegant, classy, merry, wonderful as this scent is!

After a couple days of sunshine and spring jacket weather, it's been pouring rain all day here, and it isn't warm. There are even still small patches of snow on the ground. I thought that maybe Diorissimo would help things to feel more cheery as I worked from home today... but no, this is the weather for which Apres L'Ondee was made. It's such a relief; comforting, energizing, ethereal yet natural. Guerlain has created a legendary perfume that is both aromatherapy and art.

On a sunny day in autumn, I layer this over Yardley April Violets talcum powder (now I smell Victorian, lol!). It keeps the sweetness of summer alive, and softens the idea that it's over...

Apres L'Ondee lives in my heart, it's my perfect dream when I need one. And this is coming from someone who can't stand anise on its own! I tried to drink a cup of licorice tea, once, bad experience.... Apres L'Ondee is the only time I can tolerate anise, and here I even love it because I wouldn't alter this an iota!

An old-fashioned perfume, it really suits poetic afternoons indoors escaping rain and reading Elizabeth Barret Browning, but it can be a great compliment to a woman going out who is really well put together, sensual and shining. Literally shining, because the subtle density and old-fashioned-ness of Apres L'Ondee can be enigmatic if contrasted by modern, metallic dress. It isn't an "office scent" (shudder) because it's romantic and a bit wild (violets are an abundant wildflower where I live). I wear it with a statement piece of jewelry that's modern and gold (huge, plain cuff, an oversized medallion, or gold chain belt), and some pretty, shimmery makeup that isn't applied too lightly, metallic or patent leather heels, with soft curls in my hair. I wear a gold top, or a top that has includes gold prominently, something current, super-stylish and eyecatching. You could wear a cute hat with this! A black fedora pulled down over one eye! In any case, my advice is that you don't dress to blend in when you wear this, if you're going out. You can follow my lead with the metallics, or you could go your own way and be gothic, for example, which would also work. But Apres L'Ondee is distinct in today's world, and I think a hint of nostalgia is all one needs to make a lasting impression.

Oh ,my...this is the mother of all violets! Magnificent! To start, I must agree with everyone that this is violets in the rain. But this is my view...The day is barely coming to light,the bluish purple colors of dawn. A misty steady rain is falling turning the world melancholic. The tiny violets turn their heads to the soil, drenched by the the rain. Suddenly, as quickly as the rain came, the clouds part, the sun comes out, and the little delicate violets rise up with renewed strength, glittering like diamonds from the raindrops. Woodland animals emerge from their cover to bask in this beauty.

It's magical...what a delight! I smell the violets the most, but the iris and heliotrope give this such a wonderful purple aura. I must have this enchanted historical delight...
Bravo to Guerlain for putting April and May in a bottle!;)

This had to have been a favorite on every edwardian maiden's dressing table when it came out...
Such a romantic and beautiful era. I can just imagine...she is sitting at her dressing table applying her powders, wearing her corrsette and lovely purple gown made of beautiful silks and taffeta, matching hat made with feathers, she applies Apres L' Ondee behind each ear and in her cleavage. I can imagine Kate Winslet wearing this on the Titanic, so romantic.

I had such high expectations for this and eagerly awaited the arrival of my sample last week. The first spray was underwhelming and to me smelt of mossy wet grass with a slight underlying sweetness. I was terribly disappointed but only minutes later it truly blossomed into the gorgeous floral that many others have mentioned. It is light but does have real depth and presence. It reminds me slightly of Balenciaga Paris, I would guess that is the violet note. I am totally enthralled and enchanted by this fragrance and will now be doing my absolute best to track it down.

Edit: hallelujah!! I have found it, I have brought it, it is on its way to me!! Am indescribably happy to be adding this beauty to my collection.

Yes, this is surely a masterpiece...but it doesn't work with my skin chemistry, at all!!! :( How I wanted to smell those beautiful flowers (violet, iris, heliotrope: my favourite floral notes!!!), kissed by the sun after a spring thunderstorm... Instead, all I can smell is the odor of a dental office, really!!! Too much of anise, I guess. The edt has a poor lasting power, too :(

On a train journey to italy last spring, I was wearing a LOT of this. Really, a LOT. And I suddenly got whiffs of something like Rem de Reminiscence, but better (I love Rem though). More balanced and natural. Acutually too good to be true, too good to be perfume. It smelled like grassy dunes by the sea. And I suddenly thought, this is the mother of all aquatics.

The only perfume (really, out of everything I owned and tried till now) that I spray a bit on my pyjama before going to bed.
All others are just "perfumes" -- very great ones and I am very happy to have them on me during the day/evening time, when I am conscious and can process perfumes with my brain. This one is undescribably different.

This was very beautiful, delicate, and melancholic for the half hour that it lasted on my skin. Little trembling purple flowers in the rain being pelted by huge cold drops. So precious and vulnerable.

At first smell my unintelligent nose got only the memory of old ladies in fur pelts nd powdered wigs, and I wanted to barf. Then I sniffed again and as the old woman soap idea dissipated and the perfume developed I wanted to climb into a cloud of this scent and fly away on it. I love how complex this is, how it contains a multitude of smells and then sometimes just kisses you with it's citrus juiciness. It's fresh and sweet at the same time. And almost indescribable, at least to me. I want to eat it. If its true they're discontinuing I will go off and buy two bottles right now. .

Apres L'Ondee -- French for "after the rain". And no perfume has ever captured that enchanting moment better: warm and slightly sweet, so clean, so fresh. It is the aftermath of a spring rain captured in a bottle. Who else but Guerlain could have blended violets and licorice(or is it anise?) into such a charming whole? But, alas, heartbreak -- Apres L'Ondee has been discontinued for the USA market and there are rumors that Guerlain is going to discontine the scent all together. Have a good cry then buy a bottle and a back up before this little gem disappears all together.

To the lady who hates reading reviews...haha...I'll keep it short. LOVE THIS! I don't think it smells quite as potent as LHB. Very light and fresh. End of review :)

Tried the new: still great. Exactly the same minus the heliotrope. Not as good but it's so far ahead of the vast majority of perfumes that it's still one of the top ten. Death by iris.

Apres L'Ondee is divine, smells heavenly, like something spiritual.

I tried it during the summer and I did not like. Tried again now, with the first rains, I have to admit that it is beautiful, comforting, enveloping, comforting. It fits well, therefore, to the wet weather, cloudy, sad and nostalgic of September, as the name suggests to me. I have just a decant, I'm looking for a bottle. If someone swap it let me know please, thanks!

I just tried my decant of vintage Apres L'Ondee and it was love at first smiff. There are no words to describe such a delicate yet fully composed fragrance. You can smell each delicate flower and the basenotes but it all comes together so perfectly that what you retain is this wonderful image of a beautiful garden of lilies and violets with little raindrops on them and on the lovely blue irises. And of course there is a little girl in a white linen dress picking a flower. That's what this perfume evokes for me- childhood memories of flowers after the rain in all their soft beauty. A bottle is in my future.

I have now tested this twice, always in great hope that my opinion might change in accordance to the abundance of positive reviews it generates. I do "get" the spring garden after rain, damp leaves, dew, mist, sprinkling summer shower and all sort of like images coming to mind. It reminds me of an 18th century victorian garden in a manor, post spring rain shower, where a subdued and faint mist resides from where water meets earth, flowers, trees, twigs, etc. in a harmonious fulfilling dance with mother nature. I imagine for lovers of this scent, it is as comforting as lying on a hammock on a verandah overlooking a pretty green garden of freesia, peonies, violets and ferns whilst the last of afternoon shower spills from tree leaves into the wet soil. It epitomises what fresh rain smells like. But for me it's just too light and not compelling enough. My thoughts are that it is a gem for those that are fond of gentle scents - ones that settle as lightly as a mist or lovely breeze. It's powdery and whispery. I like bolder scents, and preferably with an added twist, mystery, daring, or edge. And for me, I just do not get the bite I need from this frag. It is gentle, modest, light and feathery. And just like a feather it floats down softly, and it nudges you with a whisper in your ear of a tale of mother nature's mystical raindance. Nice, and not without it's nuances, but not a major hitter for me. I think I would be a fan of this if it had a bit more "oomph" and presence though.

this is simply the bee's knees! I got a sample of the old formula and am also waiting for my blind buy new formula and i'm crossing my fingers it won't be too much of a difference as i am in love with the vintage already. It's pale and delicate violets, violets all the way! it's soft, powdery, dewy sweetness. And thankfully lasts way better than the Penhaligon's Violetta and more fresh, less powdery than the Penhaligon's. Don't disregard this. This isn't just a violet soliflore, it's a whole lot of lady.

Apres l'ondee, what a classic beauty, soft, gentle, uplifting, adorable and absolutely the best and the first, the last, the everything in her class.

Just spray a little to your left, to your right and add a little to the center and inhale. The fragrance is so light and delicious, you could raise your arms and float away on the exquisite, delghtful, airy scents of weightless herbs and soft, floaty violets.

She is understated, but persistent in her beauty, always gentle, never overpowering, subtle in sillage, but stays with you all day long like a soft fluffy cloud inviting you to float on her anytime you wish.

Imagine that lovely painting with the beautiful lady in a long white dress with the parasol surrounded by soft flowers and be her, be there!

Vintage violets in a bottle. Resins, spice and white flowers as the background players. The scent is vintage and fresh; one awesome potion in a bottle. I find it fresher and more of a white floral type in comparison to L'heure Bleue.
One of G's besties!

It was my third wearing of Apres l'Ondee that I fell in love with it. The first two times, I sprayed lightly and kept cramming my nose to my wrist to smell it, and I got the too-powdery effect. That was my mistake: I was too aggressive with this perfume, and this perfume is not at all compatible with aggressiveness.

Third wearing, I put it on and forgot about it for a while, but several times during the day the scent wafted up, presenting itself like a precious gift, and instantly transported me to the most tranquil and dreamlike place -- a centering effect, a spiritual reminder that grace is one's natural state of being....

There are no hard edges here. Nothing strident, and for that reason it isn't for everyone. It whispers.

ok, so I gave in and bought this beauty...blind...
I must say on the first sniff I thought 'nooooo aniseed aarrgghh' and it smelt quite medicinal, like a dilute cough drops and gaviscon lol
But I must say I like the dry down very much. It's lilacy and very delicate and classy, I guess almost like a violet/lilac infused water. Similar to a very watered down version of Balenciaga Paris.
I have never smelt the original so can't compare but I would hope the longevity of the original was better as this EDT has evaporated into thin air from my wrists after not even an hour. And that is a terrible shame, bearing the cost in mind. Still, it is a very delicate romantic scent but I do prefer Mitsuoko which has a much better longevity and projection.

Edit:
I found this works better when layered with Hermes Hiris...yes yes I know two expensive rare scents together...but somehow they work and combined together they seem to last longer as longevity of both of them separately is dire.

This is a fantastic fragrance, i can really smell the violets and heliotrope, its lovey and sweet but not overly so. The other notes are so well sculpted its hard to pick them out, instead you get a smooth cloud of classic Guerlain genius! Unfortanely through the reformulations it has become a bit one layered and aneamic but it is still so unique and unusual that it is well worth a notice!

Certain scents are difficult to explain but easily inspire the adjectives "breathtaking" and "heartbreaking." Après L'Ondée is one of these scents. Gaia, the Non-Blonde describes smelling Après L'Ondée in parfum "like entering a dream. It can be familiar, like a memory you can't quite place but you know you've been there, maybe in your subconsciousness."

Like any other art form, at its finest perfume can convey a distinct idea or emotion. The more complex the idea, the more moving the artwork. Après L'Ondée means "after the rain shower," and between the floral, herbal, earthy, and watery notes, it literally translates as a garden after the rain. Yet there is something more to this scent, that inspires consistently more romantic reviews. At its debut, La Liberté said it had "something of the melancholy of a poet's thoughts." (Monsieur Guerlain). Turin's review is also full of dark metaphors, describing the base accord as a "funeral", but for the fact that "Guerlain suffuses the whole thing with optimistic sunlight by using, as in so many of their classic fragrances, a touch of what a chef would call bouquet de Provence: thyme, rosemary, sage. This discreet hint of earthly pleasures is what makes Après L'Ondée smile through its tears."

Après L'Ondée does smile through its tears, for the scent of the earth following the rain parallels a feeling of calm after the passing of grief. The sadness behind Après L'Ondée makes the beautiful notes all the more real, precious, and poignent. This scent brings you deep within your own reflections. It is undoubtably one of the greatest perfumes ever made.

I found this by chance this past weekend and tried it. This is a gorgeous fragrance. I wore this on one side of my arm while wearing 31 Rue Cambon on the other side. After a few hours I can definitely say they are very difficult to tell apart. Not sure about the price point, but 31RC did outlast ALO. Plus, 31RC was a tad deeper/woodier. Perhaps if you want a more subtle 31RC choose ALO. JG 042312

I bought an older bottle and the quality of the iris root is incredible. The best I've ever smelled. I'm just not a fan of heliotrope though. Makes me think of scented baby products. I've been trying my hardest to get into, but so far I can't. Luckily I'm obsessed with iris root so I'm thrilled with it anyway.

Magical!! So lovely. This perfume has touched my heart. I am in loveee with this right now. There is a slight sweetness to this that tones down the aromatic spicy and floral notes. It is the perfect scent for spring, and is my new favorite. It is pretty expensive but absolutely worth it. This is truly feminine and grounded; but not grounded in a "green, earthy, hippie" sense, more of a balance between the material world and the spiritual. It also has a calming effect which I love. This one is unique that you can not really fully compare it to any other perfume. I love this so much. Every feminine soul should have this. Next on my list, L'Heure Bleue.
100000/10
Update: after trying L'heure bleue, they are very similiar, although I find Apres L Ondee to be more pleasant, cheerful, and lighter on the helliotrope. It is more airy and feminine and it does not have the "musty" smell that LHB has. The violet makes this one so much more lovely. I would say this one is great for a signature, and can be worn on all occasions, and LHB is only an occasion fragrance.

I know the reviews and reputation add to the pressure for this perfume but I really do love it. It was bought for me as a present by my partner when I found out I was pregnant with our daughter and i find the scent really fitting. It has a delicate air to it, a vulnerability that fits for a woman at a time like this and yet is so pretty and sweet and beautiful that this vulnerability is matched with a beautiful strength. I really can't believe it was formulated so long ago as I feel it could be launched now and feel edgy and contemporary. A well deserved reputation I think.

EDT review:
at first I was pretty alarmed. It was so strong and harsh I thought it smelled EXACTLY like mothballs and I was ready to dismiss this scent- which I didn't want to I have loved every Guerlain I've tried up until (what I thought) then.

BUT! It softened, it softened nicely to powdery sweet purple flowers. A linear fragrance that softens and softens over time but never quite goes away on the skin. Gives the wearer an soft flowery aroma about them.

Overall- it's pretty great. I love fragrances like this. Funny how the most simplest of concepts- making a perfume to make the wearer smell like flowers- is the hardest to master and takes the upmost skill to do. Perfume of this quality is so hard to come by. This is well done- smells absolutely natural like flowers- apart from the strong opening- there is nothing synthetic about this fragrance.
*thanks to melbritt24 for the sample :]

This lovely gem has been reviewed so many times (and beautifully) that I hope I can add an anecdote instead.

Years ago, my mother and I went to see the Nutcracker on a snowy winter day. My mother wore a beautiful coat with a black velvet collar that set off her red hair to perfection, and Apres l'Ondee. You wouldn't think that a scent which epitomizes spring would be a good fit in this situation, but it turned out to be inspired. As a practical matter, a delicate scent like Apres l'Ondee is perfect for the close confines of a theater, but it also provided the perfect olfactory backdrop to the ballet. The Nutcracker is so ethereal and magical, as is Apres l'Ondee, that experiencing them together has left them forever connected in my mind. When I wear ALO, I always find myself humming the Waltz of the Flowers, and it fits. My mother always did know best :)

I just love this perfume. I bought it last week in Paris, directly from Guerlain, on Champs Elizee. I fell instantly in love with the chic boutique, it is a woman's paradise.
Apres L'ondee takes me back in time, in a victorian garden after a quick shower, I am picking violets and jasmin in the sun...

A very lovely, adorable scent, but way too soft for the likes of me! Violets after the rain, very demure and innocent, so it doesn't suit me at all! HA HA!

I prefer the sweetened-up-"roided"-up version, Insolence eau de Parfum.

An unadulterated masterpiece in the discontinued parfum form and available on ebay NOW! - If only I had the money.

This lives up to the hype. I can't get over how soft and enveloping this scent is. I wouldn't wear this to work or to a black tie function but it seems perfect for cuddling and watching a movie in sweats with hubby or a romantic night out. Such a perfect fragrance.

What a beautiful and strange scent. It is so delicate and feminine it seems freakish in our culture.

It surrounds me in a veil of violet with a tinge of anise and a background of green. But its effect on me is not what-my-perfume-smells-like. Instead I am transported to a place where gentleness feels, well, normal. I am temporarily suspended from curse words and bourbon straight. This is an olfactory vacation from a hard-scrabble culture. It doesn't make me feel sexier, merely more feminine - in the finest sense. There is an internal stillness, a kindness, a peace. I spray a bit on, breathe deep, and let someone else win the rat race today.

This juice is lovely, heartbreakingly lovely.

A truly beautiful perfume. that gives you a feeling of total peace. There is something in this perfume that calms you. It really does smell of a garden after the rain. A heavenly garden that makes you feel truly special to have and to smell this adorable fragrance.

this deserves more people wearing it give it some love try it out on a scale of 1 to 100 im giving it 56 its really good but im a man and cant get away with this overall scent on an elementary grading scale i will have to say:


scent:B

Love this one,so romantic, and soft.

Violets, heliotrope, ylang-ylang, and anise combine to create a soft, sweet violet that actually smells like a flower, not a bottle of powder. It doesn’t have that sour off-note that quite a few violet and iris-themed scents do. It’s mythical violets as they were meant to be, the violet archetype if you will. To me, there’s a leather note along with the flowers, probably created by the combination of violet and mimosa, but that just lends substance to the delicate little flowers.

Initially, the sillage is tremendous, but as the scent dries down it backs off a little to the moderate range. For an EdT, it’s quite strong. It lasts 4 or 5 hours on skin, gradually fading away in a more or less linear fashion.

With an iconic fragrance like Apres l’Ondée, there is so much legend surrounding it that one can hardly help being influenced by the interpretations of others. In this light, I can see all of the classic interpretations, even though this may be a reformulated version.

It’s hard for me to think about whether I would perceive Apres l'Ondee as representing flowers and vegetation after a storm, whether it would seem wistful, melancholy, ambiguously happy/sad, and all of the other things that I’ve heard about it if it were a blind test without prior knowledge of what others think. I believe I might perceive all of these things, depending on my mood at the time, but I might also just perceive it as a nice, natural-smelling, candied violets and leather scent with a slightly vintage vibe. Speaking of vintage, for a perfume that was created over 100 years ago, this seems surprisingly modern in feel in many respects. In any case, it’s one of those must-try classics.

Many years ago I read about this scent in one of my mother's magazines and it was described as "an Impressionist Perfume". In the words of Jacques Guerlain the attempt was to recreate the scent of a garden after a huge pouring rain.
Many years after, and after long searches, I could finally first try and then buy this miracle bottled. For me Jacques Guerlain is the perfumer among the Guerlain dynasty with the greatest gift for creating not scents but sensations, emotions, feelings. All of his creations talks to the heart in a way or another.
Aprés l'Ondée is truly Impressionist in the way Manet's, Degas's, Monet's paintings are: they do not describe people or landscapes as they are, they give you the emotion of what the artists want to convey. Aprés l'Ondés is a garden under a huge rainpour where you smell the flowers drowned in the rain with the grass and the earth woken up from their sleep.
Every time I see a bottle of this magic scent I buy one. It's so rare that one can't miss the opportunity when one can be seen.
The flowers are delicate as if they were trying to shelter from the rain inside your skin. They walk with you, they live with you. I can't imagine of any other scent having the same magic power.

I appreciate the softness and cleanness of this fragrance, but it disappears on my skin extremely quickly. It also unfortunately reminds me of the scent of Palmolive dishwashing liquid, which is a scent I always liked, but don't want for my perfume. Please don't hate me for being so tacky!

I can't stand reading reviews(if it is called review a sentence which says about the staying power only) based on a decanted sample .This is a masterpiece of Jacques Guerlain stood by a century time and worn and loved by million of ladies!
This is pure heaven in a bottle and it stays on me six hours plus.
It's wet flowers of violet drawing of the first rays of sun early in the morning.You can feel the velvet touch and smell the freshness of them !

I was so happy to get a sample after
reading the reviwes
What a disapointment,
it was gone from my skin in a second.

What a masterpiece! I totally agree with Cedericeccentric that it somehow got a unisex quality to it. I know it`s not listed as a note, but on my skin I can smell something that reminds me strongly of angelica and nettle. Maybe it`s the cassia and carnation? Anyway, to me this is similar with L´heure blue in a way, only lighter and with prominent green notes/herbs to it. I picture an upper-class, tomboyish woman in England during the 1920`s. On a resort overlooking the sea she`s taking tennis classes, much more of a sporty type than her sisters who are occupied with polite conversations inside. She`s casual but elegant, wearing Apres L`Ondee to feel fresh.

This was a very delicate floral, more a violet fragrance than anything else. It had a nice anise note shimmering over the violet, making it interesting and the orris root gave it a slight earthy feel. This smells like a garden full of violets after rain. It is feminine, gentle and one of a kind, but I did not love it as I hoped I would.

I just bought a new bottle of Après L'Ondée edt 2 days ago. I have to admit, it has been a while since I wore it, but I feel something has changed in the formula. Maybe it's just my nose...
Though I always felt ALO had somewhat of a unisex quality I didn't recall it to be that spicy and woody. Is it the carnation? Because I find that the carnation in L'Air du Temps to be also much spicier than it used to. Further more I get a vintage Soir de Paris vibe I didn't associate with ALO before either.

Never de less Après L'Ondée still smells as nostalgic as ever. Like in the Woody Allen movie "Midnight in Paris", this perfume has the magical ability to transport you back to the Paris of the Belle Epoque.

I read somewhere that after an article appeared in a Japanse fashion magazine for men, Après L'Ondée became somewhat of a cult fragrance with dandies over there. Apparently the fragrance reminds them of the iris leave bath ceremony performed on Children's Day festival of their youth.

I wore Apres l'Ondee when I was a debutante at the Pierre Hotel in New York (long story there....I'm not from a rich family, I just made all the right friends). I looked at the white, fluffy dress I was to wear for the ball, and Apres l'Ondee seemed the perfect choice to match it. It is very light, especially in the EdT form, but this is a Guerlain perfume, so there is depth and richness in its lightness, like a many-layered chiffon gown. Here the layers are mimosa, heliotrope, violet, iris, and about a dozen others. Yet the composition is as lightweight as gauze, even in the vintage extrait version. One of my all-time favorites.

I would love to have a vintage sample of this... how incredible it must have been.

Once Upon A Time-there was a brilliant violet perfume that captured the heart of the modern perfume world. This was the calling card of what was to come. Jacques Guerlain produced this with little fanfare. Its bottle is an Art Nueveau mastepiece, highly sought after by collectors today.

Its contents are the sheer genius of Guerlain. 1906 ws the age of perfume innocence. This now rare formula is hard to find today. What a shame. It echos our childhood with the violet and delicate spring floral bouquet. Graceful and feminine, it is the perfect first perfume.

Mine was a generous decant from Natalie-thank you so much!

Anybody looking for a light, gentle and heavenly floral fragrance should definitely smell Apres L'Ondée. This "piece of art" from the past century can be considered as one of the greatest, if not the best, creations in its genre. A delicate, almost fragile, composition made of heliotrope, violette and iris that gently touches your skin as a slim and smooth female's hand and sings to your ears a sad but reassuring melody with a faint voice that's almost a whisper. The usual Guerlain's baritone chorus (vanilla / musk / amber) is there to add consistency and depth to this very ethereal melody, but it's drastically muted to leave space to the celestial solo voice.

Apres L'Omdée is tremendously familiar, comfortable, reliable. Someone says it smells like clean skin, someone else associates it with his / her mother's smell, a beloved aunt, talcum powder, childhood, romance...As a matter of fact Apres L'Ondée is a smell that everybody knows, consciously or unwittingly. Mandatory!

"Luxury is something pretty and discreet. Luxury must not be something brash".

Rating: 10/10

I got It this morning and I could't belive it!
I wanted It so much...I found It really unusual without being ungentle...It's definitely my favourite!

A true lady with impeccable manners. Very gentle without losing it's presence. I cannot imagine an occasion where this would not be appropriate. Absolutley gorgeous.

Smells very similar to l'Heure Bleue, except it is more fragile. Does NOT last on my skin.

I really love it! Sweet, Victorian violets, and something open, fresh and watery; I picture a refined lady from the Belle Epoque. There's definitely a bottle in my future somewhere... The only thing I don't like is the typical oily, musky, animalic drydown which all vintage Guerlains seem to have on me. I love the opening and the first 1/2 hour, but then I just feel dirty, like I need to bath. I will say that this fusty, musty smell humanizes Guerlain's older fragrances. They are the complete opposite of the loud abrasive chemical fragrances of today. Although I don't like the sillage I present with this fragrance after a period of time, I can appreciate the organic- as opposed to synthetic- philosophy behind it.

I spray it on my hair. First on my wrists (I need to constantly smell this beauty), then my neck, and finally my hair, because it stays longer like that. It's the first perfume that gives me the delicate spicy note of wild carnations- however this is not the prominent note; violets are. So true and magnificent. Then I get something like moss, while roses and anise create a beautiful accord. This is a festival of top quality ingredients, far from any synthetic mainstream imitations. Like walking within red, pink, and violet flowers, glistening in the sunbeams, after a summer rain. A fragile, ethereal beauty- her life is short, but she's so poetic, and while you are in the open air, you inhale a masterpiece.

If I could encapsulate it in a phrase I would choose this:
"The death of a beautiful woman, is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world."
Edgar Allan Poe

Aprés L’Ondee starts with a burst of spicy carnation, anise, orange blossom and lots of iris. The heart and base settles into a gentle powder of more iris, violet, a hint of vanilla and vetiver. The orange blossom also remains throughout, adding a gorgeous freshness to the whole composition. It is a beautifully green and earthy floral, giving the sensation of standing in a wet flower garden. The amazing thing about AL is that it triggers memories of a simpler time - childhood, pure nature and peacefulness. It is oh so gentle, but very powerful in its statement.

AL immediately sets a quieter mood - I sprayed it on this morning, fresh out of the shower and was amazed how it managed to slow me down and become more reflective. I would not recommend AL for a day of energetic activity, but save it for precious alone time or for relaxing getaways in the countryside.

AL is perfection, but I wish it carried slightly stronger sillage and longevity. I’m sure this fragrance is out of this world in pure parfum, as those moments I get to enjoy it in the edt are amazing – heaven and earth combined.

I have tested this perfume today and after aplying I can smell the violet and anise or you can say minty note. Then their is the note that I dont like. The ylang ylang is to prominent on my skin and made me a bit nauseous. So this perfume is not for me.

The reviews are praise for this scent are like no other. I don't think that there is a perfume that is so widely loved and praised, yet so completely unavailable.

What you can find is the EDT, and even that is extremely expensive and elusive. So, I ordered a 2.5 mL EDT sample from the Perfumed Court.

I got the violets, but they were weak and almost perhaps dead, as if at the end of summer. In contrast, to say, the shimmering field of violets that I visualize when I use something like "Pour Femme," this was disappointing indeed. The violets mostly disappear, and then I have a sort of grassy-vaguely flat floral heart that is distantly reminiscent of "Chamade" but not nearly as good. The base is a vanilla wood that doesn't do much of anything. Lasting power is poor, this all happens in about 2 hours.

To be honest if I didn't know that it was Apres l'Ondee I wouldn't have like it much at all. I guess the hype gets into your head after awhile.

My guess is that my sample is either old, or hasn't been stored well, or that the EDT just isn't up to standard with other concentrations. It's too bad that such a highly loved scent is discontinued, because now I'll never get to experience how wonderful this could be. At any rate I'm glad I only got a sample and didn't do something rash like bidding $150 for a bottle on Ebay.

My first smell of this perfume carried my back 15 years and across the Atlantic to Florence on one the worst days of my life. I was there on business and grimly miserable since my marriage had just broken up and it was a coppery hot July day in a place I didn't want to be. To make things better a heavy rain opened up and drenched me to the skin. I dashed into a museum that turned out to be the home of Dante Alighieri. I walked through that fine home loathing myself for not loving his city that he pined for in exile. The misery increased until I became teary and snuffly. I ultimately ended up in an arcade on the top floor looking out over the old city. At some point the rain stopped and the sky cleared to that lovely grey-white that I've only seen in Italy. That's when I realized that my nose was being flooded by orange blossom and geranium in tubs and pots, that in that light were the most intense red and white I'd ever experienced. Within seconds I'd reached a place of serenity that I hadn't felt for years.

Thus the power of scent and the necessity of perfume.

This may be the best orange blossom I've ever experienced in a bottle. The violet is there but it somehow purifies and intensifies the orange. The carnation is subtle and the iris is purple. If I stroke my wrist hard I get a delightful mint that is probably a dry anise. Even the EDT is absolutely intoxicating. If you love great florals you should seek this out.
Sillage: medium
Durability: good so far
Fabulosity: heaven may be located in this bottle
Price to value ratio: the pearl of great price
10/10

(Edt Review)

This is l'heure violette!!

Is all about wet and delicate ethereal violets, with that nostalgic feeling which Guerlian re-used for l'heure bleue, but Apres l'Ondee is not as heavy, and doesn't last much. It's funny but the most beautiful things in life doesn't last long either, so I dont feel sorry or disappointed by Apres l'Ondee. Another Outstanding masterpiece from Guerlain.

The softest and gentlest fragrance, a beauty! There's a bit of a blast at first spritz with the citrus and bergamot and a hint of anise-that doesn't bother me in the least. Slowly dries down into powdery and dewy florals of violets and then the coolest vanilla emerges. The vanilla base really strikes me as cool, not cold, like a chilly, unexpected breeze in the spring.

Apres l'Ondee doesn't make me want to lounge around and reflect on things like L'heure Bleue does, it's more of a dreamy romantic scent, it's more positive, it puts a smile on my face.

I love violets, TRULY love them, combined with just about anything, actually, and thought I'd never run into a fragrance that was just too much violet, but that day has arrived.

Like harlequin, I was deeply saddened to discover this respected beauty likes neither my skin nor my nose, after a promising, even glorious first 15 minutes. In fact, the first 15 minutes would make me part with Big Money if I happened to be testing it at the perfume counter and made a snap decision, but that would be a dire mistake.

After 15 minutes all I get is tinned violet candy, sugar and baby powder... the people I was with while wearing it yesterday actually wrinkled their noses when they asked what it was. Talk about having the wind taken out of my sails, wow! I knew after those 15 minutes that it wasn't something I'd ever wear again but I didn't think I really smelled bad to other people's noses.

None of the gorgeous basenotes appear when I wear Apres l'Ondee, and certainly no anise (another of my favorites that nearly makes me drool, as in Aimez-Moi, a true violet wonder.) Actually, there's not one single note in Apres l'Ondee that I don't enjoy in other fragrances... so why doesn't this Grand Dame like me?

I've made no secret of the fact that I detest the use of "old lady" to describe a fragrance, and I certainly won't use it here, but in Apres l'Ondee I've finally run into a a fragrance that I think I'm still waaaaay too young to wear. In fact, my Apres l'Ondee experience was a spot-on impersonation of my great aunt's sacheted hankie box, one with a hinged lid that was covered in a quilted satin material.

I can only hope to encounter this beauty on other people. And I'll do the world a favor and not wear it myself.

This is a truly glorious perfume! On my skin, the notes play gently like notes on a piano- or like rain gently falling against a window. There is nothing cluttered or muddy about this scent at all. I find it elegant, simple, intellectual, and introspective. A real pity it is so hard to find in the US these days. :(

At one point I was indiscriminately adding every Guerlain creation to my "want" list. Well, that practice came to a screeching halt after my blunderous blind buy of a 100ml bottle of the eminently unwearable (on my skin..) INSOLENCE. However, APRES L'ONDEE made the cut: already on the list. And now, thanks, to generous fragrantican lulia, who sent me a spray atomizer decant "juste comme cela", I can affirm that this gorgeous beauty belongs on the list!

APRES L'ONDEE strikes a balance between classic Guerlain--which to some people is unapproachable, inaccessible, or just too demanding to wear--and Guerlain's recent attempts (with debatable success...) to cater to just that crowd. Although this composition was created in the early twentieth century by the master himself, it captures the floral Guerlain essence without the incumbrance of all of the heavy artillery that comes with L'HEURE BLEUE and SHALIMAR, both of which are decidedly more oriental--and blue--than APRES L'ONDEE.

To my nose, APRES L'ONDEE is all about purple flowers: violet, iris, heliotrope--an abundance of royalty is here on display. The violet is the most dominant note to my nose, and here it has not been destroyed by the admixture of candied raspberries and plastic. No, this is voluptuous violet as it was meant to be, naturally sweet, and altogether unadulterated by scary molecules synthesized in organic chemistry labs. This is breathtaking violet in all its abundant simplicity.

Iris and heliotrope play supporting roles in what is a bouquet with the characteristic powdery Guerlain texture and lightly vanilla-ized scent but without the intense notes which can make other Guerlain classics difficult to wear.

APRES L'ONDEE remains on my wish list! Thank you lulia for sharing this wonder with me!!!!!

I can see why many like this it is artistically brilliant. But I honestly just cant wear it because it smells to me really significantly like oriental food, the spices in cooking, maybe strange I know but it really just triggers that for me. Wonder if anyone else finds this. I do think it could be pulled off by some.

to harlequin1572

There is a good method to avoid change of the scent due to contact with skin - spray it on your clothes. The perfume will smell exactly like from the bottle.

This is a sad moment for me: I have finally decided to admit that my skin simply will not accept the glorious gifts this masterpiece has to offer.

Out of the bottle, the scent is exactly as the previous reviewers have described - a field of flowers freshened by raindrops, and you think, A scent like this will make the ugliest frog seem appealing to a princess! But it seems my skin is worse than a frog's, turning this field of dreams into a disturbing duet of aniseed and spicy carnation that makes me physically tense. Not a hint of violets or iris; just a spice drawer all the way through. (Why me?!?!?!)

While I'm looking for a human-to-frog skin graft, I'll ponder this unbearably harsh lesson about sampling perfumes first, no matter how well-reviewed.

EDIT: I've heard rumors that Apres l'Ondee might have been mildly reformulated and made spicier. If that's true, maybe I'm not a frog after all. What has slightly better skin than a frog? - maybe I'm a lizard...

Apres L'Ondee is a soft dewy floral that actually reminds me of rain. It's one of those scents that takes me back to my childhood. I had an aunt that was about 12 years older than me, and I remember the scent of her lipsticks and perfumes on her dresser. That's where Apres L'Ondee takes me, to my aunt's bedroom, playing with makeup and listening to Moon River on her little record player. It also reminds me of another favorite Guerlain, Champs Elysees, and they share some notes: anise, mimose, rose. But while CE makes me feel happy and uplifted, Apres makes me feel a little melancholy and pensive.

Albert Einstein once said “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.”

I believe Al said this after sniffing Apres L’ondee. With this many ingredients, and with this many years gone by, an awful lot can go wrong but doesn’t. That is the beauty.

This isn’t a perfume as much as it is an emotional experience. Whenever I put this on, no matter what time of year, I’m instantly transported to the springtime of my youth. I lived in Minnesota, where spring meant goodbye to snow (sad), and hello to grass shoots, tulips and baby birds (happy). No other perfume captures melancholy optimism with such perfection. That is the mystery.

Here’s the rest of Einstein’s quote “He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."

Don’t let Apres L’Ondee be a stranger.

Usually I am not fond of older guerlains-the base is too old fashioned for my taste. Apres L'ondee however almost smells modern, like something Annick Goutal would create. Really does smell like flowers after a rainfall, fresh and feminine! I can detect gentle notes of jasmine and violet and something vegetal. it smells natural and gorgeous- very balanced as well.

I'm just getting to know this fragrance- it carries a long trail of expectations, as do many of the older Guerlain scents- and I am pleased to say that, finally, I've found an older Guerlain that I like and that likes me back!

I'm not even going to try to compete with the poetical rhapsodies of other fellow lovers of this fragrance- for me, it can be best summed up in just two words-

Violet creamsicle!

A beautiful perfume. these days perfumes smell synthetic. If you like violets, then you will like this. It is a soft, gentle perfume. that has been blended so well. I find it comforting, romantic and nostalgic.

My Great Aunty Kitty wore this perfume. She was a very classy lady. As a child I loved going to her house. Antique clocks would chime in various rooms and the smell of this perfume would gently waft,making you feel comfortable and secure. This perfume is truly beautiful, just like my beutiful Aunty Kitty.

I have heard that many love L'Heure Bleue and write off Après L'Ondée as less complex-and I have also heard that Après L'Ondée is the more beautiful-and more melancholy fragrance-more approachable than the other more popular classic. I became acquainted with the smell of L'Heure Bleue from working a few years in a retirement home-clean but powdery anise is that blue hour, that familiar old signature sillage.

I can smell the iris (among other notes) in common, but this stormy scent has a crisp and muted quality-a fresh violet, that epitomizes violet perfection for me(I don't like violets generally)....
This is the scent of burying yourself in tender leaves, covering yourself in violets, feeling drizzle, smelling the scent before a fantastic storm-the sky becoming grey and charged....And then you wake up at your great-grandmother's house (whom you are not acquainted with)-there is a gentle powdery scent in the air-a dusty but cozy and eerily familiar aroma. The rain is pounding on the windows, you are seated on a faded lace-covered cushion in a well-preserved sitting room-the branches stir at the windowsill and all seems still. That is Après L'Ondée....

The initial crackle of neroli fades into a tapestry of anise, violet, and jasmine. These smoky, dusky colors are punctuated by violent jabs of carnation, woods, and dry benzoin rising from the base. These is something melancholic about Apres l'Ondee, but there's also something sharp and edgy about it. It seems more lively than wistful, more cranky than soothing. Too spicy to wear to sleep, too memory-provoking to release the imagination.

Unfortunately, Apres l'Ondee does not sit right on my skin; it feels nervous and off-kilter. I count myself lucky to have no desire to own this one; it's quite overpriced.

I had to have this after reading the reviews, so I made the trek to the Guerlain store on Bloor Street. Absolutely beautiful scent - like an elusive memory. This is the fragrance I have been seeking but could never describe.

After rain... A cloudy, dreamy morning. Ghosts haunting your great-grandmother's distant estate. Wet birch-tree benches. Pale ethereal Degas' ballerinas dancing on the crushed violet petals. Fluid visions of the past. Or the future? Transparent, like solemn tears, which you can't tell from the rain drops anymore. Yellow pages of a Virginia Woolf's book. The ticking of an old clock. At first, a crisp, pure voice of my little sister being born and then a subtle incoherent murmure of my great-grandmother on her deathbed. A daily reminder of how fragile human life is. After rain, so be it. EDT only, which is so so subtle, gosh I literally have to pour it on to enjoy this masterpeiece. Pure parfum I found costs $3000. It is a crime.

The violet/mauve hue of the label suits it very well, because of the heliotrope/iris notes; I think of it as the 'quiet Guerlain', as it has the depth and richness of the underlying base that is characteristic and distinctive of the older Guerlain fragrances, but it not nearly so loud as L'Heure Bleue. For that reason you can wear it during the day, and even to work, and rely on it being distinctive but not overpowering. It is certainly going to mark you out as different, but perhaps in such a low key way that people are not entirely conscious of it. Classic and classy, but still romantic

Since I recently got my hands on this stunningly beautiful gem it has been in heavy rotation. I'm getting afraid that these precious 100 ml will not last for very long.

Apres l'Ondee has everything I want from a perfume. The anis, violet, jasmine and vanilla is dominant on my skin and the scent is extremely soft and comforting. It's wonderful for lazy days, evening wear or right before going to sleep when you emotions are a bit more sensitive. It washes away a stressful working day and I have even sprayed a little on my pillow as suggested from a forum member, which also made the bed to a heaven for a few nights.

As said before this perfume lacks the social dimension as it doesn't create attention among surronding individuals. Insted it is a quiet, clean and calming fragrance which I love to enjoy on my own.

I joined Fragrantica hoping to track down my one and only signature. Instead I have learnt about the aroma-therapeutic qualities of different fragrances and how to be more aware of how I feel and how different fragrances can influence my emotional life. And for that I'm very grateful to this forum.

There is something uncanny about this breathtaking masterpiece. Uncanny (Unheimlich) in the Freudian sense: familiar but foreign; paradoxical; seductively troubling.

What I find most disarming about Après l’Ondée, is its balance of sweetness and solemnity. The name signals a degree of separation between the fragrance and the rain. But for me the distance feels spatial rather than temporal, like watching the rain from the warmth of a sumptuous room. Subtle lemon and prominent heliotrope keep it joyful. A gentle dose of violet and the predominant, cool iris root add a sense of longing and nostalgia. Vetiver and benzoin balance bitter and sweet. The overall composition is rich but lilting, grounded but uplifting, distant but welcoming. Like a pastel painting displayed on a stone gray wall.

I mourn the parfum version which is no longer produced, but I am confident its ghost haunts the exquisite EDT.

High quality, long-lasting, and remarkably different from the Guerlains built on a vanilla base.

This is the only scent that brought tears to my eyes the first time I sniffed it. It is so melancholic, so bittersweet!
Having said that I love and admire it totally. No perfume has ever moved me so emotionally and I see that as a good thing.

MASTERPIECE, but-- what Madame Butterfly would wear while comMitting harakiri. the deee-lish guerlinade under the sepulchral, DEPRESSION-INDUCING vile-et isn't enough reward. hurts me to write that.

My love for perfume all started with my purchase of a bottle of Après L'Ondeé... .
It has to me one of the most intense olfactive memories and associations and I treasured the fragrance like it was the most precious thing to me.
I love it, it opened a whole new world to me. I will keep on wearing it.

I recieved a tiny sample, and a great pleasure. Sometimes I check the Fragrantica database information on notes and history before testing, and, sometimes not. This time I just casually chose my new scent to test, popped open the cap. I thought..oh, a garden scent! I cannot say floral, I cannot say green, all I can think, and picture- is garden. At first application I thought of how odd and intriguing the scent is. I also thought it reproduced some cloudy familiarity from childhood, perhaps the favorite of an Aunt of mine, or a similar soap or dusting powder. Those were my initial impressions. I came here to the database to gather the details, read about the composition. I can write and say that I am mesmerized by the combination of sandalwood and mimose. I love the spicy tingles within all the floral notes, and the base is strong and a combination of all the deep, earthy scents I love. I cannot write too much here, perhaps I am in awe, and a bit confused at the same time while experiencing this scent for the first time. Others here before me have fashioned thier ideas and scenes so well. Please Please, read below and take thier well crafted words to understand better how wonderful, unique, and complex this scent is.

This is the kind of fragrance that you wear for you, and you alone. It's the scent I wear when I'm home with my husband and our daughter on lazy weekend mornings. It's the scent I reach for before I go to bed. While it is not a fragrance that I get many compliments on, that's not a bad thing. Let me explain: it wears very close to the skin and gives the impression that you smell beautiful, clean and fresh - not that your perfume does. I love the opening notes with their slightly herbal and grassy edge. As the scent develops it becomes the most beautiful aroma of slightly spicy, fresh flowers. I think it's carnation and violet I love so much here. How wonderful that it's feminine without being sweet. It makes me feel calm and happy. To me it's a beautiful scent to be worn casually.

I love this one. It's sweet but fresh and not at all artificial - reminds me of gorse-flowers - that wild honey smell. Plus it has been around since 1906! Let's celebrate the enduring scents from the past rather than buying into the new ones which smell like alco-pops!

I agree with Jalutschka; this is Debussy set to scent, and Monet's palette in the air, an Impressionist masterpiece. It is all pastels and sweet melody, gently smudged outlines and sustained chords, and it is so beautiful that it brings tears to the eyes. The anise, violet and carnation, along with the woody resin base, give Apres l'Ondee its shape, and iris/orris root gives it its wistful elegance. The sweetness of the heliotrope keeps circling round -- every time I think, well, it's gone, and what could I expect of so ethereal a fragrance? -- there's the heliotrope again. This lasted, even in eau de toilette, for more than four hours on my dry winter skin, and I expect it might persist longer when the weather warms a little.

This is spring in a bottle: the beauty of blooming things, the delicacy of their blossoms, and the ephemeracy of pure joy. Spring doesn't last, but it is all the more beautiful because it passes so quickly, and so it is with Apres l'Ondee.

A very unusual fragrance. I didn't think I would like to wear this when I first sprayed it on, though I was instantly aware of its quality. There is no hint of sweetness and it doesn't seem in any way feminine to me (not masculine either - very neutral). I am aware of the aniseed note all the way through and this gives the fragrance a melancholic and haunting quality that makes me want to keep having another sniff, so that I find myself captivated and intrigued. It is so beautifully blended it is impossible to pick out most of the individual notes (except the aniseed), which is typical of so many Guerlains. I agree with klonk that it is a true work of art. Definitely worth trying!

Light, creamy violet and vanilla. Gorgeous and clear like watery violet over ice cream. A very beautiful and ephemeral fragrance, hard to find now.

A legendary melancholic blast from the past! i've associated it with my mothers much older professional associate, a very graceful and beautiful woman that wore Chanel suits, spoke fluently french, had the perfect chignons and was educated in Wien. She died from cancer in her mid-fifties and this was her signature scent. With all this on mind i could never wore this just cause i can't possibly fit in this tremendously radiant lady's shoes. Sadly i can't experience this spicy womanly opening, the wonderfuly mild lighthanded greeness, wth honeyed sweet nothings and the lovely perfectly judged spicy amber drydowmn. An undeniably classic.

This smells Divine! Clean, floral opening. What amazed me is that there was no "sweetness" in the top notes which I found unique for a lady scent.
the middle note are decadent blend of lots of flower but I can feel the lovely dewy-green aroma now and then. It purplexed me so much I test it twice within 24 hours. So rich and opulent but manages to give the freshness aura. This is something I would love to wear to a formal meeting because it gives "nice & reliable-person" feel. Though wearing it to bed will surely give me the restfull sleep and a sweet dream!

A work of art. Truly the most beautiful scent I ever had the chance to wear... Soft floral, romantic, fresh yet warm, slightly sweet and powdery, sophisticated, classy, sad and happy scent. A perfume that really awakes emotions.