Guerlain Shalimar Initial L'Eau Guerlain for women

I bought this fragrance for a friend for her birthday and she abslolutely loved it! Its warm and spicy but light and fresh and floral at the same time! Such a lovely composition that all the notes just flow together to create a great fragrance that will suit most people whilst still being special. Its so good im starting to wonder if i should have kept this one for myself!

I tried a sample today. I tried the original Shalimar once, and unfortunately, it didn't suit me and was a bit much for me. I know a lot of people love the original one, and I wish I felt the same.
So when I tried this one, I was a bit like "oh we'll see...". But I love it! It's powdery, but such a lovely, sweet, clean powder. But it's not that heavy, it's just the perfect powder with a hint of vanilla, a spicy vanilla, not the super sweet one. It does remind me of something... I feel a bit nostalgic when I smell it, but I don't know why. Maybe it reminds me of babypowder, but the grown-up version, if that makes sense.
Anyway sillage and lastingpower are great! I think you can wear it all year round, all day, depending on how much you use.

if you have the Shalimar initial already, then it doesn't worth buing this edition also. They are almost the same except the citrusy opening. Initial and the Summer edition are lovely fragrances very unique and distinctive, but you cannot have them both!

Lasting power - 10/10
Versatility- 10/10
Silage- 10/10

What can you ask more. If you like Mademoiselle, Chance, Daisy, Lola, you will love this scent.
Please don't be discouraged because it has Shalimar tagged to it. It is Similar, yet very different from the original. Superb lasting power for an EDT (and I have dry skin, perfumes usually don't stick to me)

In comparison to Initial original this has a more citrusy start and the fragrance is light through out (not less powerful though). My personal preference is Initial original, but if you are a fan of Daisy original you would love this scent (no they don't smell same)

A light yet strong fragrance (Oxy-moron?) Initial is a perfect example of this :D

No its not a limited edition.

is this limited edtion ??

Perfect for this summer. A fresh start with bergamot wich is followed by the iris wich gives it is powdery touch an the lovely vanilla to finish it of. I noticed that the botlles are the same and on my botlle it doesnt say L'eau in the front as it says on the botlle above but on the sticker on the bottom of the botlle. The only difference on the botlles is the tassel this one is pink and Initial is blue. I also saw that the 60 ml botlles have a white box wich i find beautiful so you could see the difference bot the 40 ml also comes in a blue box i wish they would have made it white to.

Superb! This lacks the strange middle (green note) of PI that I really did not care for. It is replaced with a grapefruit note that works much better than I would have thought. The base seems closer to classic Shalimar. Thierry did a nice job on this. Bright and sparkling at the start and as sensual as it's ever been in the end. I will be wearing this often.

Today, I was trying out 2 perfumes of the Guerlain.. on my left hand, I sprayed this one, on the right one L'instant Maqiue. My first impression of Initial was.. meeeh. My first impression of Maqiue was WOW.

After 10minutes, things started turning out totaly different.

SHALIMAR was a bit too citrusy and not that much impressive at the start. But after half an hour, it developed a really full, dynamic smell, soft and lady like, but bold at the same time. This frragrance IS NOT a seductive one.. I would say it's an all-occasion smell for somebody who likes to sniff herself and be pleasent smelling to everbody around.

Now, after 7 hours, I can still smell it - faintly. The tonka bean smell stays the last, and I like it this way.


UPDATE:
I have been wearing it now for a few weeks, and I must say although I love it, it seems to stay really close to the skin, nobody even notices I'm wearing a perfume, except if I ask them to sniff it. My boyfriend doesn't like it - it seems to be on of those comfort smells you like sniffing on yourself, but it doesn't do much to the outside world.

Really Lovely.

Loved Shalimar until I received a few unsavoury comments (urine/body odour based) but Initial L'Eau is just so feminine, bright, clean and bubbly.

A modern flirtatious champagne cocktail amongst vintage Bollinger sippers.

Think this is a spring/summer edition for Shalimar Initial, like Idylle Duet for Idylle series.

It seems very nice and fresh-feminine, but does anybody know if it is a limited edition?

L'Eau de Parfum Initial IMO confirm the Guerlain ability of making perfumes that can be breathable in warmer climate or casual occasions, especially if worn with sense, without producing weak soulless flankers.
L'Eau de Parfum Initial maintains all the grandeur and sophisticated vibe of original only to a lower concentration and more delicate impact, faster working as for many EdT version at Guerlain. It's an addictive powdery yet modern type of scent and IMO a return to refined yet wild feminity, out of the crisis, out of austerity but with discipline. The lovely round fresh start is an ode to happiness and a burst of spontaneous behaviour, while the evolution reminds us of the fact that we are talking about "woman", not a lively teenager, rather a lively grownup lady who likes to plays with her own feminity. She doesn't do it in a confuse way. She plays knowing the game, she knows how to be daring but never vulgar. Great staying power and sillage on my skin.

This is a watery, powdery, and translucent version of Shalimar Initial. I personally smell no difference between it and its original.

Why oh why all the dislikes??? It is true that it smells nothing like Shalimar. So what? This is a beauty in itself. If you start with the idea that this should smell like the original, well, you have all the rights to be disappointed. But if you approach it gleefully, you will have the nicest surprise.
First of all, the presentation is stunning. The bottle is gorgeous, and the pink liquid inside is so delicate and feminine! The original citrus blast is fresh and zingy. Middle notes come on my skin as pure iris, reminding me a bit of the famous carrot blast from Hiris. The drydown is soft, slightly sweet, woody rosy.
I find this perfume gorgeous, and I love the transformation that takes place between top, middle and base notes. Silage and lasting are good for a "l'eau" , they could have been better though.
Overall, this is a new love of mine, recently gotten from my sweet fragrantican friend, NathalieZ.

First I read the comment text on the packaging of Shalimar L'eau, quoting Jaques Guerlain "A burst of freshness revealing one of the most beautiful Guerlain Iris notes.." And surely to my nose it is! I love the original Shalimar version, all of them except Ode Vanille. Shalimar Initial was wonderful with the great earthy patchouli note in there.. but I guess this one Shalimar L'eau will appeal to more people because of missing this strong and sometimes strange notes (Caramel!)of the Original Initial version. In Initial'Leau there s only a splashing green freshness of Bergamote, Grapefruit and Neroli.. and then not long after these fresh opening the Iris kicks in, warm , powdery, caressing , flowery ..so much enhanced by the rose .. My dream combi! Iris, Rose, Tonakabean, Vanille, always a winning combination for me! And yes, there s a fine sweetness to it of course through the vanilla and tonka, but that s to a great effect, never sickening sweet only flowery, powdery. Also a great iris-rose combi is Burberry Body Intense.. but that s another story and somehow sweeter then Initial L'eau. I m not very often disappointed by a new Guerlain, this one no exception. Only downside point : it s an EDT and not as long living as some would wish, but 3-4 hours will do. Needless to add: Totally LOVE IT!

This edt evokes in me very early memories of sitting in the theater dressing room while my mother (she is an actress) got ready for her performance: much powder, red lipstick, heavy stage makeup, white wigs and beautiful rich costumes for "The Three Musketeers"...
Positively a scent for classic romantic comedy.
The edt stays close to skin but is there for rather long time becoming more and more powdery. To me it seems not very sweet. It demands a little performance from the wearer and small dose of healthy self irony :)

Candy sweet orange in the opening, and then goes the innosent vanille powder. Yes, the scent is very powdery especially in the base. In the midlle notes it's the effect of iris, in the base it's the effect of tonka beans. Soft vanille reminds me of the classic Shalimar. The scent always stays close to skin. Longvity is not great. I can say that Shalimar Initial L'Eau is girly, candy sweet, good for summer modern version of the original Shalimar.

I tried this today. It`s like very strong sickening sweet soap. Very overpowering. Mee too, I do not see any similarity with the original Shalimar which is devine.

I was expecting a lighter than light version of Shalimar and was pleasantly surprised that this is not just the original watered down and sweetened up. It is a powdery vanilla but with a big dose of rich orris and a fairly heavy, almost musky tonka bean drydown. It's nothing like Shalimar and is certainly not a perfume of that class but it is more sophisticated and 'grown-up' than the current trend for flankers. Maybe that's the secret now - go in expecting the worst and you can be surprised into liking something!

Yes this is out and unfortunately I got a bottle in December. It smells nothing like the original Shalimar that I have several bottles of and love. Original one smells powdery and fresh. This smells rancid and strong. I regret purchasing it and avoid wearing it not to offend others in the room. The original smells divine, soft and powdery. This goes on strong and stays strong .

This has 2 dislike votes!!!!
It's not even out yet!

I am looking forward to this one. I think house of Guerlain is trying to appeal to younger women this days, considering the type of perfumes they came out with in the last 8 years. As much as I like lily of the valley,freesia, hyacinth and vanilla I doubt if this would be a classic. I am expecting a sweet floral perfume that is not too strong.