Habit Rouge (for men)

guest_Athena

To me, Habit Rouge smells like the Chinese medicated oil that we Chinese use for headaches. We will rub some of this oil against our temples and the smell is believed to relieve the throbbing pain and the oil penetrates the skin, taking away the headaches with it. I doubt any Chinese person will like this Habit Rouge smell. People will think we are not feeling well if they smell this on us.

NebraskaLovesScent

The hubby and I found a sealed bottle of Habit Rouge at a thrift store. I had never smelled it but I knew Guerlain was a quality brand and the price was right, so we bought it.

Ugh.

He's been trying to use it up and there's about 1/3 of the bottle left right now. He kind of likes it, but admits it's not worth purchasing another bottle when this one is gone. As far as I'm concerned, the remainder may have to meet with an unfortunate accident in the near future. LOL!

Guerlain is indeed a quality brand, but I can't stand Habit Rouge. It was overwhelmingly vanilla-powdery when I first smelled it and has become only slightly less intolerable over these last few months. I love vanilla but this is way too sweet and cloying, on men or women. I liken the aroma to vanilla beans and chalk dust on a bed of Johnson and Johnson baby powder. Too much of a bad thing!

guest_rAjkintex

Habit Rouge Guerlain is just the perfect perfume for today's men... the tradition goes on!

Mellyhelly

I love this male scent, maybe one of the very few I like. It's unmistakable and it's the essence of true elegance. It's fresh at the beginning, but it quickly shapeshift to a glorious, rounded, warm and never cloying male scent. Both elegant & sexy.
I only met one man who wore it only sometimes and he was a very charming man, unfortunately not reliable.
The other ones or friends they all wear some Hugo Boss or Adidas. Some of them are not so bad for me, at least bearable, but they don't compare to real class

nesca1502

I love this fragrance for men, it is very sexy and romantic. I guess it not fits well on all skins chemistries, but the boy I love wears it and it fits him perfectly. This is a fragrance for a chivalrous man, a bit old-fashioned and passionate. A true Guerlain.

krmarich

This is a tough review. First, this classic has been around 44 years. Second, it is the most elegant scent for a man I have ever encountered. What is not to like about it, looking at the ingredients? I picked a bottle and tried it, and was totally caught off guard. I knew right away this was not for me. I wore it for a few days, trying to put my finger on the problem. Too much vanilla? No, I like vanilla. Too old fashioned? No, its not retro. I cannot to this day put my nose on it! Perhaps it just too elegant for me. I wonder if Guerlain will ever have a successful mens fragrance?

Eau de moi

My husband's fragrance for a night out or special occasion. He only swears by Guerlain. Very nice smell.

Darius HIldenbrandt

It's one of the grandest perfumes in the perfume world. true masterpiece of Guerlain art

shamus1

Habit Rouge is a distinctively "French" fragrance for men, plain and simple. It is truly classic and will always buck every trend in fragrance. It's in the same vein as other French classics like Monsieur de Givenchy, Equipage and Chanel Pour Monsieur - extremely elegant but discreet. I can understand why guys who prefer classic British men's fragrances or today's blue-colored colognes might not like HR. Yes, HR is a bit flowery ("oriental woody"?? No way - this is a citrusy floral) and can be worn by a woman, but is in no way a wimp's fragrance. To be able to pull this off, it takes a certain type of man who is very confident with himself, and no, I don't mean a wussy guy. Quite the opposite - isn't a "real man" really a guy who is totally confident in who he is, and really doesn't give a rat's ass about whether or not others deem him to be a wimp? Habit Rouge is for that kind of man.

The whole talk of this being "unisex" is just dumb. The term "unisex fragrance" was created to appease insecure American customers, particularly men, who need to feel secure that they are not wearing the "wrong" fragrance for their gender. In Europe, guys don't generally care what sex wears a particular fragrance - if it smells good, they wear it! That's the way it should be. Any guy who worries so much about whether they're wearing a fragrance "For Men", or whether gays like it, etc., seems to be a man who is very insecure about his masculinity!

As an aside, HR has been reformulated, and this new version is a lot better than the pre-2003 version. Whereas the old HR had a powdery, dandified smell to it, the new HR, although similar to the original, is much drier and lighter. You don't have to worry about smelling like a prissy, uptight fop. The new HR fits in perfectly with sitting near the beach on a dry, sunny day, drinking a cold glass of pastis.

Inselaffe

I certainly admire this, but I cannot quite imagine how I would wear it. No opening application has ever drawn a "wow " from me, but this succeeded. It is astonishly floral and almost unbearable, but it goes from zero to hero very quickly. In an hour it had settled into a fragrance still bordering on the feminine, but just staying this side of acceptable. I don't really have the personality to pull this one off, but perhaps this is one I will have to come back to when my taste evolves. This is unusual, but has great longevity.

OdeKlotyo

This perfume is pure nostalgia proper. It is heart-wrenchingly beautiful, its evocative power is breathtaking. It is so richly oriental, powdery and decadent, recalling memories of a golden age that's long gone. Even though I can't imagine myself wearing it out, I think it is utterly timeless, and I envy those who can pull it off with confidence. A grand classic in its own right.

countbernadotte

Most classic fragrances enjoy extremely wide appeal, not this one. Habit Rouge, despite the fact that Guerlain has given women’s perfume market a good share of elegance, sexiness and class, failed to enjoy the same wide appeal with men at the time of its launch or in subsequent decades of marketing.

In fact, but for the name Guerlain, habit Rouge would have failed miserably because fully 50% of all men dismiss it as overtly effeminate, and 25% complain of notes that are nauseating, I am one of those men who never fails to become almost sick when encountering Habit Rouge.

Marketed as “Unisex”, to me, means only one thing; it is best left for gay men or lesbians. Red-blooded men will never find it either manly enough or appealing enough to women on men.

The stark truth is it has the same nauseating effect on me as an aroma emitted by a gigantic diesel emergency electric generator powering one of the hospitals in which I have practice privileges every time I pass by it during routine maintenance operations, which is only once a month. It is one of those very old hospitals where the Generator is standing right at the vehicle parking entrance when you have to have your window open to run your access card in the machine.

A putatively elegant and classic fragrance that triggers a nauseating reaction similar to a gigantic emergency diesel generator should not be worn by men; rather it should be used as a target in a fire arm shooting range…. And it must be an outdoors shooting range so that men don’t become nauseated.

Eros

Zoka wrote: "I like it, I can't imagine it on man, but for women it is great, self confident women. "
(... after deep thinking about this, and sniffing perfume in a shop...)
Yes.
I would say that wearing this perfume by a woman could got me crazy outbounds (positively). It reminds me episode from movie "Nine 1/2 weeks" with Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. I should try...

tessture

Powdery woody spicy vanilla. My husband thought it was a women's scent. I, in fact, wear it on occasion, though it can sting my skin sometimes. (Not sure what that's about.) It's like L'Heure Bleue for men.

Cassiano

This perfume is unique!
Its strenght makes even the most shy man in a real Don Juan.
The smell is audacious and imponent. No one passes unobserved using Habit Rouge!

mihailo_vukoicic

now that it's gotten slightly cooler in Belgrade, I am longing for something rich, peppery, potent, heavy. in fact I've been yearning for a new oriental treat for a while. then I read that many celebrities use Habit Rouge and I was hooked.
OK, now the funny part: I have a friend who visits Paris on a regular basis and she always brings me either chocolate, or tea - that kind of stuff. the day before yesterday she called me as soon as she landed in Belgrade, we met for a cup of coffee, and what do you know - there was a bottle of HR waiting for me in the bag.
isn't that funny? people indeed can read each other's mind.

scentiments

I didn't know that this belonged to a woody group. Only the vanilla base leaves a mark. I think its an average one from Guerlain.

Mitsouko

Sole men's smell, which I use. It has wonderful overhead note - fine citruses. Base is noble mixsture of orientals notes. Rich, sunny, stable fragrance. Habit Rouge is men's equivalent Shalimar, but I prefer exactly Habit Rouge. On woman smell femine and originaly, on man - very virile and sympathy.

flannelman

A fantastic, warm, classic scent with powdery notes. Citrus start, then a woody floral heart of rose, patchouli and cedar. The vanilla in the base notes is very nicely balanced, and the mossy/leathery dry-down is just superb. Very long-lasting, too. Perfect for winter.

Aiona

At first spray, it's lemony-Vitalis, like Shalimar. After a few minutes, you can smell the soapy fougere coming through, with just a little bit of rose. Then 6 minutes into it, all I could smell was patchouli. (I don't like patchouli, and just the tiniest bit seems to overwhelm everything else to me. Like the princess and the pea.) I can still smell the fougere a little bit, but only through the mounds of patchouli.

zoka

I like it, I can't imagine it on man, but for women it is great, self confident women.