Guerlain Attrape Coeur

...gets you into consensual trouble after the ball.


I’ve just discovered my newest favorite niche perfume house. It’s a little outfit called Guerlain -- perhaps you’ve heard of them? No? Well then, let me fill you in. They have a couple of hits in high rotation - Shalimar is probably the one that’s played the most. And Mitsouko is Guerlain’s "Stairway to Heaven" epic -- everyone seems to know it and have an opinion, even though you don’t really smell it on the airwaves anymore.

But until recently, the rest of the line was a mystery to me. Guerlain classics like L’Heure Bleue, Vol de Nuit and Jicky, heralded in song and story, were inaccessible. Niche-style inaccessible. As in just not physically gettable - actual bottle-to-palm, nozzle-to-nose.

I Iive in a major metropolis, with the space-age ability to drive my car in any direction that might have one of these storied Guerlains at the other end. And there was no Guerlain at the other end, in any direction.

Until recently, when Saks 5th Avenue Beverly Hills opened their very own Guerlain mini-boutique. I stumble into it while dodging the sales assistant trying to contaminate me with Chloé. Unexpectedly face to face with the venerable stars of Guerlain, I get goose bumps. And a nipple hard-on.

Look! There’s Derby -- so handsome, so debonair! Ooh! Vetiver pour Elle - even more striking in person! And get a load of Nahéma -- a prima donna among prima donnas. I feel like I'm at a movie premiere gawping at the biggest names in show business.

I methodically begin sniffing scent strips spritzed with these new-to-my-nose perfumes. I make it through two, and then am stopped in my wild animal tracks by Attrape Coeur. I get the moronic face cats have when they smell sexy kitty pheromones: the slack jaw and unfocused eyes.

To begin with, I can’t even put my finger on what’s giving me “dumb kitty face”, other than mmmmmm...velvety warmth. Attrape Coeur (French for “heart-catcher” -- perfect!) is ample, welcoming. And it has that lady knickers Guerlain gaminess, but it doesn't seem as thick and insistent as it does in Mitsouko, for example.

Knowing that “mmmmmm...velvety warmth” won’t exactly cut a dash with my discerning readers, I struggle to understand exactly what Attrape-Coeur is doing to me. Amid the beguiling play of sweet, boozy, and bitter, I get my first light bulb: amber. Then violet begins to assert itself. Okay, I’m on a roll now: amber, violet, gamey lady knickers. And there’s a floral fruitiness, a wet peach-like quality rolled up in powdery iris and rose.

Just as I’m thinking, “Wow, I can really carry off this 90-year-old perfume!” I learn that Attrape Coeur was actually introduced in 1999, created by Mathilde Laurent and initially called Guet-Apens (French for “Ambush” -- also perfect!). The tone of this eau de parfum is one of old-fashioned Mitsouko glamour, but the 1999 birthday explains why there’s such a sheerness and lilt to the composition.

Attrape Coeur is formal, yet comfortable. Wearing it is like kicking off your heels at fancy party, and feeling the dense pile of the carpet cushion your bare feet as you eat cakes and bop in your evening gown. It’s a perfume for a grown woman who stays for the lock-in after the ball. And merrily gets into consensual trouble.

Image by Alison Carpulla

21 comments:

  1. And in Toronto! I foolishly bought the pretty but anemic Plus Que Jamais instead of this sweet little number and have been kicking myself ever since.
    -Jelena (of ooloi82 YouTube fame)

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  2. Hi Jelena! You certainly can't accuse Attrape-Coeur of being anemic...

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  3. I love Mitsouko, although it has a weird opening. but maybe that is why it is so interesting! kissy kissy missy mitsouko

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  4. You make this sound so good--I love the image at the end of your review. I have a decant of Nahema that someone was kind enough to give me, & I love it, but there are a few more, including AC, that I wish I had easier access to. Of course, I can always order samples, but it would be nice to play with them in a store!

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  5. Oh, Guerlain.

    MmmmmmM Attrape-Coeur. I've been lusting to try this one, but it's not represented at the Guerlain counters in Berlin. Sounds divine, if perhaps not quite playful enough for my liking.

    What are your thoughts on Samsara? I feel like this is the undesired step-daughter in the Guerlain family (even if in this case that step-daughter is really a middle-aged lady with a face full of podwer and a pearl choker)...

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  6. Nadine, there are more than a few slacker relatives in the Guerlain family, coasting on the reputation of their elders, or taking their inheritance and squandering it on banal pursuits.

    I have Samsara in the parfum, and I think your "face powder/pearl choker" metaphor sort of hits the spot. Samsara seems a little bourgeois - it doesn't have the recklessness and surprise of the Guerlain greats (which admittedly, I'm still feeling my way around).

    It's the jasmine in Samsara that clonks me over the head. Jasmine is so radiant and high-pitched that it can be too shrill for me, and it is here. By the time I'm digging the sandalwood, I'm reminded of Chanel Égoïste, and all I want to do is wash off the Samsara and enjoy some Égoïste, with its spicy rose/creamy sandalwood groove.

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  7. occhineri, playing with perfume in the store makes all the difference to me, too! If Guerlain made Attrape-Coeur and Vertiver pour Elle more widely available, they might be surprised to have a couple of hits on their hands.

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  8. Katie,

    I have been thinking about going to SCP next Friday to meet-and-greet Kilian Hennessy, but on second thought, I met him last year, he is a very nice young man, but I may still go to SCP and walk on the opposite direction to Nordstrom, my favorite SA Lynda, and the much beloved Guerlain perfume counter. Maybe Attrape Coeur will Attrape Moi.

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  9. Arwen, I'd heard Kilian was making an appearance there! I actually went to SCP for the first time as my little "treat" after my "That Morning Show" segment last week (their studio's nearby). I was in hoggette heaven! I didn't meet Lynda at the Nordstrom Guerlain counter, though - is she the super sweetheart to snag? Does she know her Guerlain onions?

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  10. Yes, Lynda really knows her Guerlains. I am glad you had fun at SCP. I don't go as often as I used to, but once or twice a year I love doing the pilgrimage.

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  11. Dear katie, whato do you think of the new Guerlain Idylle? It seems excellent to me, a new great feminine classic

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  12. Elena, I've only smelled Idylle on the blotter - haven't had a moment or a bare patch of skin to wear it, yet. But it's big, feminine affair - lots of jasmine and lily along with musk in there, too. It's Thierry Wasser's first official creation as Guerlain's new in-house perfumer, and it seems to be breaking with tradition in terms of the absence of vanilla/gourmand notes. How does it actually wear on the skin?

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  13. Coincidentally, Elena, my Perfume Pen Pal Dan just sent me his Idylle findings, which I've just bunged up on the blog. See what you think about what he thinks!

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  14. Katie, are you familiar with Laura Biagiotti's discontinued fragrance Sotto Voce? I read somewhere that it smells very much like Attrape Coeur. I only know Sotto Voce. If you are not familiar with Biagiotti's fragrances you should definitely try them out. Unfortunately many of the good ones have been discontinued.

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  15. michele, I've not encountered Sotto Voce, but just read Marina's wonderful post about it in PerfumeSmellinThings:
    http://perfumesmellinthings.blogspot.com/2008/05/perfume-review-laura-biagiotti-sotto.html

    Attrape Coeur's emphasis is on violet and amber, and Sotto Voce features tuberose and heliotrope, so on paper, they seem like they'd be pretty different. Perhaps there's a similarity at the vanilla-ambery drydown?

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  16. Katie...I might have just copied you again with this one...

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  17. And why not, Fleurine! I've heard it may be discontinued, so any bottles seen at Guerlain counters deserve to be given a good home.

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  18. Dear Katie, Guerlain is by no means a niche perfume house. I even go so far to say they kind of invented perfume. The house is one of the great big players in the industry and has been founded in 1828. They produce fragrance, makeup and skincare. Besides that, you are absolutely right: Attrape coeur is a real heart catcher. But unfortunately, the production has been discontinued as far as I know.
    Greetings from Vienna!

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    Replies
    1. Haha! You missed the intended irony in my calling Guerlain a niche perfume house. Meaning that it's hard to find Guerlain's heritage classics stocked in full in US department stores. When you do, it's like discovering a niche brand.

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    2. Maybe you could use question marks arounds words that you are using ironically in future, in order to indicate that use.

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