Guerlain Apres L'Ondee EDT Review

I like it right off the bat, it speaks volumes about the morning I awoke to.  The kind of morning where, curtains drawn and blinds lowered, you have no idea what kind of light awaits you outside...is it sunny? Typically overcast? Or...has it just rained...

Well it had. A warm unusual rain for the season, a sprinkling misty subtropical rain...a southern hemisphere rain that you don't really see around these parts but on a summer morning (which it IS NOT).  I kid you not.  Apres L'Ondee: "After a (Summer) Rain"

We had brunch in the natural light from my two small windows.  I felt like a nice arrangement would be fitting for the smell.

Bao, Nectarines and Heirloom tomatoes, Garlic Fries from Trader Joe's (really great, whole bits of garlic!), Will had an Illy Cappuccino and I had Jasmine Pearl Tea with black honey from Black Sheep Prodigal Sons courtesy of Kieran.

Back to the perfume...

This smells to me--literally note for note--exactly like a Lush deodorant called Aromacreme I used a few years ago which has since  then been discontinued.  Let me say: it worked horribly as a deodorant, amazing to smell and it did deodorize, but 90% of those who used it broke out in horrible swollen fire rash a few days later.   I found other ways of using it (on my wrists, in my hair...) because I simply loved the smell.  And today, I daubed some Apres L'Ondee on my wrists for the first time and I wondered why there was something just very strange about it.

Florals (Iris, Violet, Hawthorn ((I have no idea what Hawthorn smells like but supposedly it's there)), Heliotrope? Rose, and I smell some Jasmine too) mingle with top notes of Anise (lots of this) and mint.  It's a very refreshing scent but not vegetal....more powdery and resinous. There is an oriental quality about it (ylang ylang-esque).  I'm sad to say the orchestration doesn't last as long as I hoped. Perhaps the EDP will be better.

If you, like many, hate the Jovan-esque 80's-90's musks you might also hate Apres L'Ondee.  It doesn't directly smell like those, but it just has a faint reminder of those compositions.  Visually, Apres L'Ondee is like taking a morning tea after the night rains are being lifted by the sun.  It's very atmospheric and ornate.  Kind of like my nails today:

Exactly what I might wear to a fancy tea party...to be in character of course. Revlon's new "Cloud" (milky blue/lavender) with swiss dots of Sally Hansen's "Gilty Pleasure". 

I like/love this. I'm glad I waited till I was saturated with musky/spicy/peppery/resinous perfumes to try this one.   I love the connotations, I love the warm renewed after-rain smell, I love that it has an oriental richness without being heady, I love that it has minted anise qualities without being cheap (though it does smell a little bit like toothpaste...fair warning).  My dying wish is that the EDP will be a little more boastful and  as lingering as Piper Nigrum is on me. I'm looking for MY Guerlain smell, because there seems to be that ONE for each person, and who knows...maybe this is it?