Jicky Guerlain for women

While this does open with an alarming blast of old lady smell. Once it calms down there is something very sweet and nostalgic and Victorian about it for sure, in a very pleasant way. I work in antiques, and it reminds me very much of whenever I work with other scented beauty products contemporary to its era, though while those have long since expired, Jicky is probably the closest I could ever come to smelling those products when they were still new, which is alone worth the 6 dollars I paid for a decant.

I didn't really believe in wearing fragrances by season until I tried Jicky. As a sort of novice to the game I assumed that because it smelled so flirty, bright, and floral it might be good for date night in February–bzzt! Wrong! I was underwhelmed. But one or two sprays of this before a rain-fresh spring day a month later had my head in a spin. It's actually lovely and complex. I do prefer Shalimar to this but that's just because it's more my kind of scent; for the purpose it serves, Jicky is "that girl." My friend's cat is named after this perfume and I feel bad for ever doubting her namesake.

Nowhere near as 'old' and dated smelling as I was expecting. At first it smells like herby, fresh baby powder! Hints of lavender and rosemary make it aromatic, the bergamot makes it fresh and the leathery sandalwood base is gorgeous.

I don't know why (probably the age and the name) but I thought I would hate this, however its really nice, perfectly wearable today, extremely impressive its stood the test of time so well.

In the pantheon of classic fragrances, there are those that stand the test of time not just by name, but through the alchemy of scent that transports one to faraway times and places. Jicky by Guerlain is such a fragrance – a true artefact of olfactory elegance hailing from the golden age of perfumery.
I believe Jicky to be, quite arguably, one of the most exquisite perfumes to grace my collection. Upon application, it is as though one is enveloped in the very essence of refined French glamour; it's a time capsule to the Belle Époque in a bottle.

Crafting a comprehensive discourse on Jicky proves to be a formidable task. The challenge lies in articulating insights that haven’t already been expressed. It’s not merely about sequentially dissecting the fragrance’s opening, heart, and dry-down, as this conventional approach fails to honor what I perceive as a paragon – perhaps the pinnacle – of contemporary perfumery.
Jicky transcends the boundaries of mere scent; it is an enchanting phenomenon, to borrow Dante’s words, «unfathomable to those who don’t taste it». This olfactory experience unfolds as a journey through time, yet its destination is introspective, devoid of conventional landmarks.
Given my limited expertise, I am not inclined to casually discuss art or designate masterpieces. However, Jicky undeniably hovers on the precipice of such accolades. Yet, let us not misconstrue it as a solitary and insurmountable monolith, imposing its essence on every olfactory encounter. Quite the opposite: it serves as the catalyst, igniting the doors to countless universes that spring forth from its essence.
Once Jicky graces our senses, it permeates within each of us, unlocking a myriad of revelations. Consider it not merely as a perfume but rather a stargate to uncharted realms, unafraid to reveal the unexplored frontiers it beckons us to traverse.

I really thought I’d love this when I first sniffed it. It opens up super warm, like Shalimar without the sweetness. However, as it dried it settled into an overbearing citrus smell that is purely like a sanitised public toilet to me. It’s unpleasant and that citrus lingers for quite a while before returning to the initial scent that appealed to me.

I tried this one at the airport the other day. I was reminded of Third Man by Caron in terms of scent. And also a touch of Pour un Homme de Caron.
Third man has that understated raunchy civet quality, and Pour un Homme has the lavender vanilla. I think if I spraqyed them both on top of each other I might get a very close Jicky fragrance.
Anyways, I think this can kinda be worn as a guy actually. I sprayed it on my wrist to try it. It does not smell obviously feminine, but it does lean and begin to be more feminine as the minutes go on, but still it is not dramatically obvious. It is on the feminine side though, so for me I might like to try Muchoir du Monsieur, but have yet to see that one.
Think for Kiels original musk, and that is somewhat how it smells feminine vs masculine. That one also leans feminine, but is kinda unisex. but again it does have a feminine scent to it. Jicky is like that. By the way, I feel also that Kiehls has civet in it, it also has that dirt rauch kinda smell in it.
I would possibly buy this if a women, if they like that somewhat skanky dirty unassuming sort of civet with lavender vanilla fragrance. It is not a sweet fragrance, but there is a touch of it.
I think there was a touch of spicy and a touch of floral powderyness as it developed into the later stages. I thought it was a pretty nice fragrance really, but may not be as feminine as women may prefer.

Tried the vintage. Mom liked it. I think it's better than Shalimar, maybe a little more subtle? Still has that "vintage" flair to it, though.

I can definitely see the similarities to Shalimar in Jicky and I can see the back pinnings to what would later be the oriental fragrance family in the perfume world, especially from the amber, vanilla, spices, benzoin and wood in the base.

But the aromatic and green qualities from the rosemary, lavender and basil are what I smell most prominently in this perfume, followed by the citruses. I smell some wafts of jasmine here and there, but it's only very subtle.

I consider this to be a slightly masculine leaning unisex fragrance, so it wouldn't really be my sort of perfume personally. I also found it has fairly strong sillage (which made me slightly light headed) and it lasted about 9 ½ hours on my skin. I appreciate this perfume though for the history behind it and the old world 19th century charms it exudes to me. It's very French and makes me think of the Belle Epoque!

This is why I'd give this fragrance a 4/10. It's just not really how I would choose to smell personally.

Disgusting top notes, was not able to keep it for the dry down as the initial was enough to judge and never try the scent again. 0/10

Bought the Parfum in May 2023. It smells very different on men & women, I find: completely different on my husband as opposed to myself.

The supposed skank - which I never experienced previously anyway & appeared to me to be a myth - is definitely absent in the 2023 version.

The "masculine notes" do ring out more strongly on my husband, whereas on me it wafts citrus, sweet absinthe, rose, spicy jasmine & then the famed vanilla Guerlinade dry down.

Classic sillage & lasts like a traditional Guerlain. The bottle's even lovelier than in pictures... it all sings of the Belle Epoque, of a painting by Toulouse Latrec, of dancing with Jane Avril.

Nothing is more modern than this.

Went into Guerlain in Covent Garden as I had never smelled Jicky and it's hard to find these days. As expected I really liked it but sad that I couldn't even smell it on my wrist 30 minutes later. I bet 20 years ago it would have lasted all day.

According to legend, the Shalimar prototype was created when Jacques Guerlain added a heaping dose of vanilla into Jicky….the similarities between Shalimar and Jicky are evident. Regardless, Jicky is a tour de force with fern, rosemary, and lavender notes. In addition, Jicky EDP seems to have far better longevity (even in the sticky, humid summer months) compared to its ambery younger sister. Jicky is a fougere showstopper—and always garners tons of compliments.

A Mediterrenean holiday, Summer Sun - with all the herbs and fruits and lavender. So juicy! I wanted to love it so badly because I've read that it was Brigitte Bardot's perfume, when she was young and I am a fan of her. She represented a totally new lifestyle (for a girl of that time) she was so wild, free, brave, spontaneous and genuinely independent. There was something animalic about her - remember that dance scene in "And God created woman"? No doubt this was her second skin, as all of her features are greatly represented in this fragrance. But beware, this is not for everybody. Civet makes me unable to pull it off but I'm happy to try it anyway.

IMO the coolest, classiest, most cultured fragrance anyone can wear (irrespective of gender). Literally released the same year the Eifel tower was built, and the mainstay of Hollywood stars (and starlets) over a century. But more importantly it smells sublime — if this was released for the first time today it would be a top seller (particularly if it was released from a top designer or niche house). The perfect combination of a rich base with bright notes, a little sweet in the middle but never too much. Slightly floral and ever so slightly herbal — this is a happy scent that will resonate with any age. The other thing that makes this a perfect scent (both in its time and today) is that it is completely versatile in any setting. Anyone can wear it in any setting and with any attire and it always works. Wear it on the beach, with sandals and hippy clothes, wear it with top hat and tails at a wedding. The ultimate easy reach and never out of place. If you want a piece of history that will forever remain timeless, this is it.

This one smells like citrus in the opening, then it turns into a very vintage, animalic vanilla. It smells quite unisex, quite dirty. Definitely not a safe blind buy - if you want a classic Mitsouko or Lheure bleue are a lot safer.

I always like to push the limits with fragrance and try to find unique concoctions that smell classy, timeless, and rich. On my journey to find heritage fragrances, I read about this one. As a Guerlain fanatic, I blind bought it after reading that many men started wearing it around the time of its launch. I bear witness that this indeed is unisex. I absolutely love the warm vanilla and sharp citrus with the musky green middle notes. My wife likes it and says that it definitely smells vintage but that’s it’s very pleasant and unique. I can’t stop smelling myself. Love it!

I liked the idea of a scent from 1889 so I blindly bought a small decant. It's surprisingly not as dated as I would expect. I get rosemary and lavender at first that dry down to a very earthy spicy concoction. It sort of smells like putting on a musty coat at a thrift store, comforting and familiar while a little musty and old. I think if you appreciate vintage in general you'll really enjoy this.

I am an avid admirerer of Guerlain treasures. Jicky has an old soul. There is nothing contemporary in her. She bears memories a century old. To me, lavender and rosemray are quite loud, vanilla smiles from the depths.
It is like a time machine..

Warm, cozy, lavender, tiny hints of vanilla, hints of civet. Very pleasant. As a middle aged man, it seems unisex. Not modern, but also not dated...timeless and classy, but with a bit of funk and sex. I can wear this on a brisk fall day reading at home with a glass of wine and listening to jazz or going for a long walk through the park. Very nice.

Scent: 8 / Sillage: 7 / Longevity: 7

Such a fascinating, seductive scent. To Caron's green-minty herbal woody combination, Jicky is lavender and burned vanilla sugar with animalic leather and civet. It has innocence on top and sensuality on the bottom. This perfume is powdery, dusty, smokey, and pleasantly herbal. Excellent projection and silage, as well as lifespan. Calming, lovely, and ageless.

Jicky struck me as masculine. I had to wear it for a while to see whether it developed anything beyond the mossy, resinous scents that hit me first. Lavender came through before long; vanilla warmed and sweetened it up and bergamot gave it a freshness that contrasted with the relatively strong basil and rosemary that I was probably ambivalent about. The second time I wore it, I found the mix of notes pleasant. I'm not really a fan of fougeres, but if balanced with some sweeter notes, I'll still like it. This is one I still consider more masculine, but with enough unisex appeal that I'd enjoy wearing it, too. And I'd love to smell it on my husband.

Update: With each wear, I love it more. My more mature taste in perfume makes the balance between the resinous notes and the rich, sweet ones enchanting. I'm buying a modern bottle.

Guerlain Jicky (1889) - lavender vanilla - #aimeguerlain ‘s classic perfume is a great practice in simplicity with technical mastery. His vanilla for instance isn’t sweet, but creamy and would put countless modern vanillas to shame. Supporting this gourmand accord would be Herbes de Provence, An array of citruses and a great balance of Civet and other musks. Must try.

I adore Jicky. In fact, I wore it so often around a friend that she now calls me Jicky. It's a gorgeous, satisfying scent. However, there is zero longevity. If I want to keep smelling it, I have to reapply often. That's the disappointing part. Even worse is that the EdP is impossible to find.

Aime guerlain created Jicky, just as God created Adam, and since then there have been human beings, opening the title page of civilization. Jicky is worthy of being the ancestor of modern perfume, one of the greatest miracles in the history of perfume, born a hundred years ago...
Jicky should be the predecessor of Shalimar. It already has the foundation of Shalimar, but it lacks more ornate decorations and a stronger oriental style.
The revolutionary Jicky beauty is androgynous, accessible to both male and female customers. At that time, the gender lines of fragrance and smell were still blurred, and the uncleanness of the civet surprised consumers who were still using citrus colognes. The discovery of ethyl vanillin (coumarin) led to the birth of Jicky, Aime guerlain combines natural raw materials (vanilla) with synthetic molecules (such as linalool), using large amounts of lavender, plus aromatic herbal materials such as rosemary, The oriental elements headed by tonka beans, set the starting point of the citrus and bergamot that I am very familiar with. It is fresh and bright, and Jicky, which combines all the advantages, was finally released in 1889. It has no floral fragrance, but only the heart of Fuqi. Guerlain Shanky Guerlinade is also enabled from Jicky.
The gray character of orris root is charming, the spice of basil is slowly inserted, the amber is revealed, and the overall layer of Jicky is clear and rich in detail. Parfum is considered a soft oriental tone, EDT is similar to cologne, and lavender is more prominent.
A capable and dashing new-age woman! Heroic and valiant, not inferior to men.
Jicky is in the same vein as Guerlain's cologne. It is a transitional work in Guerlain's style, which is absolutely crucial.
Jicky is often overlooked because of Shalimar's reputation.
The new version of EDT is already very cute, and the old version of Parfum is mellow and full, and it is a classic that must be smell in a lifetime.

I got a sample from the Perfume Court a few days ago. It's a lovely citrus/lavender/vanilla scent, fresh and summery before the heat sets in. I didn't get the fecal/halitosis note at all. I'm glad I had the opportunity to try this piece of fragrance history, but I will blow it a kiss and wish it well with more kindred spirits than I.

Jicky is best worn on a summers day, with the roof down on a convertible vintage car (racing green of course) and a champagne wicker picnic basket for two on the back seat. A chiffon neck scarf is an absolute must because it is essential that a lady should billow on such a journey, to a large oak tree in the middle of the countryside whereby she and her dandy can lay a tartan blanket on the ground and look up at the clouds. I've yet to live out this idyllic scene but I have a stock of Jicky it's damn well on my bucket list.

I have the EDT in the bee bottle, so am mindful the EDP and other versions are different. Well, my daughter thought it smelled of “teeth”. Not quite the aim but it does have that dentist office medicinal vibe! To me, it has the wintergreen (probably Orris root) hint of Mugler's Aura, a fougere mixed with leather and animalistic base notes that make this quite a musky unusual, unisex scent on me. It also seems to have a small amount of patchouli in the base, though not listed. I can imagine Victorian ladies and gents having a dab of this on their handkerchiefs. A classic, not one I would wear often but glad to have it in my collection. I can see a distinguished older male wearing this well. It starts as a fairly musty, woody ripened scent that is quirky and somehow both strong and light, and eventually dries down to a slightly creamier but still distinctive scent where the lavender is cleaner. On me, the longevity is incredible.

[275] Jicky is said to be the world's first modern perfume due to its innovative blend of both natural and synthetic ingredients. It was also initially created with men in mind, but was remarketed as a scent for women due to floundering sales. Thus, it can also be cited as the world's first unisex perfume. It is also the oldest perfume in continuous existence. As well as being an olfactory pioneer, Jicky is also one of Guerlain's masterpieces. I have a small sample of the parfum de toilette concentration that dates from c. the 1980s. It is a complex beauty - truly unisex and featuring a marvellous example of the Guerlinade accord.

Jicky opens with bright, fresh citrus notes - notably lemon, reminiscent of Shalimar - alongside aromatic lavender. Soft herbal notes round out the lavender, giving a lovely aromatic aspect to Jicky, bringing it to fougère territory. Jicky serves fresh, herbal loveliness at this stage, but then tranforms as the vanilla note emerges, kickstarting the oriental phase. The famed lavender-vanilla at the heart of Jicky is sublime - sweet, smooth, rich and aromatic - as well as being perfectly, cohesively unisex. Soft spices emerge, along with a soft, powdery white floral accord, complementing the lavender-vanilla beautifully while rounding out the Guerlinade accord. Some soft woody notes add depth, and a hint of iris stands out as it dries down.

Jicky's drydown is curiously similar to the manner in which amber spicebombs dry down - resinous, woody and animalic, bolstered by sweet vanilla and spices. It is rich and beautiful, reminiscent of Shalimar in particular here thanks to the Guerlinade accord. It fades to a sweet amber-vanilla skin scent. Jicky's use of vanilla is exceptional - perfectly balanced and nuanced, twisting between the other notes in a cohesive, complementary fashion. This should come as no surprise, as Guerlain is famed for its vanilla, but it is never better showcased than in vintage Jicky in my opinion - even in Shalimar.

In a nutshell, Jicky is a bright, unisex scent centred around a lavender-vanilla accord, featuring perfectly balanced fougère and oriental facets. With moderate sillage and longevity, it makes for a beautiful springtime scent. No doubt the current iteration is a shadow of its former self, however. Still, one of my favourite vintage Guerlains. A wonder. 5/5.

The father (or grandfather, if you will) of Shalimar, there is no way to deny their similarities but Jicky leans towards masculine rather feminine. It is not offensive, it is fresh and cozy, I feel a Victorian grand gentleman whenever I wear it.
I do understand some people say there is an uncomfortable halitosis or faeces smell there: It is some weird quick smell but I do not feel it every single time I wear it... It is just a quick something that probably comes from the jasmine.
Very elegant two centuries ago barber shop vibe that I love. On my skin it has to be applied frequently because it projects good but has some problems on longevity.

I definitely get the "toilet after someone has taken a dump then sprayed lavender air freshener" vibe, but it's done in the classiest, nicest, possible way with an excellent blend of civet, leather, and powder. After the skankiness settles, it's the most beautiful lavender-herbal concoction with the classic Guerlinade accord and a little spice in the drydown. Incredible longevity: 24h+. A true classic.

When you spray it for the first time it smells like Lavender, reminds me of Yardley English Lavender a lot, then it settles down and I can still smell lavender but with sandalwood, it's true at some point in the middle it smells medicinal which I don't like but it settles down nicely, just doesn't have a powerful projection at all. And it does feel like you just washed yourself with your grandma's lavender soap, it's nice but is it worth the price?

The opening is very irritating to my nose. Rosemary, cinnamon and bergamot all combined together. But if you wait for a while that sharp/loud scent fades away and then appears a soft powdery amber,leather and civet combo. This is an extraordinary scent even for today. Not everyone can handle wearing this. What i hated the most is the weak longevity and sillage.

@FrenchTeacher

BIGLY

My favorite word LOL--thank you for using it in your review.

PS I need this fragrance in my life!

I’m not usually a lavender person in perfume (in the garden, yes) but the combo with citrus and vanilla is heavenly. This will probably ring no bells for anyone else but it reminded me of a holiday we had in a beautiful Greek hotel which had an amazing smelling spa and huge beds of rosemary everywhere.
Ps. I got the Parfum, bee bottle

Jicky EDT in bee bottle. Completes my collection. OMG it's much better than I expected. I read Jicky EDT is discontinued entirely, so if you're interested, now might be the moment to buy. 100ml for 40 bucks. Again EDT discontinued. Not other versions of Jicky. Extremely wearable, lightish but intoxicating.

I blind-bought Jicky when I first started seriously delving into the world of appreciating perfumes in late 2019 because, well, it’s a classic isn’t it? And besides it stands at a watershed between the past and present, the ultimate definition of modernity. Now we have post-modernism, which aesthetically always references something else from a previous epoch, whether earnestly or ironically. It’s never a clean slate - but Jicky feels like it was worked with no preconceived ideas of perfumery.

Jicky to me comes across as one of the freshest, most invigorating fragrance experiences I have ever had. Even now, into my second bottle, that first spritz never fails to make me smile. Could its zingy citrus top notes cushioned by a plush base of Tonka and benzoin (so reminiscent to me of scented Armenian papers and one of my favourite ‘clean’ scents) be the advent of the entire men’s barbershop fougere genre, as debonair an icon of perfumery as a three-piece suit? And yet, it was apparently devised as a women’s perfume, at a time when women were discovering freedom and athleticism in Cycling and women’s fashions consequently evinced a new practicality, taking cues from men’s fashions before relapsing into ornate prescriptive silhouettes just a decade later. Jicky too seems to have been born in this interstitial period of feminine liberty, renouncing the floral furbelows of its predecessors to emerge smelling more of a mood than a likeness.

There is something about Jicky’s hesperidic freshness that makes me think of it as my ‘white t-shirt’ scent - for days when I want to feel unencumbered yet stylish and, perhaps, even as handsome as Marlon Brando in a Streetcar Named Desire. It is by no means a surgically-clean freshly-laundered white t shirt, it’s rumpled and a bit sweaty, but the clean sweat of a desirable man, straight out of a warm shower freshly shaved but already perspiring. It avoids the overt sharpness of cologne or aftershave, or the solemnity of deep green oakmossy notes and remains perky all the way down to that gorgeous edible lemon-tart finish. Its dandyish brother, Mouchoir de Monsieur, feels way more dressed up somehow than Jicky; and as such he comes across as more mature even though he is fifteen years younger; he definitely puts on way more airs and cares much more about the fall of his trousers or the barathea of his evening ensemble. Jicky, insouciant, just wants to hop on his bike and go.

It opens with something you’d expect to find in an old-fashioned pharmacy, herbal and medicinal. After a few minutes the lavender comes out to play, softening it into something more soapy - a very clean, luxurious soap. I’d consider it a unisex fragrance. Drydown reminds me a lot of Mon Guerlain, which I guess shouldn’t surprise.

Jicky is one of my favorite scents of all time… to my nose it’s the herbal/lavender version of Shalimar, and I absolutely adore both Shalimar AND lavender so Jicky is a love by default. The opening is very citrus/herbal and you must love the freshness of cologne to appreciate Jicky but the magic really happens when the leather and signature Guerlain vanilla make their appearance. At that point I also really notice the benzoin. Jicky is a chameleon, just when you think it’s a cologne it becomes a fougere or is it an oriental vanilla like Shalimar? Very multifaceted and uniquely beautiful, you can see why this one has withstood the test of time and taken its place among the most beloved classic scents ever created.

EDT Bee bottle & EDP. Sublime smoky vanilla, bouquet de Provence, including of course lavender, and a modestly dirty civet. Radiant, salubrious, complex, yet crystal clear, with light tarry smoke. No wonder this is the oldest perfume that has remained in continuous production. Today’s perfumers could relearn the smell of beauty from this beauty. It’s Sean Connery in the Mediterranean on a yacht surrounded by beautiful women. It took a real man like him to wear the first true androgynous fragrance from the 19th century.

This is really clean and fresh, if indistinct. Unfortunately, lots of classic Guerlains don't do it for me-- probably because these scent profiles have become so ubiquitous through soap, candles, and other products. There's much more going on here as it dries down vanillic, but from a faint whiff it's like I used blue Dawn dish soap and vanilla body lotion.

Jicky is wonderfully weird. Some wild ride of medicinal rosemary lavender and sweet root beer. Part wood nymph, half candy striper, and maybe a little stripper thrown in too. I don’t know if it’s “me” but it’s fun and interesting!!

I'm not fond of it. I have the bee bottle. All I smell is citrus.. lemon and bergamot. So sad I can't smell the lavender, rosemary, basil, jasmine or other notes I would have adored . You really need to be a big citrus fan to like this. HUGE. I think it smells like dish soap.

Review for the bee bottle eau de toilette.

There's something very intriguing about this scent. It has this Ying/Yang, male/female, androgynous quality to it. Despite not being a fan of lavender, I do like it at times when it is blended with vanilla, and here it is beautifully done in a light, airy, slightly aromatic way that envelopes me with this lovely aura of cleanliness yet manages not to remind me of Yardley soap. Here, the lavender plays very well with the vanilla and bright lemon notes, giving this a cheerful facet. On reflection, the opposite feeling to this fragrance would be the more contemplative L'Heure Bleue. While I think L’Heure Bleue is beautiful, I prefer this more sunny and optimistic scent.

I also think there is something very sexy about this fragrance. It's not overt, but very subtle. An innocent sexiness. It's no wonder this was Bridgette Bardot's signature scent as she possessed that innocent/sexy quality, that to my mind this perfume would suit very well.

Right now, this is a very strong like. Something tells me that by the time I finish this travel sprayer that I picked up secondhand from someone apparently not as enthused for this scent as I am, that is subject to change for the better. Hopefully, it won't be too difficult to find a bottle then.

Edit 11/9 - As predicted, I've fallen in love. There is just something about this fragrance that captivates me. It's such a happy, carefree scent. Lucky me, I also managed to find a bottle of the edt at a decent price. I am kicking myself that I never tried this when the extrait and edp were readily available at reasonable prices. For some reason I allowed myself to be swayed by negative reviews here. I don't know about other reviewer's bottles, but I find nothing offensive in this scent. It is a joyous ride for me from beginning to end.

This is just what it says, it's citrus and herbs, vanilla and spice, but underneath there is an animalic intensity that comes in sharply, not so much funky to my nose. But to some noses this has a terrible bite. It's cleaner and fresher than Mitsouko, and I can imagine wearing it in very particular situations, whereas Mitsouko isn't one I could imagine wearing. The Parfum is a much better dry-down than the EDT, although the EDT is less harsh to begin with, it retains the funky aspects longer with less nuance than the Parfum, in my testing.

Jicky is brilliant. I really love the very idea of its existence.

Mainly because nowadays perfumes are basically rearrangements of previous perfumes. So many references and having to guarantee the market share is what we are left with. Pure mediocrity mostly. Besides the fact that perfumers are hostages of IFRA’s rules and limitations feeding the greed of big laboratories and corporations. Luckily we have the new resistance in the names of Bortnikoff, Russian Adam, Tsvga, Rogue and other heros of our time to give us some hope that good perfumery is still possible.

Lavender, citrus, civet and coumarin. There’s no gender. No “right type to pull it off”. If you don’t wear a masterpiece like this (even in the super “funky/skanky/bad breath civet” current formulation - and there’s no civet/civetone in fragrantica’s pyramid... tsc tsc) because of this ridiculous marketing “genderization” and what not, then you are a fool. And you’re gonna be the one missing a great experience because someone you’ve never met and probably never will wrote some kind of nonsense about ”masculinity” or the “right type of man”.

For the record, the current bee bottle is way havier on civetone then the older bottle I own (the thin amphora with red/brown plastic cap). Like, a lot heavier.

If in a tragic scenario of having to choose only one perfume for the rest of my life, Jicky would be seriously considered.

Tremendous. This is 100% a perfume that everyone and anyone could and should wear - if they like it, of course.

a big dry lavender that quickly joins forces with a creamy blend of myrrh, salty rosemary, lemon oil, cinnamon red hots, root beer, & amber
3-4 sprays from a vintage bottle, medium projection, lasts several hours

灑上去馬上聞得像是沙士糖果的味道，馬上讓我感覺到有點清涼又帶點甜味，緊接著嗅到柑橘味與像是走進薰衣草田的氣味，最後留下一縷帶有香草的甜味回味無窮⋯⋯是一款非常適合夏天的香水

Just to let everyone know who loves this fragrance, like I do, it looks like it's either been discontinued or been pulled in it's EdT/EdP forms. There's a new Mitsouko like bottle the EdP has been put into;it's in the fragrantica database. But on the Guerlain website and other retailers they have nothing but the Extrait/Parfum. There's very little stock on eBay for the EdP and even less for the EdT, both in bee bottles. I was only able to find both of them by looking on google in the shopping tab, and even then it was difficult to find a decently priced one (less than $90). I would get it if you can; the EdT is my favorite iteration and I cannot be without it. Sorry to cause FOMO, but just letting other Jicky lovers know.

Does anyone else notice a strong resemblance to Revlon's Ciara?

A few years passed since I finished the last bottle of my beloved Jicky EdT; it was a plain-looking, transparent, tall 93 ml refillable bottle containing a perfect formula which I ruthlessly sprayed thinking I will never be able to finish it. But I did, so recently I bought it again - this time in a fancy bee bottle (being a sort of a perfume bottle snob, I was excited to get this classic Guerlain in even better looking bottle LOL).
Impressions?
Well, it's a shadow of its former self, thin and weak. The aromatic opening with invigorating blast of rosemary is totally absent and goes straight to the middle notes appearing as a mild note in well-behaved fougere with a powdery background. So sad. My disbelief was huge, so I tried with over spraying it for couple of days, just like I used to... but there is no point. The free spirit of Jicky is gone.

I imagine that Oscar Wilde and Mabel Love wore Jicky

Jicky is timeless and delicious. It is the ultimate romantic meal for two. It has that sex and candy vibe, sweet and indolic, but the whole romance takes place in a Victorian cottage.
Unlike most, I do not agree that Jicky is, exactly, Unisex. To me it is mostly feminine, but in the arms of a man. I do believe a rare and refined man could wear Jicky perfectly though.
First there is sweet, soothing English lavender, which is immediately smoothed out with vanilla creme, our parasympathetic nervous system is then pushed further with a main course of spices and a touch of fresh rosemary and basil. There is cool sparkling Limoncello and bucks’ fizz with sprigs of mint to quench your thirst.
All of this warmth and tingling smoothness is like olfactory ASMR. But you find your self outdoors, walking through the cool woods, picking wildflowers and wearing an old, loved leather jacket that belongs to your lover. You can smell his fragrance on the coat, and it makes you want to hurry back to the cottage for, dessert. The dry down is so sweet and warm. Marzipan for dessert.

Fougere Royale Houbigant was introduced to the world in 1882. It was the 1st perfume to use synthetics and it changed the world of fragrance forever. Jicky came along 4 years later, both have a classy, but free countryside feel. They both utilize the aromatic organic compound -and powerful blood thinner- Coumarin (found in Tonka beans), the floral and spicy terpene alcohol Linalool and Ethylvanillin.
This sounds unpleasant, but it is chemical magic, alchemy.
Shalimar is Jicky for Winter. Perhaps the same woman, 35 years later and more about sweetness than sexiness?
As I’ve said, I don’t find this to be unisex. The man who wears Jicky would have to be sophisticated, self-possessed and not insecure about being butch enough. Not for a Kouros wearing sort of man!
I think of a Renaissance gentleman like Justin Trudeau wearing Jicky.
I can imagine that Oscar Wilde wore it. I mostly picture it on great beauties and ladies, in love on their countryside estates, in summers over 100 years ago.

A towering achievement.
Lavender, citrus, with a musky finish.
Nice use of civet.
Supreme class & elegance.

Aimè Guerlain was creative enough for this era. He dared innovate by using more than one synthetic ingredient, namely linalool, coumarin, and ethyl vanillin. The result was a blend that evoked different types of natural essences rather than just one floral or fruity one. Jicky is considered one of the first modern perfumes and has also introduced the novelty of being a unisex perfume. It was released to women but later adopted by men. Allegedly it was also the first fragrance to be called a "Perfume". The French word "Parfum" comes from the Italian "Profumo", and the latter developed from the Latin "Per Fumum". It means "through smoke" in the sense of "expanding steam".

Jicky is a warm perfume, but it opens with a fresh blend of citrus fruits flavored with the mint and herbal notes of rosemary. Its distinctly fougère nature appears in the body with a strong rustic lavender. It is sweetened by almond coumarin and jasmine, in addition to orris earthier nuances. At this stage, the development is somewhat masculine with an almost rural roughness while lingers with a bewitching feminine, graceful sweetness. We face two patterns, a male fougère and a female oriental floral, helping each other to maintain this duality. At the base, we find a resilient amber balm typical of ambergris, flavored with spices, sweetened with vanilla and benzoin, and a bit leathery and animalistic through the notes of leather and the indispensable civet.
The performance of the modern jicky exceeds my expectations. The longevity is average in the skin, but it is superlative in clothing. The silage and projection are softer, although they vary positively depending on the heat.
When do I use Jicky? On a cold spring morning or in a darker and more humid autumn afternoon.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
My overall rating: 8.27 / 10.00
Recommendation: If you are a woman this is a must-have. It fits better ladies after 30 years old and/or formal clothes. If you are a man, you should better try it first. As far as I am concerned it's a must-have or at least a must-sniff.
Good enough for a blind buy? No, try it first!

Music: Edith Piaf - "Milord"

I have nothing to say about Jicky that others haven't said better already. I love it, it's a constant companion. However– my main problem with Jicky is that when I wear it outside it seems to attract WASPS!!!!!!!!! (I mean the insect, it may attract white anglo saxon protestants as well, but if so I haven't noticed.) Has anyone else experienced this???? I swear, all summer, wasps are flying AT and ON me if I'm wearing Jicky in public...... Please let me know...

Hmm... this really is a very close flanker of Shalimar. You could tell me it's Shalimar.
The same, almost medicinal citrus, with a powdery finish.

Sillage: modest
longevity: few hours

I was unsure about Jicky when I first received it – there were so many reviews that claimed an unpleasant halitosis or fecal smell that I was reluctant to try it on myself. It's a 130 year old fragrance, and I was dreading the 'old lady' characteristic that seems to plague a lot of older scents. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a go and I'm very glad that I did.

At first, there was a burst of citrus, lime to my nose, followed by an herbal, almost medicinal freshness, reminiscent of bee balm. After a few minutes, it morphed through a sharp, peppery spiciness into what I can only describe as 'Pampers' – that soft baby powder/laundry smell, and having had two children, diapers are something that I would like to leave in my past. I do not want to smell like diapers, even clean ones.

Upon another application, I discovered some vague citrus and dark floral notes that I had missed originally, being so disappointed by the baby smell. I do get a fecal undertone, probably the orris, but I really had to search for it, and it's not strong enough to overpower the positives about the middle notes. It adds a layer of interest, although it doesn't help the association with the clean diaper scent I had noticed before (I'll downgrade to a mostly-clean diaper).

After a couple hours, it had completely transformed into a dreamy, warm vanilla/amber/sandalwood, the 'Guerlainade' that people gush about so often, and I understand why. It's a comforting, feminine smell, something motherly and safe, copied ad nauseam in modern fragrances because it's just so good.

Having now tried Jicky, it's amazing to me that a single fragrance can have so many facets that don't sound like they should work – fun citrus, refreshing herbal spice, innocent powder, and comforting vanilla, all in one spritz. But somehow they do, each taking their turn, gently edging each other out of the spotlight before they fade completely. Is Jicky my favorite scent? No. It's not even my favorite Guerlain. But is it worthy of owning? Absolutely. For being an old lady, she's got spunk, spice, and a big heart underneath it all; she is a timeless, elegant scent that has more than earned her place in the annals of perfumery.

If someone offered me the opportunity to go to a great art museum, alone or with just a friend or two, and spend all the time there I wanted for a bit less than $40, I'd probably jump at the chance. If they told me that when I was ready, I could take a piece of art home to keep for no extra charge, I'd be off like a shot to get there before they changed their mind (or recovered their sanity). This is how I feel about the chance to shop Guerlain's many offerings on the discounter websites.

Jicky, like Shalimar, Mitsuko, Vetiver and so many others, is a work of art and history in a bottle.

I have never gotten a fecal note from Jicky. What I experience is a fleeting citrus masterpiece at the opening that is quickly joined by the three elements that mark so many of the Guerlain products from before 1970: (1) animalc leather (civet with some castoreum in the vintage bottles, or convincing, if lighter, chemical substitutes in current formulations); (2) vanilla/lavender/sandalwood (the Guerlain base that was first seen in Jicky and which became integral to the DNA of the house in the decades that followed); & (3) powdery orris (high quality and, to my nose, natural smelling).

It is all rather elegant (and at least to my perceptions) so totally unisex that I cannot fathom what made the house initially market this product to women and not to all. Perhaps that decision was a product of the era in which Jicky was released, but famously, it was Belle Epoque men who bought Jicky and made it a success.

When I wear Jicky, I feel like I am smelling history. It has its bright spots--often what first catches your attention. It also has more difficult moments which can prove momentarily challenging but which ultimately resolve into a comprehensible whole that provides irreplaceable insight into what we all encounter today. That's Jicky. Understanding this beautiful creation is just so vital to truly fathoming what came after it. Much of today's fragrance landscape would not exist were it not for the success of Jicky.

I wear Jicky in warmer weather. I find the performance of the current formulation to be less well adapted to the dry cold of winter. The Extrait, if you can find it and are willing to pay the much higher price, works well in the cold and smooths and softens the sharpest moments in the other versions.

These days, Jicky is a great scent for time spent at home. It is comfortable to wear but intriguing when you take time to focus on it.

Like the bottle for Perrier-Jouet Fleur de Champagne, the bee bottle used for Jicky is elegant, historic and somehow presages what it contains. As such, it is a great decision regarding presentation of this classic scent. Also, the atomizers on these bottles are quite good.

Any fragrance enthusiasts should, at the current prices, seek out and buy a discounted bottle of Jicky EdP. As the other comments here show, you may not come to love it as I do, but you need to have experienced Jicky repeatedly to understand much of what came after it. There is a reason this product has been in continuous production for more than 130 years. Why not get your nose on it and find out why? I think you'll be glad you did.

I a little bit overs prayed tonight after shower. 10 sprays .. it's a 2018 bottle and it smells amazing.I get no fecal notes but a creamy vanilla lavender aroma. It is strong i can smell. it after 4 hours

Oh I like this! Especially after that offensive bomb I sprayed on myself before this one. This is definitely Shalimar - but with lavender, so like Philtre, really. And like Coromandel a bit too, which always has the same aura / era vibe for me. Not too skanky to my nose, not as bad as Shalimar EDP, and much more spicy. Much more herbalicious than Philtre, with the rosemary and basil. But just smelling it without comparison, definitely reminds you of it.

On me Jicky is like Shalimar minus vanilla plus fecal note. It morphs all the time from smelling a bit like Shalimar to an aromatic composition to an unbearable fecal stink. I am a Guerlain fan. I've tried all their classics and own a few. But.... I admit I need more time for this perfume. Maybe later, Jicky.

The poopiest scent I own. Especially if I smell the bottle (bee bottle, EDP, 2020) around the nozzle, it's so skanky it's a joke.
On my skin, the skank lasts 15 minutes tops, and it's flanked by fresh herbs such as rosemary, basil and a blast of citrus - not really my cup of tea.
But in half an hour it blooms with the tonka leading to the Guerlinade and then I start to like it.

I bought it for its glorious history, and I think I could enjoy it, given the right circumstances.

I own Shalimar EDP too and I see them as related but not as sisters, more as cousins, since Shalimar is way sweeter and lacks the poop note, its civet is different or at least reacts differently on my skin.

It's old school and a lesson in parfumery.

Jicky; Shalimar’s younger sister, a tomboy of the same family. I don’t get any of the rancid or ‘off’ notes some talk about. It segues straight from herby-citrusy freshness into Guerlinade with a gritty edge from the Fougère. It is very easy to wear for me; more so than Shalimar (which I adore but which comes up somewhat sweet on me). My true Guerlain spirit animals are LHB and Mitsouko, but a daytime tag team of Après l’Ondée and Jicky for different moods is a very welcome addition.

I have a 2019 batch EDP -

Jicky opens up very in a sharp citrusy herbaceous note (somehow I smell some mint?), then lavender steps in and plays for quite a while. I don't feel any vanilla at all but civet...oh yeah, it lets me know it is very much present. A very animalic, dirty fougere; if you're looking for some crisp and calming lavender (like laundry detergent type), keep walking :))

I did not notice any halitosis note at all until...I sprayed Jicky on a blotter; 20 minutes in and I couldn't figure out what smells so bad. Had to toss that strip as it was plain unbearable - please don't do what I did. However, I do not feel it on my skin which is a huge relief.

Overall, I don't think this is a crowd pleaser and a safe purchase; you either need to like lavender in all iterations or be a die hard Guerlain fan to buy it (I'm the latter). Definitely test first if you can.

EDIT: welp, I ended up returning it to the store. Somehow, the animalic note got very loud on a warmer day and I just couldn't stand that dirty-mouth smell. It must have been my skin chemistry that played this bad joke.

I blind bought Jicky after a years of lurking on this site and making a mental wish list. Prior to the Jicky purchase I bought a small decant of L'Heure Bleu and loved it but worried that it was too feminine and might misrepresent me. I don't hate Jicky and I am trying to convince myself that I like it but I should have bought the Bleu. The initial spray of Jicky is Grandpa's Cologne, then as it shifts to the middle notes it's just confusing, powdery scents trying to compete with something slightly antiseptic and still like men's aftershave. I like the dry down well enough and it seems to be fairly tame on me so it does feel more like a day scent than LHB. Maybe I'm not a complex fragrance person. Maybe I really don't like green and herbal scents. I should know better than to blind buy.

Update: I might be able to overcome some of the memory/associations that occur with this fragrance (medicinal and a problematic grandfather). I have worn it every day for a few days and am getting used to the middle notes. I still dislike the top notes but they only last about 10 minutes on me.

This is a review of the current edp of Jicky. It opens with the most beautiful accord of citrus, lavender, and vanilla. As it progresses, the citrus fades, and this screachy civet begins to weave in and out. The musky vanilla lavender is very nice, but the civet is troublesome. It feels discordant, though better blended than the current edt. It leans slightly masculine.

If anyone knows where I can find a new bottle of the EDP (in the US), would you please send me a PM? Thank you so!

I have the bee bottle, EDT. The dry down is just like Shalimar, but with a little more lavender and less vanilla, it is more masculine/unisex. The top notes disappear very fast on me, it's just a thing that my skin does with fresh notes in perfume. I think this is a nice clean alternative for Shalimar if you find it too sexy or "dirty" or if you don't enjoy that persistent leather note it has. Considering how old this perfume is, the complexity and modernity it has is amazing. I mostly bought it for the history it has, but I much prefer this than Shalimar, which I almost never wear because of that leather note that makes it too punk in a way.

I have just received a flacon carre Jicky (realease bottle) and i am in freaking HEAVEN!!!
I live in a country were there is little perfume culture, i guess because scarce options are available (only the most sold) and our devaluated coin makes them so expensive... So i found this almost full Jicky that is from before 1939 at $42usd!!!
I simply had to blind bought it. My first encounter ever with this scent, that i have wanted so long, was going to be with the original formulation! Imagine my happiness when i found it to be this perfection! I really thought i would need to work on my liking of this one. That i would need a time to understand her. With vintages, i often found we need a long courtship, just like in the old days, to really fell in love. But this one was love at first sniff!

What surprises me the most is that the lemon is still in the front row. I expected a century old bottle of perfume has its top notes long gone... But to be honest i've never had before a perfume this old in front of me, ever.
(I am truly afraid to try a new realease since it has so many coments about ofensive smells)

I have a Shalimar Eau de Cologne from de 70s and find little resemblence to Jicky, despite the Shalimar EDC it's supposed to be the closest one to this perfume.

It makes me remember a lot the scent that remains on the clothes i keep in a drawer with Roger and Gallet soaps underneath.
It is totally unisex and a lot lighter than i supposed it would be. The smell it remains on me it is not perfumy at all. It is more like a clean smell. Like if i have (all the time) just had a bath with the most expensive and refined soap ever dreamed. Long live to Jicky!

Jicky is the first fragrance I ever purchased and I am hooked. I read about in in Answered Prayers; according to Jean Cocteau (via Capote) it was Colette's signature scent. I was instantly intrigued. I'm a 25 y/o male who had no experience with perfumes at the time I bought it (a few years ago) and this scent was and has been a huge confidence booster when I wear it; I feel like one of my dandy heroes, intriguing, cosy and classic. It took a minute to "get" it at first, but once it clicked I was simply hooked on it. Wonderful stuff! I love it as a unisex scent.

I just purchased a sample of the EDP. I won't be as technical as others because I'm starting out on my fragrance journey. This does not smell like an old fragrance. It still smells thoroughly modern. A very fresh opening moves into a warm, vanilla dry down. None of the skank comes through on my skin. I can smell the Shalimar relationship. Men, do not be afraid to try this fragrance. I'm so glad I did. Not only do I love the smell, but I feel like I'm wearing history. Give it a try. I will definitely be purchasing a bottle.

Bergamot oil, rosemary, and civet off the top gives it that totally singular Jicky-ness. I do get a cheese-breath quality from it, for sure. It reminds me that the point of animalics is not to smell like feces or cheese breath, the way some new fragrances give us "what we want" out center and raw. The art was using them to give textures that are simply irreplaceable and naturally alluring.

In Jicky, it's the civet blending in pure genius with the herbs (lavender, rosemary, basil), citrus oils, vanilla and tonka -- which all express themselves individually via their own topnote halflives -- to make an inimitable milkiness. Like sipping a London Fog in the fresh air and you get a whiff of your fancy goat milk hand soap off your wrist as well as the fresh almond croissant in your other hand. An Earl-Grey flavored version of Holly Golightly window shopping during the opening credits of BaT if you like.

Simple, elegant, not intrusive but persistent (the EDP), and totally unique.

The new EDP is fabulous and actually quite strong and long lasting, occasionally a bit much actually. My 20-year-old EDT is essentially the same smell but on the other hand a touch too light. And the pure parfum/extrait is, again, essentially the same and not especially better in tenacity, just a bit denser and smelling almost like fresh housepaint at first.

Add a bit of sour lime/Moustache de Rochas and you have Mouchoir de Monsieur.

Add an unbelievable WD-40-and-expensive-vanilla accord for Shalimar.

Oh, and it smells great on the furniture/curtains, and one of my favorite things to wear is Jicky and Jacomo de Jacomo together. Milky, clovey, ashy, creamy.

Finally I received my first two Jicky bottles. One edt and one edp.
Both are from the most recent formulas and they smell exactly the same. The only difference is the concentration.
What it smells like? Well everyone knows how Jicky smells...or maybe not?
On me it opens with a beautiful and strong bergamot oil that really awakens my senses. This energetic opening is followed by lots of freshly crushed rosemary and basil. Then a classic and soothing lavender makes it’s glorious entrance surrounded by a sensual vanilla and supported by sandalwood, despite not listed.
I was waiting for the haliosis and fecal notes many reviewers are complaining. They never showed up on me.
I couldn’t think of a more perfect, peaceful and contemplative fragrance than Jicky.
It’s like walking in a backyard full of herbs and country flowers. It’s like reading a book with a hot cup of Earl Gray tea.
You could just spray this timeless lavender breeze to bed and have the most wonderful dreams.
I don’t consider it sexy nor dirty. Jicky is calming a perfume that invites you to feel at peace, to let the worries pass you by and wait for better things.
Yes it reminds me of Shalimar but while Shalimar is sensual, mysterious and outgoing, Jicky is restrained, charming and quiet.
A new love story has begun today.

Jicky....
A perfume that had rattled around in my brain, and sat patiently on my wish-list for many years.
This week I was able to acquire a new bottle (2019). As Luca Turin had commented positively of the 2018 batch, I bought what was available to me.
What do I get?
A opening of bright punchy citrus, followed immediately by LAVENDER in its most concentrated, pure form. Thick and dense. As the lavender is unleashed it leads to herbal/ floral notes. in turn, this leads to the indolic heart that many dislike. Described as “Halitosis” or “poop” by many. I get it...it fades to the herbal vanilla base. I do get violet touches here and there, almost soap-like. That’s just my nose.

Here’s an observation I made.
Despite this being a relatively soft fragrance, don’t bury your nose in the spot that you sprayed. The notes in this fragrance add to greater than the sum of their parts. Together it is a glorious picture. When individual notes are scrutinized and magnified it gets warped, and distorted. I will enjoy it for what it is, the oldest perfume in continual existence, a masterpiece and a beautiful scent.

In the interests of art and science, and since I'm on a Guerlain jag at the moment, I thought I'd do a sniff off between a vintage Jicky and a modern EDP. I bought the modern one a few years ago, there seemed to be a surfeit of it on the online retailers. The vintage is a lovely thing, light, aromatic, with a tiny kiss of animal in the base, although I clearly recall never being swept away by it at Guerlain counters in Sydney decades ago when I would buy my Mitsouko and L Heure Bleue. I never bought it. Cue forty years and the internet, and I was able to go back. Wonderful decant angels around the World ❤️😍. A couple of years ago I then bought the modern EDP thinking I might enjoy it at just so moments, gardening, out on the farm. The vintage is of the paddocks, the sky. Well. I came close to pitching this new bottle out, not even using it as air freshener in the smallest room because IT SMELLED SO POOPY😨😟😳. Tonight, it doesn't. Truly, I'm thinking that rather than go off, many perfumes get better with laying down like wine. Or my nose is broken....the modern EDP now smells a bit sweet and fuzzy, even velvety. And very enjoyable. So as I chuckled and liked similarly horrified sniffers below, I'd now say just lay it away for a few years!

For the EDP

I have a theory. It was named after Jacques and it was a joke perfume because "Jicky" had bad breath. The opening is legit just bad breath and cinnamon. Then after 15 minutes it's Shalimar and the bones of Mon Guerlain. Not hating on it, it is literally what it smells like.

If you appreciate Shalimar, you will appreciate Jicky and vice versa.Both are lovely classics but you don't need both.
I love the citrus in the opening and as always, I wish it would last

A most unusual fragrance. You can smell the orris root and rose, mandarin, vanilla and musk. There's a bit of a hay scent. It's overall a warm fragrance with the smell of glaced mandarin peel, the type that go in hot cross buns and spices. I spend a lot of time imagining it's creation and unrequited love. Glad that's not me! I want to try layering this fragrance, it doesn't feel quite complete but, I'm not sure what with. Maybe, Mon Guerlain which is supposed to be the modernised Jicky, although I can't see the similarity.

It's super long lasting (I can smell this on me the next day) with low to medium silage. Unisex fragrance. Appropriate as a day perfume near others. This EDP, probably leans masculine. I don't love it, but happy to have it.

I have a recent batch.

Anyone who loves "Egoiste" can not help but love "Jicky". They are two perfumes with a common spirit.
The aggressive explosion of real lavender at the beginning acts as a vehicle of a warm spicy hug of cinnamon with oriental shades from all the usual suspects of the time: vanilla, sandalwood, benzoin (supports the former) while civet, with its unquestionable "dirty" trace, signs a seemingly simple scent of contrasts that you trust.
Its good character carries a madness. Its feminine intuition loves men. Its versatile temperament prefers the intelligent.
"Jicky" is not a feminine perfume that will be worn by a man who wants to impress.
It will be worn by a man who wants to be loved!

i got a surprising whiff of whipped egg whites right at the beginning. the old man halitosis thing someone else mentioned is there too. but the grimy stuff evaporates quickly and leaves a perfectly wearable, herbal ghost child (well, parent technically) of shalimar.

I love this Jicky! Wearing for first time. Initial herbaceous citrus is a burst of freshness. Later comes the signature Guerlain vanilla. The flirtatious hint of barnyard is simply understated and lovely. I might wear a touch to the office, definitely on a summers day when the heat will bring out the layers. Definitely to bed with others and alone ! Love it. Love it.

That scandalous, indolic, SKATOLIC civet note married with the fizzy cream soda and warm lavender makes Jicky EDP such a hypnotic, addictive fragrance. If loving this is wrong, I don't want to be right. It's right up there with Guerlain's Mouchoir de Monsieur, Eau d'Hermes, Houbigant Cologne Intense, Bal de Versailles, treading a fine line between clean, refined and skanky, depraved. I LIVE for fragrances like this.

Sure, it is furthest from modern that a fragrance can get, but Hell if I care about modernity. Modernity has also brought reality TV and fast fashion.

Blind bought this to add to my classic Guerlain collection. I have the EDP, 2016 in the bee bottle. Starts with a lemon, vanilla, sweet dessert smell. Then switches to a herby lavender with vanilla. A real lavender, like good essential oils, and not the fake sweet smell that you often smell. A little bit of rosemary. I get a slight civet, but nothing offensive like I’ve read about. Ends on a Shalimar note, that amber/vanilla but without as much incense. Slight woodiness from sandalwood. Much more subtle, musky smelling. Still lavender throughout. This has moderate sillage, and I get unexpected whiffs of it every now and then. Lasts about 6 hours. I can see myself preferring this in the summer, and it is light enough to wear during the day at work. Some perfumes feel glamorous, elegant, or like I should dress up for. This feels like a T-shirt and jeans. A secure woman who likes her feminine side but doesn’t mind hanging out with the guys, having adventures and fixing things by herself. That being said, I would like this smell on anyone, regardless of gender. I didn’t have any lavender perfumes in my wardrobe, and this is a welcome addition.

I'm a fan of Guerlain, I recently bought the EDP and was left disappointed in it. I fail to understand what all the hub bub is about over this juice. I didn't find anything particularly unique or appealing in the notes. Not that it smelled bad; it just wasn't attention worthy. Longevity was terrible and it sits close to the skin. I suppose if you really like the smell you can spray on half a bottle and then sniff your arms for a few hours. Just not my thing.

As ellimac mentioned, there is this weird old-people/ retirement home scent to this perfume and I am trying my best to ignore it. For some reason I really want to love Jicky and I find myself constantly trying to pull it off. I have to say, on a rainy spring day I love to wear my leather jacket and Jicky goes incredibly well with it-makes me feel badass if I don't pay attention to the powdery old smell.
One thing I recently discovered fixes my problem with it is layering it with Lavande by Molinard. I still get that old people smell but it lasts for about 5 minutes and then disappears, leaving me with a pretty much of a badass vibe all day :)

I've just tried this for the first time. My nose is immediately overwhelmed and slightly nauseated. I'm trying to let it die down but clearly my nose is picking up on acridity and the bergamot and herbs are just killing this for me. I can't get the powder notes into my nose to blend things together. I'll update later in the day.

Update: Just wanted to add this is a new EDP in a 100ml bee-style bottle.

I'e got old EDT spray bottle in great condition. Beautiful lavender and vanille + old fecal. Can not really understand what gives the fecal note.

PS: not fecal, halitosis. I sprayed on cotton disc and the halitosis stays there for days. My version is Parfum de Toilette from 70th-80th I assume. It seems in perfect condition as it is spray, color is beautiful sunny yellow, lavender and vanilla notes on top are great.

Goes from fresh to anything but - there's a retirement home lingering in the background that I just can't get past. Curious about the old formulation.

An exquisite, unisex masterpiece, veering slightly masculine due to the abundant fougere notes

This makes me feel as though I’m in an orchard of lemons with fresh stems of rosemary blossoming. The vanilla is like a creme brûlée, indulgent and heavy. This is a perfect spring time scent, refreshing, zesty and optimistic. There is a creamy Tonka running through, alongside the Vanille. Performance and sillage are generally good, perfect for a professional setting. The menthol effect of the essential oils effectively capture the experience of a chilling spring breeze at the turn of the season, which is why this reminds me of new beginnings.

The interesting thing about Jicky is that when wearing it, some notes are more apparent than others to different people. A lady at work said I smell like lavender, where others have commented that I smell strongly of bergamot. One common theme through all the feedback was that they absolutely loved it. Some even went as far to compliment my taste in fragrances.

As someone who is generally averse to citruses, I actually love this one as it is well balanced with an aromatic, woody base and a generous pouring of vanilla.

Purportedly favored by both Bridgitte Bardot and Sean Connery, this is a pandrogyne classic.

I've only ever smelled post-2015 formulations. The EDP was just too funky for me, but current formulations of the EDT are just right... A vanilla-ice-cream Coke float with a lavender garnish and a squeeze of lime (and some elephant in the room which is how-else-can-I-say-it-but freshly and lovingly shaved and powdered genitals aka "leather").

I love this unique scent. I get compliments whenever I wear it. It is strong when first sprayed, then goes to an almost feral scent for a moment (not great, but it passes quickly), but when it dries down, it is divine.

This always lasts the whole day through. I'm noticing that perfumes with benzoin last significantly longer.

I'm not sure what notes stand out most for me. To me, it is almost a feeling it invokes - imagine looking through vintage black and white photos of a fashionable young woman on a cobblestone street in Paris.

i have the reformulation from 2019 edp,

it is like vol de nuit, you have to spray it on layer after layer to have a good snif on it.. aim shocked, that the fragrance is very soft, and almost not detecable, the long lasting is not that long, i have no idea. how that is possible, the fragrance is lovely, like i always did love it, its turned into a like,
comparing this to my older versions its nothing like it was. guerlain perfume etd, edp always stay for hours 10-12 lingering on my skin, now 3 hours max with this formulation..... i use it right on the skin and use a good amount to spay it om the clothes to enjoy this..
i don't know if anyone else got the same problem, but if you buy, test it out.. how long it wil stay for take one before the batch of 2019

overal a good fragrance

I remember the day, few years ago, I've spent with vintage Jicky edt like it was yesterday. There were 3 more or less distinctive phases in its development, the bright, juicy opening, the powdery, aromatic floral middle and the oriental almost gingerbread drydown. Some of it does overlap here and there or it's slightly less present, but that's roughly what is going on.
It should be used as a textbook example of perfume complexity, development, pyramid, of how and why.

I was surprised how much I liked it. Being traumatised by bags with flowers and tissues drenched in lavender oil since earliest childhood, well, I was rather reluctant.
When this wave of lavender popularity came, I couldn't help but compare them to Jicky. And inevitably found every one of them lacking, Jicky was, and surprisingly still is, superior by far.

Jicky might not be everybody's cup of tea, but even remotely educated nose has to admit how ingenious it is.
And I won't even start with that gingerbread drydown and connection to Shalimar and Vol de Nuit.
No one does vanilla or the drydown like Guerlain.

I was lucky enough to buy a bottle of vintage EDT (35 y.o.) a few years ago, and it has become a true gem of my vintage Guerlain collection: the combination of sparkling citrus top notes with the crispy lavender is to die for, and then there's dark amber in the base notes. The closest modern fragrance is Special for gentlemen by Le Galion (don't worry about the name, it would be a crime to disregard a great perfume because of the name).

Like all modern reformulations, this Guerlain seems like a watercolor painting compared to its former self, but it's not always a bad thing: I, for one, have and wear both vintage Vol de nuit and a modern EDT. They're different, but both are stunning, each in its own way. Maybe this works for the current version of Jicky (I haven't tried it)

Absolutely beautiful perfume that truly toes the unisex line. Jicky is quite herbaceous in its opening, smelling strongly of lavender and a potpourri of dried kitchen herbs and citruses. It unfurls into a sweet civet heart that reminds me strongly of Shalimar, very cozy, animalic, with a touch of sweet leather. The drydown is simply spectacular on my skin, like a lavender-y tres leches cake on a bed of sweetly soiled linen. Alluring and enchanting.

I have owned some of the most controversial fragrances for men and I can assure you that Jicky isn't some universal beauty.

Therefore - If you are curious about this fragrance read the following...or you might end up with a terrible blind buy based on sycophantic hyperbole nonsense.

I own a full brand new bottle of Jicky. I didn't sniff it on someone's collar or make a fact empty review because I wanted attention.

The opening and early drydown do flirt with disaster. Because the infected throat note is real enough. In the past some notes were used to mask public odors no longer present in the current era - such composition was used in Hammam Bouquet for instance.

Jicky belongs in a different scent meta, hence its strangeness. Jicky is not about people who live today. Jicky is not offended by anything that Jean Paul Guerlain has ever said or done. Jicky is Jicky and you get it for its historical value and that's it.

Addendum:

Lies about Jicky
1. It's absolutely beautiful. Truth: no it isn't. The opening and intial phases are ridden with throat disease. People might actually get offended smelling this on you.
2. The drydown is spectacular. Truth: no it isn't. Jicky just becomes more pleasant than how it starts out.
3. It smells of kitchen herbs. Truth: no it doesn't and if the composer was alive he would sue you for claiming this smells like your silly vegan kitchen.

First impressions. Passes the "unisex" criteria for me, comes across as a kind of dandified barbershop fragrance. The opening is invigorating, I get a mentholated accord similar to geranium. After that, things mellow down and I get the lavender and vanilla of Caron Pour Un Homme. The powdery lavender is also similar to Penhaligon's Sartorial. But I also get the so-called halitosis funk that I also perceive in Caron Le 3e Homme and Guerlain Héritage. I don't know what it is, but I'm reminded of indolic flowers here, not civet. And this note also reminds me of ylang ylang note in Brut.

This is definitely Shalimar's mother!
Jicky tosses and turns a bit with the herbal notes, but Shalimar is right in there.

Edit 4 Jan 2020 - From Guerlain's website/Shalimar:
"Jacques Guerlain daringly used a completely new gourmand molecule, ethylvanillin, blended with the Jicky accord."

Out of curiosity I blindly got a generous decant of current Jicky EDP. It feels to me like a current Shalimar EDP spiked with lavender. Let's say Shalimar went out for a walk in a countryside and got back a bit muddied and roughened around the edges. Oh, I shall have no trouble whatsoever to use up my decant, in fact Jicky is more everyday-friendly than Shalimar. After 2 hours on my skin it quiets down into Mon Guerlain, which is very pleasant. If you don't want to weather out that long the rough, rebellious stage of Jicky, just get Mon Guerlain straight away. But I already have my perfect vanilla-lavender fix - Chanel Jersey. So, sorry, Jicky-girl, you and I will not be having our forever ever after.

I have the current EDT for sample. I didn't see a place to review EDT and will move my review if I do in the future. These are initial distracted thoughts.

Upon initial application Jicky is bright and spicy, refreshing and warm with a hit of clove and other spices. And then there is the big fat fecal matter note. I definitely smell it, it's not faint. It's large and in charge. My husband smelled it and said, "it smells like old sex! It's Bad Sex Panther!"

There are initially a lot similarities (minus the fecal note) with Shalimar EDP's opening.

I stomached through it giggling to myself for the next hour, it was not easy. The fecal note finally faded, and as it did, it started to remind me of a cologne that my father-in-law used to wear. I'm not sure what the name was.

An hour later, it is extremely musky, not unpleasant. It ends up being a nice fragrance devoid of poop. It would probably be too much on very hot days, save it for cooler ones. A little goes a very long way. The musk aura is similar to Shalimar Cologne but I get very little vanilla. I'm not doing an all day wear test yet but will update when I do.

I think Jicky is definitely a unisex scent. Guys, don't be afraid to rock this one. It'll be an easy wear.

Review is based on the current (2019) EDP.

I think this is a lovely fragrance. When I first sprayed it, it had a very classic "Eau de cologne" feel. Citrus, lavender, and a bit of vanilla.

The citrus faded fast and the lavender all but disappeared as well about 15 minutes in. Then come some sharp, astringent, almost medicinal notes. And... a whiff of that unpleasant note some described as halitosis, urine, or a tonsil stone. To me it's more of a general body funk odor that changes to something similar to mothballs. But I smell it too.

Thankfully only for a while, then the whole thing transforms into a sweeter, softer, slightly powdery blend of vanilla, wood, amber, spice, and resin.

It wears close to the skin and after the opening, doesn't project much. I bought it as a blind buy, expecting something polarizing, if not challenging. But what I'm experiencing is a pleasant slightly old-fashioned fragrance that would be good for daytime casual wear in spring or fall.

I think it's absolutely unisex, I'll get my husband to try it soon. It seems like something he would like (if I present it to him as a unisex fragrance).

Now I'm curious what I'm missing from older versions. I like what's being produced now and find it very wearable. But wonder what it once was. I'll have to buy a couple little samples from vintage bottles to compare and see how it evolved.

EDT Vintage:
Got 8 ml. From Perfumed Crt - I have been trying it out so much, there's just about half left.

So, today I'm making notes. Immediately after the spray, I got strong bergamot. It was similar to opening a tin of Earl Gray tea, just bergamot. But 5 minutes later, that merged or fused into other indiscernible scents - spicy, fruity, with not one singular note to me. Then 20 minutes passed and out came some lavender and citrus in addition. If I hadn't read the description of all the notes, I'm not sure I could have identified it all. Other reviewers talked about civit. I don't know what that smells like. So I can't say. However, I don't get any animal or feral scents at all. After a total of one hour, there is no heaviness, but a floral quality and some spice and it's beginning to be a bit powdery - but not too much. ............It's now been 4 hours and there is a sweetness, mostly floral, very faint vanilla I guess and surprise! - a touch of bergamot again, and other scents I can't identify.

I only sprayed the top of my arm near the wrist - it's easier to sniff there and I am surprised about how long it has lasted

Jicky is spicy citrus (lemon, bergamot, and orange) blended with lavender and vanilla and hints of basil and rosemary. It's like a spicy citrus garden with an undercurrent of sandalwood and rosewood. Simple yet complicated. Elegant yet sporty. There is just a hint of jasmine to round out the fragrance and make it decidedly feminine. If you like Guerlain Chant d'Arômes, you will also like Jicky, but they are not mutually exclusive. Jicky is more sporty and outdoorsy (warm and spicy) while Chant d'Arômes is more quiet and indoors. I have found that it takes a while for Jicky to grow on you. I don't see Jicky as a "date perfume" like Mon Guerlain. It is for the office or for when you need a pick-me-up, or running around doing errands. It's like putting on a classy polo shirt instead of an evening gown.

Jicky is everything that Mon Guerlain isn’t!

Poetic, dreamy and ethereal.

It’s like the seed of all things Guerlain that came after.

There are parts of it in most subsequent compositions; both for men and for women. What I relish here the most is this quintessential quality, this sort of being a signature for the entire house.

The new reformulation is nothing like the vintage one. I am not sure why the fragrance industry is doing this to us.

Jicky is quite a difficult one to review, as there is so much going on, but I shall try. First of all, I find the history enchanting, and the bottle, as always with Guerlain oozes quality. Mine is the EDP, 2016. The opening is like nothing on Earth I've ever smelt, it takes your breath away, big lavender and sage, very herbal, not what I expected, it's potent. The magic of Jicky comes in the dry down, a deep Amber, with a degree of sweetness coming from the vanilla.

I don't know Jicky inside out, but I do know Shalimar, I personally don't see the similarity, very distant, Shalimar is more about the vanilla powderiness, this is way more complex, more herbal, equally as wonderful.

I pity anyone trying to sell Jicky to a current audience, it is so different to the mass of gourmands, it really is a trip to a different time.

Six hours on my skin, this would be easy to overlook, and easy to dismiss, but this has something for everyone, regardless of sex or age.

History, bottled.

So much has been said about this classic icon, that I will not discuss specific ingredients and base notes.
Sillage and longevity are on the poorer side, but for those who love this scent, it is special and unique.
Sadly for me, there is one terrible scent that is very prominent on my skin with Jicky (this happens to me with Bijan too). If you do not know what a tonsil stone is (lucky you, if you have never had or smelled one!!), this is what Jicky ends up smelling like on my skin. It is beyond horrific!!

This is a great go-to unisex scent for appointments, in the warm summer the UK is having. The lavender and citrus shift off quite quickly leaving a pleasant and accomplished vanilla mix, which offends no one and smells classy and wonderful.
Sadly this is the last of my vintage bottle, and I'm dreading opening my newer bottle, because the old bottle has great sillage and persistence. Like all the Guerlains, I wish they'd stop tinkering. Meanwhile, I appreciate Jicky more with each wearing x

جیکی قبل از اینکه ی عطر باشه
معرف و شناسه گرلنه .
قبل از هر چیزی بگم من این عطرو به هیچکس پیشنهاد نمیکنم بدون تست بخره .
گرچه مانور تبلیغاتی زیادی روش بوده تا امروز و همچنان پر فروش ولی بخاطر فضای کلاسیک و باز آفرینی حس کلاسیک عطری نیست که بشه امروز اونو راحت پوشید .
جیکی بیشتر از اینکه زنونه باشه . مردونست.
استارتی وحشتناک و تند از لاوندر و حس سوزان رزماری که هر دو همین حس رو دارند در کنار بوی تند و نفیس و شارپ از برگاموت
چند دقیقه بعد سر و کله حس چرم میاد وسط . چرمی که نه شیکه و نه نرم . بلکه زبر و خشک و عاجی بنظر میاد .
لیمو با حسی کلاسیک در کنار این حس با جیکی همراهه.
تو راس هرم بویایی جیکی چیزی جز ی عطر باربر شاپ نیست.
ولی فقط ۱۰-۱۵دقیقه زمان لازمه تا پرده نمایش و شلوغ بازی بره کنار تا ستاره صحنه وارد بشه (گرلناد)
جیکی هم شالیماره هم ابی غوژ.
شالیماری بدون رزین و ابی غوژی بدون رز
جیکی دی ان ای و پایه خیلی از عطرهای گرلنه .
عطری که با تمام وجودش گرلن بودن رو فریاد میزنه .
قلب عطر با کم شدن حس زمخت چرم و شدت گرفتن اکورد کهربا در کنار گرلناد و اون حس پودری وانیلی ادامه داره تا ساعتها که به درای داونی چوبی کهربایی و پودری برسه.
عطر در فضای کلی حس پودری ارایشی داره شاید اون زمان خیلی زنونه بوده باشه ولی امروز بیشتر به ترکیبات مردونه شبییه
کیفییت عالی

This is my first bottle of Jicky, and I cannot believe that it eluded me all those years. I guess at the perfume counters in the mall they put out the newest all the time. I don't even remember seeing Jicky there. Otherwise, I would have tried it much sooner. It reminded me immediately of Shalimar (a great favorite). Maybe you could say Shalimar "light"? I got it at amazon for a great price, and will purchase more. I smell all the great scents it has, but am at a loss to detect a dirty, animalistic or otherwise feral smell. In my experience, that happens to me with Paloma Picasso, a scent I love, but is so off-putting to me in the beginning-almost like sewage.Jicky is a keeper. I wish it would stay with me little longer, though-I get 4-5 hours max. out of it. It stays on my clothes longer than on my skin. Sprayed the pillow a bit with it - yummy. If you like Shalimar, you will enjoy Jicky.

Jicky Eau de Parfum
Even though it’s marketed to women, this is most definitely a unisex fragrance and obscure enough that aside from fragrance collectors, most will have never smelled this.
It smells herbal, citrusy, with warm amber and an earthy quality. It’s not like anything else. When I first got this I didn’t like it, now it’s one of my favorites.

This must have been reformulated so many times that I see no reason to complain about "the original" anymore. The current version is still incredibly lovely so I see no reason to be disgrunted. It's a lovely fresh lavender scent, with a sweet vanilla side and a complex carpet of spices underneath.
My only complain is that, like ALL Guerlain's scents, it has little sillage and NO longevity at all. This is actually one of their strongest, and still it will completely fade in a couple of hours. Pity because it is a thing of beauty.

Glorious! Why? For me four reasons.

Firstly, lavender combined with vanilla/tonka is a match made in heaven, a perfect cool/warm combination. If you like it but find Jicky a bit too dirty, dated or over-complicated, try Chanel's Boy.

Secondly, the citrus and aromatics in Jicky are so enervating and interesting. They don't blow off after a few minutes as they would in a citrus cologne, but are twisted through the warm and woody notes at the heart of the fragrance.

Thirdly, the dirty accord. Much discussed in reviews here. I don't detect civet as such, or anything animalic, but an accord that roughens and complicates the rest of the fragrance and gives it inner strength.

Finally, Jicky is more than the sum of these parts. To me, this fragrance has tremendous strength of character. It is bold, independent, mischievous, gender fluid, unsentimental and unpredictable. Above all, this is a very intelligent fragrance.

I never wear Jicky when I need comfort on sad or anxious days. Of course I have those days, but I keep Jicky for when I'm feeling cheerful, energetic and determined.

I love the print ad featured on this page on Fragrantica. Firm hands on the wheel and shoulders back, this woman powers on and is not bothered by a few loose strands of hair. Note the hint of an ironic smile on her face. In my imagination she has just dumped her bloke on the side of the road and is making off in his car leaving behind nothing but exhaust fumes and a whisp of Jicky for him to remember her by.

My comments relate to the bee bottle EDP, purchased in April 2017.

Guerlain's Jicky is a beautiful recent surprise for me. While I love Guerlain and have many fragrances (e.g. Shalimar, Chamade, Champs Elysees), this lovely herbal scent evaded me. I fell in love with her last summer. She has a vibe like Shalimar, aldehydic bergamot and vanilla but with a herbal (basil, lavender) uniqueness.

As with all Guerlain's fragrances the first sniff is not its fortune - the gold is in its development over time. Be patient, allow the scent to unfold and unveil its complexity.

Not always a fan of lavender, but the top notes in a recent Jicky bee bottle are gorgeous! Fizzy and bright, like really fancy seltzer water served with sprigs of herbs. They have some sweetness to them, as if they're somewhat candied like ginger. That's probably the vanilla. I even enjoy the oriental base that's almost identical to the base notes in the most recent iteration of Shalimar EDP. I think this is what people are interpreting as halitosis, or may turn some people off if they aren't used to old perfume styles. Undoubtedly Jicky doesn't smell the same as it used to, but I'm guessing this musk/petrol note is supposed to be a substitute for the old formula's civet. I actually like it better here than in the current Shalimar because the bright herbs balance out the mustiness really well. Instant love, must find the old formula now, I'm sure it's amazing!

EDIT: Oh, maybe I spoke too soon. The dry down is a little unpleasant once the brightness of the top and heart notes burn off. The civet substitute dominates for the rest of the wear. I can't believe I've become one of those people, but Guerlain really has mutilated their classics by staying IFRA compliant. Still need to seek out a vintage parfum.

This Guerlain Jicky is a pleasure for me to wear in the Spring/Summer season. Even though I enjoy them, it's great to get a break from the many sweet and gourmand perfumes for awhile. The lavender note is very pronounced and this gives Jicky a unisex flexibility. On my skin, it is dry, serious and lasts all day.

walmart.com (not the sub-sellers!)

batch 8B01 bee bottle white box February 2018

in a previous post i said that i was anosmic to the extrait. unlike the extrait from a reputable ebay vendor, i can smell this.

i can't find civet in the ingredients, and i'm not sure i smell it. unless it's the dicaprylate/dicaproate , which from my ancient memories of organic chemistry, smells like goat.

it smells like clean skin. understated. old money. i can imagine sean connery in medicine man (long hair era) wearing this.

i like it. it's different. my first outing i was careful and sprayed one spray on each knee under heavy jeans. all day long i caught whiffs of something in my classroom and realized it was me.

there's the oily guerlinade base in this.

i adore lavender, which does not dominate.

now that i know what it should smell like, i will again try the extrait sample.

Jicky is intriguing, complex and definitely unique. Opens with a shockingly crisp citrus, but dries down to a lavender leather with a pronounced animalistic scent that harkens to the halitosis others mention here. But the animalistic lavender leather is also sensual. With the crisp opening it develops into something quite unexpected, and that unexpected dance continues, which makes Jicky one of a story told with many very different facets.

Jicky is a fine work of art which I love and treasure. The prominent notes are vanilla and lavender...more so vanilla which reminisces the smell of a warm creamy dessert served in an old Parisian brasserie (est. 1889). Overall Jicky has a highly idiosyncratic personality, there's a note in the bottle which gives me intense joy and delight; it could be the civet - not sure - it's like a dusty or soily note, but it shines out and mixed with the vanilla and lavender it's a case of: I've smelt this before and I love it but I can't put my finger on where or when. Timeless classic.

Just a week ago I tried the new formulation at a Guerlain boutique and Jicky turned out to be surprisingly modern and very unisex despite its age. Opening was somwhat dirty but not unbearably so followed by a cozy aromatic vanilla. Problem is it faded to nothingness in mere 3 hours.. Shame to have a short life for a beautiful scent. Perhaps I need to study Jicky on paper without any background noise. Still, I think Shalimar is Guerlains best offering, which I think is an improvement on the idea of Jicky.

As I expand my Guerlain library, I am blind buying some pillar classics, like this and Héritage. Well, I guess this one isn't so much a blind buy as I've smelled it a time or two before, but I've never really given it room to breathe, just sort of smelled it in passing. I always thought it was nice, but now that I own it and can experience it fully, I am beginning to understand its sovereignty. Many others have described and reviewed Jicky far more eloquently (and educationally) than I could, but this is how I experience it.

I don't at all get the halitosis and vomit nuances many people appear to detect... Thank goodness. What I do get is a massive initial blast of something similar to Eau de Cologne Impériale, an ode to Guerlain's roots (a family tradition even for the time of Jicky's conception). But this is very fleeting--it's just the foyer at the entrance of Jicky's expansive manor. After a few minutes, it invites me into the parlor and I get a little bit of everything else: the walls are periwinkle and adorned with gilded silver photo frames and impressionist oil pantings. Lavender is dominant, the spices are reminiscent of a kitchen spice rack, and something in the mix appears somewhat minty to me (perhaps basil). This melange of aromatic notes is entangled with an accord that to me smells medicinal, kinda like the stale sterility of a doctor's waiting room, or a dentist's latex gloves. Odd... Unsettling and unfamiliar, but alluring and intriguing. Jicky then invites me to join it on the sofa situated in the center of the room to make myself comfortable--it morphs (ever so briefly) into the familiar spine of Shalimar. For a second, I think I know Jicky, but its mysterious allure keeps me guessing. Just when I think I've got it figured out, it reminds me of its bewildering individuality, and it stays just unfamiliar enough to keep me visiting over and over.

This one really is an olfactive journey. I've never smelled anything quite like it, except maybe a few other Guerlain classics that share its DNA. I like its eccentricity. The furthest thing from glamorous, but immensely (and bizarrely) elegant.

Compared to mitsouko, this is much more fresh and herbal. They are both such wonderful perfumes. I am so very grateful I finally got the chance to smell these. I kept smelling a wonderful complex lavender while I was wearing this. Absolutely beautiful and makes me happy. This is a real perfume.

جیکی قبل از اینکه ی عطر باشه
معرف و شناسه گرلنه .
قبل از هر چیزی بگم من این عطرو به هیچکس پیشنهاد نمیکنم بدون تست بخره .
گرچه مانور تبلیغاتی زیادی روش بوده تا امروز و همچنان پر فروش ولی بخاطر فضای کلاسیک و باز آفرینی حس کلاسیک عطری نیست که بشه امروز اونو راحت پوشید .
جیکی بیشتر از اینکه زنونه باشه . مردونست.
استارتی وحشتناک و تند از لاوندر و حس سوزان رزماری که هر دو همین حس رو دارند در کنار بوی تند و نفیس و شارپ از برگاموت
چند دقیقه بعد سر و کله حس چرم میاد وسط . چرمی که نه شیکه و نه نرم . بلکه زبر و خشک و عاجی بنظر میاد .
لیمو با حسی کلاسیک در کنار این حس با جیکی همراهه.
تو راس هرم بویایی جیکی چیزی جز ی عطر باربر شاپ نیست.
ولی فقط ۱۰-۱۵دقیقه زمان لازمه تا پرده نمایش و شلوغ بازی بره کنار تا ستاره صحنه وارد بشه (گرلناد)
جیکی هم شالیماره هم ابی غوژ.
شالیماری بدون رزین و ابی غوژی بدون رز
جیکی دی ان ای و پایه خیلی از عطرهای گرلنه .
عطری که با تمام وجودش گرلن بودن رو فریاد میزنه .
قلب عطر با کم شدن حس زمخت چرم و شدت گرفتن اکورد کهربا در کنار گرلناد و اون حس پودری وانیلی ادامه داره تا ساعتها که به درای داونی چوبی کهربایی و پودری برسه.
عطر در فضای کلی حس پودری ارایشی داره شاید اون زمان خیلی زنونه بوده باشه ولی امروز بیشتر به ترکیبات مردونه شبییه
کیفییت عالی

This is so unbelievably good and delicious, it’s got that dirty sensuous vibes which I love and find very comforting. A must have FB....
It’s not quite like Shalimar, it hasn’t got that kerosene opening. I love Shalimar too.

As other reviewers have already noted, Jicky is a timeless, intriguing, highly versatile fragrance.

The fresh opening is composed of muted citruses smoothed over with starlit lavender. This blends seamlessly with and is counterbalanced by the rich animalics (that famed “dirty” note) of civet and amber. The drydown is haunted by the ghosts of these notes gliding over a classic fougère base veering close to barbershop aromatics but never quite settling down into anything so banal.

I have smelled vintage formulations, as well as the current parfum, EdP, and EdT. It should first be mentioned that for some reason, Guerlain does not officially distribute the EdP in the U.S., despite its beauty and relatively good longevity (5-6 hours). This forces the consumer to choose between the weak, low-performing EdT (the main accords are there but in a sadly attenuated form, projecting poorly and lasting only for an hour or two) and the prohibitively expensive extrait de parfum. The extrait remains a masterpiece: elegant but approachable, rich but not cloying, classic but modern, utterly unisex in its refinement and playfulness, naughty but austere, all in all a remarkably well balanced fragrance with excellent projection and longevity (on my skin, maybe 8-12 hours depending on the season and humidity).

Because the extrait runs about US$350 for 1 ounce, I’m not sure it’s worth the price (at least, if you’re on a modest budget like me). However, don’t waste your money on the EDT unless you’re looking for something light and casual to wear in the summer and you’re still willing to pay around US$120 for 3.5 ounces. My advice would be to get the EdP from a trusted online reseller; many of them get it from Europe where the EdP is still available in Guerlain boutiques and outlets.

I'm sorry to VolDeMinuit, but I've also found this to be true for Jicky across all of the batches I've tried. I've only tried 4 or 5, varying vintages (from this millenium and last). The opening can be very scratchy and unpleasant. Jicky is one of the only scents that I've ever tried and disliked due to the headaches it gives me. I can understand people loving it and all the power to them, but trying to criticise somebody's valid criticism is just unnecessary. The love you feel for the scent can't be hurt by another's dislike for it.

Like most of Guerlains fragrances, they almost always start with a soundcheck before the orchestra stars playing in harmonies. And the soundcheck of "Jicky in D minor" is especially screechy and unpleasant.

First spritz of this is literally feces, morningbreath and some kind of meat boiling with cloves, cinnamon and tomatosauce.

Then some sort of kaleidoscope action starts to happen:

First turn: The shards fall to form a dandy- ish barbershop fragrance, and letting out pleasant wiffs of dried lavender and lemon zest.

Second turn: The vanilla and leather kicks in. The shards form a familiar pattern of a bottle of Shalimar.

Third turn: Pears original soap! And... warm breath. And human.. crevices..

Maybe that is what make it so sexy. It actually smells like a naked body at the end of the day. The musky notes of the perfume left closest to the body that you can only feel if you are buring your nose in naked skin.


Jicky is like almost all Guerlain classics, some sort of performance art! Guerlain makes perfumes that actually feels alive on the skin and developes like no other.

And just thinking about that this originally was formulated in the late 1800's blows my mind. It's like I get to FEEL a bit of history.

Classic, very French, absolutely timeless. Like Marie Antoinette’s sunny hamlet, lavender and grazing sheep, Guerlain vanilla drydown. Still smells great after all this time.
I love Habit Rouge and Shalimar but both are too grande and dandy. Jicky gives me everything blissful and balanced that I adore about the others without all the pomp. It's my everyday reliable and it can do no wrong. Some will be sensitive to its’ antique, softly animalic facets in the opening. For me, they bring a rustic charm and an air of authenticity to the scent. It is as if the lavender brought its’ atmosphere of French countryside along with it.

Dusty and powdery lavender with hints of complexity: I can only really pick out the suede note in the drydown. Testing from the new beehive EDP bottle, and my only complaint is that I wish Guerlain didn't turn all their fragrances into a generic beehive (I like the bottle, but miss the old version). And I remember smelling this before the reformulation, and from memory, I did like it better. I feel it projected better and stronger.

This is still a really nice scent, complicated and well blended. I've always gotten decent performance though this stays close.

I treated myself to the EDT of Jicky on a good sale/price.

And I'm surprised to smell it's an actual lighter EDT of the EDP. Both current bottles, however the EDT is the NEWEST in the redone white boxes (bee bottles). My EDP of Jicky was bought in the last 1-2 years, but had a gold box.

What the EDT does-- it removes that THICK Guerlainaide vanilla/powder. so the EDT is lighter and fresher, less heavy. However-- that means without the vanilla/Guerlainaide-- this is rather masculine instead of toeing the line between genders. AND-- I get a bit more old man breath in the EDT. Once you sniff that halitosis- you don't forget it. I think that comes from the citrus, spices, and lavender.

I wear Jicky in both forms for myself. I think it's fun to wear/pretend to be old fashioned. I call my vintage/old scents "time machines". Because this is def Victorian and old fashioned- but fun.

My EDT was just a tissue test so far, but it had huge sillage and the tissue still has a light soft smell. Kinda linear tho. Almost like an echo. It starts out HUGE and then just dries down- not really changing.

If you like Eau D'Hermes- Jicky EDT is a fun similar scent. I find both those ^^ to be rather masculine, so Jicky EDP is my fave/recommendation.

I love Guerlain fragrances and own many, including Mitsouku, L'Heure Blue, Shalimar, L'Instant, Vol de Nuit and Samsara. They are all beautiful and distinct. Jicky is no exception. The lavender is done very well - the only fragrance that does it better is Chanel Jersey. I enjoyJicky, but the initial burst of citrus is not quite me. It sets a cheery, chatty kind of tone. I imagine a very extroverted, bubbly and kind-hearted college girl wearing it as she rounds up other students to try out for pep squad. Don't get me wrong, she's smart and classy, but she's just not quite me. The EDT in the bee bottle is weak and, when I do wear it on bright, super green Indiana days, it needs to be reapplied every few hours. It will not get you through your work day, but it would get you through brunch with 5 or 6 of your most chipper besties.

I really really wanted to love this one, but I will have to settle for "like".
When testing this, was deciding between Jicky, Shalimar souffle de parfum, Coco Noir and Mouchoir de Monsieur (which my local shop sadly didn't carry!)

Immediately after spraying, you get that "dirty" lemon/bergamot scent the other reviewers mentioned. It is distinctly citrussy, but there is no lightness, sharpness or anothing you would naturally associate with citrus notes. It is a warm lemon, with a bit of that Guerlinade and "vintage" that you would also smell in Shalimar.
That "dirty" lemon lingered for a good 2 hours on me. It deepened up and the vanilla and leather undertones came to play, but they were always flanked with a distinct bergamot note. After a good 3 hrs you don't notice Jicky anymore, and I thought the scent had disappeared on me. My SO could still smell it so I think this is just me, or is the nature of the perfume.
We are now a good 17hrs after applying and all I still notice is a deep, soft vanilla with a hint of powderiness.

This is a fragrance with personality, one that needs to match who you are, how you dress, and what you like. If you love dark polished antiques, velvet drapy curtains and old-timey movies, you will love this scent. It is unapologetically different and vintage. I love the Oriental notes in it, but that lemon/bergamot "top coat" dulls the shine of the vanilla and leather for me.

I tested the eau de toilette Version in a perfume shop today in Oslo. It reminds me of Shalimar, but not as good. A Winter perfume. I could have this in my Collection even though it's not a love. It is a legendary perfume.

Jicky Eau de Toilette. On my skin I get a mix of Chanel no.5, Shalimar and Coco. Warm and spicy. A great scent for cooler weather, I think.

Jicky is a fragrance of summertime sadness. It´s like a beautiful dream about dry rosemary, fading red roses & lavender fields dying in the summer sun. An unforgettable dream about a powdery, dusty, smoky & sweetly herbal scent.

Calming, charming & timeless gem.

Lavender, vanilla, and halitosis. This is fresh on top of skank in the worst way and I've tried the new formula and vintage. Try before you buy because it smells like bad breath and cheap cologne. And I really dig Shalimar but this stuff is just gross.

I have the new EDP, and I’ve not smelled any other formulations. I find it relatively light, which I don’t normally like in a fragrance, however I liked that in the reviews of this formulation only because I was concerned it could be too much to wear out and about in its original strength. My initial impression is that it’s very like Shalimar EDC. I get the leather and vanilla and then the uniquely Jicky herbal and lavender notes that I find in place of the big iris of Shalimar, so it’s less powedery I find. I really like it! I think it will be nice to enjoy this spring and summer where I wouldn’t wear Shalimar in the warmer weather. I’d love to smell the original formula, for comparison sake.

What are they doing at Guerlain with their new bee bottles EDP? I tested Jicky this afternoon before going to the cinema and after the movie the 4 heavy sprays had just turned into a skinscent, a ghost...

A great classic.

Jicky EDP (the recent batch) smells remarkably similar to Shalimar EDT. Replace the leather with lavender, and add more herbs instead of that inviting and heady Shalimar-particular incense.

The lavender here, while potent, is not that pleasantly and characteristically 'dusty' smelling lavender. It is different. This is quite dry, yet extremely lovely. Perhaps the dryness of the lavender substitutes for the dry incense in Shalimar. Hence the overall similarity.

There is high quality citrus, there are some herbs, there is that heavenly gender-neutral vanilla... and there is a certain liveliness and optimism that this potion projects. I love it, because I also love Shalimar like no other.

It is unisex, but I'm afraid the modern customer will deem it categorically masculine nowadays. It is certainly not gourmand even with all that vanilla. The lavender blooms late in the drydown, so the scent lingering on your skin does smell slightly on the more masculine side, I'll admit.

If Shalimar is the sumptuous gardens of India, then Jicky must stand for the gardens of South of France. This kind of breathy lavender makes it decidedly French.

Guerlain recently released a new fragrance fronted by the actress Angelina Jolie that is using more or less the same notes called 'Mon Guerlain'. Did not have the chance to test that one, but I am imagining that's perhaps the more-conventionally-and-smoothly-feminine interpretation of these notes; again crafted with the prestigious Guerlain edge.

For me, Jicky is flawless. It is quality and decadence housed in the gorgeous bee aligned bottle. I wish it lasted longer, but it is what it is.

This is a blind buy, empowered only by the Guerlain reputation, and what I've read about this scent. I love the composition and find the scent intriguing, classy and classic. But. ......

Let me give you a bit of context: I'm over 40, tall, with cropped red hair and my clothing could be called old school - oxford shirts, pants, cardigans, scarves. Perhaps this gives a masculine vibe. But I'm not masculine.

That said, the unisex of Jicky is kind of male on me. I love the scent but the signal it is sending on me is just not the message I want to send.

I'm going to try softening it up with something a little girly. I know - it's blasphemy, but that's the way I roll.

GUERLAIN JICKY, a Fragrance for Women and Men.

(The version I have is the Eau de Parfum.)

I would say that while Aimé Guerlain created Jicky for a woman, there are reasons why Jicky soon was recognized as an early unisex fragrance.

This is the most challenging fragrance in my collection. Even though I have loved old-school Guerlains at first sniff (Habit Rouge, Vetiver, and Derby), compared to Jicky these guys are young bucks!

It's the lavender, citrus and aromatics on top of a woods and other deep foundation notes that loosely create the fougère structure. But that is the skeleton onto which is hung the Guerlinade accord: spices, amber, vanilla, tonka, leather and benzoin.

I think the reason it's taking me longer to understand this classic is because the notes I always love in a Guerlain, while definitely here, are dialed back and taking a supporting role to the stars, which here are clearly lavender, citrus, green notes and synthetic aromatics. The backup notes create a powdery haze, and the citrus and lavender and synthetics can give off a contrasting clean and dirty vibe.

The powder and clean/dirty vibe is challenging. My strategy for getting to know her is a simple one: I take her to bed. ;)
Literally. I wear Jicky to bed. Scandalous? She loves it! What does she expect with that clean/dirty thing going on? ;)

We're becoming acquainted. She's slowly letting me into her mystery. She's a mysterious, intriguing vamp, to be sure.

I could have imagined this perfum was made with inspiration from Amelia Earhart - but she was not even born when it was made.
She is the type of woman I would imgaine wearing Jicky in those days - fresh, herbal, animalic - and finally warm vanilla.
A fabulouse perfume with many facetts.

Jicky, a perfume I haven't owned since the 90s, is a joke in EDT. This is a recent formulation and there's no lavender in it. What is there is a bit of hawthorn, similar to that in Apres l'Ondee and a simple lemon pledge.
"You'll love Jicky" I told my husband, he of the Rochas Man, and Caron Pour Homme. Well, my reputation has gone down in flames, with that of Guerlain. Poor show, old boy.

Came upon a sealed rosebud bottle that contained about half the contents. I pondered whether to open it and finally decided yes, I had to. This is mesmerizing, I smell lavender as clear as if I had cut the bouquet myself. Also a note of citrus is coming and going. It is strong and I feel I am on the very edge of a headache. I'm going to have to come back and write more as it dries down.

EdP is softer and more feminine imo while EdT more unisex, maybe for the aromatic effect and fresh opening. I believe most Guerlain fans prefer EdP over EdT. These two are different indeed. Even if you don't really enjoy EdP, you might enjoy EdT much more then you can imagine.
edit/ EdP is a lot heavier and that "heavy softness" is what makes me stay away of most Guerlains. With Jicky I am willing to try..

I'm so sad to admit, that I dont like it :( May be its benzoin, but dry off smells like a cat's piss. Terrible. One of a few perfumes that give me headache.

I'm not exactly sure about how I feel about this fragrance but I do not like dislike it, it just caught me of gaurd as it was not something I am used to at all. There was something green/earthy and herbaceous in it that I could not figure out what it was when I first smelled it. Then I later realized that it was lavender! The lavender is kind of hidden though, you cannot tell it's lavender (at least I couldn't) I just knew there was something herbacious and familiar in it as I am a big lavender fan. Somebody told me they like to wear it when they feel adventurous and that is probably a good way to describe it. It is unique! That's for certain and it is very unisex. I could see a lot of men enjoying this fragrance on themselves. If you are looking for something super feminine, this is not it in my openion.

Zesty, classic, a bit dirty, but still refreshing. One of my favorite lavender, perfumes and still very unique. I definitely get lots of lavender and rosemary and other aromatics, and the vanilla base makes it a bit warm and smooth but not too sweet. I love this for weekends since it's casual yet elegant. So glad to have this in my collection.

My hopes on lavender were failed. Old-fashioned for sure. And there is no nice lavender(

Dirty lavender with a dash of cinnamon (edp)

Classy, mysterious, makes you stop and think. Draws comments. Best for evening but not heady. Think a million bucks and high heels, a night at the opera, movie stars.

Sexy garage mechanic in oily overalls (wearing an old school lavender cologne from who knows where... that big, tan Lab who's just brought a duck for you from the ol' swimming hole... Old Stuff, vintage and not for the weak of heart - absolutely stop 'em in their tracks, animalic, but with that weird twist of lavender and other florals.... so sexy, so weird. So Great.

Some that I've given a bit to to test have told me that they couldn't imagine wearing Jicky. I understand. But I do want to tell these folks... wear her... expect the time of your life! Jicky. For adventurers, or those who would like to be.

Jicky is unique. The first 'Unisex' fragrance. A million people can wear it and not one person would smell the same wearing Jicky. A favourite of the original James Bond 007, Sir Sean Connery. Fresh, herbal,citrus, lavender and vanilla dry down. The early version before Jacques Guerlain added a large amount of Vanillin and created his masterpiece Shalimar. I have managed to find 24 bottles that I have collected so far from the Guerlain Grand Classics and Jicky is to die for. A huge thumbs up from Decodawn. The perfume extrait is richer as the edt is like an eau de cologne. Very masculine wait at least an hour for the dry down as it settles. Strong silage longevity is very good. I own a large refillable gold bee atomiser. Just fabulous.

Tried this myself ,and at the time I didn’t know it was for women !
I feel this definitely suited for men aswell ,the sharp vetiver ,the rose arising from the shadows ,the herby aromatic aroma !
There is a somewhat metallic dry citrus smell at the start on me too!one that I love and may convince myself to buy !

I received this perfume yesterday and was so excited to wear it, especially since the bottle is so beautiful! At first spray I am blasted with citrus, more than anything a heavy lemon. Sadly the only middle note apparent on me is the lavender, but the dry down is a faint smell of spice. My only complaint is that this older sister smell of Shalimar isn't strong enough to command my attention.

I received a sample of this in a swap from the generous Perseia. I don't know whether is't the vintage version or not.
To me it's the typical refined, slightly powdery and resheshing Guerlainade scent which is also present in the Shalimar family (of which I have a few), but more herbal and androgynous because of the lavender, rosemary and basil.

I can see that Mon Guerlain was inspired by this, but of course that's more contemporary (=sweet) with it's emphasized vanilla. I don't get much leather from Jicky. I think Jicky suits all ages and genders, it's a timeless scent indeed. At some time I'll add this to my collection for sure! Thanks Perseia for letting me try this!

EDP current formulation: Pleasant enough. Honestly I was underwhelmed sampling this fragrance. I was expecting something grand or more old school cologne-like from the house of Guerlain. Perhaps it's something to do with reformulation.

The lavender to open is fresh and therapeutic. Then it becomes dreamy, foggy, with the gentle sweetness of vanilla. I also pick up some prominent opoponax (sweet myrrh) and geranium. Rosemary is well blended but has lost it's distinct herbal bitterness somewhere amongst lavender's crushed blossoms, sweet rose and geranium. Bergamot is subtle.

Benzoin and orris make Jicky EDP a little powdery, diffusive, adding to the light floral vanilla fog. It reminds me of Australian brand Urban Rituelle's botanic Vanilla Blend. I daresay I even prefer Covet for lavender and greens.

The finish is more like a light Oriental vanilla than an Oriental fougere. Phul-Nana is exemplary in this category of perfume for women. Interestingly both were released within 2 years of each other. Perhaps the EDT of Jicky will tantalize my senses more and give me a truer taste of what this aromatic legend once was.

And finally my first Jicky arrived. I was really looking forward to it. It was quite difficult to buy it in my country. But this season all these old Guerlains appeared in shops and I immediately started to order them. I read a lot about them but you must try them, so I was really curious. Jicky is really what I expected. It is very close to my beloved Shalimar, but of course with nice lavender added. I adore it, very addictive. Now I´m expecting Vol de Nuit.

This makes me think of Heritage, which I absolutely adore, except in this I find the lavender much more pronounced. It’s also quite herby. I totally get the sophisticated, dapper old man vibe – complete with natty waistcoat, discreet but interesting bow tie, and immaculately coiffed hair. There’s something deliciously cool about this – I could just imagine spritzing this in the heat of summer, after a refreshing dip in the pool or a nice cool shower. I asked my husband to have a sniff of this, and he said that it makes him think of Morocco, because of the spices. I like this, a lot, but not as much as Shalimar.

My first review was for the EDT, this one is for the reformulated Jicky, but the EDP.
Now this is as familiar to me as the Jicky I remember from the '70's, but somehow with a harsher lavender opening, which thankfully dies down to a wonderful aromatic citrus with a wash of sandalwood. Sillage quite strong and longevity a solid 6 hours. I know it's not Oriental, but I can hear Scheherazade playing in the background.
Beautiful and elegant and quite reminiscent of the version available in the '70s. Make sure you select the EDP and not the EDT which is nothing like it.

I absolutely adore the pure parfum, but find the Eau de Parfum much too difficult to get along with. It opens in an almost headache inducing way, much too loud and brash. The parfum is smooth all the way through, which I really love.

Recieved spray sample today. First spritz....UGH !!! Sour/bitter/herbal-ish. But...WAIT....it started to develop....patience,patience...blending with my chemistry....ok.....yes....something is there that is very different from anything I have smelled before...interestingly good. Still on the fence on this one. I get lavander "light" after it settles,cannot figure out where the other notes fit in....yet.
In the dry-down...I find it a light scent...??...thought it would be stronger....Will have to explore this some more.

EDIT: OMG....I let this rest and ply on my skin....AND....wow..wow...I could not stop sniffing myself....It is a weird scent...in a good way...Full bottle on my wish/want list 100% decided. Another reason to "explore" the scent on YOU...and let the scent "explore" your chemistry....Patience is required is these cases. Like sometimes your in a store sampling scents...and you spray one...and say "OMG...I love it ! " .....Then you go around the store ..whatever....and then awhile later you smell your wrist....and say..."UGH"
In Jicky's case...it was reverse of what I just wrote....
Time...Patience...and a little Luck helps...
Cheers to Jicky...

Kind of souerness i love Gierlain for absolute ... classic for a woman who knows who is she...

I like Jicky. (I left MY review already)

But yesterday, I put it on when I got home. It wasn't a hot day.... more like 50s/60s and rainy... but I worked up a sweat cleaning out a spare room. My body heat must have worked up my Jicky.

My husband comes home and says WTF STINKS UP HERE?! He said it smelled like a musty old man with halitosis. He said it wasn't my perfume, but I knew better. Because of the reviews here... lmao...

I still love Jicky, but perhaps I prematurely bought a back up 100ml EDP? Haha. I have to somewhat agree with him that it did smell pungent like bad breath (and I could TASTE it!) but that isn't how Jicky is normally, and it's not a super nasty smell IMO and I can tolerate it. Instead of thinking "bad breath!" I go beyond that... I know the notes and the history of Jicky. I can get past that part of Jicky. But I found it hilarious that he mimicked pretty much 50% of the reviews here... haha... and trust me-- he's never been on this website.

I guess I will never need a Pure Parfum! Haha!

I then layered with Chant D'Aromes EDT and later Vol de Nuit EDT. That seemed to work.. haha.... but by the time I went to bed, only the Jicky was left.

Jicky, the first modern perfume. Abstract in that it did not try to replicate a natural smell but instead to stir the emotions. In this way it seems like a precursor to the expressionist movement that was soon to follow in Germany and France, while maintaining an Art Nouveau feel.
The fragrance opens with a rosemary-lavender-citrus accord which is soon counterpointed by a warm, velvety tonka-vanilla-sandalwood-amber base. The contrast between the sharp cold topnotes and the oriental base gives Jicky its beauty. At the beginning the lavender is discernible, but this is a well-crafted fragrance, and so it soon becomes difficult to disentangle individual notes. There is that Guerlainade shared by Shalimar (it’s the vanilla and other base notes); one can certainly trace Shalimar’s ancestry back to Jicky, yet they do not actually smell alike.
The drydown of Jicky feels like a fresher, sportier Shalimar, yet not Shalimar. It has a quiet spiciness. A beautiful contrast between cool and warm. lavender and musky vanilla. So much better than 99% of the new stuff out there today.
Aime Guerlain of course was the nose for Jicky. Classic of all elegant classics. Even if one does not enjoying wearing this, one needs to have experienced Jicky to be educated in perfumes.

I met Jicky when I first became infatuated with all things Guerlain. So, let me get some "technical" issues out of the way: I remembered Jicky warmer, with a more distinct Guerlinade accord. Honestly, back then, I was not very impressed, and like I have said many times on this forum, time always tell a different story. The current Eau the parfum maintains some of my recollections, and there is a common point: silage and longevity are not the best.
Onto Jicky... my nose immediately detects a very herbal lavander in the opening, immediately followed by the vanilla and a very subtle sandalwood. Make no mistake, these are quality ingredients used here, specially the sandalwood. I'm sure is not the Mysore kind, but still quality.
It's hard to understand how revolutionary Jicky was when it first came out, and how it could appeal to both sexes, mainly because Jicky has become the blueprint of so many to try to replicate. Creed's BOP, Caron's 3d Homme, PDN New York, Chanel's PM among many all owe a nod of recognition to the amazing Jicky. And yet, Jicky remains so distinctively Guerlain, and distinctively French. Jicky is the scent of a gentleman's gent, refined, cultivated, well mannered. Jicky is a nod to the Belle Époque with an eye to the not so pleasant future that laid ahead. Jicky is the beautiful flower of a steel and cement garden.
Absolutely beautiful.
Smell great my friends.

Amazing scent. I ended up on the Jicky path after reading that Sean Connery was rocking this back in the 60's and 70's. This was also the reason I acquired Habit Rouge, which I fell in love with. So, intrigued by the scent and the image of Sean Connery's chest hair coverage while using this scent, I thought, "Let's copy Mr. Connery again and get Jicky". Wow, let me just say, this is an amazingly uplifting scent. Completely abstract, no, I don't think nature produces such scents that we could use as yardsticks and say, "Oh yeah, that smells like such and such a thing".

Jicky is a microcosm, to don it, is to enter it's atmosphere, it's world, it's olfactory vortex of lemony delights and an unknown accord, which many call the "baby poo note". Let's be honest, no, it doesn't smell like that, I think people exaggerate when they're up against a fragrance that their nose can't comprehend. It's what I would call a "fresh dissonance", something very much there on purpose. But I repeat, it's a very abstract accord.

This is one of the most versatile fragrances I have ever come across (I have the Eau de Parfum), and I should mention I am a male. I read here that it was originally sold to both men and women in Aimé Guerlain’s day, and, so the legend goes, the men wearing Jicky, after frequenting brothels so to speak, “passed the fragrance on” to the ladies working there, not sure if this is just folklore though. And the rest is history.

This should really be listed on Fragrantica as a unisex fragrance. Nay, I say, hombres, let us take back Jicky entirely for ourselves,this could be our own unique 21st century statement of laidback yet refined manliness!
But seriously, I can think of so many contexts for using this scent:
Chilling in my house during a summer afternoon. A refreshing after-shower pick-me-up. A date scent (with a lady I’ve gone out with at least twice, not apt for a first date I think): A contemporary office scent: A sensual post-amatory, lying in bed together scent; Could possibly be used as a “couple scent”, with the two of them wearing it.
If you found yourself liking this, I think you can use it virtually any time, any place. Also, if you get a hold of Jicky, you’ll probably be the only person you know using it, so it makes for a great signature scent, and it’s not a challenge to wear, it’s in fact very inviting.

I haven’t touch upon the olfactory pyramid here, because really, this scent is art. It can’t be easily comprehended by breaking its notes down, but that doesn’t mean you can’t simply wear it whenever you’re in the mood for an uplifting slap on the cheek. No, it doesn’t smell like cat bum, or baby poo, just a really refined and complex masterpiece suitable for anyone, from just one member of the Guerlain dynasty, all of whom were gods among noses.

I cannot believe I sampled a scent today that contained lavender, which I always associate with a undeniably harsh Yardley bottle from my childhood. I was also wary of the rosemary note and the basil and was expecting a sturdy, almost rough experience.

But this was the famous Jicky - and I was so surprised and excited to see it for sale. I just had to go there.

I can only describe my encounter today with Jicky as a parallel for being with Benjamin Button. The initial spritz and first few minutes made me feel that I had wandered into a dusty abandoned boudoir and had dabbed myself with the remnants of a near empty flacon. Musty, old, no potency remaining. Stale.


A half hour in, and things had settled a bit, but still not so impressed. It certainly had the hallmarks of the era in which it was created, but - Too vintage for me, I thought.
Just not me, I thought.
I would wear it if it were a gift, but spend my money elsewhere.

Driving home, I began to wish I'd lived in an earlier age. I was now getting the elegance, the style, the poise of this lovely lady.

It is now near bedtime, nine hours have passed and Jicky flits and flirts around me, teasing, girly, barely there but certainly not gone, and laughing at my presumption at dismissing her so soon.

This one goes to the top of my list for when I can next afford to indulge in a classic.

P.S. The lavender is deliriously gorgeous.

Lavender & baby power with a vintage classy vibe. Lavender is the star here. Strong, delicious, feminine, simple, almost edible.

Omg, Jicky.

So, I have a ton of perfumes, and gourmands are my obsession. But I adore Guerlain and Shalimar EDP and Parfum Initial EDP are my #2 and #3 scents of all time. I also love L'Heure Bleue even tho it's not my style.

So, for giggles, I blind bought the Jicky EDP. It definitely is Shalimar without the vanilla... but vanilla is my fave part of Shalimar! I really was scared I'd hate this.

I love Jicky. Yes, it's very "sophisticated dapper old man" but it's so much fun! I love the aura of a time gone by... the way it projects. It's past the bright citrus opening and now in the lavender powder stage. The vintage/dated vibe here is perfect (I also find LHB to be perfectly old fashioned). I'm wearing it for me... for my bliss... for this moment. It's not sexy or womanly... not feminine. But I am so happy wearing it right now... home for the night in my pajamas.

If it had more vanilla or femininity... it would be Shalimar. So take it as it is. :)

If antiques, old movies, books, etc make you happy... try this. Put it on and enjoy the moment of being transformed.

Nothing is overly gross on me. No piss... but I get how someone may sense vomit... this gives off an acidic-ness that you get in your throat when you are sick... haha... but it's a stretch and certainly wasn't unpleasant like vomit. I am not sure what civet is... haha... but Jicky is not gross to me.

The opening of Jicky was exactly like Shalimar, but after 20-30 minutes it strays far off into its unique lavender. Now I don't sense any more than 15% similarity after wearing for an hour.

It's fresh yet creamy, yet also perfectly dusty. Definitely a vintage shaving cream. I will adore wearing this for me, and just me. I am so excited to have this perfume in this adorable bottle. (Current EDP bottle)

I just love this. Crave it. I find it is absolute MAGIC when layered with other Guerlains, for me... the Shalimar flankers that bore me when worn by themselves: Eau de Shalimar, Shalimar Cologne, Shal Souffle... MAGICAL HEAVEN!

Always wanted to try and now have, the vintage, and am not in love. It's okay. I have a huge Guerlain collection, especially vintages but this is not a favorite. It is very masculine/balsamic/herbal/bitter. It goes on almost like a smoked perfume or cheese. It has the herbs but initially smells like a smoked sharp dry floral with a huge blast of citrus. It is NOT like Shalimar other than the fact that they both have heavy top citrus notes. This is not sweet. It is dry and a bit sour. It powders up a bit in the base to get softer and the Guerlain base shines through. I like it/think it's okay but this is not a holy grail any longer. I won't be shelling out big bucks for a vintage bottle.

This is surprisingly timeless, yet distinctively a Guerlain vintage. You're first met with a fresh citrusy, bergamot wave of lavender which is just so lovely and fit for spring. It mellows out with the tonka beans, the orris root and a slight jasmine. Then there is leather, amber, spice and a deep vanilla. It's safe to say that Jicky is related to Shalimar. I personally prefer it. Shalimar is still lost to the past, too powdery and loud, but Jicky feels new. Slightly sweet, and slightly sultry from the leathery vanilla. It feels like it can complete easily with anyone's modern favorites. It's just on the border of being unisex as well, which is appealing. A real winner for me. I'm rating the EDT, and I would love to get my hands on some more concentrated stuff and give a further opinion, but as it stands now 8/10.

Jicky is a comfort perfume for me, one you can always go to when you need to recover the joy of being under your own skin in an effortless still charming complex way. I love to wear it in spring daytime with a polished casual outfit, white shirt, jeans, leather sandals and minimal jewelry. Perfect for an active sunday morning, reading on a cafe's terrace under the sun. Try it out if you are not afraid of vintage unisex perfumes with a bit of leather and hidden dirt under a perfectly polite sweet lavender cream. Sillage and longevity are both moderate in the contemporary edp version.

I bought the new 100ml EDT bottle and unfortunatelly it has barely any staying power.

Last year I tested EDP and I remember it being sweet and strong, it lasted a long while and it was a really warm smell. It was lovely but a bit too much for my liking, but I was still tempted.

Having found EDT in an online sale I blind bought it after reading it wasn't as sweet and as in your face as the EDP. It certainly has a more masculine smell to it, to the point where after smelling it on me my other half asked if I had used his shower gel. But that's fine. I like that lavander is less sweet in the EDT and the smell is overall cooler and quieter. However after about 20 minutes it turns into a skin scent on me and I feel like no one else can detect it. I keep smelling my clothes and trying to catch a waft of Jicky but I really struggle.

I have a feeling EDT would reveal more of true Jicky in warmer weather so I'm eagerly waiting for summer to see how it changes.

To me, it's a Sunday smell. Be it a relaxing walk, a day of baking, or pottering in the garden, or just sitting reading. It's a scent of relaxation and calm. Shame it doesn't last at all on me.

I remember the Jicky of the 1970's, a soft and luscious tidal wave of sandalwood. It was complex, elegant, grown up and slightly, darkly oriental.
I tried the reformulation today at a department store in Sydney, and am sorry to say that it bears just a shadow of resemblance to the original. I found myself returning to the spot on my arm where it was sprayed, anxiously trying to evoke the sensation of the original, but to no avail. After 5 hours, the scent has completely dissipated.
It is so sad that Guerlain can't access some of the original ingredients for a multitude of reasons, and it's unlikely many of us will have the opportunity to breath in the wonderful Jicky fragrance, it will just have to live on in my olfactory memory. It was a fragrance that swept you off your feet at the beginning, and continued to simmer with wear...if that makes any sense!

JICKY THE FIRST FRAGRANCE

Jicky is the first modern multilayered multi-note fragrance composed of synthetic chemicals in a lab. It's the main attraction at the Osmotheque in Versailles France. It came in the form of a champagne bottle with a cork. The fragrance has suffered a reformulation so we don't know exactly what the original would wear like on your 2016 skin chemistries. In the 80's the fragrance was reissued and it smelled as close to the original as possible.

Jicky is both a fougere and a citrusy floral skin freshner not unlike Fougere Royale by Houbigant or Guerlain's own GUERLINADE. Jicky opens with fresh citruses and they are lemony and sharp like an astringent but it's really good for you. This citrus is invigorating and refreshing like a tonic. The opening was typical of the period and was definitely a bottle of toilet water that could have been worn by both the Mr and Mrs of the house. The citrusy aftershave scent would have appealed to men. The lavender note stands out and it's one flower that takes over the body of the perfume. It's a big lavender, pastoral, spicy and cool. The rosemary is the other floral note that smells like lavender anyways and they are beautifully paired together.

The rest of the notes: herbs, spices from the South of France, Tonka-Vanilla and musk/leather. All these scents especially the deer musk and horse leather provide the scent with an outdoorsy aroma. It smells like spending the summer in Provence horseback riding, collecting fruit and growing flowers. It's a mature fragrance for a French woman who has a cottage or chateaux in Avignon or Grasse. The scent is spicy, aromatic, floral, citrusy and earthy. It is a fragrance that sets the mood for a French vacation. It is a casual scent despite it's vigorous projection. Spray this in the air and walk into it rather than applying it on your clothes. It's a romantic and relaxed fragrance. The vanilla really deepens and lingers like a vanilla malt beverage.

I wish that the fragrance can be reissued as it had been in the 80's with note for note verisimilitude. This is the first truly modern fragrance that set the bar high and opened doors to all future perfumers. Before Jicky, fragrances were simpler, linear and mostly floral with oily texture. This scent has more in common with today's citrus-floral-vanilla scents than we know about. It's unisex so Guerlain was already establishing himself as a perfumista for both men and women. Jicky will continue to fascinate us and it's scent reaches to us from across the decades. It's like an old song on a phonograph. It's a French grandmother wearing a perfume to feel good throughout her day as she tends to her garden of vegetables, flowers and fruits.

So beautiful.

Lavender, vanilla, Provencal herbs, cat bum.

Yum. Amazing.

I grabbed this one from my bag of samples blindly as an exercise in identifying perfumes, and thought to myself "It's definitely a Guerlain... Maybe a Shalimar Flanker?". I dabbed a bit on, "What the hell is that fecal note?!". *sniff sniff* "This is just weird!" I thought. I looked at the label, and it was Jicky. Of course! I remember thinking how weird this smelled the first time I tried it. The fecal note (animalic?) is indistinguishable to me now after drying (thank god). Smells pretty good actually, but that opening made me want to hurl! If there's one thing I learned today, It's that if that sort if smell is typical of most animalics, I will most definitely have to pass on them.

I tried this for the first time today, and I am in love! I dabbed just a bit behind my ears as I wasn't sure how I would feel about such a classic. Throughout the next seven hours I had the most delicious scents wafting across my nose. It is so unlike everything else I wear. There are so many facets of it that make it so interesting. It is a little masculine but that fleets in and out of the sheer femininity of the rest of the fragrance. I have discovered that I like lemon lavender a lot in the garden, and add vanilla and tonka bean and a few other notes, and it is delicious. Guerlain has made me turn my nose up at so many more common and mundane scents. It might not work for everyone, but it definitely works for me!

Jicky is such a weird scent.

I don't think most unisex fragrances are actually that unisex. It's a misunderstood label. Anyone can wear whatever they want, so it's kind of unnecessary when trying to label a perfume as "wearable" for both sexes. To me, unisex implies (or should imply) that a fragrance is genuinely equal parts masculine and feminine, and I just don't think most really are.

But Jicky is exactly that. It's perfectly split between smelling feminine and masculine and is truly completely unisex, which is impressive-it manages to be traditionally feminine and masculine at the same time, at least to me. It's hard to make a perfume that smells masculine on a man but feminine on a woman, but Jicky accomplishes this. There's only a handful of perfumes I've tried that have that effect, and I'm not counting the ones that are unisex just because they're very universal (i.e. natural/green or citrus scents). If I ever had an idea of what a unisex Guerlain created in the late 1800s would smell like, this is exactly it. It's stately, refined, well crafted, lacks any sex appeal (it's animalic but in a way that reminds me more of horseback riding than sex, maybe because its herbaceous as well) but makes up for it in spirit. If Jicky were a person, I'd picture them as being reserved, but witty and individually minded. It's self assured but very modest (except maybe financially-Jicky smells expensive). Also, Jicky smells like what the term "old money" implies. It makes me think of a large estate with a horse stable, not just because it gives that vibe but because it literally smells like someone wore an understated perfume and then went horseback riding through the woods, and came back a little sweaty.

For the same reason that I think Jicky is exceptional, I don't really like it. I don't know why, but I've never really liked genuinely unisex fragrances. I don't know what exactly it is, but they lack something for me. I've gone through phases where I only liked to wear cold, masculine fragrances and now I really love my warm, feminine sex-bombs, but while Jicky has a lot of character, it lacks a certain boldness and kind of just bores me after a while. Not because it's boring, but because there's just nothing about it that really grabs my attention, it has a lot of unusual and even somewhat loud notes but nothing in it particularly appeals to me, and it just isn't "me" at all.

In a weird way, it's a safe scent, but it's not at all a crowd pleaser. It's an oddball. But it's a sophisticated oddball. It's safe because it's never really inappropriate in any situation. I can't see how this would appeal to most (as a personal fragrance) but on the right person, it could be a signature scent. Everyone who's interested in perfume should try it once anyway (just don't buy it without testing first).

Reviewing the EDT...I'm a a Guerlain virgin, trying Jicky for the first time.

What I expected: something fussy but beautiful, with a confusing concoction of notes that I wouldn't be able to identify in a million years...a scent that changed color and shape like a lava lamp, something far, far over my head.

What I am smelling: lemon/lavender shaving cream!

Not at all what I expected, needless to say. This is very unisex to me...upon first sniff, my first image was of my grandfather - it's got a very nostalgic aftershave/shaving cream vibe to my nose. The lavender/lemon combination is really delicious, and very clean-smelling. I feel like this would be an uplifting scent for pretty much anytime...the lemon is very spring-like, but it's a full-bodied, round scent, which also seems suited to cold weather.

As it settles down a little, I am getting more lemon, less lavender, but still lovely. Lovely, nostalgic, delicious!

This is for the vintage Parfum De Toilette

Jicky is mostly lavender, vanilla, spices with a almost gourmand gingerbread vibe to it. I must admit I am not a fan of lavender fragrances, but it is done right here with this particular fume & the notes added alongside it blends in so well it is very good.

That lovely civet kicks in & gives it that one, two PUNCH! I just love NATURAL civet in fragrances, it adds such a dirty, sexy vibe to the composition. This was created & marketed for women but it can EASILY pass for unisex or even a men's frag.

This beauty last on my 5-6 hours, & projects nicely for the first couple of hours & the rest leaves alot to be desired.
I expected greater longevity from this one but it just is not happening. Tho the Parfum De Toilette is what EDP's are today, The notes here are more natural & less synthetic which is always good.

I'd certainly make this a signature scent doing the fall as it reeks, class, beauty & sophistication with the right amount of sex! A classic & underrated beauty for sure!

Interesting. On one hand I really enjoy this, it's sweet but not overly so. Bold yet soft. In the bottle smells slightly musty and old fashioned, on my skin is where it really transforms...I smell vanilla but it's in the background definitely smell citrus, but the most overwhelming scent is flowers. Lush, blooming flowers, not unpleasant at all, and I normally dislike overly floral scents. Its not fresh at all, yet it doesn't feel outdated or overpowering, not much powder on me, thank God (I LOATHE powder).

However...

The lavender. There's a lot more lavender than I'm comfortable with, which is normally none. I could actually tolerate the disgusting lavender if it was just a lot lighter, maybe a touch of lavender could be nice here. However it's just too much, and it overpowers all the other notes, especially as it wears. It's a huge shame, I almost love this so much.

Lemon Cheesecake Cologne

Bought a bottle of the EDT today and was surprised at how different than the tester it was, but in a way I'm really liking. Much `cooler` and less sweet and fluffy than the tester. I guess this is one of those scents that varies a lot from year to year?

If you can get past your bad associations with lavender Jicky will reward you!

I must say that lavender notes are growing on me. Previously I would associate lavender with potpourri and soothing foot creams, but now I am really starting to appreciate it in perfume. Jicky is a fantastic lavender. It works so well with the rosemary. 1889, you say? Timeless.

After getting over the shock of that initial baby poo note, I found the EdT to be a very enjoyable lavender and vanilla scent that leaned more toward citrusy and refreshing than gourmand. Unfortunately, I also get about four hours out of this before every last trace is gone from my skin, which is the only thing keeping me from springing for a bottle. Maybe the EdP has better longevity?

Aime Guerlain dumped a whole bottle of the new synthetic "vanillin" into a bottle of Shalimar, and that's where Jicky comes from. It's Shalimar with lots of vanilla. The sweetness tones down a lot of the "vintage" notes that are present in Shalimar, giving it a more modern feel.

Unisex. I can be too much words to tell or just staying silent, sitting and smelling and fantasizing bout making love in the rain when it comes to this magicaly devilish (in a good way) potion.

I've poisoned (in a good way) by Samsara (my sister's}; Jicky (my mom's); Habit Rouge, L'Instant Pour Homme (mine). I don't have all Guerlain's but I believe they have kept very scented magic deep down somehere ..... :-)))

11/10 .. :-)))

This reminds of beautiful warm skin, erotic yet innocent. It's kinda skanky yet I could wear this in public personally, it's just about decent. In some ways I prefer this over shalimar as although it makes me feel beautiful, this plucks a chord in my heart and makes you ache to put your head in the crook of someone's neck. A masterpiece.

Love it!!!!!! Excellent sillage but unfortunately on my skin it lasts no more than one hour maximum!!!! I like it so much but I have to spray it many times during the day to be sufficiently covered!! First Guerlain fragrance I own that needs more then 2-3 sprays a day !!!!! To me is a lighter version of great Shalimar with a grand twist!!! a huge leather note that gives this masterpiece a unique soul!!!! It has character!!!
Clearly a unisex fragrance with equal amounts of masculine and feminine aspects!!!!!!!!!
I m sure that the vintage version would be more powerful and last for ages !!!!!
Another Guerlain Masterpiece I m proud to possess!!!!
Thanks
G.

THE FIRST MODERN PERFUME ALL OTHER FRAGRANCES BOW TO GUERLAIN'S JICKY

1889 this fragrance was released and revolutionized the fragrance business. Before 1889, perfume was not affordable to the mass market public and was very expensive and a luxury that only royalty and the aristocratic upper classes could afford, and even then all they got was soliflores or single flower fragrances usually lavender, rose, hyacinth and other garden flowers. This was the first modern perfume made of a combination of flowers that followed the the three layer structure of head-heart-base notes. This fragrance was a floral chypre (flowers on woods base) and had notes of citrus and lavender at the top, jasmine and lily at the heart and sandalwood at and oak at the bottom. The originals resembled a champagne bottle with the stopper serving as the cork. You can see the antique original behind glass at the Osmotheque Fragrance Library Museum in Versailles France which has collected and recorded every fragrance ever created. Jicky sold to women but they smelled like men's colognes. The woods are very strong in fact the strongest accords. The lavender-jasmine-lily combo is very nice but it's not about flowers. It's sweet and heady but have a synthesis that makes it modern. If you would like to experience the real Jicky and "smell the past" get the old vintage original bottles which believe it or not sell for a high price and worth that price. You will get a sense of what women wore in the 1890's and turn of the century period of 1900 to 1914. This was a fragrance Edwardian women wore and women aboard the RMS Titanic would have worn, unless they were wearing Coty's La Rose Jacqueminot or Houbigant's Quelques Fleurs. This fragrance was reformulated twice. The 80's version honored the classic original but all subsequent reformulations did not. If you notice Fragrantica has listed the current formula notes which have the additional notes of vanilla, amber and tonka bean, which are now the traditional ingredients in gourmands and floral-gourmands (i.e. Lancome's Poeme). Do you seriously believe that Guerlain would have included vanilla in a fragrance in 1889? At a time when not even aldehydes was being used in perfume? The real Jicky has no aldehydes. It's pure extract and essence of lavender, jasmine and sandalwood. Smelling the old formula is like going back in time the way that Christopher Reeve did to meet the woman he loved (Jane Seymour) in the film SOMEWHERE IN TIME. This is a romantic fragrance which can be worn by both men and women. Many people have told me the lavender is masculine as is the citrus and wood notes which are found in most men's colognes. This is a beautiful, beautiful fragrance and a must have in every serious fragrance lover's collection. It is a piece of living history you can touch and smell. This is the oldest fragrance available in the market today. It's been selling since 1889. It sits on one of my dressers along with 2 other masterpieces of the turn of the century that I adore: La Rose Jacqueminot by Francois Coty and Houbigants Quelques Fleurs.

Absolutely magical. Either there is no civet note on me, or my nose is not sophisticated enough to catch it. Either way, I don't smell anything animal, or unwashed.

It starts off a little sharp, with the bergamot and lemon, but lavender quickly arrives on the scene. On me the lavender note lasts quite some time, even as the overall scent begins to shift into a warm, vanilla, amber oriental. Eventually the lavender exits, and what is left smells different, but exquisite. The oriental scents come forward, with a hint of wood, and linger until the fragrance is gone. The final scent on my skin is warm wood.

It's like wearing three different perfumes, time released, so that the scent shifts and varies, but never becomes muddled. It is one of the best things I've ever smelled.

Lemon tart? Well well... we all have different perceptions when it comes to scents, but there's noting edible in this baby. Nothing at all. Instead, this is a hugely animalic lavender-vanilla fragrance built upon warm notes of hearty, smelly civet. And it's very very sensual. I love it. It's deep, aromatic, indolic and slightly sweet. Suitable for everyone who enjoys civet, since there is quite a lot of it.

Edit: I can't se civet in the notes above, but it is there. I know.

Jicky is at first glance a lavender scent with its facets fleshed out and played with, achieving pleasing and realistic results. For one, the lavender at the top differs from the lavender that is then compounded at the heart of the scent. At the top, it has a meditative freshness; rich and toasty and drenched in warm sunlight. It can be sweet, almost to the point of sugariness, which highlights the initial realism of the scent – true to the profile of lavender.

Jicky then succumbs to the languidness of an oriental, that too doesn’t skip the richness of body and warmth found in an oriental’s depths. This is the marker of an aromatic fougere. Not exactly a chameleon of the scented spectrum, but instead it takes the good and the noteworthy from all parts of what we can call the continuum of scent. The fresh top notes of citrus – a rich, albeit brief arpeggio of a melange of citrus fruits, giving an oily lacquer at the top. The realistic floral notes to begin, a breeze of lavender providing fresh, anisic astringency, scaling down to then give a profound hum – existing uniquely at the fragrance’s many stages.

Slowly, comes abstraction. You can call Jicky a lavender perfume, but perhaps only initially. You must now call Jicky a fragrance focusing on the delectable 2H–chromen–2–one; pardon me, coumarin: the tonka bean. Combined with a dosing of a creamy, crazily animalic civet note, the fougere amalgam is made complex to levels that were then novel in perfumery – forming a scent now with an unhurried sexiness – an orchestrated symphony, boasting tautness when you first meet it, and of course a secret languidness when you get to know it well.

The tonka bean, which is culinarily delicious, nutty, and redolent of marzipan and the rich, unctuous sweetness of desserts cooked to a near burnt state, is underpinned generously: amber accords, patchouli, vanilla, incense, and perhaps with what we can call the sparkly luminescence of the Guerlainade. Imparting addiction with a wave of crisp rosemary.

There is a certain lift to this fragrance, and I am tempted to attribute this to the application of aldehydes (or, a term I call, ‘technical aldehydes’ … Meaning, that they are employed not for their smell, but more so for the space between the notes and the feeling of lightness on the nose one receives when smelling these compounds). This gives Jicky an omnipresent freshness whereas the 1925 Shalimar lacks this feature.

Jicky is a glamorous powder at the base, with the initially forceful bodily (or, less politely, fecal) lavender oscillations combine pleasingly, and evolve to a deepness grounded in its base note structure – best experienced in the parfum variant. From freshness and sparkle, comes a roasted, warm, encompassing, and most importantly accepting quality (sandalwood?). Substantial, yet fresh. Dirty, yet persistently sweet.
…And the Guerlain style? It has restraint, and an immense, towering structure. It is a grand, richly balsamic perfume.

You're wearing Shalimar, you're in a strange city, and you've been having magnificent sex for days on end. Should anyone cross your path before you bathe, this is what you smell like.

This is an erotic scent for worldly adults. If you're not mature, save your money for something at Walmart.

Should drop the J. Although discordant, it smells mostly fine in the bottle, but my skin hates this. There's something reminiscent of halitosis in there. Yeah, bad breath covered up by lavender. Icky. Also, let me preface this next statement by saying I'm prepared for the onslaught of hate I will likely receive, but might I add that I actually have yet to find a Guerlain I like. Sorry to the Guerlain lovers out there.

Jicky is a drug, a dream, it is magic. Created in 1889 by Aime Guerlain there are many stories associated with its creation. The most charming and melancholy is that he was inspired by lovely English girl Aime met while at university in England. But most likely he named it after his uncle Jacques whose nickname was Jicky. Aime is also the nose behind the beautiful Eau de Cologne du Coq, and several others from the Belle Epoch.

Yes it is of the gilded age, the belle epoch of Paris but it is anything but old and dated. Jicky is vibrant, rich and MODERN. Created in a time in perfumery when there were no genders applied to perfume…everyone wore Jicky. This fragrance in both its parfum and eau de toilet forms is spectacular on both men and women. It is of the now and always will be.

It opens with an herbal twang of rosemary blended in with mandarin orange, bergamot and lemon. Nice and safe yes? Not so fast there is something else, something coming up from eh bottom notes that just can’t wait to shine and sing. The spices and leather. List in the bottom they move forward in to the fading opening notes and take the lead of the middle notes.

The mid being a silky dark and dirty orris root that the leather notes latch on to. Brilliant. The spices from the base sift in with basil and Tonka creating a layer of swirling intoxicating vapors, a veil that blithely blankets each body it embraces creating a comforting caressing touch. A dry dusting of lavender on the petals of jasmine give it sparkle.

In the dry down the Leather and spices keep it warm and sensuous. There is sandalwood to add creamy smoothness along with a dash of vanilla, shimmering sunset amber and benzoin keep the embers of this masterpiece glowing long into the wee hours of its life.

Longevity for me is epic. Hours upon hours of bliss. The projection is at first impressive at about three feet then pulls in to about 18 inches for the long run. Perfect for a lady or gentleman who wants to give off an air of sophistication without the bullhorn. Jicky is something not everyone will love, it is different, challenging and more complex than most modern fragrances out there today. And yet for those of us who love the great classic perfumes of France it is essential.

FIVE PLATINUM STARS *****

(FOR THE STORY BEHIND MY REVIEW OF JICKY CHECK OUT MY BLOG “SCENTS MEMORY”)

Hello, all!! Just curious, as I've never had the opportunity to try Jicky.. I've heard this was at one point considered a unisex scent -- is it?

I have a partially full vintage tester from the early eighties and it smells exquisite. It sits beautifully on my skin, smelling like the heart and soul of Shalimar (I would be surprised if a little Lavender hasn't survived in the formula of the latter) as well as being its own, unique fragrance. A lovely, foggy, at times wistful perfume.

Today I tested the current formula of the edt on skin, and now, about 5 hours later I can smell something like the Jicky I know, but at first there was this inescapable feculent aspect- like halitosis or the smell of having one's teeth filled. Not nice and not present in my vintage bottle.