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Monday, May 16, 2011

Givenchy Harvest 2007 Amarige Mimosa


This one is Abigail's fault. She reviewed Givenchy Harvest 2007 Amarige Mimosa on I Smell Therefore I Am, made me go look for it and fall ridiculously in love. It's even more surprising because it's not that Mimosa 2007 isn't even trying to hide its relationship with Amarige, a perfume to which I've been opposed for years (and forcing me to reevaluate* my stand on that one as well).

So, yes, Givenchy Harvest 2007 Mimosa is a gentrified Amarige. I've always considered the original a vulgar fruity-floral with a toxic tuberose (coming from someone who loves Michael it has to mean something) and a cheap vanilla base. In Mimosa 2007 the offending part, the melon note, was replaced with a hefty dose of sunny florals, especially violets and a nice helping of high-quality mimosa, both the French variety from Grasse and the more exotic Tamil Nadu mimosa from south-east India. It's the honeyed smooth influence of the mimosa that brings out the best of the peach and plum notes from the opening notes and makes them round and summery. I also smell the violets quite distinctly which is another nice improvement.


The overall impression of Givenchy Amarige Mimosa Harvest is honeyed, a bit fuzzy and quite ambery, in color and in nature. The base is much more refined than the original, despite very similar notes of cashmeran wood, tonka bean, benzoine and vanilla. I'm guessing that this limited edition perfume won the better ingredients and probably also had the proportions tweaked a little for smoothness. It's still very sweet and some might find it treacly, and definitely strong (in his review of the original Amarige, Luca Turin has suggested that if one must wear it, not only you should do it in private but also seal the windows. I can't really blame him for the sentiment). But I also find it not only wearable but also delightful and satisfying.

Notes: Mimosa (Tamil Nadu), Neroli, Rosewood, Mimosa leaves, Violet, Cassie, Gardenia, Jasmine, Mimosa (Grasse), Orange blossom, Ylang-ylang, Cashmeran, Sandalwood, Amber, Vanilla.

*My enjoyment of my Amarige Mimosa bottle has forced me to dig up a mini of the original Givenchy bomb I've been keeping for reference. I have a little extrait de parfum circa 1999 or 2000, which is only slightly less intrusive and violent than the common EDT. I smell the similarities and can appreciate even more the work done on Mimosa. I still find Amarige very difficult, even if I can now deal with it, at least in extrait, where the tuberose is not a monstrous mutant and I do wear the ambery dry-down pretty well. Still, I placed the bottle back in the back of the cabinet, where it will remain until further notice.

All the Givenchy Harvest perfumes are released as a limited edition. The 2007 Amarige Mimosa is sold out now, but there was also a 2009 version (I haven't tried it) that can still be found here and there.

Images-
Fashion illustration of  Givenchy leopard print from inkbramble.com
Givench Fall 2011 from WWD
Givenchy hat, photograph by Frank Horvat, 1957

10 comments:

  1. I´m a huge Givenchy lover so I really like the limited edition perfumes from Givenchy also. I´m really looking forward to this years LE´s.

    But my favorite Givenchy is Angel and Devil for day and also the night version.

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  2. I like Amarige Mimosa 2007 and proudly own a bottle (I hunted it down on eBay after missing it while it was still available but I didn't understand what "limited edition" stood for).

    I also think that it is better, more polished, if you will, than the original Amarige. I tried 2009 (or was it 2010 harvest?) last year in Harrod's and didn't notice much difference but it wasn't a side-by-side comparison, so I might be wrong.

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  3. It's no surprise I adore this scent too Gaia.Abigail also turned me on! lol
    I always get noticed and complimented on this mimosa perfume, it's gorgeous!
    I wish I had a bottle, I'll be depressed when my decant is gone.

    xoxo~T

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  4. Yayy! So happy you love it.
    I adore all the Harvest editions (well, just '05, '06, '07 and '08 but haven't tried '09 and '10 yet). Each of them are so smooth and smell of highest quality ingredients with extra little floral notes (like the violet you mention) added to make them sublime :)

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  5. sternchenslove, I need to get better acquainted with the other Harvest editions. Adding to the list...

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  6. Undina, I'm glad to know the later harvests are also worth pursuing. It will make my life easier.

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  7. Sophia, I checked last night (forgot to include this in my post), but both The Posh Peasant and The Perfumed Court still have Mimosa 2007 in stock.

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  8. Abigail, you understand this means I'm off to pursue the Ylang Ylang now, right? And I'll still blame you ;)

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  9. Well, just so you don't feel alone Gaia... :) I purchased the '09 and '10 Harvest Editions of Amarige today! It will be a week before they arrive but I'm ecstatic. The '09 is another mimosa focus and '10 is ylang-ylang. I was getting pretty low on my '07 so I just *had* to do it!
    Honestly, these Harvest Editions are better than most niche perfumes and reasonably priced to boot.
    If I were a fan of Organza and the others I'd try those as well but I never liked the original Organza or Demon (or whatever it's called :-? )

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  10. Abigail, I'm with you on Organza. One day I'll have to review it (have some vintage), but it's just not calling my name.

    And now I'll have to do something about the ylang-ylang harvest...

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