L'Homme Idéal Guerlain (2014) Eau de Toilette

L'Homme Idéal (Eau de Toilette) by Guerlain

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L'Homme Idéal (Eau de Toilette) (Guerlain)

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7.0 / 10 462 Ratings

L'Homme Idéal (Eau de Toilette) is a perfume by Guerlain for men and was released in 2014. The scent is sweet-gourmand. It is being marketed by LVMH.

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Perfumer

Thierry Wasser

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes	Citruses, Rosemary, Orange blossom
Heart Notes	Almond, Tonka bean
Base Notes	Leather, Indian vetiver, Cedar

Ratings

Scent

7.0 (462 Ratings)

Longevity

6.9 (315 Ratings)

Sillage

6.3 (335 Ratings)

Bottle

8.1 (341 Ratings)

View Video of L'Homme Idéal (Eau de Toilette) (Vimeo)

Submitted by Apicius, last update on 16.04.2019

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Reviews

04/11/2019

7.0 6.0 4.0 5.5/10

Coemgen
0 Reviews

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Coemgen

The warming companion for autumn - quiet, average and unfortunately somewhat boring

L'Homme Idéal (Eau de Toilette) was given to me as a sample by a well-known drugstore chain. Already with the first small attempt it had not torn me straight from the stool. Now I tried again...

The most striking sign of this perfume, in my opinion, is the orange. She's giving this perfume its shape. The subtleties come through the rosemary and the almond. Overall an acceptable blend that leaves a warm feeling behind. That's also the big advantage of this perfume: the warming feeling that I still feel even after a few hours. As a little bonus the leather comes out a bit more after 1 hour and gives the scent more depth. More of that would have suited the perfume well.
But apart from that, this fragrance lacks a special feature. He doesn't do anything wrong and doesn't risk anything and therefore seems average and a bit boring. The feeling I had at the first try didn't come up at the second one either.
I found the Sillage acceptable and the durability better than expected. It lasts a few hours without getting noticeably weaker and only loses its power gradually without changing much I have never seen the bottle in real, but in the pictures it looks fine. That sounds hard now, but the average appearance of the bottle, matches the average fragrance.

Conclusion: If you are looking for a perfume for autumn or for a nice dinner that does nothing wrong and leaves a warming feeling behind, you are in good hands here. If there was something special, he should look around for something else.

Small addition on my part: I am rather the southern young sporty type, my grandfather came from Greece and I am an enthusiastic strength athlete. For me this scent is too calm and "noble". It's probably the core of a gourmand (please correct me if I'm wrong here), but I'd rather recommend this perfume to an older man.

3 Replies

01/13/2019

10.0 5.0 7.5 9.0/10

Apicius
219 Reviews

Apicius

Incredibly young

If I was asked what I smell most in Guerlain's main gents' cologne L'homme Idéal, I would say I smell the lots of work that Thierry Wasser must have put into during its development.

Maybe once in a decade, Guerlain releases a new gent's cologne which is to become the basis of their revenues. After its successful introduction, flankers usually follow over the years, extending the range of the original style to further directions of smell. Unlike the freedom one may find in niche perfumery, a fragrance like L'homme Idéal must be spot on. Missing the spirit of time or the audience's taste would be a disaster.

With this in mind, I admire the courage to go for a sweetish oriental as a follow up of the warm and woody Guerlain Homme. Like its predecessor, L'homme Idéal is all about base notes. But as it is the case with many excellent Guerlain perfumes, you fail if you try to describe the fragrance along the published scent notes. All I can say is that a typical Guerlain tonka gets transferred by dark and warm, maybe also slightly herbal notes into a very unique sweetish accord. Denominations like almond accord or Amaretto can roughly describe its style but should not be taken too literally.

L'homme Idéal does not create a fragrance sensation that points to an outer experience. No dark forests, green meadows, salty sea air or the like will appear in the imagination. Instead, L'homme Idéal points back to the personality and, of course, the body of the wearer itself. With modest warmth it is aiming to enhance physical presence and attraction. I being that way, L'homme Idéal is exactly in line with its predecessor. Perfumes like these are stylish in a way that a perfectly fitting suit can be regarded as stylish: slightly underlining the appearance of the wearer without giving too much statement of its own.

A whole group of mainstream perfumes nowadays try to achieve this effect by dimming down the strength of the fragrance to be more an aura rather then a scent. I appreciate this approach but with L'homme Idéal, this kind of smell reduction was not necessary. In a way, L'homme Idéal is both expressive and understated. Incorporating such contradicting aspects into one perfume is brilliant.

I perceive L'homme Idéal as an incredibly young fragrance. Expressive, sweetish orientals are generally the taste of teenage boys. At a certain age, one can eat a whole bag of candies without the slightest hint of nausea. In full awareness of this context, the industry has launched numerous very affordable sweetish, strong colognes aimed at the young audience. Just mention this to school teachers, and see how they will roll their eyes!

With its sweetness, L'homme Idéal docks onto fragrance and taste experiences we may remember from teenage years. But the whole topic is dealt with on another, much more mature and refined level. L'homme Idéal can be a kind of accelerator that provides access to the world of adult perfumery for the young. A young man used to affordable orientals may want to buy L'homme Idéal along with his first suit, and wear both at the wedding of his mate.

I think it is worth considering if a perfume that is to attract the young in return also emanates juvenile attraction in the perception of the old.

Be that as it may - men who long outgrew teenage smelling and eating habits can still use L'homme Idéal and regard themselves as age-properly dressed. Maybe it is time to leave the vetivers, the chypres and all the other beautiful oldster frags behind...

I very much like Thierry Wasser's and Guerlain's approach. Although driven by commercial interests, he is doing the same as we try to do with our perfume reviews: arousing interest in perfume beginners for high quality perfumes.

1 Replies

07/12/2018

8.0 7.0 6.0 7.5/10

Sebastian80
0 Reviews

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Sebastian80

Danube wave in the bottle

As a child I was allowed to wish myself my birthday cake every year. It's been the same every year: Donauwelle, a sheet cake with sour cherries, butter cream and thick chocolate icing.
I don't want to claim that Guerlain's ideal man smells like birthday cake, the quite present cherry note in the lovely coat just reminds me somehow of the old days. Although I can also perceive a slightly bitter almond, I unfortunately (or rather luckily) do not associate the aroma of Amaretto with this fragrance at all. It may be that I lack the necessary competence here, but I find the Italian almond liqueur to be slightly stinging and cake-sweet
The complete composition of Guerlain seems harmonious to me. Not too sweet, not too loud, but warm and fruity.
Little intrusive and balanced, but also a little arbitrary. Directly one will probably not notice with L´homme ideally rather, for it it is suitable by its gentle character for office and everyday life.
Ideal for going out for dinner during the day, in the evening or simply as a good feel-good scent, also for children's birthday parties :)

3 Replies

06/26/2018

MasterLi
367 Reviews

MasterLi

Beautiful almond and tonka fragrance...

I absolutely love the notes combination here. This fragrance has that sweet, nutty almond facet combined with the tonka bean aspect. The orange blossom also gives a nice, fresh aspect to it (especially when combined with the citrus). The leather and cedar round off the base here. It's a lovely lovely fragrance.

I see this one as very playful and laid back. It doesn't take itself too seriously. I also think that it would be a great hit with a lot of people. Nothing negative here. Just the right amount of gourmand sweetness and playfulness. I can see myself wearing this fragrance a lot. Refreshing and sweet, with just enough woody base and masculine aspects to keep it going. Extremely well made. I like it very much.

06/17/2018

9.0 7.0 8.0 10.0/10

MisterShaver
0 Reviews

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MisterShaver

Thank you Mr. Thierry Water

With this fragrance I really have to hang on to Apicius' statement and thank Mr. Wasser. Because alone like the smell came to me .... I had birthday and in the apron one is asked what one wishes. Here my wife and daughter were the questioners. Now one wishes oneself a smell often by coupon, but I wanted to have something in the hand. So I sent my two ladies to the perfumery of my confidence with the idea there to talk and try to find the scent that the shop owner - who has and knows my fullest confidence and my scent demands - serves up. I learned that there were a few at the start, but my ladies chose this one. That alone is enough for me as a good introduction.
But now came the day of revelation, speak, my judgment. And this one fell without me reading here.
Now this fragrance is my first from Guerlain. So there's nothing for me to compare that to. I am also not familiar with the other fragrances mentioned here. So I am free of anything that could cloud my judgement on the floor of a commentary "that smells like".

And now I notice that the first time I spray it on, a small, delicate nasal explosion takes place. The mixture of the first fragrance components reminds me of a fresh rush with a slightly bitter brake. And I perceive the pleasant echoes of the almond and somehow something vanilla-like. But it's not cute. Is there any bitter vanilla? I don't know, actually you bring in something rather sweet, sometimes even something heavy and pompous. But not here. It is probably the mixture of the tonka bean with the almond that triggers this in me. And all that follows is what I prefer so much. Something leathery, something woody and something oriental.
My perfume dealer of trust did a great job, my ladies recognized it, and I confess that the scent shows me that a somehow masculine scent can have a sweet overtone. Only so much of it that he doesn't drift into the sweet field.
And that's why it's the ideal scent for me. Perfect for the warm summer evening where you want to set fine accents. Which of course will also fit in the office.
And therefore I can thank Mr. Water, because without him I should not have experienced it.

I'm so happy!

06/04/2018

9.0 6.0 7.0 9.0/10

Carlitos01
208 Reviews

Carlitos01

Helpful Review 4

The innovative "L'Homme Générique with Almond" by the house of Guerlain

I was curious to measure my own apreciation over Guerlain's L'Homme Ideal. The reviews I read and the Parfumo scent rating is quite polarized with high and low marks. I never consider the fragrance trolls zero points voting. I would only rate a scent with a zero if it would really stink or contained plain H2O in the bottle. L'Homme Ideal EDT does recall me fragrances like Code Profumo, Pure Havane, Insurrection II Wild, Azzaro Intense and SpiceBomb (the last one iin a lesser degree). All those fragrances have higher ratings (and performance) than the this Guerlain fragrance. Other Guerlain perfumes usually have much higher rates than L'Homme Ideal as well. L'Instant, Vetiver, Habit Rouge and Heritage are Guerlain's untouchable Men fragrance landmarks.
L'Homme Ideal supporters claim this cologne to be very alluring, quite sexy, good performer and with an unique scent.
The top notes reveal a faint rosemary note (I do not detect it), generic citrus and a heavier flowerly orange blossom note. It's generic and metrosexual in fact, but nor really boring. The heart notes make their in less than one minute later and the scent becomes more pungent with sweet tonka bean and a potent heavenly almond that endures till the dry down.
This middle notes reveal a very good blending. Even if other fragrances rely on almond and tonka to mark a gourmand position, in Guerlain's case it giives you an individual middle notes combination, together with an orange blossom top note, to propose you an elegant gourmand ambiance that I relate with other designer scents like Code Profumo or Pure Havane, even if those perfumes are using a different combination of notes. It's not all that different from other competitors, but it's not very "Guerlain" as well. The fragrance shines all through this phase.
The more subtle bottom notes call for a more vulgar blend arrangement of quality cedar, leather and vetiver that team up quite well with the prevailing heart sweetness, mainly due to the powerful almond note.
L'Homme Ideal trails its own way now for a very pleasant drydown but with an average performance. I already tried the EDP but it seems to me that it has a similar performance with a kind of cloying scent. Stronger but not better. Heavier but equaly short lived.
This Guerlain fragrance promotes new paths in this industry. it's not as revolutionary as those started by Thyerry Mugler twenty years ago,but nevertheless quite innovative for a conservative designer like Guerlain. I also believe that this new type of blending to be quite different from those innovative designs of Paco Rabanne.
I do believe that this fragrance will grow in supporters and users in the years to come. There will be more consensus around it. A more competitive pricing would help a lot as well.
Performance is average with a longevity of less than 7 hours and a sillage of about an arm lenght. The projection is quite inferior to what I am used with Guerlain perfumes. I applied two heavy sprays.

My rates for L'Homme Ideal EDT:
Scent Opening:...........7.0 (metrosexual vulgar opening, unusual in Guerlain's perfumes)
Scent Drydown...........8.5 (more "unique", sweet, subtle and agreable than the opening.)
Longevity:...................7.0 (less than 6~7 hours with 2 good sprays)
Sillage:.........................7.0 (4 feet at its peak with 2 good sprays)
Versatility:.................8.5 (the EDT sweetness is very elegant and alluring. It has got a fresh nuance that contributes to propose a wider range of situations where you can safely wear L'Homme Ideal like signature scent, office fragrance, in leisure ituations, in dinners, conventions, receptions, weadings, dinning out, dates, intimacy... but not really in clubbing, work out, beach or sweating activities)
Wearability:...................9.0 (just forget to use it in sunny Summer days outdoor activities or cold winter nights)
Compliments..............8.5 (With an increasing number of people enjoying sweetfragrances (but not sickly sweet) , I realy do think that this fragrance will please to a wide range of both younger and older people)
Uniqueness:................8.5 (This fragrance has lot's of cousins but no brothers)
Quality:........................9.5 (great almond, orange blossom, tonka and cedar notes; heavy handy bottle and good sprayer)
Presentation:..............8.0 (nice but common)
Price:............................6.5 (€46,00 for 100ml tester. For this price I could buy a Guerlain's Heritage EDP 100 ml flask)

Average:........8.00 / 10.00
- between 7 and 8 =above average;
- between 8 and 9 = recomended;
- bigger than 9 = don't miss it;
I can recommend this Fragrance but do compare it with similar alternatives. I don't plan to buy another bottle whenever the present bottle finishes. Anyway, for the usage I will give it, it's going to last for quite a while. I may purchase a "L'Homme Ideal Boisé Intense", if such a flanker type will be issued in the future.
Like many other people I am not impressed. It's an "honest" fragrance but to expensive for its juice uniqueness. For a little more than half of its price I can order Azzaro EDP Intense (another fragrance that arises to my mind when I wear L'Homme Ideal). Although less versatile for its zero freshness, I prefer the Azzaro's scent and I get a lot better performance. For the same price, I really prefer Pure Havane. Climbing up the price leather, I prefer Code Profumo to L'Homme Ideal EDP, and I get a way better performance.

EDIT (April 2019) - This fragrance is actually growing in me. I like it a lot more than one year ago!

12/22/2017

7.0 6.0 6.0 6.5/10

Smora
139 Reviews

Smora

Helpful Review 3

Contemporary Hollow

Guerlain discovers contemporary perfumery. Some of you remember the negative hype about releasing Guerlain Homme, and now history is repeating.
L'Homme Ideal starts "contemporary hollow" with some citruses and big amount of orange flower. Very soon tonka is coming to the game and some almond vibe, thus resembles of the Petit Robe Noire's younger brother. Morphing to the base delicious amaretto accord is becoming darker and smoother, and here's where this perfume shines.
Unfortunately the start of this perfume is rather generic and boring to me. This scent has quality and one could say, Guerlain for masses.

Rating: 6.5/10

11/10/2015

K1
121 Reviews

Helpful Review 3

Simply effective manly cologne

Aquatic, appetizing, Chanel Égoïste-like opening based on rosemary and bitter orange and coumarin. The heart immediately arrives and the fragrance sets in nutty woodsy leather. Ideal is an overdose of coumarin accord with yummy feature that attracts. It's made to charm! I'm not sure if I'm the only one this around who gets saline marine tones of ambergris in base.

Ideal is a typical perfume you get nothing special in when you go through but it shows the magical power of coumarin when you're not aware. Every time I wore this I've got compliments or been asked for this.
6.5/10

02/22/2015

ColinM
516 Reviews

ColinM

Helpful Review 5

L'hom-meh...

Before finally getting a sample (I don’t really hang out in perfume shops) I read a lot of reviews about this, mostly negative, but I was quite sure I would have like this the same, even taking into account its mediocrity, as I admit I have a bit of a “penchant” sometimes for mainstream scents with this type of pyramid – I mean: woods, leather, Guerlain, in the worst scenario it will be just ok. Well, I was disappointed: L’Homme Ideal is less than mediocre for me. Basically it smells of spicy-sweet wood, something reminding of a couple of late (shit) Gucci's, a thin note of synthetic leather, vetiver, a sprinkle of citrus and not much else. A generic spicy-fresh “boisé” to any extent similar to others which you may find at cheaper prices, as much pleasant as uninspired and dull. What disappointed me the most is the actual quality of materials, as far as I can tell: this smells just utter plastic to me. I won’t say it is hideous however, as it isn’t, it obviously smells “decent” in the less fulfilling and interesting meaning ever (artificial, static, linear, in a word: exceedingly boring). The thing in my opinion is that this is stuff Burberry or Ferrari would do, not bloody Guerlain. It’s a “Christmas perfect gift” for your 20-something brother which works at the gym and is running out of 1 Million. Zillions of miles away from a scent standing on the same shelf as Habit Rouge, Vetiver, Derby, Mouchouir de Monsieur, not to mention the glorious feminines or I’ll start to cry. Unworthy its price per se, and surreally depressing for being a Guerlain. For whom may think this represents Guerlain’s ability of taking a “trend” and giving it a “Guerlain’s treatment”: hell not. Where’s the treatment? I only see the (bad) trend.

4,5-5/10

09/14/2014

8.0/10

OGBuysblind
21 Reviews

OGBuysblind

Appealing

Is L'Homme Ideal a bold and daring presentation from the house of Guerlain? No. But it's a nice fragrance. L'Homme creates a cherry-almond effect that is sweet and immediately reminds me of the fall and winter holidays. Smooth and polished, it's less obnoxious than other popular sweet fragrances such as 1 Million, Fuel for Life, or Spicebomb. The main accord, which smells like a combination of cherry tobacco and marzipan is charming, and in my opinion, different enough from what's typically available on the market. As L'Homme develops, lavender emerges and it moves in the direction of a heavy tonka bean base. There's not much more to it than that. Like it's predecessor, Homme, I find L'Homme Ideal succeeds in smelling modern and appealing to a broad audience, while maintaining enough of a distinct character to separate it from the pack. I haven't smelled anything quite like it and it has the polished touches of a skilled perfumer that set it a notch above the rest. Sillage is very good and longevity about average. Check this one out if you're looking for an easy-to-wear, relatively sweet scent for the cooler months. Avoid it if you dislike gourmands and tonka beans, or demand something edgier from Guerlain.

Thumbs up.

07/27/2014

9.0/10

JulianK
8 Reviews

JulianK

Good elegant

Good. I like it. Elegant.
good quality.
When the probe on my skin smell strong note. Male. But both stylish and was not a smell that bothered. Not like other just dizzy. It's a different smell. A classy smell.