Perfume Review: Mayotte and Mahora by Guerlain
April 23rd, 2007
Mayotte and its predecessor Mahora pay homage to the island of Mayotte (also known as Mahore), where the house of Guerlain has ylang-ylang and jasmine plantations. Mahora was released in 2000 followed by dubious success, and Mayotte is its current reincarnation, released in 2006 as part of Guerlain’s Les Parisiennes collection. My first and only acquaintance with Mahora happened a few years ago when I wore the scent for exactly one day, and concluded we were not meant to be. During my recent trip to New York, Mayotte was what stood out to me the most at the Bergdorf Goodman Guerlain counter: it struck me as not only charming but also very much a scent of its own merit, bearing very little resemblance to its forerunner. To give it complete justice and simply to satisfy my curiosity, I obtained a mini of Mahora eau de parfum for comparison purposes.
Both Mayotte and Mahora can easily be called sophisticated tropical floral orientals. However, they don’t sing the same song. While Mayotte is an ode to ylang-ylang, Mahora dignifies tuberose. From the very top notes, Mayotte is a creamy, coconut-like mix of frangipani and ylang-ylang. Mahora starts out with a burst of orange and without wasting any time turns into fruity, buttered tuberose. I find Mayotte much more Guerlain-like: it possesses the same peachy heft of Mitsouko. Mahora, on the other hand, strikes me as rather aggressive and mutinous. Its sugared, almost oily tuberose seems to defy all things Guerlain, and perhaps that’s the reason the fragrance didn’t do so well. In spite of being much more refined and polished, Mayotte can hardly be called a tame and acquiescent version of Mahora – it bears but faint sibling resemblance and respectfully begs to differ. While Mahora is heady and persistent, Mayotte is soft and enveloping and has won my heart as the best ylang-ylang scent ever created.
Mahora features the notes of orange, almond tree blossoms, ylang-ylang, neroli, tuberose, jasmine, sandalwood, vetiver, vanilla. The notes for Mayotte are neroli, frangipani, tuberose, ylang-ylang, jasmine, sandalwood, vetiver, vanilla. Mahora can be found on various online fragrance discounters, and Mayotte is available at the Paris Guerlain boutique as well as Bergdorf Goodman.
Image source: osmoz.com, expresschemist.co.uk
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25 Comments
1. Tigs | April 24th, 2007 at 12:31 am
Hmmm, somebody was just asking around on one of the blogs – Posse, NST? I can’t remember – for a great ylang-ylang scent. I remember the request, because I love ylang-ylang too, but nobody posted any suggestions. I don’t even remember trying this scent in Paris, however. How can this be? It is perhaps the frangipani, one of the last notes I can’t get to work for me and therefore am extremely wary of. You make this sound just wonderful, though.
2. carmencanada | April 24th, 2007 at 1:33 am
Aw, Ina, now I have to go try Mayotte all over again… Françoise, the savvy, English-speaking SA at 58 Champs Elysée had told me, when I was smitten by Mayotte, that it was the same composition as Mahora but in edt concentration, and even advised me to seek out Mahora in edp. I do get a lot of frangipani in Mahora, both edp and parfum, as well as ylang-ylang. Perhaps it’s a matter of concentration? Or, more likely, Mayotte has been tweaked. If so, I need it too, and that’s baaaaaaad news for my budget.
But as it is, I find Mahora lovely too in its decadent floral tropical opulence. BTW, do you get a slightly metallic tinge at some point in either?
3. dinazad | April 24th, 2007 at 1:41 am
Tuberose? Really? I haven’t smelled Mahora for ages, but I remember it as mostly coconut. Which is perfectly OK, but which I don’t want on my skin, even if it *did* suit me (said everybody and their cousins)… Seems I’ll have to go sniff it again!
4. chayaruchama | April 24th, 2007 at 5:41 am
Congrats on your job !
I’ve missed you…lots of chaos chez moi, mostly the goood kind.
I love them both, but they are not really me- very aggressive , in-your-face florals of the large brush-stroke kind; I can wear them, and others like them on me, but I keep[ them around when I want to smell a Gaugin…
Dina and I must feel similarly.
Kisses to you !
5. carmencanada | April 24th, 2007 at 5:48 am
Yes, Chaya, that’s exactly it: it’s the smell of a Gauguin! I’m wearing Mahora today, inspired by this thread (and the unseasonably hot Paris spring). Like Dinazad, I get lots of coconut but I think that’s from the frangipani. A minty tinge might be from the tuberose, though. Maybe I’m not familiar enough with ylang-ylang but it seems quite present to me in the original formulation.
6. Marina | April 24th, 2007 at 5:54 am
Great reviews, great comparison! To me the difference between Mayotte and Mahora is the difference between wearable and almost-unwearable
7. March | April 24th, 2007 at 6:05 am
Great review! I was holding out zero hopes for Mayotte, after my recent Guerlain disappointments, and you make it sound well worth trying.
Can I mention I’m still envious of your employment?
8. Judith | April 24th, 2007 at 6:31 am
Wonderful review! I have tried neither of these, and must remedy that soon. More congratulations on your wonderful job!
9. Elle | April 24th, 2007 at 6:49 am
Mayotte is winning me over. Completely. *Why* must this happen at the same time as the release of the Fords? I feel vaguely like I’m under siege from an army of perfume bottles and resistence is, frankly, useless.
10. newproducts | April 24th, 2007 at 8:25 am
I liked Mayotte very much when I sniffed it, and your review has me craving it like crazy! I wish it came in a smaller, much smaller bottle. As it is, I can’t justify spending close to $200 on a bottle I know I will never use up.
11. Ina | April 24th, 2007 at 9:48 am
Tigs, too bad you missed it in Paris. I do love frangipani myself but in Mayotte it’s but an accenting note. It’s all about ylang-ylang.
12. Ina | April 24th, 2007 at 9:50 am
Carmencanada, I just checked my bottle, and Mayotte is eau de parfum. So is my Mahora mini. It’s definitely tweaked Mahora, not the difference in concentration. I don’t get any frangipani in Mahora, though, and no metallic note either but I do get some kind of an oily note. I’ve seen it compared to buttered popcorn.
13. Ina | April 24th, 2007 at 9:51 am
Dina, yes, tuberose, and, yes, I do get some coconut but not prominent enough.
14. Ina | April 24th, 2007 at 9:52 am
Chaya, thank you! I find Mahora more in your face than Mayotte but I agree, they’re both quite opulent.
15. Ina | April 24th, 2007 at 9:53 am
Carmencanada, ylang-ylang is present in Mahora. Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear enough. I just meant there’s more of it in Mayotte, and more tuberose in Mahora.
16. Ina | April 24th, 2007 at 9:54 am
Marina, yes, good point!
17. Ina | April 24th, 2007 at 9:56 am
March, thankfully, Mayotte is far from a disappointment! When I was at the BG Guerlain counter, I almost got scared I’d leave with nothing but disappointments but, thankfully, I saw Mayotte.
18. Ina | April 24th, 2007 at 9:56 am
Judith, thank you! You haven’t yet? My, my.
19. Ina | April 24th, 2007 at 9:57 am
Elle, yes, combined with the new Fords, that’s a whole lotta lemmings.
Just take a deep breath and meditate a little.
20. Ina | April 24th, 2007 at 9:59 am
Minsun, I know what you mean. I love those bee bottles but I agree, the size is huge, and it’s a stopper kind, so you’d have to use a smaller bottle anyway, so why not make them in purse size bottles in the first place? Ah, the potential!
21. violetnoir | April 24th, 2007 at 10:35 am
Ylang-ylang and frangipani are two of my favorite floral notes. I love tuberose, too, so I need to try both of these fragrances.
Did Mayotte remind you of Songes at all, Ina?
Hugs!
22. Ina | April 24th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Robin, no, Mayotte didn’t remind me of Songes at all. Besides frangipani, Songes is quite heady jasmine, and Mayotte isn’t heady at all.
23. Flora | April 26th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
I wore Mayotte today! It is just delicious, especially for the first hour or so, I wanted that first blissful shot of floralcy to last longer. However, the heart notes last a long time as well, and the drydown is lovely. It makes me want to revisit Mahora, which I do recall liking a lot, but maybe I like it even more than I thought I did.
24. Ina | April 26th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
Flora, I’m so glad you like Mayotte! It’s my recent major love.
25. katie | June 15th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Mahora is my very favorite perfume but it’s not easy to come by any more. As for Mayotte I’ll have to give it a try.