Mahora

This was a blind buy on Facebook marketplace "new with box" although no longer shrink wrapped, and you can never be sure how well people keep their fragrances. But it was $64 for 30 ml, so pretty good deal! Trying it on in the car, 96 degrees here in Virginia US, definitely felt strong, almondy, spicy, tuberosy, a little overwhelming, but not what I expected in terms of creaminess. No sign of green or orange. Maybe too old? But it eventually settled down to a "pretty" fragrance. FWIW, my kid said I smelled like a Yankee Candle shop! I can see that in a waxy, dense floral kind of way. All in all, it's a keeper, but only one spray at a time.

Mahora is this perfume of which I can still exactly remember when, where and how soon I bought a Flacon and when I smelled it 1st. I bought the perfume as soon as it came out, in 2000, and smelled it when biking home after having acquired the full bottle bought after a workday which suddenly wasn't so mundane after all. I already had read specifics in the Vogue (Paris, US) and 'W' and Harpers Bazaar US and the Vogue Italia. the 1990s for me of course weren't thát defining with her Calone and Hedione Creations but irony has it that some of the most heavy, heady, narcotic and oriental perfumes were created then... I made a list. MAHORA 2000, BOUDOIR 1998, ALLURE 1999 and ALLURE SENSUELLE 2005, DONNAKARAN by DONNAKARAN 1992, GALEHAYMAN BEVERLY HILLS 1990, DUNE 1991 (I had the Esprit de parfum), ANGEL 1992, AMARIGE 1991 and OSCARdelaRENTA VOLUPTE 1992 and then the Creeds that started appearing (in already 'wilthed' boxes) around 2000 Fleur de Bulgarie, Irisia, Jasmin d'Impératrice Eugénie, Jasmal, Vanisia, Fleurissimo, BoisdePortugal (for my straight twinbrother), FantasiadeFleurs all, swanky and syrupy, heavy hitters notwithstanding the decade. but MAHORA was still something else entirely (along with BEVERLYHILLS). these were such Heavy, Heady, Intoxicating, Narcotic, Luring, Junglist, Hooker-technical, Choking, Addicitve Perfumes that even I, almost found them (and in particular the last two) ... too strong. BUT NOT ! I stocked up on GaleHayman's Beverly Hills and still have two flacons (2 times 40%) of MAHORA. and yesterday I decided to wear her again and oh my, what Room-Clearing Code4 Alarmist Presentist and Allergological Indifferent Perfume this is. and a surprise awaited me. (then, in 2000, I also bought two times the PERFUME !) yet now when I see the list of notes which is quite accurate and adroit, I had the wrong memory but also a memory of the scent, that MAHORA was oversatiated with Plumeria, Frangipani (a synonym I think) and, or, Tiaré 'The tiare flower is a type of gardenia from Tahiti' , so this Tropical Gardenia. yet I do remember the smell being exactly like this and since these are first batch flacons this perfume is authentic and still Fabulous, Nebulous, Hyper Indolic and as if you walk in a Dream Scape around the Roraimas of Venezuela and Brazil and Colombia. these are those Mystical Separately standing Tablemountains in the Mist, upon each 'roof' they have found separate Biomes, Flora and Fauna and even Autonomic Micro Climates and Plant Sociologies. from these in the Mists disappearing Tablemountains which resemble Spaceships, this, MAHORA (and Beverly Hills), is the Perfume. now we thus have a Tuberose Forward perfume (Giorgio, Poison) with Ylang, Jasmine, Orangeblossom and Almondblossom. I think Mahora gives all, all her Notes and Infra Perfumial Dynamics, at once. up comes this Beam of White Flowers almost fighting to get attention. this is one of the Legendary Perfumes for me. the odd, phallic flacon may seem mysterious but (if Packaging Editor) I had chosen a flacon somewhat more thinned down. (I also knew they would take the perfume down soon. but therefor there is Guerlain's Mayotte, they say) because the perfume already says it all. the very PERFUME (yesterday I read it was 12mL) was housed in an Ingenious Circle of Shamanism. so while the notes-list seems less Tropical as I remember, I know that it is still the same MAHORA and it is just a Coup de Foudre of all these magnificent flowers and you do not get the time to come to your breath. with the 1980-perfumes a News Paper headed: 'Milan Asphyxiée'. and luckily we can still covet but also take them to call, within their Magisterial and Regal Clôches of Obnoxious and Penetrative, Annexationist Perfumo Spheres. not a Centimeter (Inch) within Gourmand Territory (perfumes which I loathe) but the Fluids, Jus's, are so abundant and exuberant they may make a misstep, here and there. in Stiletto's from Les Tropéziennes (1980s), Versace or Louboutin.

I managed to find a 30 ml bottle on ebay. I love Mahora, and I always will. Then I asked Chat GPT for an alternative...and guess what it said? This: "Ahhh, Mahora lovers always have great taste 😌🌺 Since nothing today is exactly Mahora, the closest matches fall into two camps: creamy tropical florals and vanilla-wrapped white florals." Robert Piguet Fracas Big, creamy, heady tuberose Less tropical, more dramatic If you loved Mahora’s boldness, this scratches that itch!

Just coming back by in 2025 to say how much I miss this perfume...even after 25 years!

Mahora was the must pleasant perfume of Guerlain House, I do not understand why they turned it down. I think it was a perfume created after its own time, to make it again now, will be an intelligent release!

I currently have a partial extrait bottle of this (it's even weirder than the EDP bottle, as a surprisingly heavy gold disc with a glass core and a dabber that slots in from the side). I suspect the loss of fragrance from this has been due to evaporation, but I digress. The extrait smells much the same as the EDP to my nose but perhaps marginally richer, I'll write my review here for the overall profile. Mahora (2000) I think was an attempt to reproduce the immense and intense success of its predecessor Samsara (1989), and as such follows in the yellow floral + sandalwood vein. Here there's a giant tuberose joining in on the party, and the sandalwood in the base has been tempered by some synthetic to make it even richer, more buttery and dare I say "harsher" - I get tons of white musk in this when I concentrate and sniff carefully. The unrelenting, frenzied nature of Mahora has been likened to bug spray, but it's actually closer to the smell of living bugs to my nose (metaphorically speaking). There's a heavy swarming-with-life quality to Mahora's floral-wood-vanilla, butter-and-sunscreen smell. To my mind it actually conjures the scent of a veteran survivor on a deserted tropical island, muscular, glistening with sweat and wearing threadbare grey rags (man or woman) or of a hive of rare tropical bees orgiastically blasting through grove after grove of tuberose flowers under a red-giant sun. Fruit is rotting about the place, but it only adds to the drug-like excitement. It's more ripe than fresh, but to my nose it's genuinely delicious from the first swab to the finish hours later. It's so quintessentially a Guerlain perfume: trashy to the extreme but pairing a giant floral onto a powdery vanilla dry down, and has the enormity and vortexesque quality of fragrances such as Chamade and Nahema. This is a beauty who is a bit camp, overdone, with too much makeup on, but thinks of herself as giving the full Venusian fantasy - and her adorable non-awareness of the almost ridiculousness of it all somehow makes it work, makes it fun. From heat to flowers I think Mahora is a masterpiece, and hope they will one day bring it back (as it was temporarily as Mayotte) for the fans to enjoy. I'd snap up several.

I blind bought this after watching a positive online review. It's definitely vintage-smelling. A spicy white and yellow floral with animalic overtones. It's quite nice but not sure how often I will wear this. Look forward to trying this in different seasons.

I smelled this perfume on a customer one evening. She wrote down the name and I couldn't find a full bottle. So I spent 50 bucks on a tiny sample. I'm so sad it turned on me. This is such a beautiful white floral fragrance. I wish I can get my hands on a full bottle.

Out of the bottle I got citrus immediately followed by a beautiful bed of white and yellow florals. On the skin there’s no citrus at all. Upon first spray it smells so much like my grandmas bathroom (positive). Estee lauder powders and Chanel no 5. It reminds me so much of Chanel no 5 with its aledhydic floral opening. However after it settles it gets a little more mystical, witchy, and a little incensy. It reminds me of Sikkim Girls by Lush’s rich grandmother. Addicting I can’t get enough. I feel like this could work for any season as well.

Oh wow, this randomly popped up in a list of someone here and I had all but forgotten this beauty even existed. I bought it at 18 just after its release and remember feeling like a spicy princess wearing it. It was probably too strong for me back then, but I remember I really really loved it. Such a warm, spicy, intriguing scent. I could very well imagine it being very successful today. The flacon also was especially lovely and eye-catching. Bring it back, Guerlain!

I honestly can't find the proper words to say how much I love this. It is truly one of the most beautiful fragrances I've ever smelt in my life. So fully rounded, with so much depth, so complex, so embracing and enveloping... Absolute artistry! Something about it reminds me of my mother, even though her favorite perfume was Champs-Elysees - but I find its elegance, warmth and beauty perfectly evokes that of my mother's heart. This has easily become one of my all time favorites and I'm heartbroken this has been discontinued. I have a 30 ml bottle that I use very sparingly and cherish like a most precious treasure. 🤍

This is an open letter to the Guerlain management and Thierry Wasser. Please re-release Mahora. What were you thinking when you discontinued this fragrance? That there would be no market for such a beautiful fragrance? My wife and I bought Mahora (for her) at the first sniff !! Tuberose is the most sexy perfume ingredient for women (it immediately draws my attention and turns me on :-) ) Please bring back this pleasure in my life...

The opening of Mahora is ... wooooah! Glorious! There's a little orange perching on top of a sandalwood and vetiver base rounded off with the nuttiness of almond blossom, some herby green notes, white florals and some ylang ylang. It opens with a fairly strong sillage. Oh my word! There's a slightly camphorous touch too. It's thick, sensual, spicy, beautiful, heady stuff. Three hours in the sillage is intimate. The orange has gone by this point and you have a more simple sandalwood and vetiver base with the almond nuttiness and some floral notes. I can't say I can smell neroli or jasmine but there is a tuberose led white floral feel on top. This lasts another four hours or so before the florals drift off and turn into a more coconut-lactonic feel. There's about ten, eleven hours as a functional perfume before you really have to push your nose into your arm to smell it. The opening is intoxicating but the drydown is 'merely' very good. What a lovely perfume! What a shame it's discontinued. You could use this in any season - the different stages suit different seasons so you'll always get something from it. I think it's actually quite unisex despite the labelling but it perhaps slightly more feminine leaning. Either way, it's elegant and classy.

The essence of Mahora is innocence and optimism wrapped in sensuality. The Garden before the Fall. A symphony of Guerlain magic, Mahora was their greatest triumph. Yes, it was! There are multiple notes, some harmonious and others dissonant. Complex, warm, light, deep, fresh and interesting. Its blending is classic but different. Very noble, very French. An innovative but sure bridge from the twentieth to the twenty-first century. And alas, it was gone as unexpectedly as it came in. The decision to discontinue Mahora as soon as it was born was made by a frightened control freak who hates people and le Tricouleur. We know this because several years later, Guilty Guerlain snuck it back on its glass shelves reformulated with the new name, Mayotte. Part of its Parisienne line, Mayotte was and remains to this day a watered down version of Mahora. It’s like they flattened Mahora with a steam roller and stuck a ridiculous price tag on it, saying, “Oh, yeah. This is what we really meant!” A mean slap in Western Civilization’s face. This is one of my top five fragrances.

Oily bitter almond and distinctly dense, thick tuberose over a heavy amber and vetiver base. The anointing oil on a maybe once tropical desert island, stored in ancient cracking vessels. Buttery, balsamic, and sunbaked.

I smell Jennifer Lopez Deseo, lots of cinnamon and aldehydes

The main note of it is tuberose. It's a very carnal and fleshy flower, heavy and heady. This fragrance is a great interpretation, a unique fantasy about tuberose. It has a quite neutral sandal-vetiver base, well blended, but not innovative in any way. The heart though is an intense tuberose note with some secondary flowery background. It's very carnal, almost dirty, lactonic, very sensual. It gives the images of the tropical flower center, full of fragrant creamy pollen. Lactonic part of tuberose gives a humid, natural greenhouse vibe, a deep jungle vibe, but no fruit in here. Usually when you hear 'tropical' you imagine fruit at the first place, but fresh fruit notes often give perfumes some childish, unserious mood. This one has none and so it's very adult and sensual. It's also unconventional. This is a great old school perfume. A must for tuberose lovers.

I love this fragrance. I'm a Guerlain fan since the 1970s and this was a sweet, instant like for me. I'm not sure why it didn't catch on immediately; it's so easy to like. I would say it's more of an evening or special occasion fragrance than an everyday scent though. Guerlain had a winner here.

Adding my voice to the chorus that wishes (hopes) Guerlain will re-release this amazing fragrance! To a nose of today, I think Mahora would come across as unisex - it's exotic, but reserved; spicy, but not sweet. There's the big white floral opening so typical of bold 80s and 90s perfumes...but within a few seconds, the lush, mouthwatering combination of gently powdery almond blossom and tangy orange quickly emerge and take center stage. Subtle green notes under the surface bring out a regal freshness and elevation. Just as you're tilting your head back and closing your eyes in ecstasy, the vanilla and warm, fluffy sandalwood base reach out to cradle you in an intimate, salty sweet afterglow. C'mon, Guerlain. You know you want it. Bring it back.

GUERLAIN can you please remake/ re release this perfume!!!!! Now is the era of tropical scents please please please!! 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 my favourite ever ❤️

Wow, wow, wow. My friend Sarah--most precious perfume pen pal!--sent me a vial of this vintage baby, and it blew my mind. At first application, I smelled a kind of complex mossy chypre scent that reminded me of Mitsouko--and then came a teensy touch of a minty, mentholated smell (not entirely unlike the anise in Mitsouko, L'Heure Bleue, and other early Guerlains), only that peculiar accord quickly revealed itself to be a very loud, very hyperrealistic tuberose. I happen to love tuberose, and it doesn't smell meaty or rancid or indolic to me, thank goodness--it's just a very assertive tuberose, a bit like if that peach in Mitsouko turned into a tuberose and then took over Tokyo. I do smell some almond blossom and jasmine, at which point Mahora reminds me the tiniest bit of YSL Cinéma, but that one is much sweeter and richer. This is more like a tuberose chypre, in the way that Diva and Knowing are rose chypres, except rose and tuberose are about as different as two flowers can be. I imagine that fans of Tubereuse criminelle and Fracas and other "in your face" tuberose frags would enjoy this, but this tuberose is, while clearly dominant, not the most interesting thing to me about Mahora. I don't even know how to describe Mahora, other than beautiful, potent, and weird. When I first put it on, I could smell the ylang-ylang and vetiver in the forefront, which reminded me of Ysatis and White Diamonds (pure parfum form, which seems to contain more ylang-ylang), but those are sweeter and less distinctive. I put on Mahora after my shower last night, and I got into bed, and then I didn't want to fall asleep because the fragrance kept changing. The drydown is the most beautiful part of all if you are fond of sandalwood. The drydown gives me a bit of the Samsara feeling, which is the most wonderful feeling of all: a clean, powdery, woody, balsamic scent bubble. It's a shame Guerlain discontinued Mahora, but maybe it was just too difficult to recreate now in accordance with IFRA regulations. If you are a fan of tuberose and chypres, track down a vintage bottle while they're still relatively affordable. And yes, I know that this is not classified as a chypre--it's a floral amber--but the bitter almond, the "green notes," and most of all the vetiver come through so strongly on my skin that I consider it chypresque at least. Thank you so much, Sarah, if you are reading this. You are my fragrance sherpa! I'm going to be huffing my inner elbows all day long.

In 2001 I was teaching a semester abroad class in Paris from March to June. This perfume was everywhere, hard marketing on billboards, etc. I bought it, and liked it. But I was too young to appreciate it. It is actually quite wintery, not tropical, although it is mostly white flowers. The medicinal opening of tuberose is fantastic and the fragrance is not cloying or tropical but dry and woody. Strangely, for Guerlain, this perfume did not age well. I still have my 3/4 full bottle as a memento, but the juice turned to alcohol about 15 years ago. A pretty bottle, but it has been relegated to a drawer. Next spring cleaning it will likely be donated.

The prices for Mahora on eBay are just evil, and I detest the people selling this discontinued gem at such gouging prices!!! Ok, tantrum over. I adore reading all of these reviews, haven't finished them all, but I'll add my two (s)cents: I wear Mahora when it is cold outside, and that's when I love it best. I'm not drawn at all to it in the summer, or the heat. When I want a blast of something that smells as orange as the perfume inside of its golden bottle, Mahora it is. For me, Mahora is a retreat into a roasting sauna, a scorching bath, a dripping summer night with the heat pulsing out of the pavement and the buildings, in the midst of a cold winter. It is, in other words, a portal into a fantasy realm while you are stuck in a gray or cold reality. It starts out intensely camphoric and mentholic. I think this is very off-putting to many people, and they don't give it a second chance or even a first one. You have to like this aspect, which is admittedly a bit weird and not very pretty, or embrace it. I don't smell aldehydes at all or the constituents of sand, which to me would be the iodine smell of the ocean, the scent of the sun on dry sand, maybe seaweed and brine. Certainly I personally smell no neroli or even jasmine. There might be a thin thread of ylang ylang, but mostly upon opening, I get the camphorous notes of the tuberose. Depending on the day, I might interpret some oiliness. After this camphor and menthol dissipate, I am surrounded in a lush jungle of hothouse flowers. And golly, how has it taken me 7 or 8 years to notice the drydown? I am reminded of Bijan Woman, the original and vintage, but a little less sterotypical-80s. I just noticed an ambery smell, and was thinking "amber? vanilla? sandalwood?" Seems like a yes to all three. As to longevity, my sprays have been lasting me all day and into the next, I can smell this drydown on my skin in the morning if I haven't taken a shower at night, and I am loathe to take a shower to prepare for the day. I am LIVING for the base notes. It is not a LOVE for me, because it is too weird and I can't wear it all of the time. And yet, it has a very, very solid place in my collection, and I love it enough for it to be there. I appreciate it for what it is. And yes, my sense of olfaction might be off, or differently able than that of other people. C'est la vie.

Happy to say, I received my full 2.5 oz bottle of Mahora today that I got for a steal. Initial first spray mostly filled the room. Not loud or overbearing imo, but you know she’s made her appearance. The dry-down is simply divine. A luscious, softly sweet and comforting floral, golden-honey delight. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but wow - this is better than I imagined. Pretty bottle, too. I have a large collection of fragrances and at almost 56 y/o, this is only my second Guerlain fragrance. My first was Jardins de Bagatelle in 1985 when I was 17. Glad to add Mahora to my collection. Lovely ✨🧡

As I write this, it's a foggy day in New England, and for all the talk that Mahora is a tropical, beachy fragrance sending wearers to distant, exotic locales, for me, it matches the mood of the brume outside. The tuberose actually suggests an unsettling chill, mentholated and beautifully wan, ghostly like the white flowers themselves, but immediately after it announces itself, there is a bitter green almond, spine-shivering, eyes peering. There is no Tiki bar, there are no paper mache umbrellas. Perhaps something under the surface rises that reminds one for a moment of banana daiquiri in the form of over-ripened ylang ylang. But this grows more than intoxicating, it is buttery blossoms bursting, soon decaying and rotting, enfolding and collapsing as mushrooms do when they are past maturity. This is a moodier creation than what Guerlain even anticipated, it's as if Mahora is a Frankenstein that refused to be caged in its assigned raison d'etre. It's dark and brooding, wearing a cloak in the thick fog, stealing spirits like a thief in the night. It has that same mysterious poignancy I get from Magie Noire; it's the same feeling I get when I listen to Terry Riley, a continuous dissonance resolving into the consonance and then the cycle repeats. Sweet facades concealing decaying interiors, cauldrons with who knows what floating in the bubbling brew, questions that probably shouldn't deserve answers, this is what I feel when wearing Mahora. Does this mean I enjoy wearing it? Absolutely. It's much like watching a film on the human condition: you squirm and perspire just a bit, but you feel satisfied, even liberated somewhat, by letting the truth unfold as the fog settles—like the vibrant white and yellow flowers destined for browning, decomposition, and departure. Exit scene.

Keeping this short - not my favourite family era Guerlain, too much synthetic sandalwood for me (not a favourite note). It kind of drowns everything else that is supposed to be going on here with the white flowers. Will reinvestigate this in warmer weather to see if other facets would come out more. The very long dry down (after the harsh sandal is gone) is nice, creamy and nutty. The bottle is much nicer in real life than in pictures - its odd late 70s vibe looks better when you realise the gold bit is convex metal with a hammered effect and the top twists and is decorated with stars.

Does anyone know if there was Mahora in EDT? I have seen one on Ebay but wonder if it is legit. EDT is not listed here above. Edit: I bought an almost full 75 ml EDT (from 2001, according to the batch code) for a really low price, and what a pleasure this is! Complex, elegant and timeless in its very dated approach to waxy white orange blossoms and almost bitter coconut/almond. Not too sweet at all, but still juicy, soft, warm and sparkling, rather than heavy and heady (maybe because it is an EDT?). In the beginning it kind of reminds me of Sacred Scarab by Zoologist and Ruffles by Oscar de la renta, as well as Idylle by Guerlain, but Mahora is prettier, airier and classier. After it dries down, it moves on to an expensive old school powder/soap scent, somewhere between Estee by Estee Lauder and No 19 Poudre by Chanel. How can this not have been a hit?! As a kindred spirit to Shalimar, it is like a hundred perfumes orchestrated to one scent. Seamlessly blended. Wow.

@Ladylva Your words are so true! Today's sweet, synthetic bombs are unwearable to me. I am rocking Mahora today in the 108° Texas heat ( thank goodness it's cooling off tomorrow) and the yummy floral sweetness is making the temperature bearable and makes me smile! EDIT: 01/02/2023 I am happy to report that Mahora is just as sublime in the winter 60°s as it was in 108° summer heat. It's one of my favorites out of the 200(!) or so fragrances that I have tried last year!

We're experiencing yet another heatwave and, in the midst of it, I'm rocking Mahora with abandon - not because I'm an unapologetic alpha disinterested in other people's well-being, but because Mahora deserves to be worn in the summertime! As we all know, Mahora has received lots of bad press since its launch, hence people expect it to be an overwhelmingly strong and long-lasting fragrance, but that's not the case. I'm not saying that Mahora is weak, but it's nothing like those unrepentant Mancera-Montale synthetic bombs. Mahora is sweet, creamy, buttery, balsamic and tropical, yet it is incredibly well structured and absolutely not overwhelming or, heaven forbid, unpleasant. The sweet notes of tuberose, ylang, frangipani, orange and vanilla are perfectly balanced by sandalwood, bitter almond and vetiver. I'm always happy to put it on and I end up receiving tons of compliments. What makes Mahora smell somewhat 'dated' today is that it's a sweet scent without any fruitiness (bar the orange, which is quite subdued). Nowadays young girls are conditioned to enjoy fruity scents from the get-go, and thus they probably get quite surprised when confronted with floral sweetness. But, honestly, nobody should fear Mahora - it's a very nice scent that deserves to be loved, especially when the heat is on.

The bottle design is positively phallic. I remember smelling this inside fashion magazines when I was a young lady with no money for buying Guerlain. Decades later I came into possession of a mini bottle of Mahora. What a buttery, intensely tropical tuberose! Quite voluptuous. This is for tanned women at resorts who have the money for treatments that keep them looking much younger than their age. This smells thick... I don't know that I'd actually want to wear it on the hottest days of summer. But in winter, it would uplift one's spirits. Luxury scent here and a little goes a long way. That mini lasted me for years.