Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Fragrance Reviews of the Resurrected Guerlain Perfumes for the Centenary Celebration at Champs Elysees (part 2)

This is part 2 of the perfume descriptions of the heritage Guerlain fragrances which were re-issued for the smelling enjoyment of those who visit the renovated flagship store at Champs Elysees in Paris. If you have missed part 1 you can access it on this link.

Let me again extend my thanks to the generosity of Mme. Delacourte; without Sylvaine it wouldn't be possible to go in such detail. 

 SILLAGE

EXTRAIT 1907




A floral of white flowers : jasmine, tuberose, ylang-ylang on a leather background, oak moss and again tinctures of animal ingredients. A perfume emblematic of its era.

CANDIDE EFFLEUVE

EXTRACT 1922

Read more on this link




The perfume of Candide Effleuve is built on ylang and lilac on a backrgound of floralized amber. The latter is built on benzoin, myrrh and is flanked by pretty woody patchouli , vetiver , sandalwood, and birch tar leather notes.

CACHET JAUNE

EAU DE COLOGNE 1937


via Pinterest

1937 is the birth year of Jean Paul Guerlain , and Cachet Jaune (i.e. the yellow "stamp") will become his mother's signature scent.

A soft and light fragrance, floral with rose, jasmine, carnation, and iris on a background of vanilla, tonka and musk.

BOUQUET DE FAUNES

EXTRAIT 1922
via salon-parfum-milly


This is the only bottle signed by Lalique for Guerlain in a famous design depicting fauns. The scent of Bouquet de Faunes is an intensely costus-tinged leather, quite animalic with musk and amber, and a little floral : carnation, jasmine, rose, neroli, iris. This is a polarising fragrance, even in its own era.

MUGUET

EXTRAIT 1908 

Although one might assume that the vintage version might be preferable, Guerlain admits that the newer annually issued edition is more realistic (If you want to see some of the annual versions of Guerlain Muguet perfumes, which are invariably issued for sale only on a couple days before May 1st, the date which they celebrate, please consult this Guerlain Muguet history & perfume bottle editions article).
The 1908 edition is rather abstract as far as lily of the valley goes, with enough carnation which smells clean and a citrusy top note.


Finally, to conclude this brief but I hope interesting to hardcore Guerlainophiles exposition to the wonders of the resurrected "heritage Guerlain" vintage scents, Thierry Wasser and junior perfumer Fred Sacone are promising to re-issue even more curios for our smelling enjoyment: an old chypre, a leathery scent….we can dream.

9 comments:

  1. i would love to smell all of these---part 1 & 2, ALL of them. as i can't get my greedy litle paws upon them, your descriptions will have to suffice. thank you for these posts!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fiordiligi12:10

    Oh my dearest E, you know I am salivating over these wonders! Thank you so much and I hope to be able to read more about the other re-creations. If only the actual scents could be produced for sale......

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sandy Vasalos15:34

    Yes if only we could smell them Thanks for the descriptions.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mary-Karen19:49

    We're going to be in Paris in May! I've done several perfume expeditions in past years but never to Guerlain, something I hope to remedy this time!

    ReplyDelete
  5. NFS,

    it is indeed a pity that they can't be produced for sale, but I hear word that they're planning on bringing them to other Guerlain major stores for enthusiast inspection, so stay tuned!

    ReplyDelete
  6. D darling,

    maybe it's best that they don't try to butcher them up to make a quick buck, but satisfy our curiosity all the same in a way. This history lesson antes the prestige and is indicative of love for the brand. I'm sure it wasn't a pure LVMH idea ….

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sandy,

    I hear they plan to bring them to the US too, maybe in one of their trunk shows. I will update when that's possible.

    ReplyDelete
  8. MK,

    Guerlain is indeed a must see.
    The new boutique has changed the iconic Putnam design which was so beloved by some of us, but looks equally impressive.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I wonder if the stuff could be sold with some information that it's for sniffing only/perfuming of handkerchiefs, not to be applied on skin, or similar disclaimer, to avoid the IFRA restrictions?

    I guess that a sane person who knows that they have a reaction to, say, citruses, won't bathe in them, I consider the seasoned perfumistas sane on the basis of being seasoned perfumistas. The chance that a random consumer will go to Paris for some other purpose, stumble into Guerlain's without any specific purpose and buy a bottle of Sillage reissue just because it smells nicely is next to non-existent, I guess.

    The other day, I needed some sodium hydroxide to clean a clogged drain. One can buy all sorts of fancy drain cleaners that contain a bit of said sodium hydroxide, lot of inunnowhat and diluters and fillers and... fragrance without any major limitations, there's just that big black cross in orange field and some legally mandated warning. Straight NaOH, which has much better price/performance ratio is more regulated, I can't pick it in the shelf myself, it needs to be handed by the shop clerk and in theory, one should be over 18 to be able to buy it. Nobody checked my ID when I asked. Lye would dissolve my hand while a dilution of, say, jasmine absolute might cause skin irritation or photosensitivity in some people. I just don't get it.

    I know, I'm repeating what's been said over and over but I just needed to whine.

    ReplyDelete

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