Guerlain Terracotta Le Parfum: fragrance review & comparison with Terracotta Voile d'Ete & Terracotta Eau Sous Le Vent

Die hard perfume fans might be excused for disregarding that the brand of Terracotta, one of the oldest products for giving what the French call "bonne mine" (i.e. the look of healthy looking, sun kissed skin) is the biggest seller for the Guerlain beauty and perfumes company they so revere. Indeed Guerlain would be literally bereft without their prized Terracotta, introduced in 1984, which is why they have been carefully augmenting the line with new and exciting and delicious-feeling products over the years, always instigating the desire to test at the makeup counter and take something home.

Part of the charm of Terracotta is the name, recalling sun-drenched tiles in the south of France, almost leaping off the green and yellow background and over the outlines of the blue Meditteranean just a stone's throw away. Another is the clever choice of design color scheme which makes the most of the mental associations consumers have with summer and leisurely vacations. A Terracotta product is like a ray of sunshine in your handbag, an inextricable part of feeling good about yourself even before touching your skin with the pom pom brush or the buttery soft creams. Over the course of 30 years Guerlain matched the powerful brand name of Terracotta with some fragrances they offered in a move of brand awareness.

The olderst was Terracotta Voile d'Ete (1999), a sunny spicy carnation and ylang composition that was fiery, somewhat daring and spicy floral in character, projecting with the assured step of a tiger proud of her golden stripes.
Next came Terracotta Eau Sous le Vent (2009), a limited edition fragranced moisturizing mist for the body which had a subtle sheen and the delicious aroma of tiare flower, yet faint for a true perfume. (It was complemented by the Terracotta Huile de Voyageur which was a dry oil to bathe skin in tropical flowers's scent and gold mother of pearl particles). This year Guerlain re-introduces the magic of Terracotta with Joli Teint, a new makeup product that caters to all makeup lovers, and revisits the Voile d'Ete fragrance edition, this time with a much less complex name, simply Terracotta Le Parfum, as a limited edition for 2014, as we had announced regarding new Guerlain releases months ago.

The allure of suntan lotions and oils is a well document market fact with thousands of consumers wanting to extend their pleasure out of using sun products into their fine fragrance ritual. That's where suntan lotion smelling perfumes come into. Terracotta Le Parfum is a refined example of that, much like Lauder cornered that game with their Azuree Soleil and Bronze Goddess fragrances which have munched on the market share which would have been rightfully Guerlain's had the Americans not been smart enough to pounce first. Guerlain has meshed the tropical flowers (tiare, ylang ylang) and the salicylates which naturally crown compositions of this creamy, sun drenched nature in Terracotta Le Parfum with classic French notes such as very perceptible jamine and creamy natural tuberose and (less so) orange blossom plus a fluffy, lightly powdery undercurrent of musk and vanilla, hinting at sweetness but withholding too much sugar, thus offering a grown up version that should prove very popular. Compared to Bronze Goddess it's a tad more "sparkly" to my nose, without the coconut note that recalls Coppertone (Guerlain has almost no coconut) and it feels like it lacks the carnation/clove note of the original Terracotta Voile d'Ete from years ago entirely, presenting a quite different fragrance.

 Terracotta Le Parfum, 50ml of Eau de Parfum, will be in stores in May 2014.

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Much ado about Nothing in the End: Terracotta Sous Le Vent by Guerlain

Let me preface this post by saying that I am not inferring that the products in themselves are "much ado about nothing" because I haven't even tried them yet, but that the clamor and furore over the supposed "sacrilege" by Guerlain of mixing names etc. producing the upteenth flanker were exactly that, in this particular case: a bubble that burst!

It turns out as spring and summer makeup collections roll around that the above mentioned Terracotta Sous Le Vent was nothing more than part of the skincare products belonging to the beautifying tanning/makeup line of famous "Terracotta", responsible for a couple generations equating it with "chic in the sun". Definitely NOT a new flanker fragrance, then! Not meant to reprise any element of the classic Sous Le Vent, now part of Il Etait une Fois line at the boutique Guerlain, either. We had been wrestling the cause for nothing (on this particular case at least, because it's worth fighting on other products of the brand).
The Dry Oil below is included to give some hint as to how the corresponding Mist might be smelling as well; the official PR machine at Guerlain via Isabelle Rousseau likens the smell of the Mist vaguely to the lily-spicy-baked Terracotta Voile d'été (created in 1999 by Jean-Paul Guerlain as a limited edition and reprised in Quand Vient L'été for Les Parisiennes exclusive line). Heavily diluted, then, I presume. And the Sous le Vent moniker is only mentioned to evoke the exotics of the islands of the Carribean thus grouped.

Here are the relevant details courtesy of temptalia:

"Terracotta Eau sous le Vent Soothing Moisturizing Mist $55.00 (in the pic on the left)
A delicious mist that improves hydration in the skin and amplifies the tan while enchanting the senses with a sun-soaked scent. Its refreshing texture is enriched with a vegetable protein to bathe the skin in softness and protect against the dryness and heat of summer. Moisture levels in the skin are increased up to 35% as the Tan Booster complex simultaneously works to enhance and prolong your tan day after day.
Terracotta Huile du Voyageur Nourishing Dry Oil SPF 8 $59.00 (in the pic on the right)
Sensuous and nourishing this silky-light, dry oil leaves the skin with a divinely smooth and luscious finish. The lightly perfumed scent of the Tiare flower immediately takes you to an exotic, faraway paradise while the oil’s Tan Booster Technology and Roucou, a reddish-brown vegetable pigment, intensify the golden colour of your skin. The soft, satin finish is radiantly accented with an iridescent veil made of golden mother-of-pearl particles".

Just to be fair...

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