Guerlain Habit Rouge: fragrance review

Sensual, warm, elegant, Habit Rouge was conceived by master perfumer Jean Paul Guerlain in 1965 when faced with a surprising and novel problem. Men who loved Shalimar perfume on their wives and lovers wanted a comparable powdery composition translated into a virile structure they would claim as their own. Thus Habit Rouge was born, the name alluding to the red jacket landed gentry loved to don on hunting days in the countryside and henceforth adopted for riding competitions.

Guerlain of course wasn't the first to associate horses with perfumes: Hermes was there before (beginning as saddlers), but it set an example for others later on, namely Ralph Lauren. The important thing is Habit Rouge quickly became a Guerlain classic, the exact antithesis of Guerlain's Vetiver in spirit and stance; a  concept best encapsulated in a vintage ad proclaiming: "The Body, The Soul, a Guerlain cologne is for both" where the scents are described thus: "the agressive boldness of Habit Rouge, the understated elegance of Imperiale, or the subtle, penetrating depths of Vetiver".

The Scent and Structure of Habit Rouge
The magic synergy in Habit Rouge, a combination of resins and tree gums such as benzoin and opoponax, creates the photographic effect of a hazy glow all around the subject in an old black & white photograph. These resinous scents have the ability to deepen the voice, the equivalent of a lion's growl reverbrating over many kilometres to effortlessly mark its territory. Those elements form the basic oriental core of this formal, somewhat flamboyant but ultimately humanly sensual fragrance, lifted by traditional citrus notes in the opening (lemon, bergamot and mandarin alongside orange blossom) to mirror the idea in Shalimar, deepened with the spicy notes of cinnamon and carnation and burnished by the pungency of a little leather, which takes on suede smoothness rather than harsher or fetishistic nuances of hard-core leather fragrances. The whole smells like sweet orange talc, powdery and somewhat sweet. 
Habit Rouge is mature and dense, yes, but such a wonderful aristocratic classic that its acquaintance simply should be made by younger generations.

On a woman, it can be deeply alluring!

Packaging
Habit Rouge follows the Vetiver presentation until 2000. (This was the year the latter changed its looks dramatically) Habit Rouge took the simple travel container and red-capped sixties style atomizers. In 1988 it changed into the briefcase-inspired Eau de Toilette flacon design by Robert Granai. It has stayed there ever since, its red label modernised by a slight simplification.

2002 ad for Habit Rouge

Reformulations and Comparison of Concentrations & Batches
Habit Rouge was recognisably reformulated in 2003, as evidenced by the change in packaging, coinciding with the launch of the Eau de Parfum concentration. It's still a great fragrance however in all its forms and worth chewing one's teeth on, man or woman.
Comparing Eau de Parfum (one of the rare masculine fragrances to come in such a concentration) to the most well-known form of Habit Rouge, the long-standing Eau de Toilette, the two almost overlap in the initial 20 minutes, with the citrus & orange blossom notes  lingering somewhat more in the EDP. But after that phase the two diverge, with the EDP losing the orange blossom (which can give a soapy, clean feel), becoming spicier and muskier as it dries down with the addition of a modern "oud" note and a chocolate tinge, while the EDT retains the lighter "flou" character all the way through, making the EDT the perfect signature scent choice for any time, with the EDP being a bit heavier and therefore more reserved for formal evenings. It's also the most "modern" of all concentrations, somewhat skewing the retro feel of the Habit Rouge fragrance, so purists might want to consider that. The Eau de Toilette boast a big lemon-neroli accord o in the beginning and a soft, smooth suede note in the background, while on the whole it's the most powdery/dusty incarnation of the fragrance.
If you can find it, buy the limited edition Habit Rouge Parfum which tones down the powder and "cleaner" qualities in favour of a muskier, more leathery and camphor-nuanced scent like the vintage Shalimar meets Vol de Nuit.
Of special note is the traditional and vintage Eau de Cologne concentration, the original thing, which is the least "dusty" for those concerned with the powdery aspect of the scent, becoming crisper and more flesh-like vanilla oriental. The sensual aura of the Habit Rouge Eau de Cologne is surprisingly lasting, easily 6 hours on skin and therefore this is a concentration to acquaint yourself with if you're serious about perfume.

Habit Rouge also circulates in various limited editions (Beau Cavalier etc), on which we have posted news on these pages. According to Mr.Guerlain the batches come from: 1965, Dry '67, EdT '88, EdP 2003, Légère '05, Parfum '08, Sport '09, and L'Eau '11.

You can watch the official Habit Rouge L'Eau clip here.

Notes for Guerlain Habit Rouge:
Top: Lemon, Sweet Lime, Bitter Orange, Mandarin, Bergamot, Rosewood
Middle: Cinnamom, Patchouli, Pimento, Basil, Cedar, Carnation, Lavender
Base Note: Vanilla, Amber, Leather, Benzoin, Labdanum, Olibanum, Sandalwood, Leather accord.

pic Degas, Cavalier en Habit Rouge

Perfumer Maurice Roucel Appointed Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

“We chose Maurice Roucel to receive the order because we were deeply impressed by his olfactive creativity over the last four decades. During this time, he has developed his own way of creating remarkable scents by combining his unique inspiration and profound knowledge,” commented Frédéric Mitterrand on the decision to appoint Maurice Roucel Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is a French award from the Minister of Culture and Communication and was instituted on May 2, 1957. President Charles de Gaulle included it as part of the Ordre National du Mérite in 1963. It is awarded to people who have made significant contributions to the arts, literature or the advancement of these fields. The recipients are not exclusively French nationals.

Maurice Roucel looks back on 40 years of creative work in the perfume industry. During this time, he has worked for many renowned manufacturers of fragrances. In 1996 he joined Symrise and has since created many signature scents for the fragrance house. Among his most successful creations are Be Delicious by Donna Karan, Guerlain's Insolence and L' Instant, 24 Faubourg by Hermès, L by Lolita Lempicka, L'Onde Mystère by Armani, for women as well as Hypnose for men by Lancôme, Kenzo Air for men, Pleasures Intense by Estée Lauder, Musc Ravageur and Dans Tes Bras for F.Malle, Iris Silver Mist by Serge Lutens and many more... (K de Krizia perfume anyone?)

Maurice expressed his gratitude: “I feel very proud to have been made part of the order for my work as a perfumer. It’s always a challenge to find a way to express your individualism and at the same time meet the expectations of your customer and to give the consumer what they desire.”

A decision that surely leaves perfumery with an enhanced significance in the field of the arts. 

Read an interview with perfumer Maurice Roucel on this link.

Scratch & Sniff Jeans: Get your Posterior to Smell Like Raspberries

Blowing a raspberry might get a brand new meaning if you're wearing the new Weird Guy Scratch n’ Sniff Raspberry Scented jeans from Naked & Famous! This Canadian brand boasts of using only raw denim manufactured at a traditional mill in Japan, so quality shouldn't be a concern, but are you ready for having your bottom smelling like raspberries every time there's friction?

How it works? Raspberry perfume was coated all over the denim, hundreds of tiny micro-scent capsules that break when you scratch the surface (that's the same technology employed for scent strips for magazines) and then baked into them. Naked & Famous claims that the scent can last up to five washes! If you go as far as washing once every 3 months as recommended by some ~hard-core, surely~ jean purists (so as to supposedly preserve color & texture), you'd be set for aromatic wearings for 15 months!
The jeans retail for €150 ($165 USD) and are available for purchase online at Colette .

Big Fragrance Companies Condemned for Fixing High Prices: Perfume Cartel Bust

Thirteen leading fragrance companies have been sentenced to a total of more than 40 million in fines by the Court of Appeal of Paris for price fixing leading up to an oligopoly/collusion.
The Court upheld a decision by the Competition Authority ruled in 2006 against thirteen major names in luxury and three distribution companies of perfumes and cosmetics, for fixing a retail price of products to standardize prices up , as the Court viewed by AFP.

The condemned perfume brands are: Chanel, Beauté Prestige International (Jean Paul Gaultier and Issey Miyake fragrances), Clarins Fragance Group (including Thierry Mugler perfumes), Hermès Parfums, Parfums Christian Dior, Elco (Clinique and Estee Lauder), Guerlain, L'Oreal, LVMH Fragance Brands, Sisheido Europe, and YSL Beauté. The condemned distributors are retail sales giants: Marionnaud, Sephora and Nocibé.

What was this all about?

The luxury groups in question locked a "street price" of products and the discount rate than they were allowed to practice with their distributors in order to level up prices to the detriment of the consumer, as the Competition Council established in its first decision in 2006.
They also accused the suppliers of establishing a "price police", in other words, price controls, pressures and threats of trade retaliation vis-à-vis the recalcitrant distributors.

The history of shame
The story isn't entirely new. An alleged cartel between 1997 and 2000 was what prompted a particularly long legal battle, as this is the third time the issue is examined by the Court of Appeal, the two previous decisions being challenged before the Court of Cassation. In both cases, the senior judges had asked for a retrial on appeal. You can see the newspaper clipping depicted from 2006 (click photo to enlarge)

Interestingly, the amount of the total fine now was reduced from 46.2 million euros to 40.20 euros.

photo clipping and article in full linked here

Hermes to Join Donors at The Department of Olfactory Art at The Museum of Arts and Design

Good news for the inclusion of know-how and artistry in the olfactory art exhibition at the NYC Museum of Arts and Design. Hermès has become a 2012 Major Donor to The Department of Olfactory Art.

Hermès’ gift is earmarked for the exclusive use of the Department of Olfactory Art and its activities. To quote Chandler Burr, the curator of the exhibition: "As you all know, I’m particularly familiar with Hermès Parfums’ in-house artist, Jean-Claude Ellena, and am extremely happy to have Hermès, this great house founded in 1837, as a donor."
Like The Estée Lauder Companies, P&G Prestige, Chanel, and Guerlain, Hermès will have a seat on the Department of Olfactory Art’s Advisory Board.