1 Million by Paco Rabanne in gold bullion, new Guerlain Bois Torride and new L'Artisan Havana Vanilla

According to statistics, the N°1 in masculine fragrance sales of 2008 was 1 Million by Paco Rabanne; a fragrance that was against the trend of freshness and minimalism, which proved just the thing sales-wise to differentiate itself with its flamboyant appeal of gold-lined packaging and its sassy advertising directed by Paul Gore at the accompaniment of "Do it Again" by the Chemical Brothers. To celebrate this success the groups Puig, licensors of the Paco Rabanne fragrances are launching a new Gold Collector edition next September.
One Million Gold Collector, in a flacon of 100 ml covered in metal and lacquered gold glass, will sell for 68,50 euros in select department stores.

Other exciting news of a more niche nature follow: Patty on Perfume Posse, who is currently happily spending quality time at the London Sniffa, just announced the news of a new L'artisan fragrance, called Havana Vanilla. To me this sounds like the aromatized Havana Honeys cigars, which come in flavours of vanilla or rum or cherry and my excitement is high: imagine a vanilla laced with tobacco in the L'Artisan airy lingo ~should be perfection. The scent wasn't ready for launch yet and there was only some tentative testing from an advance bottle, but the impressions sound very interesting (and I am a L'Artisan fan myself, so this got my antennae up), therefore pop over to Perfume Posse and read the piece.

Oh and there is a release by Guerlain possibly named Bois Torride? Savvy Thinker has the scoop!

Guerlain Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus: fragrance review

Take a room that appears goldenish baroque in its ambience, but actually comprised of little, aptly chosen, dramatic furniture and saturate it in the cool and bright light of the North on a salubrious day and you have the latest Guerlain, Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus. Tentatively smelling it, convinced I'd absolutely hate it, it gave me the testing whiplash of my life: It isn't half bad! Aesthetically it is as successful in its modernisation as Eau Première is to the iconic Chanel No.5 (I wish I could say that for the latest Cristalle Eau Verte).

The introduction of a Mitsouko flanker, and what's more a watery Mitsouko in a mouthwash-tinted bottle, initially sounded as mind-numbingly sacrilegious as Regan impaling herself with a crucifix in one of the most brilliant scenes of William Friedkin's 1973 thriller "The Exorcist" would look to the Pope. However Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus reminds me of another William Friedkin heroine, this one more mature, sexier and tamer than the possessed child Regan; namely, Trina Gavin in 1995 "Jade". Not exactly Ai-no Corrida material, the passions are contained, but still an involving character.

The original Mitsouko by Jacques Guerlain launched in 1919 at a time when women rediscovered luxury and all things Eastern and it subtly unveils its peachy-fuzz chypre heart amidst a spicy, smoky mossiness that creates the feeling of decadent and, at the same time, wistful opulence. Jean Paul Guerlain rightfully decided not to mess up with perfection and merely injected an airier lotus blossom note which uplifts and mollifies the composition into a brighter, lighter plane.

“Mitsouko is really a masterpiece,” says Jean-Paul.[1] “I did not want to betray my grandfather’s, so I added a freshness to the scent with spices and white musk to give a modernity to it without changing the original scent.”

Jean Paul Guerlain is according to Thierry Wasser (new resident nose at Guerlain) "the Indiana Jones of fragrance" [2], such is his galivanting the world in search of new and exciting raw materials; and lotus blossom is a traditional essence of the East which seemed very fitting to what is essentially an Eastern inspired composition in the first place.
After the initial acqueous and rather green jasmine-like impression the unmistakeable palpability of Mitsouko comes through while the progression surprisingly takes Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus into more hesperidic (the lotus), cooly powdery tonalities (some cardamom?) with a slight sprinkling of clean sweeteness instead of the butyric lactonic richness and almost burnt peachiness of the original. And since the classic Mitsouko can be worn by men too, I see no real problem in the newest version being co-operative on a man's skin if they generally like softer fragrances. Be prepared for a short-lived experience however: The lasting power is nowhere near the tenacity of the classic in either of its concentrations.

If you love the original Mitsouko enough, the new Fleur de Lotus variant seems like a redundancy. If you do not, it is doubtful whether you will find something seismically different that would make you do a 180 degree turn. As March put it: "You can hear the right chords being played, but they’re in the background. Somewhere down the hall, but still there. I wouldn’t say, precisely, that it honors the original, but it doesn’t diminish it, either.". Nevertheless, people who might have objected to either the latest botched reformulated Mitsouko with its bread-like top note and its long finish of treemoss instead of oakmoss, or people who longed for a twist in the classic recipe like one less olive, one dash of vermouth less in their martini glass, might find in Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus a fragrance to successfully claim as their own. For my vintage collecting self it simply isn't a necessity, which affirms the thought that this is an attempt to grab new audiences, not established ones.

Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus is available in 60ml/2oz bottles of Eau de Toilette, whose design reprises the classic inverted heart bottle with a degradée of bright blue-ish shades and a white label. It retails for $100 at Guerlain boutiques exclusively and Saks Fifth Avenue NYC, Bergdorf Goodman NYC, Waldorf Astoria, Neiman Marcus at San Francisco, The Bellagio at Las Vegas, the Epcot Center at Orlando and The Breakers at Palm Beach.

One sample will be given to a lucky reader! State your interest at the comments, draw open till Friday midnight.


Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Guerlain series, flankers, Chypre series.

[1]Quote via Vanity Fair [2]Interview of Wasser and JPGuerlain at Wallpaper.
Pic of Linda Fiorention from the 1995 William Friedkin film "Jade" via L'internaute

Habit Rouge Armoiries (for men): re-issue from Guerlain

Who is issuing the 1005th flanker for 2009? None other than Guerlain, of course! Habit Rouge Armoiries was first introduced in 2006, as a limited edition for men and is re-issued in a flacon with an engraving on the glass in 18ct gold bearing the old logo of Guerlain. The name Armoiries means "coat of arms" and denotes the aristocratic pedigree which has always been evoked by Habit Rouge (The Red Jacket is the traditional garment to don while fox-hunting, a British sport of the aristocracy and royalty for centuries).The masculine composition belongs in the woody spicy family of fragrances and includes notes of lime, orange, bergamot, neroli, cinnamon, cedar, leather, vanilla, oud (agarwood/aloeswood), patchouli and amber. Collectors should probably take note: Habit Rouge Armoiries was created in limited supply ~only 454 numbered flacons, each containing 240ml.
Exclusively available at Guerlain boutiques.

Pic via punmiris.com

Guerlain Mon Precieux Nectar: another new fragrance

A very limited edition is coming out of Guerlain's Boutique for serious collectors with a matching price-tag to rival everything we have been expecting. In times of recession there's nothing like some throwing caution to the wind, it seems!
Mon Précieux Nectar, is a super exclusive boutique offering in Extrait de Parfum concentration. "For the woman who relishes being unique and strives to set the trends instead of following them, Guerlain has created an extremely limited fragrance offering appropriately titled Mon Précieux Nectar. Only sixty two women in the world will be privileged to wear this scent, all but ensuring the wearers will never cross paths. Available as one full liter of perfume, the fragrance is floral and gourmand with a head of petitgrain and bitter almond, jasmine and orange blossom at the heart and a base of sensual woods, incense, vanilla and white musk". The mouth-watering and addictive fragrance comes in La Fontaine Impériale (imperial fountain), a hand-made crystal fountain with a silver-plated refillable atomizer that will be offered in a black leather box for the customer's convenience. Created by Sylvaine Dealcourte and Randa Hammami who had worked again with Guerlain on Cruel Gardénia. 1 L pure Parfum at the retail price of $9,000 or 6000 €, circulating in numbered bottles exclusively at Guerlain boutiques. (contradicting information talks about 100 numbered bottles ~this reminds me of something, but my tongue is tied)

At any rate, compared, Caron Baccarat "urns" seem like a steal...

Other upcoming Guerlain releases for the season (click the links for more info):
La Petite Robe Noire (out now)
Insolence Eau Glacée
Fleurs de Shalimar and Eau de Shalimar
Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus
Aqua Allegoria Mimosa-Tiaré and Aqua Allegoria Cherry Blossom
Terracotta Eau Sous Le Vent (also based on tiaré, the tropical Tahitian gardenia strung in leis)
Habit Rouge Sport



News & Pic courtesy of Sniffapalooza and mr.Guerlain collector via Basenotes

New Guerlain Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus and Shalimar Flower: what's happening at Guerlain? (and a footnote on Muguet)

As if La Petite Robe Noire, on which we had reported and commented at length on these pages a little while ago (here is the link if you missed it), wasn't enough, Guerlain is issuing this coming spring a couple of flankers that have me wondering a bit about what exactly is happening in the venerable house that I so love. In the interests of reportage and juicy commentary however, let me plunge into more details, nevertheless.

First there are two flankers: on the iconic Shalimar and the newly re-issued Eau de Shalimar. They are tagged "Flower" and if that reminds you of Kenzo with all that powder which is also a trait of the classic Shalimar, then I can't blame you! It's uncertain if they are merely limited edition bottles (it seems so) or if they also entail rejinging of the jus for a new scent; and I would welcome official corroboration on that score.

Eau de Shalimar Flower in Eau de Toilette and Shalimar Flower in Eau de Parfum concentrations are limited edition versions of the legendary Shalimar, "created to celebrate the most bewitching and sensual note of the classic fragrance: vanilla blossom. Protective of its own rarity, it only blossoms for a few hours at sunrise. In awe of this quiet, intimate moment with vanilla flowers Guerlain set out to capture a second of eternity, etching its blossoms on the Shalimar bottle for two limited editions.[...]The vanilla blossom on the voluptuous neck of the bottle underscores the perfume’s intensity, then appears in a precious, radiant hallmark - first in midnight blue on the glass of the bottle, then in gold on the packaging which shields its mysterious blossoming from observation". [1]

If it entails a new scent formula, it would be a little ironic than in a category which Guerlain literally lain the path on with their bare hands (ie. that of good, delectable vanilla) they feel the need to bring out a flanker that sounds like it is playing with something that is a redundancy. There is already the darkly boozy Spiritueuse Double Vanille in their line, which recently joined the permanent collection due to public demand, and Shalimar highlights vanilla pretty well in both the classic version (no matter how tampered it might be with through the years) and in Eau de Shalimar where it goes for the more lemon-cupcakes-accord. Wouldn't the talents of Thierry Wasser ~who had such fond memories of his fathers' driving gloves as to quote them as a constant inspiration in an interview which appeared at the time he was appointed in-house perfumer for Guerlain~ better be used elsewhere, if so?
If, on the other hand, it is only a matter of specially-made bottles (and it is hinted from the above that it could as per my "reading" of it) which will circulate for rekindling the desire for Shalimar, why are they necessary at a time when the new commercials with Natalia Vodianova have already brought Shalimar in the limelight and the eye of a younger crowd who could be easily seduced to try a proper perfume like this through this fashionable and tastefully done Paolo Roversi campaign? Wasn't it enough? Wouldn't all that energy, budget and talent be employed in a new fragrance that could become a new classic?

Anyway, until we make sure, here are the shopping details:
Shalimar Flower Eau de Parfum 75ml retailing for $123, available in March through Guerlain boutiques exclusively.
Eau de Shalimar Flower Eau de Toilette 75ml retailing for $97, available in March through Guerlain boutiques exclusively.

The news on a Mitsouko flanker however are slightly more alarming: Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus (Lotus Flower) is definitely a new fragrance with a different scent, as the info states "In celebration of the 90th anniversary of its creation, Jean Paul Guerlain has developed Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus, a fresh reinterpretation of the fragrance with a special fleur de lotus note". [2]

Two things strike me as odd: First, isn't it a little sacrilegious to rejingle Mitsouko of all things? Since the original is already rather unrecognisable because of the -necessary alas!- reworking of the formula in order to meet with the standards recommended by the IFRA regulations on oakmoss and allergens, isn't this attempt to provide an aqueaous* note rather antithetical with the rich character of this legendary fruity chypre which is exactly so celebrated because of it? The light blue bottle doesn't bode well with me personally (blue so often means a screetchy ozonic on the perfume counters...) However since Vol de Nuit Evasion was completely unrelated to the older classic oriental Vol de Nuit smell-wise, and utterly lovely in its own right, I am very willing to believe that we might have a similar case here with Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus.
[*The lotus flower "note" -a reconstitution (?) since no natural is extracted usually- is one of the materials which are used in order to render watery notes and was very popular in the perfumery of the 1990s. Watch out, those acqueous notes are in for a big return: you heard it here first!]
Secondly, it's a little odd that Jean Paul Guerlain is still referenced as the creator of new juice. I realise that some creative control still applies and his approval is asked, naturally ~it's only good manners and courtesy to his illustrious history and lineage after all~ but what happened to Thierry Wasser and Sylvaine Delacourte? Aren't they at the head of fragrance development? Now that we're at it, La Petite Robe Noire is credited to Sylvaine and Delphine Jelk, I hear [3]. Again, what about Thierry? I hope official info becomes available on those pressing points and when they do I will announce them and comment on them with more informed views.

Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus Eau de Toilette 60ml/2oz will be available in May retailing for $100

And for those who have been hankering after the customary issue of Guerlain Muguet on the 1st of May (lily of the valley/muguet is the traditional flower to be offered for May 1st in France and Guerlain had issued limited editions in the past to honour that) , this year's edition includes jasmine, Turkish rose, lemon and sandalwood in a 60ml/2oz flacon retailing for $350, available in May through Guerlain boutiques exclusively.
Now that hydroxycitronellal and Lilial are heavily restricted I wonder how they will be able to render an intense lily of the valley note (something that is also a pressing concern for the latest Diorissimo batches), but that remains to be seen, I guess. The price however has relaxed a tiny bit, as the 2007 edition was $285 for only 30ml/1oz in a Bacarrat bottle!

We will return...

Painting Ancient of Days by William Blake
[1][2][3]info & pic via Beautyalchemist.

Cuir Beluga by Guerlain: fragrance review

"Beluga" in most people’s minds is tied to caviar associations, the richest and costliest variety actually, yet not the one on top of every gourmet’s list who often go for Sevruga with its more delicate, less fatty taste and smaller dark beads.
I was therefore surprised to find out that apart from Guerlain's exclusive fragrance Cuir Béluga , the name also refers to a species of small whale (Delphinapterus leucas) that is almost white in colour and completely endearing to watch. Beluga after all is white in Russian! The full name of course hints at some terrible cruelty that would have Brigitte Bardot up in arms, and justifiably so.
However no whale hide is necessary for the production of this scent and there is no other leather smell discernible to me or anyone else either. The chemical ingredient isobutyl quinoline that is most often used to render such a note is hard to miss, due to its bombastic character that has the ability to obliterate other scents. Even in Shalimar, the quinolines are there, under the plush. Thus, Cuir Béluga resembles a trompe l’oeil, the artistic effect of visually hinting at something that isn’t actually there; or even the manner of painter Magritte and his way of making us think in a completely different way than usual.

Created by Olivier Polge, son of famous Chanel nose Jacques Polge, the man who created such commercially successful numbers as Coco Mademoiselle and Allure, it promised the innovation and dare of a person who is young and willing to take a risk; the stance of someone who has artistic freedom to do as he pleases. However, regarding Cuir Béluga a risk it certainly does not take.
The Guerlain brief says about it: "A fragrance suggesting the absolute, contemporary luxury of leather. An initial burst of aldehydic mandarin orange, strengthened by everlasting flowers/immortelle contributes a luminosity all its own, then merges into deeper, sophisticated notes of leather, amber, heliotrope and vanilla".
The immortelle note, often compared to fenugreek, is nowhere near the omnipresence found in Annick Goutal’s Sables , the intense Middle Estern reference of El Attarine or even in the much tamer L de Lolita Lempicka. The hard, craggy Mediterranean beach cannot survive in the pedigreed salons of Paris, that’s understood. But neither is amber particularly present, never managing to make a full appearance on the dry down phase, making the composition somewhat linear.

Starting and finishing with a lullaby of soft suede-soft vanilla, with elements of slight bittersweet taste that is the heliotrope note echoing the minimalist composition of Eau d’hiver by Frederic Malle or Etro’s Heliotrope (but less sweet), it resembles the classic Hans Christian Andersen tale of the girl who sold matches: she glimpses the warmth of the rich house with the garlanded Christmas tree and the table full of delicacies, but it’s only behind the cold pane of glass. Never in my life have I smelled such an aloof vanilla. Although it has a very pleasant effect and is undoubtedly a delectable smell that would never become suffocating and heavy like many vanillic perfumes inadvertently do, it somehow cannot justify the cachet of exclusivity when it could just as easily sit on the shelf of a less exclusive store making gigantic sales by its lovely inoffensiveness. Wish it were widely available!

Notes for Cuir Beluga by Guerlain:
immortelle (everlasting flower), leather, amber, vanilla, mandarin, heliotrope

Cuir Béluga forms part of the L'Art et la Matière line sold exclusively at boutiques Guerlain and the Guerlain espace at Begdrof Goodman, in tall architectural bottles with the name on the side in a wide golden "band" and an optional bulb atomiser included (My advice on those is not to leave them attached on the bottle as they allow evaporation of the juice).

Related reading on Perfumeshrine: the Guerlain series, the Leather Series

Painting A couple by Fernando Botero via art.com. Pic of Beluga whale via wikimedia. Pic of bottles via Guerlain.

Angelique Noire by Guerlain: fragrance review

The inconcistency between name and scent is probably an intended characteristic of the boutique exclusive L'Art et la Matière line by Guerlain, as discussed before in the Cruel Gardénia (a scent that smells nothing like gardenias really) and Rose Barbare reviews, because Angélique Noire (Black Angelica) is certainly not noire, at least not in the manner of which we have been thinking of, courtesy of the Golden era of Hollywood. The grotesque look of Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard that simply screamed for its daily dose of Caron’s sumptuous Narcisse Noir as a talisman against mediocrity and decline is nowhere to be found.

There is a historic factoid that might be a piquant reference: A black slave by the apt name Marie Joseph Angélique was a personage in the history of Montreal, accused of being the incendiary of the 1734 episodes; someone suited to the scent of Angelique Noire? Far from such upheaval and restlessness or the promise of fallen angels, here we are dealing with a pre-Raphaelite Madonna with curly hair and silky robes that is lost in mystical reverie over the impending Nativity or a post-romantic painting by Waterhouse; carte-postale style in both cases: somehow too pretty for a truly striking effect!

Created by nose Daniela Roche-Andrier in 2005 for the renovation of the flagship store at 68, Avenue Champs Elysées, the Guerlain brief for Angélique Noire went something like this: "A composition based on angelica, weed known to be an elixir promoting longetivity. The bergamot and angelica notes are fresh, vibrant and slightly bitter. They contrast with the sophisticated fullness of the vanilla”.
The core of the perfume is undoubtedly the pairing of bergamot and vanilla which in Guerlain terms would translate as musky, troubling Shalimar, surely. Or Shalimar Eau Légère/Shalimar Light, modern-style, even! But this is a Guerlain through non-Guerlain eyes, ergo the treatment is completely different. Angélique Noire is a sweet oeuvre of pleasant and cherubic notes, full of the tart juice of bergamot and toiling harvesters eager to gather crops as it opens with the tangy and difficult to obtain angelica, garlanded with a spicy touch enough to intrigue; this phase is quite suited to both sexes in fact. Later it cedes to a soft heart of milky-almondy haziness and drying down to ever persistent, creamy vanilla.
Angélique Noire is not especially reminiscent of any of the Loukhoum scents (Serge Lutens, Keiko Mecheri) that feature some of the same notes nevertheless, nor is it laced with aromatic nuances as one would except from a fragrance named and inspired by angelica. Guerlain has based its reputation on the quality of its vanilla and it always features in one way or another in their perfumes, usually along with tonka bean. This is no exception. I don’t know if angelica is supposed to prolong life in humans really, and how that could be a good thing in a world that despises old age, but the fragrance lasts very well (which is a blessing or a curse depending on what you think of it).

Notes for Angélique Noire by Guerlain:
Angelica, bergamot, vanilla


Angélique Noire forms part of the L'Art et la Matière line sold exclusively at boutiques Guerlain and the Guerlain espace at Begdrof Goodman, in tall architectural bottles with the name on the side in a wide golden "band" and an optional bulb atomiser included (My advice on those is not to leave them attached on the bottle as they allow evaporation of the juice).

Related reading on Perfumeshrine: the Guerlain series, Fragrances with angelica.

Pic of fallen angel sent to me by mail unaccredited. Pic of bottles via Guerlain.

Rose Barbare by Guerlain: fragrance review

Barbaric rose, rose of Attila, rose of the Goths, Rosicrucian and mystic. Where are you? The lines of Walt Whitman in my ears: "I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable, I sound my barbaric YAWP over the roofs of the world".
Or even this:

"November sun is sunlight poured through honey:
Old things, in such a light, grow subtle and fine.
Bare oaks are like still fire.
Talk to me: now we drink the evening's wine.
Look, how our shadows creep along the grave!--
And this way, how the gravel begins to shine!

This is the time of day for recollections,
For sentimental regrets, oblique allusions,
Rose-leaves, shrivelled in a musty jar.
Scatter them to the wind! There are tempests coming.
It is dark, with a windy star.

If human mouths were really roses, my dear,
-- (Why must we link things so?--)
I would tear yours petal by petal with slow murder.
I would pluck the stamens, the pistils,
The gold and the green,
-- Spreading the subtle sweetness that was your breath
On a cold wave of death....

Now let us walk back, slowly, as we came.
We will light the room with candles; they may shine
Like rows of yellow eyes.
Your hair is like spun fire, by candle-flame.
You smile at me--say nothing. You are wise.

For I think of you, flung down brutal darkness;
Crushed and red, with pale face.
I think of you, with your hair disordered and dripping.
And myself, rising red from that embrace".

~from a poem by Conrad Aiken (1889-1973)

Rose Barbare by Guerlain is an elegant rendition of a floral composition that features rose notes, soft and a little astringent at times on my skin, like the Centifolia variety grown in Grasse rather than the opulent Damascena of the Ottoman and the Bulgarian variety. Rather sweet and not particularly powdery, underscored with some peach fruit ~but not as loudly fruity as Sa Majesté La Rose by Serge Lutens, nor as mysteriously chypré as Rose de Nuit by the same house~ Rose Barbare bears a passing resemblance with Nahéma, especially as it develops on skin. However the latter is fiestier, like a red-haired woman in wrath, whereas Rose Barbare is a dark blonde affair of sweetness, chic and insouciance.
Although the formal brief talks about a "heady and incisive Ottoman rose", I don’t find this one heady nor incisive. On the contrary it is light and chyprish and quite modern, in a retro-chic way that is au courant. It is a proud young scent, made for a house that needs an injection of young clientele.
Personally I am a little overwhelmed by Nahéma, so the prospect of a less potent rose would seem like a good idea to a person who is no big rose lover by my own admition. But it is also supposed to harness other elements of the Guerlain tradition and the chypré base of Mitsouko, Parure and Sous le Vent is one of them. Mitsouko has achieved legendary status through the years and is often used as an example of what great art in perfumery can achieve. However its impact on modern noses is demystifying and for that reason Guerlain probably wanted to keep the best elements of it and modernize the idea behind it. But whereas Mitsouko is all loss and poignant introversion, Rose Barbare is pride and prickly fingers.
The addition of synthetic musks, some honeyed fruit and aldehyde C11 gives both booziness and volume to the scent of Rose Barbare and alludes to its rich heritage. This one is a perfectly soft composition with some grassy accents and a base that hides a green and dusty quality reminiscent of oak moss, but not quite (since the latter is one ingredient that has had its fair share of allegations to be an irritant); instead patchouli, like in most modern "chypres", with its rich aroma anchors the composition into deeper waters of sexuality that might lure me in to explore further my dysfunctional relationship with rose.
Created by nose Francis Kurkdjian, who was one half of the creative team behind the winning composition of the mesmerizing Narciso Rodriguez for Her perfume, conceived in only three weeks for the opening of the renovated main boutique La Maison Guerlain at 68 Avenue des Champs-Elysées, Paris in 2005 and without a brief from the House according to Chandler Burr, it is a feat; a little enigma in that it stands alone in its pedestal as something unique, but at the same time it doesn’t produce a visceral reaction to it, which is perhaps to its detriment.

Notes for Rose Barbare by Guerlain:
honey, rose, spices

Rose Barbare forms part of the L'Art et la Manière line sold exclusively at boutiques Guerlain and the Guerlain espace at Begdrof Goodman, in tall architectural bottles with the name on the side in a wide golden "band" and an optional bulb atomiser included (My advice on those is not to leave them attached on the bottle as they allow evaporation of the juice).

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: the Guerlain series.

Painting courtesy of mica1224art/Flickr. Bottles pic via Guerlain.

Sous le Vent by Guerlain: fragrance review (vintage vs.re-issue)

"Funny business, a woman's career. The things you drop on your way up the ladder so you can move faster. You forget you'll need them when you get back to being a woman." The apothecary splash bottle of Sous le Vent by Guerlain resting atop my dresser with its black, disk-shaped label with gold lettering encircling it, makes me think of the logos of old cinematic companies long defunct starring dramatic heroines with high cheekbones hissing deathly lines clad in impeccable tweeds or gala-time smooth silks. Betty Davies in "All About Eve" comes to my mind as she utters those lines, her character in stark contrast to the outwardly maudlin yet steel-hearted assistant-cum-antagonist Eve Harrington.

Although a literal translation would indicate "in the wind", Sous le Vent is French for "leeward" after the name of the tropical Leeward Isles of the lesser Antilles in the Caribbean: indeed the islands are divided into Windward and Leeward groups. Many among those "greener than a dream" isles were colonised by the French, accounting for an interesting, non-coincidental analogy ~the fruit of the Americas which has been Frenchified into Créole. Sous le Vent was composed by Jacques Guerlain for Joséphine Baker in 1933, according to the charming pamphlet provided by the boutique, as a pick-me up for applying after her notorious dance performances in which she often appeared in nothing more than an all too brief skirt made out of bananas on a string. Strutting her proud gazelle frame in the streets of Paris with a pet leopard in tow made everyone forget about Freda Josephine McDonald's humble St.Louis, Missouri birthplace and her vaudeville beginnings, evoking instead the glamourised image of a jungle animal: fierce, supple, ready to leap! And long before Angelina Jolie and Mia Farrow, she had adopted her own Rainbow Tribe: 12 multi-ethnic orphans, proving that titillation of the public and activism aren't mutually exclusive.

It is of interest to note in the iconography of Guerlain print material on their 20s and 30s scents that Sous Le Vent was featured in characteristic illustrations in the "Are you her type" series that included Mitsouko, Vol de Nuit , Liù and Shalimar, indicating that its eclipse among the classics in subsequent years was not due to a lack of intent. Les garçonnes were its natural audience but the ravages of WWII brought other sensibilities to the fore making an angular androgyne scent antithetical to the femme totemism of the new epoch in which the purring, slightly breathless tones of Marilyn Monroe caressed weary ears. It took Guerlain decades to re-issue it; finally a propos the refurbishing of the 68 Champs Elysées flagship store it was the second one to join the legacy collection affectionally called "il était une fois" (=once upon a time) in 2006 after Véga.

I am in the lucky position to be able to compare an older batch of extrait de parfum with my own bottle of the re-issued juice, and although Luca Turin in his latest book claims that the new is very different from his recollection questioning whether it is his memory or Guerlain's "that is at fault", I can attest that the two are certainly not dramatically different. Being a favourite of the black Venus of the merry times between two world wars, should give us a hint that Sous le Vent is a strong-minded affair of great sophistication and caliber. Difficult to wear as a scent to seduce or invite people to come and linger closer due to its acquiline nature, but very fitting as an unconscious weapon for a woman about to close a difficult business deal, embark on a divorce case or hire a professional assassin. It transpires strength! To that effect the vintage parfum offers rich verdancy, a mollified fond de coeur that is perhaps justified by the very nature of the more concentrated, less top-note-heavy coumpound needed for making the extrait or the diminuation of the effervescent citrus top notes. The modern eau de toilette is a little brighter, a little more streamlined and surprisingly a little sweeter in its final stages, yet quite excellent, making it a scent that always puts me in an energetic good mood wherever I apply it lavinshly -because it is alas rather fleeting- from the bottle.

Technically a chypre, yet poised between that and an aromatic fougère* to me, Sous le Vent bears no great relation to the mysterious guiles of Guerlain's Mitsouko but instead harkens back to the original inspiration behind it, Chypre de Coty, but also to another Guerlain thoroughbred ~Jicky (especially on what concerns the aromatic facet of lavender in the latter's eau de toilette concentration). Sous le Vent is both greener and fresher than Mitsouko and Jicky nevertheless, as it eschews the obvious animalic leapings yet retains the cinnamon/clove accent which will later be found in the fantastically "dirty" and underappreciated Eau d'Hermès. All the while however the piquancy that makes Coty's iconic oeuvre as well as Jicky so compelling is unmistakeably there.

Sous le Vent starts with a rush of subtly medicinal top notes of herbs that smell like lavender, rosemary and tarragon, a full spectrum of Provençal aromata. A tart bergamot note along with what seems like bitterly green galbanum skyrocket the scent into the territory of freshness and a smart "clean". Its next stage encompasses dry accords, soon mollified by the heart chord of a classic chypre composition of dusty moss with the sweet tonality of generous flowers that evoke the banana fruit: ylang ylang notably and jasmine sambac. In the final stages I seem to perceive the dusky foliage of patchouli.

Potent and assertive thought it first appears to be, a take-no-prisoners affair for a lady who was known to dance with only a skirt of bananas on, leaving her country for France and being idolized by all social strata, it screams of individualism and élan; yet strangely Sous le Vent, especially the gangly new version, doesn't invoke the scandalising side of Josephine nor her exuberant nature. Complex and elusive, it is certainly not an easy option for today’s women's sensibilities; it is rather too cerebral, too intelligent for its own good, not sexy enough. These qualities however would make it a wonderful masculine addition to a cocky fellow's repertoire. This travel back into more glamorous and individual times is worth the price of admission. Wear it if you are really interesting as a person, it will only enhance that quality.

Notes for Sous le Vent:
Top: bergamot, lavender, tarragon
Middle: jasmine, carnation, green notes
Base: iris, foresty notes, woody notes

The vintage parfum can be found on Ebay from time to time. The current re-issue in Eau de Toilette concentration is part of the Il était une fois collection exclusively sold at boutiques Guerlain and the éspace Guerlain at Bergdorf Goodman, housed in an apothecary style cylindrical bottle of 125ml with a gold thread securing a seal on the cap.

A sample of the modern re-issue will be given to a random lucky reader!

*Fougère is a classic olfactory family -mainly of masculine scents- that relies on a chord of lavender-coumarin-oakmoss.

Pic of Sous le Vent advertisement courtesy of femina.fr
Pic of Josephine Baker costumed for the Danse banane from the Folies Bergère production Un Vent de Folie in Paris (1927) courtesy of Wikimedia commons.

Vega by Guerlain: fragrance review (vintage vs.re-issue)

Véga was originally created in the 1930's, in 1936 to be precise, by Jacques Guerlain. It was such a loaded year: the Berlin Olympics, the Nobel for Eugene O' Neil and cinematically speaking My man Godfrey with Carole Lombard who could wear this perfume effortlessly. The recreation was undertaken by Jean Paul Guerlain for the opening of the renovated Boutique Guerlain in 2005 and bears his mark alongside the well-known Guerlinade base. It entered the Legacy collection, known under the name Il était une fois (=once upon a time). Belonging to the family of aldehydic florals that first took off with the infamous introduction of Chanel No.5 in 1921 by Ernest Beaux, Véga has the fizzying, sparkling element of the aldehydic opening, that can sometimes smell waxy or even soapy.

Vega is such a beautiful name: being the brightest star in the α Lyra constellation and the 5th brightest star we can see in the sky, it has 58 times the brilliance of the sun, although scientists tell us that they are full of cosmic dust. The name however evokes luminosity and the perspective of cosmos: In 1936 Paris was indeed the capital of Light, the chic metropolis of every emerging trend, the place to be!

The original jazzy Véga in vintage Eau de Toilette traipses along the classic school of aldehydics with a luminous, expansive quality and softly powdery rosey and iris notes that support the warmth of sweet flowers ~notably the piecingly sweet ylang- ylang~ and the familiar vanillic touch of the Guerlinade base that takes a creamy nuance: the lustre of big pearls worn at the open neckline of a soft cloak under marcelled hair to go out for a night of folly.
Perhaps that aldehydic arpeggio is a nod to the take-off in Chanel's No.22 as well. The notes sing in a beautiful choral that hums melodiously.
According to toutenparfum in 1995 or 1997 according to other sources (later which would co-incide with the 1996 LVMH takeover and therefore seems more probable), Véga was briefly re-introduced and swiftly disappeared again. The bottle was short and cylindrical with a bulby cap, resembling the original inkwell flacon shown in the above vintage print ad.

In the 2005 re-issue of Véga those diffusive soapy-powdery notes are softened, to suit modern tastes who have arguably distanced themselves from the more perfume-y tastes of yore. However that is not to the detriment of the perfume at all. Rather it emphasises the rich floral heart while the two versions are not dramatically different. The ylang ylang is the predominant note in the new composition, a jasmine-like scented flower with a somewhat fruity aspect; jasmine and orange blossom come along too from the wings as supporting players. Véga also features fleur de cassie (acacia farnesiana) with its rich smell, like cat's paws immersed in milk, a whiff of heliotrope. Although iris and rosewood are listed, they were not to be found in the re-issue, at least not in the usual earthy version I come to witness in most true iris perfumes, like Luten's Iris Silver Mist or Hiris. That sweet floral heart in combination with the Guerlain vanillic warmth and the plush vetiver-amber base reminds me of the fond of Vol de Nuit and Shalimar at the same time without the smokey den ambienace of the vintage forms of the latter. That is to say Véga definitely has an animalic musky tonality in it that would potentially drive off people not attuned to full, hazy florals. It is not a perfume for shying violets!
Although the heart and base have elements of Chanel No.5, especially in its parfum version, Véga is at once less naughty and woodier. That darker, more serious element is a great attribute of the creation and although it is only an idea of darkness really, it still manages to make the perfume rise above merely pretty. Guerlain has always had an affinity for making likeable and wearable perfumes, often taking inspiration from other compositions and "making them laugh", like Jacques Guerlain did with Shalimar and Mitsouko (inspired in part by Coty Emeraude and Chypre respectively). Guerlain's other aldehydic floral from the period between the two World Wars, Liù, was another one inspired by Chanel No.5, but in comparison to Véga the latter seems soapier and more angular. They both have a bourgeois sensibility that makes for generally very "French"-smelling perfumes; at least in what is considered French in the collective unconscious, France being a vast country embracing many different cultural stimuli. This is the case here with Véga and this aldehydic may be a wonderful alternative for people who cannot enjoy Chanel No.5 or Arpège or even the fabulous Editions des parfums Frédéric Malle Iris Poudre.

The vintage parfum circulated in the inkwell-shaped bottle, while the Eau de Toilette is to be found in the large oval bottles (as depicted) on Ebay. There seemed to be also an Eau de Parfum version which however I have not tried yet. The 2005 re-issue of Véga is currently available exclusively at boutiques Guerlain and the Bergdorf Goodman's éspace Guerlain in Eau de Toilette in a 125ml splash cylindrical bottle tied with a gold thread on the neck and the Guerlain seal flat on the cap.


Notes for Véga:
Top: aldehydes, bergamot, orange blossom
Middle: jasmine, rose, ylang-ylang, fleur de cassie, rose, carnation, rosewood, iris
Bottom: sandalwood, amber, vanilla

Please read another review in French on Ambre Gris.

Pic of Vega ad courtesy of euart.com. Bottle pics through etna.borda.ru, Victoria's Own and mr.Guerlain (collector).

New Guerlain Collector's Editions

Guerlain has been challenging us to show just how serious of a perfume nut we are for some time now: it feels that if we don't mortgage our house or sell our first born's kidneys to the black market we're not quite up there in strategic placement in the galaxy of collectors.
The 180th anniversary of Guerlain has brought its own slurge of limited edition collector's items from Les Quatre Saisons coffret to these new and much more "frugal" (enter sarcasm) commodities.

According to serious (and sane) Guerlain collector's reportage Monsieur Guerlain: "A leather case with 18 of the house's emblematic perfumes, created from 1828 to nowadays: Eau de Cologne Impériale, Jicky, L’Heure Bleue, Mitsouko, Shalimar, Vetiver, Habit Rouge, Nahema, Samsara, L’Instant de Guerlain, L’Instant de Guerlain pour Homme, Cologne du 68, Rose Barbare, Cuir Beluga, Angélique Noire, Bois d’Arménie, Iris Ganache and Insolence". Price is 2500€ (the equivalent of 3,531$ or so) which begs the question: since all of these are readily available in much lower prices, why not make one's own coffret (there are lovely leather cases in antique shops which would give a retro feel to the whole thing)? This is something I'd like to see explained in a rational way.

Also there is the second re-edition of Jacques Guerlain's Parfum des Champs-Élysées, after its brief 1995 re-issue: a leathery floral chypre originally launched in 1904 and then in a "turtle bottle" in 1914 as a celebration of the opening of Guerlain's new boutique at Avenue des Champs-Élysées and completely unrelated to the mid-90s Champs-Élysées in its mimosa-laden floralcy. This specific re-issue comes in the original Baccarat crystal "turtle bottle"(conceived by architect Charles Mewes to denote the "slowness" of works but also to suggest that one could "climb on its back and be transported to paradise"), gold label and silk cord seal encased in a red and gold box adding to the luxury stakes. Only 24 bottles will circulate from October 15th for the modest amount of 10.000€ (or 13,807) each. I'm taking two as we speak!!

News brought to my attention thanks to Elysium. Pic courtesy of athinorama.

Guerlain Gourmand Coquin, Chypre Fatal, Oriental Brulant: fragrance reviews and musings

Like probably half the female population of the affluent West with about 40 minutes to kill on a winter's week evening ~nails filed at advertising breaks~ I used to watch the comedic escapades of four women on the verge of breakdown (which rarely resulted in stylistic mishaps) as they struted their proud frames along the avenues of Manhattan in Sex & the City.
In the last season's finale Carrie, the marginally emancipated singleton with a shoe fixation, abandonds her beloved New York for Paris to follow her Russian "lovah" who happens to be an artist. Eager to explore the mystique of Paris she dreams of drinking dark-roasts and smoking Gitanes where Sartre smoked, read under the trees in Boulevard Saint-Germain and live the life of a woman in love in the city of romanticism. In view of all that, she mysteriously doesn't go after perfumes (what??) or Lucien Pellat Finet but rather chooses to slip and fall on her face in the Dior boutique instead, which begs the question: do the French wax their marbles to a slippery shine? Ruining her shoes stepping into poo and having a young kid stick her tongue out at her are the reality checks of the god of small things. Suffice to say Paris doesn't really prove like she hoped it would be and in a Dorothy-out-of-Oz conclusion she retraces her path back to Mr.Big who "rescues" her and to the Big Apple.

Guerlain is like the emblematic Paris in the mind of a fragrance fanatic: if it's not good there, it can't be good anywhere. Or so we're led to think. And what do they do about that, you ask? Lately they often present us with the glowing facade of shinning marble to let us fall flat on our face on the disillusionment of shattered expectations with no poo note in there to soften the blow.

Their new trio Elixirs Charnels (Carnal Elixirs) in marshmallow shades have appeared on the horizon of exclusive ~aka expensive~ launches that have otherwise sane people salivating with the anticipation of exquisite rare pearls of non pareil spherical shape to realise that for all their pretty veneer they hide a somewhat lackluster core, chipped by nails that will handle them repeatedly. The idea of perfumer Christine Nagel and artistic director Sylvaine Delacourte of women choosing roles according to moods helps intrigue the consumer, subliminally hinting that they might serve variable purposes; which is exactly the good ole' concept of a "fragrance wardrobe". Nevertheless, although they pose as contrasting personae (the playful woman-child, the icy femme fatale of a Hitchcokian thriller or the hyper-hormoned bombshell that bursts at the seams) they more or less offer a similarly tame exposition of feminine pleasantry. Well-made technically and very approachable, they part ways with Guerlain's older classics being resolutely modern and instantly appealing. Are they sexy? Let's not forget Chris Sheldrake's quote: "In our industry, 'bedroom smell' means the sensuality of jasmine, a powdery, musky soft entity - something that makes the wearer comfortable - and with a comfortable smell that pleases. It means not too violet or too rose or too animalic or too mossy." Let's repeat: not too violet or too rose or...etc.

Gourmand Coquin reprises the caramellic tonalities of Spiritueuse Double Vanille with less depth, possibly with a burnt cotton-candy note more than anything else bringing it close to Aquolina's Pink Sugar and L'artisan's Vanilia. Sweet is as sweet does and I predict this fluffy confectionary pastry that has no bitterness of Valhrona chunks, but only milky lappings of ganache (but less than Iris Ganache) will become very popular.

Chypre Fatal is poised in the venerable cloak of chypre bearing the burden of fatality when the most it could do would be to slap you with the peeled skin of a peach. Not exactly in the mould of modern chypres à la Narciso Rodriguez (which Nagel co-authored) ~those are rather woodies with sanitized patcouli notes~ but not a classic chypre either, Chypre Fatal takes fruitiness into the realm of a clean, if unexciting, musky scent that can be effortlessly worn by even the most meak. This kitten purrs rather than hisses.

Oriental Brûlant is the one closer to the orientalia tradition of Guerlain, if only because it contains that ambery powdery Woofer surround that is the trademark of a recognisably erotic fragrance, in which the French house has excelled for so long. It also manages to smell at once comforting and confident with its hazy almondy tonalities and a silken thread of cool that ties it to Ambra del Nepal by I Profumi di Firenze and Ambre Fétiche by Goutal, as well as the attractive interplay between cool and warm facets of Sonia Rykiel Women- not for men! Oriental Brûlant might not be terribly innovative, but it's quite fetching! Try to forget the advertising scenario and picture it as a personal amulet on days of torpor.

Ultimately, Guerlain's Carnal Elixirs, much like that season finale showed, prove that not everything is as you expect it. And in the end, that's "Abso-fuckin'-lutely" OK.

Official notes:
Gourmand Coquin notes: black pepper, rose, rum, chocolate.
Chypre Fatal notes: white peach, rose, patchouli, vanilla.
Oriental Brûlant notes: clementine, almond, tonka beans, vanilla.

Guerlain Carnal Elixirs are currently available in Eau de Parfum oblong bottles of 75 ml at 165 € via La Maison Guerlain, 68 Avenue des Champs-Elysées, Paris or Begdrof Goodman in New York.

Pic of Sarah Jessica Parker courtesy of HBO. Bottle pics via Le critique du parfum.

Travel Memoirs: Paris, part 1 ~Guerlain Boutique & Museum, Caron Boutique, Fragonard Museum

introducing guest writer Elysium

There might be doubts about which perfume is the most beautiful, but there is no dispute about where the Mecca of fine fragrances lies. Paris, La Ville-lumière, is the place where people from all over the world gather to obtain a piece of genuine French chic, let it be an Hermès scarf, a Chanel dress or a bottle of Guerlain perfume. During my latest trip to Paris I had the chance to visit a few Parisian perfumeries, and here are some memories from that delightful trip.

Coming back from Paris, none of my perfume friends asked me if I climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower nor if I saw La Joconde, all of them asked only one question: “Did you visit Guerlain?” Indeed, in the universe of perfumistas the grand boutique on 68 Avenue Champs-Elysées is something special, as soon as you enter the green ornamented doors you enter a world of elegance and magic. Don’t be fooled by the ordinary assortment you see on the ground floor, it is the second floor that vaults the real jewels and earned the fame of this boutique. Taking the stairs up, one immediately gets welcomed by a room decorated by golden mosaics from ceiling to floor; can it be more glamorous than this? Yes it can, how about a whole wall full of bee bottles in all sizes that can be imagined, or a gigantic chandelier holding the most classic Guerlain perfumes? {click to see the pics in larger format}

Here one finds beauties from the past like Candide Effluve and Sous le Vent standing side by side with the latest offspring like Quand Vient la Pluie and Cruel Gardenia; all these are free to be played with without the risk of being followed by any over-enthusiastic boutique staff member. The staff is very friendly nevertheless, answering all my questions even though I did not purchase anything. The most funny to the verge of being ridiculous experience inside the boutique is smelling inside the “microwave ovens”, containing sample smells of a few real old classics including Kadine and Ode: unfortunately the odors are very faint and not much can be perceived. Except for perfumes there are also one section dedicated for room scents and one for makeup. With the feeling that I have just visited a perfume museum rather than a shop I went out into the sunlight again.




Having quenched some of my thirst inside the Häagen-Dazs on the Champs-Élysées, I walked with steady steps towards Avenue Montaigne. Squeezed between the ultra expensive fashion boutiques I found the place I was looking for, Caron - the boutique with a golden label. This is how one imagines a perfume shop would look like in the eighteenth century, everything touched by one's eyes screams style. Gilded boxes, ornamented glass bottles, fine milled powders and classic smells, you name it; nothing is too elegant or too feminine for the Caron shop! But of course, nothing beats the perfume fountains (urns), containing the most precious drops bearing the label Caron.



While sampling in leisure my eyes set upon a basket filled with the softest swan dune powder puffs in all imaginable colors. As soon as I took one in my hands it was impossible to put it down again; although the price was pure robbery, I walked out happily clutching a Caron bag.



The last classic perfume house I visited in Paris was the Grasse-based Fragonard. The former Napoleon III town house on Rue Scribe holds a combined shop with a tiny museum. The museum was really not more than a three room apartment, but nevertheless my two enthusiastic and friendly guides made the visit very enjoyable. Inside the museum some instruments used in traditional perfumery were displayed. As we were looking at them the guides briefly explained the different extraction techniques like distillation, maceration and enfleurage. The following room housed a collection of perfume bottles and other bathroom accessories from ancient times to today; the highlight was the complete presentation of an antique vanity case, which basically was a moving makeup desk. The last part of the museum was dedicated to raw materials used in perfumery; there were a few samples available for the visitors to play the smell and guess game. A beautiful perfume organ marked the end of the tour, showing the path leading to the Fragonard shop. Everything in the shop is at reduced factory prices; especially the cute sample packs make a great souvenir from Paris!
Here ends my small tour of perfumeries with great history in Paris, coming up next are the inventors of niche fragrances.

Thank you for your reading and stay tuned for Part 2: Serge Lutens, L’Artisan and Frederic Malle

Shopping Guide:
Guerlain SPA & BOUTIQUE 68, Avenue des Champs-Elysées 75008
Paris Tel. 33 1 45 62 1121
Caron 34 avenue Montaigne 8th Arrondissement, Paris 75008 Tel. +33 01 47 23 40 82
Fragonard 9 rue Scribe 75009 PARIS FRANCE Tel. +33 (0)1 47 42 04 56

See a Google map of perfumeries/perfume & beauty shopping in Paris on this link (printable)

All pics copyrighted by Elysium, not to be reproduced without permission.

Guerlain and Chanel upcoming launches: fragrance rumours

As a coda to the Guerlain news on new fragrance we had announced the other day, we were able to find a little more info that might elucidate one of our claims. It was hypothesized that the phrase Guerlain, Une Ville, Un Parfum, recently trademarked by la maison Guerlain, might indicative a commemorative limited edition or a concept similar to Comme des Garcons with their Incense Series, inspired by different cities around the world steeped in the tradition of incense, each evoking a special atmosphere.

Digging and asking we got hold of more info on the Guerlain idea: apparently there are some names that do indicate the latter rather than the former. There are the deposited names of Guerlain 01 Moscou, Guerlain 02 New York and Guerlain 03 Tokyo, as well as variations that combine Paris with each city (ie. Guerlain Paris-Moscou etc.) It is obvious that Guerlain is going for a more glamorous choice of metropolies rather than the anchorite approach of the Japanese brand. And it was further elucidated to us that although the term Guerlain, Une Ville, Un Parfum is indeed a communication tool that has or will be used, as Octavian Coifan suggested the other day to us, the above names with cities included are on the contrary on the same level as other perfume names such as L'Instant or Tutti Kiwi (one of the lastest Aqua Allegoria scents).
That would be interesting to watch!

There is also the name Habit Noir, perhaps a flanker to Habit Rouge, the classic 1965 masculine counterpart to Shalimar, with its deliciously powdery notes. Noir is the new...eh...can't say "black", as it does mean black, but let's just say it's on the lips of everyone right now. I don't see the innovation in naming something "black" or "noir" anymore, especially in view of it being used for compositions that are as far removed from the dangerous, illicit air they imply as possible. Could they have replaced that name with the Habit de Metal flanker which they released in March 2008? Although I am kind of intrigued on what the names Mephisto and Centurion are doing there as well!

Oh, and after Insolence, My Insolence and the newest Insolence Eau de Parfum, prepare yourself for an Insolence Tendre ~probably for next spring launch. Just what we have been anxiously awaiting for, n'est-ce pas?


And what about Chanel? Apart from the newest inclusion in Les Exclusifs, Beige, of course; an addition which erupted like a sleeping volcano under our nose (click to read) as being a white floral with a pronounced (?) musky base and launching at Saks in a week.
I think it's fairly safe to assume that the next one to join in about a year will be either Rouge, or Bleue, judging by my info. Octavian knows the vintage Rouge was strong on rosy tones anchored by Javanese vetiver with lots of sweet powdery orris-violet notes. But we have already ascertained through Sycomore and Beige that the new variations bear no similarity with the vintage alchemies, therefore all possibilities are open. The violets potential however is something up till now untapped in the Chanel stable, therefore the new Rouge might veer towards that.

Good news for us though: Cristalle is not only not showing signs of being discontinued as had been feared by many perfume bloggers and participants on online fora, but there seems to be a series of flankers programmed or at least in the process of thought to exploit its chic and insouciant pedigree. Variations, such as Eau Aromatic ~shouldn't it be Aromatique, though?~, Eau Citrus and Eau Rosée. And/or perhaps also Vert and Bleu de Cristalle, which seem older (abandoned?) trademarks.
Whether these will be issued under the collective name Cristalle Facettes (Facets of Cristalle) or the term Facettes is reserved for some makeup addendum is dubious. We will soon enough see for ourselves.

Perhaps there might also be another Chance flanker, under the name Chance Folle? I'd say this is pushing one's luck (how much more pedestrian can they go for Chance?) but I am not averse to the name itself, what with its gambler's nuance which would fit with a sophisticated commercial I had posted about previously and with its allusion to Divine Folie by Patou (although I am sure it won't have any relation to that one). My personal opinion is it will be a phrase used in the advertising, rather for a stand-along fragrance. Les Lignes de Chance is perhaps the collective name under which the flankers could be marketed.

But the most intriguing should be Jersey de Chanel, which directly alludes to the fashions Coco herself introduced in the 1920s, inspired by the material previously used for masculine undergarments.

The above are of course mere hints at what we might or might not expect ~some plans do get abandonded mid-term sometimes. They have not been officially corroborated before the firms are ready to proceed with press releases and carefully mapped-out marketing strategies.
But it's fun to speculate nevertheless.

Guerlain ad via Okadi, Chanel Les Exclusifs photo courtesy of New York Times.

Guerlain: Bois Torride and Guerlain, Une Ville, Un Parfum: fragrant news

An avalanche of heads-up involving upcoming launches from major houses such as Chanel (Beige) and Hermès (Vanille Galante) were piling up and today Guerlain news join them.
We do cherish the opportunity to ponder on rumours in any case.
According to the very perceptive Kopah from Basenotes:

"It seems that the name of the next instalment in the L'Art et la Matière series may be Bois Torride. Guerlain filed an application for a European Community trademark for this name on June 4, 2008. (For the record, their applications for the names of the Elixirs Charnels/Carnal Elixirs were filed on April 28.) They have also recently filed applications for the script logo which appears above their shop at 68, Champs-Elysées, and for the phrase Guerlain, Une Ville, Un Parfum".

Since the same happened when we were speculating what the newest Serge Lutens would be (and it did prove to be Serge Noire and how lovely that one is!) , it would be safe to predict that in a few months' time, we could be graced with more news about the newest Guerlain launch: Bois Torride (torrid wood). Might it be too presumptuous to hypothesize that it would not be the torrid, fiery, fierce composition that its name would suggest? There seems to be some sort of betrayal between name and concept in the L'Art et la Matière line especially: Rose isn't very Barbare, Cuir Beluga is only marginally reminiscent of suede, Angelique is not nearly Noire, Iris Ganache is rather gourmand but not very iris-like and Cruel Gardénia is neither cruel, nor gardenia despite its big appeal (leaving only Bois d'Armenie in the line smelling faithfully like the French curiosity "Papier d'Armenie").
In fact it seems to me that this playful interaction between expectations on part of the customer and finished result is at the core of the line. It just can't be random! And if so it shows a wry sense of humour for which we smirk ourselves.

This could also shed light into the relation between Thierry Wasser and the latest masculine Guerlain Homme: official info wanted Wasser to be the house's head perfumer beginning June 2008. Since Guerlain Homme was issued last July and since Wasser was -predictably- amicably seen photographed with Jean Paul Guerlain, with whom he collaborated on the fragrance, it stands to reason that Wasser can't have been highly involved in its conceptualisation (of which Sylvaine Delacourte must be much more responsible being creative director) or execution. On the contrary it seems that he must have been intent on the projects that follow soon: the three Carnal Elixirs of course and the upcoming Bois Torride. It does seem like too much projects in so many months, nevertheless.
I am also reminding you that "torride" was previously linked to Givenchy (Eau Torride) with lukewarm results, so I am hoping that Guerlain will have cards up their sleeve. The gender of the fragrance might also be grounds for speculation, since although woody fragrances are traditionally masculine, they might put a spin and present it as a unisex in the manner of the other niche/exclusives circulating at the Boutique Guerlain. After all, most of us perfume lovers are uninihibited enough to wear what we like regardless of artificial cliches pertaining to gender.
We will find out around December 2009, if my calculations prove to be accurate.

On the other hand, the name Guerlain, Une Ville, Un Parfum sounds like a commemorative, special edition that should mark an anniversary or iconic landmark of the historical house's path to glory. I also see the bling factor of serious Baccarat packaging engraved with special touches that will ante up the price to stratosperical heights: A prospect that sheds a frisson of excitement through a collector's bloodstream and a trembling rattle into the wallet of many a Guerlain fan.
Alternatively it could just be an evocation of Paris in the way that Comme des Garcons has been inspired by characteristic places for their Incense Series. This time Paris being the place of inspiration, it can't fail but to bring to mind the cornucopia of scents we have come to expect from such a place and the grand tradition of French perfumery which Guerlain indeed evokes. This has the potential to be either heavenly or a complete and utter letdown given the tremendous magnitude of its mythos, so I am hoping that Thierry Wasser and Sylvaine Delacourt will be extra-attentive in how they go about it.

In any case, Guerlain has been harnessing the market in many inventive and marketing-perceptive ways lately and I am curious and excited to see what they will accomplish with these. We will report back with more as actual data unfolds in the following months.

Le Baiser du Hotel de Ville, 1950 Paris by Robert Doisneau courtesy of Amazon. Pic of Guerlain boutique, Paris, via the Perfume Bee.