Despite a persistent belief that perfumers aim to imitate nature, fragrance is about a fantasy. So looking for the exact smell of a rose in a bottle is like reading Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment to relive a vacation in Saint-Petersburg, even if said sojourn involved all things dark and sordid. Like literature, music, and sculpture, perfumery is a meditation on reality, rather than its photographic reflection. The best of compositions give us a glimpse into someone else’s world and their olfactory idea of a rose—or a cup of black tea, their lover’s skin, or a melancholy evening in Paris.
Each one of us might interpret the aromatic message in different ways. For instance, when I smell Balmain’s Vent Vert, I feel the same exhilaration as I do on the first days of March when the air smells intensely green and fresh. My friend, on the other hand, finds it disconcerting and aggressive, a storm of sharp, raspy notes that leaves her lightheaded. Considering that Vent Vert’s creator, Germaine Cellier, minced neither words nor accords, perhaps my friend’s impression is closer to the original intention of the perfumer. Vent Vert has long been discontinued and difficult to find, but for a similarly effervescent experience I suggest The Different Company Tokyo Bloom.
The same applies to other arts, and no two people looking at Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon experience identical sensations. More important is whether a fragrance evokes a response. It can be an intense adventure as with Comme des Garçons Black, a perfume that smells of rubber and smoky jazz bars, or a tender reverie as with Dior Rose Kabuki, a vignette of rose petals and pink champagne.
Today when many fragrances are designed to be likable rather than memorable, the perfumer’s original idea can be obscured. It doesn’t mean that fragrances are devoid of a message, but it becomes simplified—“I’m cute and sweet,” “I’m on the prowl,” “I believe that real men wear only aftershave.” In some cases, it works better than in others. The gardenia embellished Guerlain Cruel Gardénia doesn’t talk much, but it laughs easily.
Nevertheless, simplicity and charm need not be trite or superficial. One of the legendary perfumes of the 20th century is a study of one flower, Dior’s Diorissimo*. When Edmond Roudnitska created it in 1956, he wanted to demonstrate that perfumers not only can capture nature—the aroma of lily of the valley—but also convey textures, colors and emotions. Diorissimo smells like a branch of tiny white blossoms, but it also evokes the dark tang of wet soil, the teasing warmth of May sunshine and the elation of spring.
* the Eau de Toilette concentration. Even though the EDT has also been reformulated, the Eau de Parfum is an entirely different fragrance, even less like Roudnitska’s original.
Photography by Bois de Jasmin
15 Comments
Aurora: ‘Like reading Crime and Punishment to relive a vacation in St-Petersburg’. Thank you Victoria for making me laugh😄 so much at the analogy.
More seriously, I think you are absolutely right, perfumes evoke the scents in nature and don’t replicate them. But in some cases this evocation is uncanny, you explain so well what is perhaps the best example, Diorissimo. I have vintage esprit de parfum. And today to honour the blooming lilacs in my street I am wearing vintage Helena Rubinstein Apple Blossom, it’s a wonder. April 19, 2024 at 9:06am
Victoria: Thank you. 🙂
You’re lucky to have Apple Blossom. It’s such a treat. April 19, 2024 at 12:26pm
Kitty go: I just bought P de Nicolaï Une Fleur en Mai and it is precisely that…a version of LOV that ends warm w musk but opens zingy w citrus April 19, 2024 at 9:22am
Victoria: I’ve also been wearing it a lot. It’s such a beautiful perfume. April 19, 2024 at 12:26pm
Roberts Lorna: I love Synthetic Jungle – It is like Diorissimo, but boldly modern as well. It does not try to imitate nature, but to amuse with a nod to the classic. April 19, 2024 at 12:23pm
Victoria: I find it very interesting for the exact reasons you’ve described. Another one to add to the list. April 19, 2024 at 12:27pm
John Luna: Yes, perfumes referencing other perfumes (so often indirectly but unmistakably) is another great way to consider the layering of associations and reverie that Victoria describes here — you can be reminded of another perfume and the pleasures it offers (as well as any associations you may have formed with them), but also of the evocative relationship to nature or other experiences that that ancestor perfume may have been working to communicate. It makes me think of the ways this happens in literature or cinema as well. Nostalgia plays a huge role as well, some personal and some, I might say, societal… April 20, 2024 at 4:13pm
carole: I’m in L’artisan’s Histiores d’Oranger, which I love. I was a fan of Annick Goutal’s Neroli, and I bought Eascale a Portofino , but this is pretty perfect, since the Goutal is no longer available. April 19, 2024 at 12:59pm
Klaas: I just discovered Le Jardin de Monsieur Li! Such a lovely, zingy jasmine! I am not much of a floral guy, but this perfume is such a treat! Spring in a bottle!!
I think J.C. Ellena is a master in recreating nature, but more hyper-real than real. Almost like the great Dutch Flower painters of the 17th century (Like Rachel Ruysch). Eau de Campagne, Rose Ikebana or even Terre….. April 19, 2024 at 3:36pm
Kaisa: I think you really captured something (sadly) when you said today’s perfumes are designed to be likeable rather than memorable. I would add “instantly” likeable; drydowns are often disappointing. There are exceptions of course.
For me Miss Dior and Chanel No. 19 are spring staples along with vintage Fidji. Diorella and Safari will be worn later on in spring. I suspect I would love vintage Cristalle, though I never managed to get any (the current version is ok but a bit too floral-clean). I have a decant of Diorissimo “parfum de toilette” on its way to me, very curious how it smells.
Unfortunately I cannot love most of the green or citrus perfumes of today, there is something about them that doesn’t sync with me. Tried the Hermes Jardins and found them sharp or scratchy. Synthetic Jungle (Nature) I hoped would suit me, but no (too floral). However, I’ve really enjoyed the Parfums d’Empire line recently, having bought Corsica Furiosa and Eau Suave. Azemours les Orangers is actually the only citrus-forward perfume I love (though quite close to Eau du Sud to my nose, I find it even nicer), these will be summer staples. I’m testing the whole lot as there are other beauties to discover for later. April 20, 2024 at 2:56am
hera: I can send you a little decant of vintage Cristalle if you like, i have a big bottle. my email is [email protected] April 20, 2024 at 1:09pm
Kaisa: This is so very kind of you to offer! If you are based in the EU… then we could do a decant swap! Will drop you a line. April 20, 2024 at 1:43pm
Sebastian: Thanks for this – I am counting the days until the lilies of the valley are in full bloom. I am happy to own a bottle of Diorissimo EdT from the 80s (or 90s), from before the big 2009 reformulation.
Another favorite of main in L-O-V green chypre territory is Odalisque (Parfums de Nicolaï). It dates from 1989 and still seems to be the same as always. Not entirely innocent. April 20, 2024 at 8:04am
John Luna: Thank you for this lovely article. Spring is fully underway where I live (an island off the west coast of Canada), and so all of the old favourites are coming out. Eau Sauvage in particular reminds me of ten years ago when we moved to a house near a lake… the peppery smell of cottonwood trees in summer and the vetiver-like spicy wood and creosote odours of the old dock there overlapped almost immediately with the notes I was apprehending in Eau Sauvage, which I discovered and started
wearing around the same time. Even the feeling of the skin staying cool after a crisp plunge in the lake, and the visual contrast between bright ripples and greenish depths became a connection. April 20, 2024 at 4:19pm
Kaisa: Eau Sauvage is great!
I’d really like to try Dior’s Eau Fraiche, which apparently is somewhere between Eau Sauvage and Diorella… I’m sure it smells wonderful. April 21, 2024 at 3:30am