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Now and again, walking down a street in Paris, I catch a whiff of Shalimar. According to the latest bestseller lists—compiled by companies whose entire business rests on the arcane practice of counting doors and tracking fragrance sales—Guerlain Shalimar remains among the top ten best-selling perfumes in France. If that is true, then excellent. Few perfumes deserve to be worn, loved, and admired as much as Shalimar.
What makes Shalimar extraordinary is its paradox. It is sumptuous, yet startlingly modern; ornate, yet almost linear in its construction. One could even call it a precursor to the Sophia Grojsman style: a bold block of high-impact materials, softened and ornamented with delicate flourishes.
The “big block” here is bergamot, up to 30% in the original formula. There is much of it, in fact, that Shalimar could almost be classified as an eau de cologne. And that is all it would have been, were it not for Jacques Guerlain’s masterful counterweighting of sweetness and shadow. The resinous glow of opoponax, with its incense-like warmth, meets vanillin, and more importantly, ethyl vanillin, a material of extraordinary power.
Jean-Paul Guerlain once told me that Justin Dupont introduced Jacques Guerlain to ethyl vanillin, prompting an impulsive experiment in which Guerlain added the new molecule to a bottle of Jicky. Compare Jicky and Shalimar and you will certainly notice their kinship. Far be it from me to doubt Mr. Guerlain’s story, but anyone who has ever looked at a perfume formula understands that Shalimar was not an accident. It was a sequence of deliberate choices.
Its beauty lies in its equilibrium. Notice, when you wear it, the mandarin shimmer at the top; the voluptuous interplay of rose, jasmine, and orris in the heart; and, of course, the magnificent drydown. It unfolds for hours, even days: sweet and vanillic, yes, but also mossy, ambergris-laced, and dusted with heliotropin, which adds a subtle cherry-stone nuance.
Shalimar is celebrating its 100th anniversary, and yet it still wears as modern as the day it appeared. A century later, it remains both a masterpiece of structure and a beacon of imagination. Long may it continue to enchant—for another hundred years, and more.
If you’re curious to go deeper into Shalimar’s construction, this week I’ll share an extended exploration—its structure, key accords, and modern fragrances inspired by it—on my Substack. The magic of Shalimar is in the layering of effects. For this reason, at IFF’s perfumery school, I learn to recreate not just Shalimar, but its separate accords, like the rose, orris, jasmine, etc.
Guerlain Shalimar at 100: the anatomy of an icon
More on Substack: The First 50 Materials for Your Perfumer’s Palette (with practical exercises)
Photography by Bois de Jasmin
18 Comments
Donna: Your description of Shalimar brought it right out of my scent memory, Victoria.
One of the most beautiful perfumes ever made. November 17, 2025 at 9:50am
Victoria: I agree, it’s magical in the way it’s different facets come together. A pleasure to wear too. November 17, 2025 at 11:14am
Diane Zwetsloot: Sorry it’s not the same.i have used since the 1970 s not even the same and you pay way more.
Disappointed 😞 November 17, 2025 at 11:56am
Victoria: No, it’s not the same. There are many good reasons for it–change in raw materials, new regulations and the ethics of using natural animalics. But it’s still a gorgeous perfume. I have the vintage version, but I wear the modern one with pleasure. November 17, 2025 at 12:06pm
Kaisa: Thank you for the very nice review. Shalimar is in my top 3 of all time (the other two are Mitsouko and Chanel No. 5). I own it in several different iterations (not the flankers though) and honestly, each version has something to love about it. I treasure my vintage extrait (probably 70s, possibly 60s) but I don’t get hung up on vintage in this case. I wear modern EDP, EDT and the now d/c’d ECD with pleasure. Winter season is Shalimar season for me. 🙂 November 17, 2025 at 1:01pm
Victoria: Same here. It’s been getting colder here, so Shalimar feels ideal. November 17, 2025 at 1:45pm
Debby: Which iteration would you say is the best currently, Victoria? I have the modern EDP and cologne, I am considering the extrait or parfum, but not sure whether I could handle the vintage animalics as it took me a long time to come to love Shalimar as I’m very sensitive to such notes. So just wondering really whether I should stick to current formulations or branch out into vintage now I’ve finally fallen for her.
But as it stands, the drydown on even the modern EDP is swoon worthy, absolutely gorgeous.
And I must subscribe to your Substack. November 17, 2025 at 1:12pm
Victoria: I think that the EDP is fantastic. The parfum won’t be that animalic, not like the vintage. It’s velvety and soft, a delight to be sure. It’s just more expensive and stays closer to your skin. November 17, 2025 at 1:45pm
Kaisa: I have the modern extrait and find it beautiful and not animalic. November 17, 2025 at 3:19pm
Stefânia: Such a pretty review, Victoria, Shalimar really deserves it all! One thing I keep wondering, though, is what type of bergamot essential oil Guerlain uses at 30%, since IFRA only allows a maximum of 0.4% for the expressed variety for products applied onto the skin, due to the high risk of photosensitivity. Such high concentration always gets me worried about safety matters. November 17, 2025 at 1:27pm
Victoria: In the original Shalimar, the percentage of bergamot was even high, closer to 60%. Today, all major houses—including Guerlain—use either Bergamot FCF (“furanocoumarin-free”), which has the bergapten removed, or reconstructed bergamot notes made with other permitted ingredients. Both options are permitted at much higher levels than pure expressed bergamot. November 17, 2025 at 1:33pm
Aurora: Thank you so much for all your insights on this legendary scent, Victoria. I am especially fond of my PDT version, so much throw. Can’t wait for the substack addition😀 November 17, 2025 at 3:23pm
Sandra: I recently visited the 100 Years of Love celebration exhibit at the Waldorf Astoria and learned so much about Shalimar—its history, its notes, and the perfumers who shaped it over the decades. We even had the chance to smell the individual accords that make up the Guerlinade, which was incredible. It was, by far, the best introduction I’ve ever had to understanding Shalimar.
One thing that came up during the talk is how many people know the name Shalimar, but not the house of Guerlain behind it.
I remember reading an article—perhaps in Forbes—that said “not everyone can wear Shalimar.” That was definitely true for me at first. My first bottle was Shalimar Madagascar Vanilla, and now that I’m on my second bottle, it has become the version I love even more than the original queen herself. But it took time to figure out whether Shalimar was a perfume I could truly wear. November 18, 2025 at 1:24pm
Toni: What a wonderful review.
I think of Shalimar as my personal scent. I have had different shapes of the vintage bottles of the perfume and then decided which had the fragrance I liked best. After what I have read, I will try the EDP. November 19, 2025 at 5:26pm
mithun gowda: Beautiful write-up. Shalimar really is one of those timeless fragrances that reminds you why certain classics never fade. The way it balances elegance and warmth is unmatched—even today. November 19, 2025 at 11:01pm
Eugeni: I bought a vintage Shalimar bottle and I’m astonished. Drydown is nice but in the first twenty minutes a ¿camphorous? smell it makes me think that maybe it’s in bad condition.
This is my first experience with Shalimar, I don’t know if it has gone bad or if it has always smelled like this lol December 6, 2025 at 6:15am
Olga Bodnar Talyn: I am so happy that I rediscover you and this wonderful site. I have been in contact with perfume since I came to the United States at age three. By thew February 6, 2026 at 4:53am
Olga Bodnar Talyn: I am also Ukrainian !
I share your views on Shalimar! February 6, 2026 at 5:03am