Aime Guerlain: 2 posts

With the start of summer it seems natural to reach for a cologne. This style of fragrances based on citrus is uplifting and bright, and wearing a cologne is a low-commitment affair since it lasts on skin for only a few hours, leaving behind a memory of freshness. Of course, these days there are many different colognes, some promising an all-day citrus blast and others treating the most un-cologne-like notes like sandalwood, roses and musk in the style’s gossamer lightness. For my part, I recommend visiting three classics from Guerlain: Eau de Cologne du Coq, Eau de Fleurs de Cédrat and Eau de Guerlain.

Not only does the trio offer a range of styles, it gives a great overview of the house’s signature and the way it evolved over time. The fragrances were created by three perfumers representing different generations of the Guerlain family–Aimé Guerlain with his fin-de-siecle sensibilities, Jacques Guerlain renowned for his technical mastery and Jean-Paul Guerlain, the renegade. One need not have all three colognes in one’s wardrobe, but each is distinctive enough to be worth comparing.

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Created in 1889, Guerlain Jicky is at once a timeless classic and a remarkably modern fragrance.  One story is that Aimé Guerlain created it in honour of his English girlfriend; however, another version is that it was dedicated to his nephew Jacques Guerlain, whose nickname was Jicky. Jicky is considered to be the first fragrance to combine natural and synthetic essences.

Although it is undeniably an important starting point of modern perfumery, Fougère Royale by Houbigant (1882) was the first perfume to use a man made material: coumarin, an almond redolent ingredient derived from tonka beans. Jicky went out step further by combining coumarin and vanillin, another synthetic essence.

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