Talking about his favorite classical fragrance, Jean-Paul Guerlain, the perfumer for the house until his retirement in 2002, mentions “Lanvin Arpège under its original formula, Fahrenheit and Eau Sauvage by Christian Dior, Chanel No. 5, Nina Ricci L’Air du Temps and Pleasures by Estée Lauder.” “A classic perfume is determined by the quality of the raw materials you put in it and by its elegance, distinction and originality,” Guerlain says. “Above all it has to be memorable.”  An excerpt from a Reuters article (03/27/01).

My favorite Guerlain fragrance has always been Après l’Ondée, a beautiful melancholy composition of iris and bitter almond note of heliotropin, ornamented by a dusky Guerlainade accord of tonka bean and vanilla. I would love to hear what is your favorite Guerlain fragrance.

Photo from Grasse Perfume Museum.

Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Serge Lutens Fumerie Turque is the scent that pervades Eugène Delacroix’s Algerian themed paintings, in which the darkness of shadows frames rich colors. Both the painting and the fragrance are romanticized visions, focusing on the sensual elements. The eye beholds a group women reclining on embroidered pillows, with a narguile smoking next to a bowl of sweetmeats. One woman looks directly at the viewer, the other gazes to the side, as her companion leans closer. What captured is but a moment of an afternoon filled with heat and languor.

Likewise, Fumerie Turque, created by Christopher Sheldrake in 2003, is a composition of sensual character that develops slowly. Nevertheless, its every facet harmoniously segues into another, despite the dark and seemingly uncompromising nature of each accord. Smoky notes soften slowly revealing tobacco leaves soaked in honey and caramel redolent rum.

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Jean-Claude Ellena, the current Hermès nose, is a creator of an amazing range of fragrances, from elegant Van Cleef & Arpels First and vivid Balenciaga Rumba to ethereal The Different Company Divine Bergamote. Here is an excerpt from one his interviews, in which he discusses the materials he loves.

“I admit that there are some materials I dislike, with which I feel uncomfortable, vanillin, heliotropin, all that is sweetened in general. I prefer salty and bitter. Anyway, I always made sure not to confuse cuisine with perfumery. Among my favorite ingredients are hedione, of course, helional, and those which I like to call “trace” materials, because they are so expressive: violet leaf, lovage, and everlasting flowers.”

Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Swirls of incense smoke float in the air, rising before the doleful images of Orthodox saints. The beeswax candles leave a trail on the pine wood floors, throwing ribbons of light across the darkness of the altar. Zagorsk takes its name from a Russian town built around a 14th century monastery, therefore the opening accords conjure quite an appropriate vision.

Created in 2002, Zagorsk is part of Comme des Garçons Incense Series, which include Avignon, Kyoto, Jailsamer, and Quarzazate. Zagorsk is the softest of these incenses, a veil of cold smoke over frozen flower petals. The incense is woven gently through the resinous sweetness of woods, which upon the first inhale recall a smell of fresh scrubbed wooden floors, bearing a layer of moisture.

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Diptyque was founded in 1961 by three friends, Desmond Knox-Leet, Christiane Gautrot and Yves Coueslant, who received training from Ecole des Beaux Arts. Yves Coueslant’s connection with Vietnam produced Diptyque’s sandalwood based fragrance, Tam Dao. Do Son, named after a resort on the coast of Vietnam, southeast of Hai Phong City, is another Vietnam inspired creation, to be released in October of 2005.

Do Son is an airy tuberose that is reminiscent in character of L’Artisan Parfumeur La Chasse Aux Papillons. Delicate green note is weaved through hot tuberose, thus lightening the effect and creating a fragrance that is more a delicate tuberose mist than a heady veil.

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