What is Meryl Streep’s favorite perfume, the brand new Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts? And the one that Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly loved? To which did Queen Elizabeth II of England remain faithful for years and years? They are aromas and personalities that have in common to be iconic; Due to their good work and their charisma, they continue to be a reference and never go out of style.
At 68 Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris, at the Maison Guerlain, an impressive selection of perfumes arouses the visitor’s curiosity. Impossible to resist the temptation to try them and learn about their baggage. Some are legendary, for their jewel bottles or for the history that accompanies them. Guerlain is one of the oldest perfume houses in the world and, since 1828, when it opened a store on rue Rivoli, it has become the favorite of many European royal houses.
The mythical l’Eau de Cologne Impériale, tailor-made for the Empress Eugénie of France, is the queen of the great timeless classics—in its almost 200 years it has launched more than 1,100 olfactory creations—that continue to leave their mark on modern perfumery. . Rose, lily, vanilla, tonka bean, bergamot and jasmine are some of its fetish ingredients. Who wants to perfume themselves like a queen or a star? We propose 5 long-term fragrances that have not lost an iota of modernity and make it easy.
Meryl Streep, Rita Hayworth or Shirley MacLaine are some of the posh actresses who have been seduced by him. Created in 1925 by Jacques Guerlain, in a period of oriental effervescence and with the love story of the Taj Majal as a backdrop, it became one of the brand’s greatest successes. Sensual and intoxicating, it is the first amber fragrance. Its aroma bursts with a breeze of flowers and bergamot that is enlivened by notes of lily, jasmine and rose. The balsamic notes of vanilla and tonka bean give it sensuality and strength. It was also Frida Kahlo’s favorite perfume.
At the end of the sixties, between hippies and miniskirts, Guerlain created a perfume with character that defied the codes of the time. Floral, amber and green, he was dedicated to the emancipated and free woman – that was where they took their first steps – and for the first time combined the fruity touch of blackcurrant buds with a dynamic harmony of hyacinth and galbanum on a vanilla background. The great Jean-Paul Guerlain articulated a scent that danced to the rhythm of Françoise Sagan’s novel, La chamade (1965), while he claimed equality between men and women and his right to live his own life.
Jacques Guerlain was a passionate collector of art and impressionist painting. Inspired by this, in 1912 he dared with an impulsive, floral and amber fragrance, in which violet, a note of anise, the freshness of bergamot, a carnation chord, neroli stand out… Its background, amber and powdery, connects the lily with its sweet notes of vanilla, benzoin and tonka bean. They say that it is the story of the infinite love of a couple, of that suspended time when the night has not yet found its star. He conquered celebrities as diverse as Elizabeth II, Catherine Deneuve or the mythical Bond girl in the white bikini, Ursula Andress.
The younger and more exuberant version of the French actress and animal activist Brigitte Bardot continues to be a benchmark when talking about bangs, blonde hair, eyeliners and even necklines that bear her name. She is one of the lovers of Jicky, considered the first modern perfume in history, which for the first time combined a synthetic note with natural ingredients. It was created by Aimé Guerlain in 1889 as a tribute to a youthful love of the same name. The new perfume was ahead of the times to transcend the genre; she baffled women and seduced men before conquering them all. It represents “the emotion contained in a jar”.
Two passionate actresses capable of maintaining a halo of mystery and who left a trail of Mitsouko (mystery in Japanese) in their wake. Jacques Guerlain was inspired by the heroine of Claude Farrere’s novel The Battle and shook up perfumery codes with this subtly androgynous and wildly feminine chypre fragrance. I innovate with the mixture of the fruity, velvety and spicy accord of peach with the woody aromas of patchouli. Symbol of a corsetless femininity that dares to reveal her masculine side.
