Discover Guerlain Perfumes
The Most Popular Fragrances of the Famous French Perfume Maker
Guerlain's philosophy of perfume is to produce a beautiful scent in a more than beautiful bottle. This is a look at some of the most popular Guerlain scents.
The Guerlain company was founded in 1828 by Pierre-François-Pascal Guerlain and has been headed since then by a succession of five generations of the Guerlain family. Since then they have created over 620 perfumes. They opened the doors of their first elite boutique in 1828 there are now seven boutiques in Paris and many in major cities around the world. In 1994 Guerlain were purchased by Louis Vuitton Möet-Hennessey, the international giant which owns companies such as Louis Vuitton, Möet & Chandon, Dior Perfumes and TAG Heuer.
Part of the enduring appeal of Guerlain perfumes are the decadent decorative bottles which are more akin to art than bottling and that is the theory behind their design. Most of the older designs were created by Raymond Guerlain and Baccarat, the crystal designer also behind the bottle for the world's most expensive perfume. Since 1975 most bottles have been designed by Robert Granai
The Scents of Guerlain
- Eau de Cologne Imperiale was created by Guerlain in 1853 and was inspired by the Empress Eugenie, Napoleon Bonaparte's wife. So impressed was she by the scent she named Guerlain the Majesty's Official Perfumer. The scent consists of top notes of bergamot, neroli, verbena, lemon and orange, middle notes of lavender and base notes of cedarwood and tonka bean.
- Heure Bleue was created in 1912 and was inspired by the last moments of light as day fades to night. This scent has top notes of neroli, middle notes of carnation and iris and base notes of vanilla.
- In 1919 we were brought Mitsouko which was inspired by a beautiful Japanese character in a very fashionable book of the time called La Bataille. The fragrance has top notes of bergamot and rose, middle notes of jasmine, spices and peach and base notes of oak moss and woody notes.
- Continuing the oriental theme fashionable in the '20s, Guerlain created Shalimar with top notes of bergamot, middle notes of iris and opopanax and base notes of vanilla.
- The avant-garde movement of the '30s made Paris the fashionable place to be and Coque D'or was created in a Baccarat midnight blue bow tie shaped bottle surrounded by gold. In the '40s and '50s the antique decorative bottle style gave way to simple bottles. Fleur De Feu and Ode came in American skyscraper inspired bottles.
- The '60s saw two men's fragrances: Vetiver with top notes of bergamot, lemon, mandarin, neroli, and coriander, middle notes of vetiver and cedar and base notes of tobacco, nutmeg, pepper, tonka bean and capsicum. Habit Rouge had top notes of bergamot, lemon, rosewood, basil and pimento, middle notes of sandal, carnation, patchouli, cedar, rose and cinnamon and base notes of vanilla, amber, moss, leather, benzoin, labdanum and olibanum.
- In 1989 one of Guerlain's most famous scents, Samsara, was created. Samsara, Sanskrit for “eternal birth” has top notes of jasmine, ylang ylang, middle notes of jasmine, sandalwood and narcissus and base notes of tonka, iris and vanilla.
- 1994 saw a perfume to introduce children and young teenagers to the world of perfume. It was called Petit Guerlain and has top notes of lavender and hesperidic notes, middle notes of mimosa, jasmine and rose and base notes of tonka bean.
- 1996's fragrance Champs-Elysées has top notes of mimosa leaf, almond blossom and rose middle notes of buddleia and mimosa blossom and base notes of almond wood, hibiscus and hibiscus seed.
- In 2003: L'Instant de Guerlain with top notes of citrus honey, middle notes of magnolia inclusion and base notes of crystalline amber.
- In 2006 the new fragrance, Insolence, was released with top notes of violet, orange blossom and rose, middle notes of red berries, lemon and bergamot and base notes of iris, musk and woody notes.
