Kadine, Guerlain’s heritage in a new version

Each year, Maison Guerlain revisits the treasures of its past, faithfully recreating each fragrance with the techniques of the present day. As part of the Les Pieces d’Exception line, the French Maison presents a re-edition of the 1911 Kadine classic.

Backed by nearly two centuries of service and nearly 1,100 creations, Maison Guerlain has chosen to revive its heritage, rediscovering icons with timeless traces. Every year, the reissue of a creation from the past represents a significant technical challenge for Maison Guerlain.

Guerlain chooses to rediscover its treasures of yesteryear by throwing a new light on them, while remaining absolutely faithful to the original creations, both in the composition and in the design of the flacon. In 2021 Kadine will celebrate her 110th birthday with great pomp and circumstance.

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Paris, 1911. The ‘City of Light’ vying for new ideas. The Art Deco movement is emerging with its pioneering forms. Styles from the East fascinate and captivate right up to the theaters of Paris, with their exoticism and shimmering colours; they are an infinite source of inspiration with their wealth of fabulous stories. From this outpouring of influences came Kadine: a composition conceived by Jacques Guerlain, which pays tribute to a modern vision of women – dual and complex.

Choosing the name Kadine – a Turkish word meaning ‘wife of the sultan’ or ‘princess of the palace’ – Maison Guerlain draws perfumery to the shores of exotic fantasy lands where dreams are born. Legend has it that during a trip to the Ottoman lands, Jacques Guerlain saw the portrait of a beautiful Kadine, who possessed impeccable senses of aroma and taste. Kadine takes us to other places, to the gates of the East, where a perfume takes shape for a sophisticated and sophisticated woman with multiple facets.

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Thierry Wasser, Master Perfumer of Guerlain, has reconstituted Kadine, strictly maintaining the original composition of Jacques Guerlain. As the torch is passed from one home perfumer to another, a never-ending story emerges; an eternal beginning in which the scents of yesterday (re)live today. Kadine, as the pinnacle of sophistication, is expressed as an Extrait de Parfum.

Top notes: bergamot, aromatic notes
Heart: rose, jasmine, iris
Base: leather, vanilla

The character of the new Kadine is expressed in the Extrait de Parfum concentration. Its composition is revealed in a contrast between the tenderness of the floral notes and the intensity of the rich and textured base. The powdery floral heart unites the two queens of perfumery, rose and jasmine, with the addition of iris. It is faceted with bergamot, Guerlain perfumer’s signature, and with aromatic notes. The base ends with leather and vanilla aromas.

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The flacon is the same as the original: the iconic quadrilobé named after the cap, which is divided into four parts. This flask, designed by Gabriel Guerlain in 1908, has a shape inspired by an alchemist’s flask. The bottle is decorated with the famous laurel label, the rim of which is adorned with graceful decorative foliage in a deep blue shade so dear to Guerlain.

To complete the Kadine flacon, the neck is finished with a beige silk barbichage, made by the Dames de Table of the Guerlain Ateliers, who have been perfectly doing the same handiwork for 110 years. A precise, painstaking gesture that takes at least five minutes, just for the barbichage. A gold seal accentuates the barbiche and provides the finishing touch.

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A perfect jewelery box for the perfume, the box pays tribute to the flacon, which is majestically visible through a small carved window revealing the label. The finest techniques of paper processing – embossing, multi-color printing (in shades of blue, black and gray) on silver satin-like paper – are incorporated in this incredibly meticulous work. This reissue of the historic pack features a beautifully enhanced fountain motif, reinterpreting images from the archive in a vintage, iconic Art Deco theme. Strikingly graphic are the swirling, stylized designs that cover the flacon, which once preceded the burgeoning artistic movement of the decorative arts.

Guerlain Kadine is available as a perfume extract in a 30 ml flacon. This limited edition is available in 691 numbered pieces at Guerlain boutiques (€690). Come into the beautiful world of Guerlain.

 

Shalimar Millésime Vanilla Planifolia

Shalimar was born in the middle of the Roaring Twenties, at a time when Paris was fascinated by the mysteries of the East. Inspired by the legendary love that united the Emperor Shah Jahan and Princess Mumtaz Mahal in 17th-century India, Jacques Guerlain composed a legendary fragrance with typical creative daring, using vanilla as the cornerstone of his creation. More than a perfume, Shalimar’s unprecedented and almost erotic sensuality was a revolution.

The scent of Shalimar is extraordinary. It doesn’t just envelop you, it precedes you and remains after you are gone.

Thierry Wasser, Guerlain Master Perfumer

The latest iteration of the cult-classic Shalimar fragrance, the Shalimar Millésime Vanilla Planifolia Eau de Parfum has arrived, a limited edition flanker to 1925’s Shalimar, and follows 2020’s Shalimar Philtre de Parfum.

The new composition, by perfumer duo Thierry Wasser and Delphine Jelk, is dedicated to the beloved perfume ingredient vanilla. The Maison’s loving tribute to one of the most iconic and luxurious essences in its palette. Overdosed in the composition, Guerlain’s signature vanilla tincture reveals all its facets and enhances the sillage of the iconic oriental scent.

Millésime pays homage to the key note in Shalimar’s legendary trail: vanilla.

Part tribute, part innovation, Shalimar Millésime Vanilla Planifolia adopts the graphic codes of the bottle on a pedestal created by Raymond Guerlain in 1925. The famous ‘bat’ label is paired with typography in Art Deco-inspired geometric lines. A leather tie encircles the neck: an evocation of the fragrance notes of the Vanilla Planifolia tincture that distinguishes this unique composition.

Guerlain is one of the rare Perfume Houses to manufacture its own tincture of vanilla. This ancestral process is passed on to perfumers from generation to generation. Entirely produced in the factories of the House, the vanilla tincture is made from pods from organic farming of exceptional quality.

Coming from Madagascar, these are received fresh at the Orphin factory and then manually cut using a cutter – a tool that Jacques Guerlain was already using at the time of Shalimar’s creation… Finally, they are macerated in alcohol from organic wheat farming for several months. This process allows them to develop the absolutely unique richness of their aromas.

Guerlain Shalimar Millésime Vanilla Planifolia is available in 50 ml Eau de Parfum at Guerlain boutiques, selected stores worldwide and online. Come into the beautiful world of Guerlain.

Guerlain at Isetan

For our Japanese readers, a unique opportunity, from November 4th to November 10th, Tokyo’s famous Isetan department store hosted French Maison Guerlain’s ‘Salon de Parfum’, inspired by the most recent addition to L’Art & La Matière Collection: Iris Torréfié.

Celebrating some of the Maison’s most beautiful creations, the ‘Salon de Parfum’ offers the ultimate Guerlain experience.

This exquisite pop-up store pays homage to the close relationship between Guerlain and Japan, whose olfactory history inspired some of Guerlain’s most iconic perfumes, from Mitsouko – created by Perfumer Jacques Guerlain in 1919 – to this year’s Limited Edition Cherry Blossom Pièce d’Exception.

Celebrating some of the Maison’s most beautiful creations, the ‘Salon de Parfum’ offers the ultimate Guerlain experience, combining the Culture of Beauty and Art & Commitment, alongside the famous ‘Bee’ flacon. Each ‘Bee’ flacon is customisable and refillable for life in Guerlain Boutiques around the world – the ultimate in sustainably luxury.

Come into the beautiful world of Guerlain.

Guerlain Shalimar Eau de Parfum Serie Limitee, the promise of eternal love

 

Four centuries ago in India, the magic of a timeless love story happened and caused Jacques Guerlain to create the one-of-a-kind Shalimar in 1925. The original creation was inspired by the love story of Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal and means the ‘Jewel Of The Palace’, who adored the Gardens of Shalimar or ‘gardens of love’ by which the famous fragrance is named.

Shalimar which means ‘temple of love’ in Sanskrit, symbolises the promise of eternal love forevermore.

After the wedding, the prince and Mumtaz were inseparable, in war and in peace. She had given thirteen children to Shah Jahan and died in 1631 during the birth of their fourteenth child at the age of 39, a daughter named Gauhar Ara Begum. The death of Mumtaz Mahal devastated Shah Jahan, and he had the Taj Mahal built as a tomb of white marble for her, which is considered to be a monument of undying love, a wonder admired by the whole world.

In 1925, the Shalimar flacon designed by Raymond Guerlain won first prize at the Paris Decorative Arts Exhibition. Its curves were inspired by the basins of the famous Shalimar gardens. The fan stopper with its sapphire transparency recalls the garden’s eternally gushing water.

This year, French Maison Guerlain’s iconic Shalimar has got a truly wonderful and vivid design in Shalimar Eau de Parfum Serie Limitée. It was created in honor of the Gardens of Shalimar, inspired by one of the key accords of the composition.

As an ode to the beautiful gardends of Shalimar, this year’s edition is decorated with rich citrus fruits, flowers, and leaves, making the flacon and outer packaging really irresistible, especially for true fans of this iconic Shalimar creation.

Shalimar is the first oriental perfume in history. L’Eau de Parfum Shalimar is a mythic fragrance with bergamot, iris and vanilla notes ; an intense wake with a touch of impertinence, always glowing which embodies skin-caressing sensuality with a hint of the forbidden.

Voluptuous, sensual, spellbinding. A flight of flowers and bergamot whips up the top notes with a breeze of freshness. The heart is warmed by enveloping and delicately powdery notes of iris, jasmine and rose. To conclude, the presence of vanilla, rounded balmy notes and the gourmand warmth of tonka bean orchestrate a sensual symphony for the dry-down.

Since 1828, Guerlain has explored, innovated and perfected. Daring creators, mythical creations, timeless know-how. Nature and Art as its inspirations. Culture of Beauty as its signature. Shalimar Eau de Parfum is available as a 50ml Eau de Parfum in a limited number, at the price of 99 EUR at Guerlain Boutiques and selected stores worldwide.

Come into the beautiful world of Guerlain.

 

 

 

Guerlain Muguet Millésime 2019

French Maison Guerlain maintains their tradition of the annual limited edition of the Muguet perfume. The original version was created in 1908 by Jacques Guerlain, while its second saga began with the reinterpretation by Jean-Paul Guerlain in 1998. The latest version is Thierry Wasser’s, a modernized edition presented in 2016. Every year since 2006, Muguet Eau de Toilette has been showcased in a new limited edition and a special flacon, beautifully enhanced by the work of an artisan to become an exceptional piece.

Under the artisans’ attentive eye and expert hands, the silkworms create a ribbon of immaculate silk, which then becomes one with the iconic Bee flacon like a second skin.

This year, Guerlain has partnered with Sericyne, an innovative manufacture that possesses revolutionary know-how: natural non-woven 3D silk. Under the artisans’ attentive eye and expert hands, the silkworms create a ribbon of immaculate silk, which then becomes one with the iconic Bee bottle like a second skin.

 

Sericyne – established at the heart of the Cévennes, the historic cradle of French silk culture – has fashioned an incredibly delicate silk adornment. An innovative, meticulously crafted masterpiece born of unique patented know-how, it is produced by some twenty silkworms, then stamped with a scattering of 69 bees and gilded with the name of the perfume.

Top notes: Green notes
Heart notes: Note of lily of the valley, Lilac
Base notes: Rose, Jasmine

It adorns the Bee bottle, at the heart of which lies the fragrance Muguet, reinterpreted by Thierry Wasser in 2016 in a natural, modern version. Guerlain perpetuates the tradition of Muguet, a luxurious rendez vous that celebrates the arrival of spring. A limited and numbered edition (5019 pieces available worldwide), that pays tribute to lily-of-the-valley ’s little good-luck charm bell. The 2019 Millésime celebrates the poetic and sensory meeting between the bee and the silkworm.

A true collectors item. Guerlain Muguet Millésime 2019 is available as a 125 ml Eau de Toilette limited and numbered edition (5019 pieces available worldwide). Come into the beautiful worlds of Guerlain and Sericyne.

 

 

 

 

Lui, Guerlain’s new scent feminine and masculine at once

Guerlain LUI. A famous fragrance in perfume history. Because of the unique scent, and because of the unique bottle.

Now Maison Guerlain is launching a new perfume version of LUI, which will satisfy both men and women. From French language, LUI means she/his.

Feminine. Masculine. Why choose? LUI is a perfume that loves to stir up trouble. Neither totally feminine nor truly masculine, it is both at once. Guerlain is inspired by a generation that is free from the norms of the genre, and has the idea of a decidedly universal perfume.

Guerlain LUI is announced as a floral, woody and spicy scent. The creation is signed by the perfume duo of Thierry Wasser and Delphine Jelk. The two of them wanted to surprise with an unexpected scent that mixes genres and creates a new one; LUI strives to be ambivalent and complex, but unique and singular in its “alchemy” that is revealed on the skin.

Top notes: pear, clove
Heart: benzoin, carnation
Base: leather, vanilla, musk, smoke

The composition focuses on an accord of benzoin, in its complexity and its different facets. It opens with pear, cloves along with benzoin and spicy carnation notes. The base calms on a woody layer made of leather, vanilla, musk and smokey leather.

 

 

The beautiful Art Deco bottle is elegant, black and lacquered, reminiscent of a Chinese tea box from the 18th century. It relies on the aesthetics of the Guerlain legacy and lends the style and anagram of the name of the floral-aldehyde fragrance LUI, which was created by Jacques Guerlain in 1929.

Guerlain LUI is available as 50ml Eau de Parfum.

 

 

 

Guerlain unveils Mitsouko flacon in association with Arita Porcelain lab

Recently French Maison Guerlain unveiled a limited edition of the iconic Mitsouko perfume flacon in collaboration with celebrated ceramic crafters- Arita Porcelain lab. Hand crafted to perfection with the use of traditional techniques, the flacon is adorned with age-old symbols of good fortune, tradition and modernity. The exclusive edition also celebrates the porcelain maker’s 400th year of ceramic history.

Guerlain was founded in 1828, when Pierre-François Pascal Guerlain opened his perfume store at 42, rue de Rivoli in Paris. The creation of Eau de Cologne Impériale for French Emperor Napoleon III and his Spanish-French wife Empress Eugénie earned the prestigious title of being His Majesty’s Official Perfumer. 1889’s Jicky, the first fragrance described as a ‘parfum’ to use synthetic ingredients alongside natural extracts. L’Heure Bleue, Mitsouko, Shalimar and Vol de Nuit are known as Guerlain’s most famous classics.

Mitsouko, the mythic Guerlain perfume whose name means ‘mystery’ in Japanese, and whose name was borrowed from the lead female character in Claude Farrère’s novel ‘La Bataille’ that speaks of the love affair between a British naval officer and the wife of a Japanese admiral during the Russo-Japanese War.

Created in 1919 by Jacques Guerlain, Mitsouko is known as ‘a masterpiece of balance’. The fragrance has remained as exceptional as ever over the years, emblematic of the timeless appeal that characterizes the chypre fragrance family.

Mitsouko initiated the use of the peach note in perfumery. Illustrating the innovative side of its creators, Mitsouko is the first fruity chypre fragrance in the perfume world, following other chypre fragrances introduced by Guerlain.

The original Mitsouko perfume flacon was designed by Georges Chevalier. The flacon is underscored with graceful scrolls typical of Art Nouveau. Its avant-garde stopper, in the form of a hollowed heart, represented a real technical feat at the time.

The unique flacon reflects onto the history of Mitsouko, whose name was borrowed from the lead female character in Claude Farrère’s novel ‘La Bataille’ that speaks of the love affair between a British naval officer and the wife of a Japanese admiral during the Russo-Japanese War.

Now the French Maison’s perfume-making savoir-faire meets the artisanal excellence of Arita Porcelain Lab in this stunning interpretation of the iconic Mitsouko perfume flacon. Crafted entirely by hand using traditional techniques, the flacon is decorated with symbols of good fortune, melding tradition and modernity.

A flagship of Japan’s ceramic industry, the Arita workshop has decorated the Mitsouko flacon with auspicious symbols. They include the rising sun – traditionally equated with ‘clear skies’ and good fortune – the paulownia to represent elegance, a plum tree, symbolizing life, the peony to ward off negative energy, and the chrysanthemum that represents longevity.

Arita porcelain is one of Japan’s traditional handicrafts. The traditional techniques used to make Arita porcelain have been improved on with craft and design to meet the needs of modern lifestyles. The result is a simple, contemporary style of vessel, produced with the finest handwork expected from Japan’s artisans.

This collaboration between the perfumer and porcelain artisan is featured in an exhibition at the Guerlain boutique on the Champs Élysées, showcasing both the Mitsouko flacon and emblematic pieces from the Japanese porcelain workshop.

The Guerlain Mitsouko Arita Porcelain lab Limited Edition is available in an empty 75ml flacon that comes with a refil. The set will cost collectors round €380 and is available at Guerlain boutiques and selected stores worldwide. Come into the beautiful worlds of Guerlain and Arita Porcelain lab.

Guerlain Flacon Quadrilobé

Guerlain’s Quadrilobe Bottle Colour Collection was inspired by a phenomenon that remains a mystery: synaesthesia. A spontaneous association of the senses experienced by many artists, musicians and authors. Including Vassily Kandinsky and Duke Ellington, who saw music in colour, and Vladimir Nabokov who, as in Rimbaud’s ‘Vowels’ (A black, E white, I red, etc.), perceived the shade and texture of letters…

One of Guerlain’s most iconic creations has been reinvented for the occasion. Designed by Baccarat in 1908 for Jacques Guerlain’s Rue de la Paix Boutique, the Quadrilobe bottle has accompanied the perfume House’s history for over a century, holding Jicky, Liu, Shalimar, etc. over the years. Now crafted by the famous Verreries Brosse (Brosse Glassworks), it harbours the private collections and tailor-made fragrances, along with spectacular exceptional pieces made of crystal.

With the Colour Collection, this legendary creation is available for the first time in a range of five subtly gradated colours of precious stones. The neck of the bottle is adorned with a matching silk thread, meticulously hand-tied and combed according to the barbichage technique, traditional know‑how kept alive by Guerlain’s incomparable Dames de Table.

This jewel bottle nestles in an amethyst case decorated with a sun, Guerlain’s historic emblem. In the Colour Collection, sumptuous gem tones express the quintessence of five fragrances, chosen from Guerlain’s Les Exclusifs collection:  amber is the color of Spiritueuse Double Vanille (2007), the ruby bottle features Oriental Brûlant (2008), the sapphire bottle contains L’Heure de Nuit (2012), amethyst is the color for L’Eau de Parfum du 68 (2013). And Santal Royal (2014) comes in a green bottle that represents emerald. All created by Thierry Wasser, they are all for women and men.

 

Guerlain Spiritueuse Double Vanille, 2007

Spiritueuse Double Vanille comes in a bottle of amber color, which refers to the shimmering sensuality. The fragrance is a sparkling elixir of rum, cedar, vanilla and herbs.

 

Guerlain Oriental Brûlant, 2008

Oriental Brûlant represents the color of passion, fiery temperament and sensuality. The composition is a cocktail of herbs, almond, tonka bean and carnal balms.

 

Guerlain L’Heure de Nuit, 2012

L’Heure de Nuit represents a modern homage to the legendary L’Heure Bleue fragrance, inspired by the magical atmosphere of Parisian nights. The scent combines delicate and light notes of orange blossom, vanilla, heliotrope, iris, sandalwood and musk.

 

Guerlain L’Eau de Parfum du 68, 2013

L’Eau de Parfum du 68 by Guerlain, is a blend of red and blue, reflects the contrast between the warm and cool facets of this distinct fragrance, in which everlasting flower pairs with rose, over an enveloping heliotrope, cedar and benzoin base.

 

Guerlain Santal Royal, 2014

Santal Royal. The emerald green of Santal Royal leads us into a woody universe, at the heart of the mysteries of the Orient. A play of contrasts between the allure of sandalwood, the radiance of jasmine and rose, and the obscure charm of leather and oud accords.

Guerlain Colour Collection Flacon Quadrilobé perfumes are available in bottles of 125 ml at the price of 650 Euros. They will be sold starting in June 2016 in the Guerlain boutique at Place Vendome.

Discover the world of Guerlain
www.guerlain.com

 

 

Muguet by Guerlain once again on 1st May in a luxurious…

Every year since 2006, Muguet by Guerlain blossoms once again on May 1^st (traditionally the day when muguet is offered as a porte-bonheur, a good luck charm in France)  comes in a luxurious limited edition. This event within the Exclusive Collections gives the House the opportunity to celebrate spring.

Greener, pinker, even more cheerful… Muguet 2016 by Guerlain is being reinvented with a new Eau de Toilette, a bright, refreshing homage to the lucky little bell.

The lily of the valley flower does not reveal its secrets easily. Not lending itself to extraction, its delicate scent must be recreated by the perfumer according to his poetic vision: powdery iris by Jacques Guerlain from 1908, or tinged with sun-kissed notes by Jean-Paul Guerlain in 1998.

Today, Thierry Wasser offers it a radiantly natural and modern interpretation. Fine and exuberant green notes to bring out its springlike accents. Rose beaded with dew to enhance its freshness. Subtly sensual jasmine as a reminder that reawakening nature sends the senses into a spin… Muguet exudes all the poetic vitality of a spring landscape.
Every year, the best French artisans and master craftsmen are invited to express their vision of the good-luck flower through their expertise. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of Muguet by Guerlain, a budding young Parisian jewellery house specialising in metalwork – Ambre & Louise – is offering Muguet by Guerlain its exceptional finery.

To decorate the precious 2016 Vintage, the House of Ambre & Louise has created a real jewel of a bottle: a fine chased silver-dipped plaque, which depicts a bucolic and botanical design beautifully enhancing delicate sprigs of lily of the valley. A bottle in pure and slender lines illuminates this elegant motif, against the background of a tender green fragrance.

 

 

The final touch of refinement is the lidadorned with a frosted drop bead inscribed with the House’s double Gand a neck decorated with a whit ribbon by Guerlain’s dames de table. The ultimate lucky charm, the Muguet by Guerlain plaque may also be engraved.

 

 

 

Forget Me Not Guerlain Ne m’Oubliez Pas

Since making its debut in push-up tubes 100 years ago, lipstick has been helping women pull themselves together, providing them with a stamp of self-approval that says: I know who I am, and I’m not afraid to flaunt it.

A fragrance inspired by the first wax lipstick can only be the making of Maison Guerlain. The fragrance in the limelight is a new ‘Ne m’Oubliez Pas’, a woody, spicy, oriental bouquet, named after the oldest perfume houses’ first modern-day wax-based lipstick with a refillable container and ‘push-up’ mechanism. The same named lipstick that came out was a revolutionary product at that time and since then, has been reintroduced in their modern Rouge Automatique line of maquillage. In the 1920s, Jacques Guerlain had also released a perfume with the same name; but whether this and the 21st century version share a history or notes, we will never know!

The current ‘Forget Me Not’, which is the literal translation of the name, was developed by expert nose Thierry Wasser. The air of the fragrance has flowery notes with invigorating scents of spices. Cumin and cardamom along with plum make up the top notes, while the base has hints of patchouli, amber, moss and vanilla. The heart of it has sweet smelling immortelles, carnations, roses and cinnamon.

Top: plum, cumin, cardamom
Heart: rose, immortelle, carnation, cinnamon
Base: amber, patchouli, moss, vanilla

To go along with the historic name, the bottle too evokes a sense of historic French decadence, with its crystal-like bottle cover, the tasseled collar and plum colored liquid. A beautiful fragrance for those who know who they are, and are not afraid to flaunt it.

The ‘Ne m’Oubliez Pas’ is a limited edition fragrance that is exclusively available only at the flagship store at Champs-Elysees, Paris; and retails at extravagance of € 500 for a 125ml extract.