Category Archive: Guerlain

Saturday Poll: Clash of the Born-Agains

Last week’s Saturday Poll was a classic flagship-fragrance showdown, in which Guerlain’s Shalimar and Chanel’s N°5 went head-to-head to see who was the supreme holder of perfume glory. Both have their loyal fans but scent-wise they could not be further away from each other if they tried; one is a warm, delicious oriental and the other is an abstract aldehydic floral. Opinion was divided!

The results of the poll, as always, were very interesting. Shalimar stormed ahead receiving a huge 56% of the vote, which blows N°5 out of the water with its mere 21%. What is interesting is that the Shalimar appears to be more accessible than the N°5, which like other Chanel’s appears to leave some feeling cold.

Anyone, on to this week’s poll…

Continue reading →

A Snapshot of Summer Air – Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Lys Soleia Perfume Review

Lys Soleia - An olfactory snapshot of summer air
Lys Soleia – An olfactory snapshot of summer air

Good lily fragrances are hard to find and I can only think of two that are really worth considering, both of which are at the far end of the price spectrum; there’s Frederic Malle’s Lys Méditerranée (über pricey) and Donna Karan’s Gold (cheap as chips). But now there’s a new kid on the block, a lily created by Guerlain meaning that it’s a high quality piece of fragrant art that you’re going to love.

Guerlain’s Aqua Allegoria line was created in 1999 and is intended to be more accessible than the rest of the Guerlain collection thanks to its much lower price point. The Aqua Allegoria fragrances each take inspiration from nature and in true Guerlain-style they showcase some of the best quality ingredients that money, and serious Guerlain-klout can buy. Being the fool that I am, up until two weeks ago I had pretty much ignored the entire Aqua Allegoria line, which is particularly stupid when you think about their attractive price point and good reputation. But that soon changed when I stumbled upon the line’s latest addition “Lys Soleia”.

Lys Soleia is a damn good interpretation of one of nature’s most vocal flowers, the lily, and it manages to perfectly capture the scent of the flower in an addictively gorgeous fragrance. Guerlain describe Lys Soleia as “The spirit of nature. The spirit of lily” [1] but it is so much more than just the spirit, it is an olfactory snapshot of summer air, captured in an instant and saved forever.

Continue reading →

Saturday Poll: Flagship Fragrance Showdown – Shalimar vs N°5

Last week’s Saturday Poll was a battle of two titan designer houses; Dior and Yves Saint Laurent. This was a poll that could go either way, both are beloved brands with many classics and have loyal fans that avidly follow each release, so I pretty much expected an even spread of votes. I was wrong.

What was really surprising about this poll was the fact that the results showed that one house was staggeringly more popular than the other. A whopping 58% said that the House of Dior was their favourite and only 15% opted for Yves Saint Laurent. Why is this? It is hard to say exactly, but Dior have been in the fragrance business longer and have released more perfumes allowing them to gain more of a following.

Anyway, enough of that and on to this week’s poll…

The Poll

This week’s poll is yet another showdown, but rather than pitch two houses against each other I thought it would be interesting to throw two classic, flagship fragrances into the ring to see which would triumph as champion.

So this week the question is simple: which do you prefer, Guerlain’s Shalimar or Chanel’s N°5? Both are veteran fragrances for their respective houses and nobody can deny that they are each classics, but if you had to pick one, which would you choose? I want to know! Register your vote and let me know your thoughts in the comments box below!

Continue reading →

The Candy Perfume Boy Invites You To Dinner

Restaurant Table
Our table is booked, all you have to do is show up…

Food and I have a very strong and loving relationship. Perhaps too loving in fact, and I’ll be the first to admit that our relationship can be a little unhealthy at times. But at those times when I don’t feel that I should exercise a good degree of self control to keep my weight down I thoroughly enjoy going out for dinner and experimenting with new food.

Our senses of taste and smell are inextricably linked and when going out for dinner it makes sense, and it’s also good fun, to match our fragrance to the style of cuisine we will be devouring. Only the other night I was heading out for dinner with friends and was having a SOTE (Scent of the Evening) dilemma, I asked my Twitter followers for help and they came back with some interesting suggestions based on the type of food (Mexican F.Y.I.) I would be eating, which got me thinking – which fragrances would be best suited for other cuisines?

To explore the relationship between fragrance and food I cordially invite you to dinner, during which I, along with the help of my partner-in-crime and budding-foodie Nigel, will pair some of the most popular cuisines with fragrant counterparts that will leave you complimenting your food and smelling wonderful simultaneously. Get your passports out because we’re going to be touring the restaurants of the world…

Continue reading →

Consider The Candy Perfume Boy’s Great Big Grandma Gift Dilemma Solved

Granny and the Grandkids
From L to R – My older brother, sister, grandma and I at the Safari Park in 1991 – each of my siblings and I sporting the same DREADFUL haircut…

10 days ago I put out a call for help to aid me in choosing a suitable gift for my grandma for her 80th birthday. It’s safe to say that I was completely blown away by the many wonderful and thoughtful responses that the post received, it was great to see the plethora of well wishes for Big G (which I passed on to her and she was very touched) as well as the number of interesting and befitting suggestions for her birthday perfume.

The suggestions ranged across all genres and included perfumes from Mona di Orio, Frederic Malle, Guerlain, Amouage, Puredistance, Chanel, Dior and Ormonde Jayne, and that’s just to name a few. Classy names for a classy broad!

I do have to say a massive thank you for all of the suggestions that you all so kindly put forward, we may not have picked a perfume that was put forward in the post BUT we did consider all of the suggestions very carefully and we definitely have a wealth of choice for future perfume presents for grandma in the future!

So which perfume did we get?

Continue reading →

Katie Puckrik Smells – And How! – An Evening With Katie Puckrik and Perfume Lovers London

Katie Puckrik

Katie Puckrik Does Indeed ‘Smell’

YouTube frightens me slightly. Maybe I’m just a wimp but despite the wealth of content YouTube has more loons, weirdos (not the good kind) and trolls than any of the other ‘tubes’, including the London Underground, which indeed has its fair share. Other than the odd music video and occasional perfume-related video I really don’t visit it much and I admire those who can put themselves out there, warts and all.

One person who is not afraid of YouTube and actively embraces the medium with as much gusto as one person can conjure is Katie Puckrik of Katie Puckrik Smells. Katie’s YouTube reviews are pithy, fun and are splashed with charismatic wit, which is no surprise as Katie Puckrik is someone with oodles of charisma and she has been a key player in changing the way that perfume is discussed.

As a general rule of thumb I am not a big fan of YouTube perfume reviews, with my tastes lying with the written word rather than the spoken, but I always make sure I watch Katie’s videos because she talks about scent in not only an intelligent way, but because she makes it so much fun. It was for this reason that I jumped at the chance of spending an evening with Katie Puckrik organised by Olfactory Events and Perfume Lovers London.

Continue reading →

Saturday Poll: Chanel VS Guerlain

Last week’s poll focused on your favourite perfume genres. I wasn’t entirely sure which one would be the winner in such a big poll, but I am not shocked to discover that ‘Oriental’ won out with a total of 27% of the vote. ‘Floral’ (13%) was not far behind but the big surprise for me was that ‘Leather’ was such a popular genre, tying with ‘Floral’ for 13% of the vote.

Orientals were the clear winner from the outset and I imagine that this is because the genre covers a number of different styles of perfume, many of which overlap with the other genres. I did smile when I saw that ‘Oceanic/Ozonic’ received 0% of the vote, it seems that us Perfumistas, regardless of whether we have and enjoy the odd ozonic/oceanic scent, are never going to pick it as our favourite genre.

The Poll

This week’s poll is inspired by a Monday Question hosted by Olfactoria’s Travels last year. It is very much a ‘Clash of the Titans’ situation this Saturday and I want to know which powerful, french perfume house you prefer – Chanel or Guerlain? Oh, and before anyone asks, you must pick one! Register your vote and let me know your thoughts in the comments box below!

Continue reading →

Candy Perfume Girl – Guerlain Insolence Eau de Toilette Perfume Review

Insolence

“This extreme freedom, indifference to commentary, spontaneity and even her excesses make her magnificent. She is who she is; she is irresistibly set against prejudice and convention and is unafraid to be unreasonable. Her motto: whoever loves me will follow!”  [1]

One thing that I absolutely pride myself upon is that when it comes to perfume the subject of gender means absolutely nothing to me. I’m as happy rocking YSL’s ‘so masculine it’ll put hairs on your chest’ M7 as I am splashing on Robert Piguet’s oestrogen-fuelled Fracas. But there is one perfume so feminine that even I, yes I with the pink stripy blog think twice about before spraying on. That perfume is Guerlain’s Insolence.

I’m not saying that I don’t wear it, that would be silly and against everything I have ever said about perfume and gender, but I do really have to be in the mood for it and there have been times when I’ve felt just a little self-conscious/Candy Perfume Girl-ish whilst wearing it. Insolence is unapologetic in its femininity, and why should it apologise? Insolence is a girl that knows what she wants and most importantly she knows how to have a good time.

Insolence, which was created by the great Maurice Roucel no less, was released in 2006 and is a fruity floral with a difference – it actually smells good. Roucel presented Insolence as an essay on Guerlain’s L’Heure Bleue, taking the classic anisic gourmand iris and giving it a modern twist. The result is an intelligent, yet ridiculously ditzy (how’s that for an oxymoron?) perfume that smells current whilst giving a firm nod to Guerlain’s esteemed heritage.

Continue reading →

Whips, Chains and Feisty Dames – An Evening of Leather With Perfume Lovers London

An Evening of Leather

I have to admit that I’m not the hugest fan of leather in fragrance, mainly because I really haven’t a great deal of exposure to the note, which is why I was particularly interested in attending last week’s ‘Evening of Leather’ organised by Lila Das Gupta of Perfume Lovers London/Olfactory Events. I wanted to explore leather, deconstruct and understand it, but most of all I wanted to find a leather that I loved.

Perfume Lovers London is a Meetup Group run by Olfactory Events in conjunction with Basenotes. They have so far held two events, with many more exciting meet ups in the pipeline. An Evening of Leather was hosted by Lila Das Gupta who has a penchant for leather fragrances, was the perfect captain for our voyage of discovery of a note that is steeped in history and comes in many guises.

An Evening of Leather promised to “map out the geography of leather fragrances from the meaty to the haughty” and I’m please to say that it was an event that delivered on all counts. I may have walked into the event being clueless about, and not really loving leather but I left with a new found appreciation for the genre and a head full of leather fragrances that demanded to be explored further.

Continue reading →