“Born of a quest to find the finest raw ingredients, the Absolus d'Orient Collection is an invitation to transport the senses to the heart of a fascinating region, revealing some of its most precious secrets.”
Guerlain’s advertising copy reminds me of a wonderfully daft Italian movie titled Brancaleone at the Crusades wherein a gaggle of fools, led by a grand Quixotic character, embark on the western side of Lake Como and promptly cross it, landing near Mandello del Lario convinced they are in the Holy Land. Fortunately, they have with them an interpreter who asks a local peasant where they are, then completely fails to understand the answer given in Italian. “Torture him!” says Brancaleone in a rage.
Guerlain’s quest is as cartoonish as Brancaleone’s, given that every raw-material supplier has Guerlain’s phone number and will beat down their door at the slightest hint of interest. The fascinating region, which for the French starts at the Italian border on the Côte d’Azur and ends in Hokkaido, is of course full of secrets, not least the exact location of its heart. This sort of hilariously provincial prose (a) was already tired in Baudelaire’s day and (b) could be mistaken for offensively stupid by Guerlain’s choice demographic, the Arab world. Mercifully, the fragrances are less silly than the blurb, and are nicely constructed all the way to the drydown.
For paid subscribers, reviews of Cuir Intense, Epices Exquises and Santal Royal.
Samples from department store