Nahema Guerlain 1979 Parfum

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8.3 / 10 218 Ratings

Nahema (Parfum) is a popular perfume by Guerlain for women and was released in 1979. The scent is floral-oriental. The longevity is above-average. It was last marketed by LVMH.
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Main accords

Floral

Oriental

Spicy

Sweet

Woody

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Aldehydes

Green notes

Peach

Rose

Bergamot

Heart Notes

Bulgarian rose

Hyacinth

Lilac

Ylang-ylang

Jasmine

Lily of the valley

Base Notes

Passion fruit

Vetiver

Peru balsam

Sandalwood

Vanilla

Perfumer

Jean-Paul Guerlain

Ratings

Scent

8.3218 Ratings

Longevity

8.4152 Ratings

Sillage

7.7163 Ratings

Bottle

8.8164 Ratings

Value for money

8.311 Ratings

Submitted by Kankuro, last update on 28.02.2024.

Interesting Facts

A rose variety of the French breeder Delbard is named after this perfume.

Reviews

6 in-depth fragrance descriptions

07/15/2012

jtd
484 Reviews

jtd

Very helpful Review 7

Classicism meets Disco.

Nahema smells like rose the way Paco Rabanne’s Metal smells like green flowers, which is to say scarcely at all. I know it’s hardly a secret that Nahema is a virtual rose, an implied rose. I see the parts, but I don’t see the rose. Not a complaint, mind you. I love Nahema. I see it as the spiritual predecessor to Gucci Rush. It’s Rush’s disco auntie.

I know that Nahema took advantage of new-at-the-time aromachemicals that were used elsewhere to amplify and extend actual rose. Here these chemicals are used to create a perfume of crystalline flowery fruit with balsams and wood. Actually this smells like a peachy iris on a base of Guerlain’s earlier stunner Chamade. The heartnotes are like Chamade’s, but stoned and giggling.

In the long run, the rather chemical nature of Nahema allows the fragrance to be focused on abstract qualities. Nahema isn’t floral. It’s glassy and shimmering, and its upper register is about an inch from shrill. These qualities give it it excitement and vibrance. Does it simulate a rose? Not to me. Is it a blast to wear? Every single time.

06/20/2012

7.5
Bottle 10
Sillage 10
Longevity 7
Scent

Gold
541 Reviews

Gold

Very helpful Review 5

A perfumer's triumph

This is evocative of a promenade in a fragrant, opulent rose garden, it is an hommage to the rose, and the name looks back to the orient, because this rose does not come from an English garden...
Sheherazadeh is the leading motive in Nahéma - and as the fairy tale develops, it shows a tender, warming aspect with vanilla, peru balm and sandalwood. In a way Nahéma is a precursor of many rose scents which were to follow later, e.g. the loud but gorgeous Paris by YSL. "Nahéma" is also one of those love or loathe perfumes - and that's a good thing. It counts among the most original, groundbreaking fragrances from the late 1970's with its fairy-tale story about the fate of two princesses from "Thousand and One Nights". Nahéma, the daughter of fire (that's what her name means) is driven by her passions and obviously, Jean-Paul Guerlain wanted to translate this idea of passion by using a whole caravan of flowers and damascones, plus a lot of warm, resinious notes. All these add up to a powerful perfume with an intricacy of floral beauty that is unique. A shimmering, dark, velvety "rose" hovers over the entire composition, it's a thriumph of the perfumer over natural, true-to-life accords, a perfume of voluptuous, rich, yet abstract flowers. If you think that "Nahéma" is too voluptuous for you, dab it on discreetly and give it a try. It's simply a masterpiece.

01/29/2012

7.5
Sillage 7.5
Longevity 9
Scent

Sherapop
1239 Reviews

Sherapop

Very helpful Review 5

Sui Generis Waxy Rose

Guerlain NAHEMA is a truly unique creation. It actually reminds me of chewing on crayons for some reason. Not that I've ever chewed on crayons, but the texture feels the same to me as I imagine it would feel to chew on crayons. What is odd, however, is that instead of being put off by the slightly soft crayon wax, I actually love it!

In spite of all that has been written about the lack of any true rose in this composition, I myself do smell a dark red, very rich rose quality here. True, it is nothing like the rose notes of typical rose perfumes--whether soliflores or fruity florals. And I also prefer the quality of the rose note here to that of rose geranium, which often accompanies or substitutes for rose. What marks NAHEMA as distinct is that this "rose" is coated with wax: these "petals" are dense and thick and waiting to be shaved—or chewed.

Is NAHEMA the queen of all rose perfumes? I think that to make such a claim is to do a great disservice to this sui generis perfume, as it exhausts its own genre. It doesn't really make sense to compare this to anything else. It is what it is, and it's not what it's not. One thing is clear: it's definitely nothing like any other perfume known to me.

Many thanks to the generous fellow fragrance traveler who sent this beauty to me!

11/15/2012

9
Scent

Smellsogood
75 Reviews

Smellsogood

Very helpful Review 4

Queen Rose

The queen of rose fragrances for me. Nahema is a true Guerlain masterpiece that is like deep rose coloured devore, moving between thick and velvety and at other times sheer as chiffon and then back again. Nahema's constant movement keeps your senses aware of her for hours and hours but is never tiresome. This is review is for the parfum.

02/16/2021

Vogue2011
30 Reviews

Translated Show original

Vogue2011

6

"Every prick of the rose hurts...I just LOVE it!"

Roses are red, violets are blue,
Roses sting, that's how I need it, that's right!

The little rhyme is meant to convey how I feel about Guerlain's Nahema:

Roses, roses, roses, roses too? More roses? Just roses? Enough roses, hedge by hedge to prick yourself neatly on them, for:

They are not roses that recoil when the prince, who is pure of heart, approaches them to get to the sleeping princess to kiss her awake. No ;-)
More roses that make sure his silky leggings tear, they get caught in his hair, scratch his delicate face, paint his fingers with crude thorns, he gets caught in the dense rose/thorn hedge and starts thinking:
"No matter how pretty she is, ne arranged marriage would have spared me from this!" ;-)

Nahema "captivates" really by a very intense rose note, which can also very quickly become a stylized thorn hedge and attackers au distance keeps one should the dosage rather generously fail.

My tip: Something Shalimar on the neck, then only slightly times behind each ear something Nahema and you have Guerlains unique vanilla with a shot rose :-)

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