Kankuro

Guerlain - this name is enough to spark a multitude of emotions in countless people. I guess it's not necessary to tell you about Guerlains' history at this point. It's well known to anyone who spent some time with perfumery, we all know the magical creations made by the famous perfumers of the Guerlain house. Mitsouko, L'Heure Bleue, Shalimar, Nahema, Chamade, Samsara. These names, everyone holds a special, deeper meaning, are famous amongst perfume lovers. The splendour of each Guerlain creation captivates us. No matter if it is a floral, a chypre, a fougère or an oriental: They know how to create perfumes the right way, the classical way. All of their compositions are of utmost quality. Mr. Thierry Wasser, the current in-house Perfumer, currently works hard to sustain the glory of classical perfumery. Thanks to his efforts, our beloved Masterpieces, like Mitsouko, are now much closer to the way they smelled when they were launched again. And if this wasn't enough, he also opened a museum, where those who are interested in the more rare creations of Guralin can experience long forgotten scents, as well as some of the still available ones, made using the original ingredients. But enough of all the rambling . Today I want to spend some time with a fragrance called "Mon Précieux Nectar", created by Perfumer Randa Hammami in 2009. First a limited edition, in 2012 it was added to the "Les Parisiennes" collection. While reading the different fragrance notes I imagines a soft scent. And that is exactly what I got.

Mon Précieux Nectar - A fragrance like a white feather, floating through the air. I experience a scent as soft as a pillow. Warm and powdery, this fragrance feels like a cashmere nightgown on bare, naked skin. Typical Guerlain: A big part of the first impression is made by finest vanilla. Jean-Paul Guerlain once said: "There is seldom a good Perfume without vanilla.", and he was right. Vanilla is a natural aphrodisiac, even hundreds of years ago it was already worshipped by our ancestors. Today, it is still part of fine cuisine and perfumery all over the world. In Mon Précieux Nectar, the vanilla shows its most delectable facet. Combined with the aroma of roasted almonds, a whole new world of beguiling pleasure is born. But there is more than that. Mon Précieux Nectar wouldn't be a real Guerlain, if there wasn't a little twist within the composition. The twist in this fragrance appears as a green floralcy. Just like a warm breeze on a spring morning in Grasse, the flowers breathe their liveliness onto the fragrance, lending it a feeling of security and ease. Whoever decides to wear this perfume, will not go on an olfactory adventure, but will rather experience an absolute calmness. If innocence was to incarnate in liquid form, it would take on the scent of Mon Précieux Nectar. Before this journey through the realm of purity continues, I'd like to talk about the similarity between this fragrance and another Guerlain perfume, called "L'Instant Magic". Both were composed by Randa Hammami and are based on a mixture of vanilla, almond and clean musks. More often than we notice, perfumers create various scents based on a similar structure, but with minor differences. It's like they are experimenting with the accords and notes. I could imagine the similarity between the two mentioned perfumes is also the result of such an olfactory experiment. Even Jacques Guerlain did these, releasing various variants of one and the same accord. Only the most succesful stuck around, the others were discontinued. A famous example is L'Heure Bleue, which had several "sisters", such as "Fol Arôme" or "Pois de Senteur". These were reportedly rather close to L'Heure Bleue. But only the blue hour survived the trial of time.
The difference between L'Instant Magic and Mon Précieux Nectar can be found easily: It's the floral notes. While Magic is much heavier on the flowers, and features a soft creaminess, the precious nectar focusses on the enveloping qualities of gourmand accents. Those of you, who always wished for a more luscious and exquisite L'Instant Magic, will fall deeply in love with Mon Précieux Nectar. Even thogh it is a linear fragrance, with only minimal development, it has a strong character. Even after many hours, it's scent prevails, not losing any of its charm. The floral facettes are now gone, the powderiness as well. What remains is, yet again, the vanilla, on a bed of white musk. The famous "fresh linen" smell some white musks emit, is part of this perfumes' drydown. Purity is the main theme here. Luckily, there is no harsh "hairspray" note in Mon Précieux Nectar. Many fragrances turn sour after a few hours, cheap musks are to blame. Luckily, no Guerlain I tried featured this kind of smell. It's no secret that Guerlain uses the finest ingredients for their creations. Considering the mostly moderate prices, it's a real pleasure to know how exquisite Guerlain perfumes are. No matter if you choose to wear a classic from 100 years ago, a temporary creation or one of the boutique exclusives, you will always wear a masterpiece. Mon Précieux Nectar is no exception. There is seldom such a balanced and soft vanilla fragrance. You just have to love it!

A little extra information for you: Mon Précieux Nectar can be bought as an Extrait de Parfum (NOT Eau de Parfum), housed in the world famous bee bottle. Due to the high perfume oil concentration, the texture of the fragrance is, indeed, oily. But why, of all the fragrances in the "Les Parisiennes" line, is only Mon Précieux Nectar offered as Extrait? Well, as I mentioned earlier, this perfume was originally created as a limited edition of 35 Baccarat flacons, each holding 500 ml of Extrait. Three years after that, the masterminds of Guerlain decided to bring it back. The original concentration was kept, as the fragrance did not work as an Eau de Parfum, being much to fleeting. I have to say: Even as an Extrait, Mon Précieux Nectar is a quiet fragrance. It lasts more than 10 hours on my skin, but it sticks close to the one who wears it. Only those who will get close to you will be able to notice the fragrance, it's an intimate perfume.

The female Scent of Peace is a very light and airy fragrance: Citrus, a bit black currant and cedarwood, mixed with some hedione and white musk. The result is a soft and charming fragrance. The new male version, The Scent of Peace for Him, shares some similarities with the original release from 2006, but is also very different.

The first thing I get when I spray it on my skin, is a juicy and fresh explosion of fruity and citrusy notes. You can definitely smell the pineapple, but also other crisp fruits, like apple. The first impression is: Modern, smooth and elegant. Whereas other fragrances with similar notes can turn sickly sweet or cheap and plastic like, The Scent of Peace for Him is a true quality product. It remains smooth throughout its development. As the fragrance settles on my skin, the first glimpse of the heart can be smelled. A hint of Vetiver starts to emerge. Vetiver can be a tricky note, I usually don't like it. Often it's just too rooty and green for my taste. But not always, and in some cases, it can be very pleasant, adding a rich and masculine note to a composition. That's exactly what happens with The Scent of Peace for Him. The vetiver cuts through the fruityness of the top notes and grounds them, making them feel warmer and softer. That's exactly what such juicy notes need in a fragrance: A counterpart! Otherwise they would be unbearable over time. Besides the Vetiver, the heart also contains black currant and Cedarwood. I don't smell much of the black currant, I suppose this note is blended so well with the other fruits that I can't distinguish them. But the Cedar is definitely there, drawing a line between the female Scent of Peace and the male version. The slightly woody aroma is used in many fragrances, people love its aromatic smell of wood and nature. In the womens version, the cedar is used with a very light hand, The Scent of Peace for Him features quite a bit of it, making the fragrance even more woody and aromatic. The fruity top notes start to fade after a few hours, but they never disappear entirely, but the focus of the fragrance is changing. The base is composed of moss and patchouli. These notes really shape the later development. The Scent of Peace for Him now is a very dry and earthy fragrance, with just a hint of pineapple. It literally screams: Modern Gentleman! This is a fragrance for special occasions.

I noticed that BondNo9.com is quite similar to The Scent of Peace for Him. And indeed, they share many notes. What sets them apart from each other, is the intense, woody and dry base of Peace for Him. BondNo9.com stays fresh and fruity all the time. So you could say that BondNo9.com is for the day, and The Scent of Peace for Him is for the night.

I also want to adress the issue with Aventus by Creed. Lots of people accuse Bond of copying Aventus. I can't confirm this accusation. Aventus has much more moss and also an intense note that smells like ash, which is missing in both BondNo9.com and The Scent of Peace for Him. Bond did not copy Aventus. They just followed the trend of fruity notes in masculine perfumes and created two outstanding scents featuring these fruits. I don't see why this would be copying. We could as well say that Guerlain, Lanvin, Amouage and many others copied Chanel N°5 with Liu, Arpège and Gold. All of the mentioned fragrances are aldehydic florals. But no one would call one a copy of the other. And that's the same thing with Aventus, BondNo9.com and The Scent of Peace for Him: Same genre, different fragrances.