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Bois d'Arménie - tilted?

Bois d'Arménie - tilted? 11 years ago
Today, I found out that my Bois d'Arménie is not any longer what it used to be when I bought it 2 or 3 years ago. Of course, I have stored it in a dark place.

I see that the liquid has become darker, and I see a greyish flocculation. Since I have a cold it is hard to say if the fragrance itself has changed. Today, I noticed some musk in the fragrance which wasn't decernible for me before.

Anyway, a 175 € fragrance should not get flocculations after 2 or 3 years.

Has anybody made a similar experience with Bois d'Armémie?
11 years ago
Achtung, mein lieber Apicius.

Guerlain ist nicht mehr Guerlain!

Sad
11 years ago
That's bad news... I'm sorry for you!

My bottle of "Iris Ganache" started to deteriorate after three years. Is that a lack of quality or simply due to the bulb-atomiser? On the other hand, I didn't leave the "bulb" on all the time... so... well, I guess I don't know. Not a very helpful answer, but ... you're not alone.
11 years ago
Apicius, I would get back to where you purchased your bottle to start with, see if they can do something, and then contact Guerlain about it.
You really shouldn't have these types of issues after such a short time.
At €175, you expect stable quality at the very least.
11 years ago
This is also a good example of why I am a skeptic about vintage perfumes. What have they been through? How much have they fallen apart or degraded? Who is to say?
Confused
11 years ago
All I can say is, comparing a vintage Guerlain to a contemporary sample made a believer out of me.
11 years ago
Cryptic:
All I can say is, comparing a vintage Guerlain to a contemporary sample made a believer out of me.

A believer in ... the death of Guerlain?

Crying or Very sad
11 years ago
Oh hell...my post was actually meant for the "Out of Production Perfumes" topic, but I guess it fits here as well. I agree that Guerlain is changing in a scary way, Sherapop. Sad
11 years ago
Cryptic:
I agree that Guerlain is changing in a scary way, Sherapop. Sad

Because of the "deterioration issue" or because of the many mediocre scents they've been launching for quite a while? I'd be interested in hearing your opinions.
11 years ago
Gold, this is the first I've heard of a Guerlain deteriorating, so that's not my complaint. In fact, I have bottles of Mitsouko, Shalimar, Chamade and a few others that belonged to my mother and are in wonderful shape despite being over 20 years old.

I wouldn't say that everything to come out of Guerlain in recent years is mediocre; some of it is very nice in a generic sort of way. However, I don't think too many people would argue that Idylle, L'Instant, etc. are but a pale shadow of the drop-dead gorgeous masterpieces for which the house is known. I can forgive a creative dry spell but what I can't overlook is the way the classics have slipped through careless reformulation. I'm aware of the ingredient restrictions that may have played a part in the bad reformulations, but I can't help noticing that other houses like Chanel and Caron seem to be doing a better job of preserving their classics.
11 years ago
Dlane1953:
What is happening with Guerlain is beyond shameful. I think the deterioration of the company began when the Guerlain family lost control of the business some years ago. I've sampled some of their newer offerings and they were all mediocre--and I'm being kind. (How many flankers of Shalimar does the world really need? We don't need more "dummying down" of once-great frags.)

I haven't tried a single fragrance from this house, but as a total outsider, the endless Shalimar flankers have left a really bad taste in my mouth.
11 years ago
Dlane1953:
What is happening with Guerlain is beyond shameful. I think the deterioration of the company began when the Guerlain family lost control of the business some years ago. I've sampled some of their newer offerings and they were all mediocre--and I'm being kind. (How many flankers of Shalimar does the world really need? We don't need more "dummying down" of once-great frags.)

That's an excellent point. Coty is another example of a family-owned house that changed drastically when the company was sold. Sad
11 years ago
Silverfire:
I haven't tried a single fragrance from this house, but as a total outsider, the endless Shalimar flankers have left a really bad taste in my mouth.

Really? That's a pity, Silverfire. You should change this!

Sorry, despite my experience with Bois d'Arménie, I will not join in the lament on the downfall of Guerlain. We know that the purchase by LVMH didn`t do much good to this house, but that is almost 15 years ago!

Looking at the gent's colognes, they did a horrible job by changing the formula of Vetiver in 2000, the current Héritage is only a shadow of what it was before, and the so-called 'Mojito' accord in Guerlain Homme is a mess.

But...with the rest of the mens' and also unisex perfumes they are still playing in the top league, also with their newer releases.

They still work together with J.P Guerlain, and on the high end, Chamade pour Homme, Arséne Lupin and the still available Eau de Guerlain are among the best perfumes available on the market.

Also, their mid-priced perfumes are very respectable. For those who like chocolate, their L'instant pour homme perfumes outperform the respective perfumes of other houses such as JPG's Kokoriko.

Habit Rouge has survived all waves of reformulation quite unchanged, and its fresher and lighter flankers are very interestant to say the least.

I also like most of the Guerlain Homme flankers which are all better than the original.

As I was told at the Maison Guerlain counter, they will release another gent's cologne this year, and of course, I am very much looking forward to it.
11 years ago
Well, I'm happy for you, Apicius. Believe me, the plummet in quality of the women's line (consider, for example, the Aqua Allegorias, which went from beautiful, simply natural creations to vat-produced chemical soup), is a cause only for lamentation.

The reformulations are at best mediocre, and the Shalimar flankers?

Guerlain has fallen from grace in my eyes.
No one is sorrier about this than I!
Sad
11 years ago
Sherapop:
The reformulations are at best mediocre, and the Shalimar flankers?

Guerlain has fallen from grace in my eyes.
No one is sorrier about this than I!
Sad

I fully agree. The Shalimar Initial-Flankers - how many are there? Three? Yet another version in the pipeline, I read
The gorgeous Shalimar Eau legere was discontinued long ago and replaced by Eau de Shalimar, which is also on the verge of being discontinued...
The mainstream perfumes like "La petite robe noire" (version 2012) and "Iydlle" never captured my heart. Even the latest Maison Guerlain "Les Exclusifs" are not as outstanding as one would expect, although I wouldn't mind owning some of them, of course, but I can find similar quality at - say - Patricia de Nicolai for a fraction of the price of "Les Exclusifs".
Of course "Chamade pour homme", "Habit rouge" and "Eau de Guerlain" still speak for themselves - but they are clearly classics. None of the new releases (Thierry Wasser's creations) are as brilliant as the classics.
Apicius, I'm also keen on trying the new gent's cologne... - always in the hope of finding something in Guerlain's new line which can live up to the standards set by the house itself decades ago. Maybe this year I won't be disappointed.
11 years ago
My nose loves Guerlain scents but I am beginning to develop second thoughts about their quality and, as mentioned in another thread here, their personnel/service.
Last edited by PontNeuf on 02.07.2013, 13:45; edited 1 time in total
11 years ago
I gave up on Guerlain after the release of Spiritueuse Double Vanille, which I still love.
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