Guerlain will launch Idylle, a new fragrance for women, this coming September. The scent was developed by Guerlain's house perfumer, Thierry Wasser:
A mist of flowers.
A bouquet of lilies of the valley, peonies, fressias [sic], lilacs and roses.
A blend of Bulgarian roses.
Thierry Wasseur created this fragrance using the Bulgarian rose as a star ingredient, in Guerlain's Perfumer tradition he selected personally the very best roses ensuring the exceptional quality of the fragrance.
A Chypre signature of patchouli and white musk, a contemporary interpretation of the Guerlinade.
Guerlain Idylle will be available in 30 35, 50 and 100 ml Eau de Parfum. Idylle can be pre-ordered now at Escentual in the UK. (via escentual)
Update: see a review of Guerlain Idylle.
I hate to say it, but those notes aren’t grabbing me at all. Almost looks like a heftier version of Flora. Bottle a bit odd as well – cross between a gold garlic bulb and the Secret Obsession bottle!
Perfect description of the bottle…it reminded me of SO too.
Yes, what’s up with the Secret Obsession bottle? That was my first thought too!
In their defense, it isn’t a dupe…just similar. And frankly, the world must be running out of possibilities in terms of new bottle designs — if there’s going to be 1000+ new fragrances a year, they’re going to eventually start looking AND smelling the same.
It looked to me like a cross between SO and the CK Euphoria bottle. It may not be original, but I have to say, at least it’s not a total eyesore. As for the fragrance itself… I really want to love something Guerlain has put out lately, but it doesn’t look like this will be it. (And since someone said it looks like a bulb of garlic, now I am expecting it to smell like garlic, so perhaps it will at least transcend that expectation.)
You are right, the bottle is not bad. And it’s for sure better looking than the ‘dirty-dish’ Insolence bottle.
My first thought was the bottle looks like a Hershey’s Kiss – the almond ones with the gold foil
The bottle isn’t bad at all but seriously I think some of these out-of-work artistes need to jump on the bottle design bandwagon (which apparently has plenty of room on it) to earn some bucks. I looked at a book of vintage bottles and they were just so freakin’ beautiful — — and creative.
At least it seems a bit more mature than Flora. With so many floral chypres around, it better have something interesting to it.
Sounds older than Flora to me too. We’ll see!
Oh, I actually really like that bottle. Looks like it would feel great in the hand, and reminds me a bit of a flower vase.
Ha! The first thing I thought was, “What’s up with that bottle? It looks like a Hershey’s Kiss.” But gold garlic bulb is better.
Garlic bulb! I love it!
Yep, they sound very ho-hum (“gold garlic bulb” – LOL!). Didn’t Guerlain just come out with Petite Robe Noire? Is this creator of so many classics going to go the way of everyone else, and just keep throwing product on the market until something sticks?
PRN wasn’t a mainstream launch though…strictly speaking, they haven’t done a pillar fragrance for women since Insolence, unless I’m forgetting something. Which isn’t to say they’re not throwing product on the market like everyone else, just that most of the product they’re throwing is in very limited distribution.
At least PRN had a nice (‘classic’) bottle — LOL.
Patchouli and white musk do not a Chypre make. Unless that’s the “modern chypre” definition? I need to start an oakmoss farm.
If it has patch, as near as I can tell, it can be called a chypre now.
Over my dead body.
LOL…I’m afraid you’ve already lost that battle. The word “chypre” has already been redefined, as near as I can tell.
Like I said in the patch thread the other week – now any ol’ gal or guy with a $3.00 bottle of patchouli from a headshop is wearing a modern chypre….or “mypre” as I like to think of it now b/c it is such a marketing joke. And I love a good patchouli note in a base….I think they are streching this need to use chypre label too far.
You know, it kind of doesn’t matter anymore…if it’s new and it’s a chypre, we already know it isn’t going to smell like a mossy chypre. So whatever…I give up on this issue! The king is dead, long live the king.
But as far as the notes go….I will be trying this as I am alwasy interested in trying a rose floral and florals in general. And I won’t be trying to compare it to Nahema! It will be interesting to see if they can pull of the lotv, lilacs, and freesia without being too prim. Seems like they should have launched this in the spring/summer though.
LOL! My feelings exactly. Sounds like a *very* contemporary interpretation of the guerlinade!
The advert is very pretty, I think. I’ll definitely try it.
(Wonder if they’re just omitting the mention of moss since it’s a bone of contention these days?)
I’m not a huge chypre fan, although I do really like 31 Rue Cambon. Actually, Lots of Florals+Hint of Chypre+Guerlain = I Might Need to Sniff This.
Well, actually having real moss in your fragrance isn’t a bone of contention? But beyond that, none of the “modern chypres” have moss.
Actually, Robin, Laurie Erickson from Sonoma Scent Studios was telling me that there is a fabulous natural oakmoss out there with the offending irritant removed that is just gorgeous: nothing lost of the original’s personality at all. She says it costs a fortune but to her it’s worth it. So, modern chypres CAN, in fact, still have real oakmoss, if the company wants to spend the money.
Yes, but a couple of issues…first, people weren’t making classic oakmoss-based chypres any more even before the IFRA issue. They aren’t in style these days. And clearly, the fragrance industry has redefined the term “chypre” anyway. So…I’m not expecting to pick up a tester of something called a chypre that came out after Miss Dior Cherie and smell moss.
I may be the only person who’s not all that bothered by the lack of moss. Ah well.
Bless Laurie Erickon! Huzzah huzzah! At least someone out there still cares about the craft. I wouldn’t want oakmoss to become endangered but if there is a sustainable resource for it, by all means use it. But you’re right, R, it’s more so that they’ve fallen out of trend. The last good new chypre I smelled was Leiber by Judith Leiber. Not sure if it even contains oakmoss but it smells very retro and has that sharp nip of mildew that mellows into a soothing white flower-citrus on me.
Oh, this does not look like a Guerlian at all, but the “concept” reminds me of Nahema (flowers, rose).
Still, from the “modern” Guerlains I liked only one so far, so I am really curious. The bottle? Yes, SO – I agree… Boring actually. What a pity.
What would look better for a perfume called Idylle FOR YOU?
Something round for sure, but another colour (think of an bright, transparent pink), and somehow sparkling or playing with another colour. Like the L’Instant bottle in a round form.
What do you think, dear connaisseurs?
Please, there’s enough pink! Gold is fine with me.
Yes I was actually thinking, at least it is gold and not purple like Insolence. Blue like the new Mitsy flanker, wasn’t ideal either. Which I still haven’t tried. Goodness, I’m so behind, I’ll never catch up!!
Oh, the bottle is supposed to be gold? I thought it’s brown. Hate brown.
Like I had said when first blogging about it, without lists of notes or bottle, this is their major bet, exactly because it’s a mainstream feminine of them, aka their “mirror” to the world at large. If this tanks, nothing saves them.
As to the chypre classification, I think the phrasing “A Chypre signature of patchouli and white musk, a contemporary interpretation of the Guerlinade” seems to imply that there is a chypre accord of modern mold which would include patchouli and white musk and *possibly other things as well* (non divulged as yet). The modern interpretation of the Guerlinade is the Muscinade, which they have copyrighted as a name already ever since Cruel Gardenia (and which includes white musk and I bet some of the “cleaned up” patchouli of modern fragrances.) So it does make some sense.
Nothing saves them from what??
“Nothing saves them” from complete loss of respect by the fragrance lovers.
(One has to have a serious core of good mainstream juice and then play with the limited editions to variable results, not the reverse IMO)
Ah, gotcha. Well, I don’t think I take this launch so seriously as all that, but would also guess that you hold the modern house of Guerlain in higher esteem than I do.
Robin, I hear ya. But still, some smart perfumers out there know that we niche-lovin’ perfumistas adore great, true chypres. Look at Andy Tauer’s Rose Chypree. Oakmoss: the real thing. And Estee Lauder’s PC Jasmine White Moss, while reformulated to conform to the new regulations after its creative beginnings in the eighties, is a surprisingly moss-forward composition. I tried a preview tester of it last week in Vancouver, and you will LOVE it, I promise. So, I don’t think that oakmoss-style chypres are out of fashion at all, even in the mainstream. Lucky us.
Ooooh – you’ve tried the new Jasmine White Moss already. Lucky you! I am chomping at the bit over that one – it’s not in my neck of the woods yet.
Yay, really?? Can’t wait to try the EL.
Tried one yesterday that you might find interesting. By Alec Lawless. Give him a Google. His chypre is quite sublime.
I’m thinking, too, R, that vintage-style orientals aren’t “in style” any more either — and, like chypres, modern orientals no longer contain the real things that made them “true” orientals: the genuine musk from the glands of happy little deer, civet from real felines, ambergris from what whales cough up, real sandalwood. That must be why so many of us, NST’s Angela included, revere vintage scents. They’ll never be made again, and there’s nuthin’ like the real thing.
Vintage-perfume lovers should be down on their knees thanking heaven for ebay… my miniature (5ml) bottle of vintage Arpege parfum, which cost me all of $7, should arrive today. There is some truly amazing vintage stuff out there that I suppose would never sell in this post-Angel, post-Fantasy, post-cKOne world.
And I suppose I should thank all the vintage fans for pulling me over to the dark side, too. Would I have discovered the wonders of Chanel No. 19 or Magie Noire without this blog? Probably not.
R, that’s true, I suppose!
R, just try EL PC Jasmine White Moss when it comes out in a few weeks, and tell me life’s not worth living!!
Hey, even if it sucks, life is still worth living! But looking forward to it
I’m very surprised by this love for it – I thought it was very boring, liked it only marginally better than the previous very sad, sweet Private Collection one. Maybe there was something wrong with the tester. Also, I had a bad experience – one f the worst I’ve ever had, actually – with the EL sales guy at the Holt Renfrew counter when I tested it, so maybe that coloured my experience. A real shame when the EL SAs go snobby, they usually give such laidback, pleasant service….
Erin, you mean the Amber Ylang Ylang? I did like Tuberose Gardenia.
And yes, ludicrous for there to be a snobby EL counter person — always ludicrous, I guess, but particularly with a brand like EL that isn’t marketed as “exclusive”.
I know this has been said though I’ve only breezed through the comments, but first reaction is: oh, Guerlain’s flowerbomb Hershey’s kiss. NEXT!
Ha! That bottle does look like a Hershey’s Kiss now that you mention it. Tie a little bow around the neck…et viola!
Just being snarky, of course, and I’ll be as excited to smell this as anybody else.
Love the name also, btw. Pronounced à la français of course: [ee-deeeel’-luh] with lips tightly pursed on the ‘y’. Ha. I expect us all to be calling it ‘idol’ or ‘ideal’ or “e-deal”, though, which is fine.
I’m going to call it Idol. As in gare-lane eye-dole. Not kidding, either — my French is tres bad.
Hmm, I remember Wasser mentioned during a Le Figaro interview many, many months ago that Annick Ménardo was involved in the development of a Guerlain pillar feminine fragrance: so no words on that front I suppose? (I’m assuming he was referring to Idylle.)
Actually not surprised that Wasser is trying to modernize Guerlinade: he has been talking about it for a while so let’s wait and see what he has done.
I am expecting something on the sheer side (compared to the vintage) judging by Guerlain Homme: I would be surprised if he style becomes incoherent so soon–with so much riding on a feminine pillar it would be a unfathomable if brand coherence is absent at this stage of redevelopment.
To be honest the ad does really nothing for me: but then again I am not the target demographic.
Know nothing about Annick Menardo, but of course Guerlain (like everybody else) does not always credit perfumers.
Oh yeah, I know Guerlain doesn’t always do that–but then to me it’s a bit odd that Ménardo was mentioned in the first place. Oh well.
Sounds like a cross between Gucci Flora and Gucci by Gucci, in a Secret Obsession bottle. I’m not expecting much…
I’m (almost) never expecting much — perhaps we’ll be pleasantly surprised
Patchouli, blech. Chypre is being redefined alright: as “cheaper.”
Why is that cheaper though?
oh for god’s sake. i’m getting DANGEROUSLY close to wishing someone would put guerlain out of its misery. UGH *slaps self at the blasphemy*
Would they PLEASE stop making “the first ever utterly new interpretation of the bulgarian rose”? EVERY house has done that 3 times at least with the exact same blurb. Somebody please just TORCH LVMH headquarters.
/end rant
It’s not as bad as all that, is it? I mean, I don’t think L’Instant or Insolence were masterpieces, but they weren’t horrid either.
True. They weren’t horrible, but the fact that Idylle comes after the blah-ness of L’Instant and Insolence, la Petite Robe Noire, les Elixirs Charnels, and the flankers now, makes me despair that Guerlain will show a return to form anytime soon…
Oh, I don’t expect they’ll ever be what they once were, but don’t see the need to torch LVMH for it, I guess
So the perfumer ‘selected personally the very best roses’ eh? He went out to the fields himself and gestured delicately at first one lovely bloom, then another … ?
Give me strength.
Well, presumably he selected the best rose essence. You guys are a really tough crowd today!
Isn’t it a full moon or something?
Seriously, I’ll apologize for myself… I sometimes don’t know when to quit.
Going to curl up quietly in the corner with a nice, serious book…
LOL…no need to apologize! It is rainy & dreary here & was just starting to wonder if it wasn’t the same everywhere…everyone really is punchy today!
No, not here. I’d have been much calmer if it were raining…in fact, I’d have had trouble raising the energy to post at all.
I feel bad for Robin! I hope all the comments didn’t push you to the edge — we still love nst and perfume. Maybe just punchy. Thank goodness it’s the weekend — you have a good one!
HA…I am not so easily pushed to the edge, and you know I can complain with the best of them!
Except me, your faithful Pollyanna-esque doppelganger!
LOL…thank you!
Sorry, yes, shouldn’t be cynical all the time. I’m looking forward to trying the scent. Sounds nice to me.
I don’t mind cynical at all, in fact, I’m generally cynical! I think on Friday everyone was cynical about *all* of the scents I posted, which is perhaps more cynicism than usual, that’s all.
LOL annmarie – that comment gave me a good laugh after a long, boring day at work!
I instantly thought of the CK bottle…
Looks like that’s the consensus!
Bottle is SUBLIME! Reminds me of a kinda Wine Carafe or perhaps (My first impression) A rounded Laboratory Beaker! I didn’t at the beginning like Insolence, but it did grow on me, rather much so! (still not a SIGNATURE Guerlain Scent per se… But still nice) but this sounds awesome! Love Bulgarian Rose, Freesia, and Lily Of The Valley! Am sure this is going to be a stunner! I Like the Bottle and even Love the ad! Very Come Hither!
Hooray, I’m not the sole bottle fan after all.
It just has that smooth, round, solid-feeling look to it, like a worry stone or something, that makes me think it would be really nice. Of course, I’ll reserve final judgment for when I see it in person…but that’s my first take on it anyway.
Hope you’re right!
it does have a similarity to the Secret Obsession, although that bottle was kinda Hideous… this is much more sleekly elegant in a almost space age sort of way!
I didn’t mind the SO bottle, although didn’t love it either.
I like this bottle too, despite the similarities already mentioned. The fragrance sounds dainty and pretty. Peony never works for me though. But of course I will give this a sniff when it’s available – why not.
Peony + freesia so often means: light pretty nondescript floral. Hope that won’t be the case here.
I have just had chips, and as I was pouring the malt vinegar out of its bulbous little bottle (the sort you find in cafes), I was suddenly reminded of Secret Obsession!
That’s funny!
The name and the bottle, particularly the golden colour, makes me expect an oriential fragrance, for some reason.
Yes, I can see that.
the bottle looks like Kenzo Amour le parfum to me
even the ad is similar…
I like Amour WAY better.
oh! just looking at the bottle of Geurlain Idylle you can easily know that you can really love the smell of the fragrance..
You’re considerably more optimistic than I am
i think this new fragrance is fab,the bottle is sexy the perfume smells like no other, again Guerlian have done the best new fragrance this year they are the oldest and the best fragrance house in the world.
Glad you love it!
I sampled this yesterday and I loved it. All I would say is, give it a chance. Perfume bottles are of no interest to me, it’s the smell that matters, and this is a good one.
Good to hear!
I don’t know… Maybe I don’t understand something or my nose cheats me after too many cigarettes, but why this frag with all its flowery notes smells so fruity?.. And I don’t smell rose at all. I know that sometimes smell of flowers have some “fruitish” touch, but after today’s sampling of IdylleI I was sure it’s not fruity-floral, it’s fruity-fruity.
The dry down is better, but overall – a disappointment.
I don’t know that what’s listed above is a complete list of notes — probably it has a lot of fruit and that’s why you’re smelling it! I still haven’t tried Idylle.
I have now smelled it and it instantly reminded me of Guerlain’ Champs Elysees, to my nose both are upmarket wash conditioners!
Ack. Does not sound good.
I tried this a couple of days ago.
It reminds me of SJP’s Lovely.
That’s what I keep hearing!
i think both the bottle and the ad are gorgeous. but, for a beginner, what is a chypre?….
ok, sorry, just saw your glossary…
Glad you found it!
I tried this yesterday and this was a complete scrubber on me and I didn’t get any rose at all. Very fruity and soapy on me. Couldn’t wait to get it off. I wish they would bring back Nahema ~ pining!
I’m so behind — still haven’t tried it!
my 5 cents worth: when i smelled it i thought, this reminds me of Le Labo Iris 39, which in turn reminds me of Narcisco Rodriguez for Her… curious to know if i am the only one (would be fun to have another smellalike article again some time?). not to say that it smells bad, just verrrrrry familiar….
In the review at Perfume Posse March said it was like NR, so you’re not the only one!
interesting! i always wonder if we all really do smell things the same, and although interpretations vary this does kinda prove to me that we do, only the words are sometimes different. guess that is why reviews are so important: they give us words to explain what is the hardest to explain: smell! (kind of like trying to explain gradations of pain.. strange comparison perhaps but just as intangible)
I think we *mostly* smell things the same, with some allowance made for musk anosmias & radically different skin chemistry.
I tried this yesterday as well (the other one was the Jo Malone Vanilla and Anise). I really wanted to like Idylle, after all, I enjoy most of the Guerlain perfumes. My mother used Samsara when I grew up and I have a bottle of Vol de Nuit that I still use occasionally.
But no, it is for sure too “loud”, too main street, too house wife. There is no magic in it.
Too bad
ok…so it hit the hong kong harvey nicks..and my saleslady friend told me…the bottle is supposed to remind one of a high heel…she promptly turned it upside down…and well…i guess it kind of did…if only both sides where not the same…..i sprayed it on about an hour ago andit is still STRONG.. the sillage is pretty strong…very much like narciso rodriquez…maybe a touch lighter..( i think the musky /rosessmell)i don’t mind it…luckily though…i don’t need to own it!!! the news is that THierry Wasser will be there at 7…and i was invited a chance to meet him…but i also have been invited to carriculum presentation for my 12 year old at the same time….different place…guess where i will be!!! lucky for me, i can still stop and sample smells inbetween kids/household errands!!!
Too bad they were at the same time! Although can’t think of what I’d say to Thierry Wasser.