I’m a sucker for anything vintage, including vintage perfume. The problem with old things is exactly what makes them so charming: they’re not new. Vintage dresses are sewn with cotton or silk thread that gives, and fabric that shreds with age. An old pulp novel with a gorgeously lurid cover too often has yellowed pages that barely cling to the spine. Similarly, a vintage fragrance, although dream-inspiringly old fashioned, won’t smell as lively as it did when it first left the store shelf fifty years ago.
So, I was especially happy to get to know Pierre Bourdon Sous les Magnolias and La Fin d’un Eté. These fragrances have the charm and character of a vintage Edmond Roudnitska perfume, but they smell crisp and fresh. I can’t remember the last time I bought new perfume, but I came home from Paris with a bottle of each.
Long-time perfume aficionados know perfumer Pierre Bourdon for creating such perfume milestones as Christian Dior Dolce Vita, Davidoff Cool Water, Yves Saint Laurent Kouros and Frédéric Malle Iris Poudre. Bourdon studied with both Jean Carlès and Roudnitska, and his father, René Bourdon, was the head of Dior fragrances. Although Bourdon retired in 2007, in 2015 he started his own perfume line, which has three feminine fragrances (these two plus Dame en Rose) and two masculines, Route des Epices and Le Grand Tour.
Sous les Magnolias’ notes include bergamot, aquatic notes, magnolia, rose, peach, cedarwood, vetiver, oakmoss, musk, ambergris and vanilla. A two-word description might be “Sexy Diorella.”
Sous les Magnolias is an elegant, old-fashioned fruity-floral chypre that tingles with bergamot before opening into a creamy peach-tinged magnolia with a faint breath of vanilla warming it. A classic moss-musk-wood combination unobtrusively anchors the fragrance. Sous les Magnolias has a bit of Diorella’s wackiness without its sometimes over-the-top assertiveness, as if Diorella had lost her baby fat and went to finishing school.
My only beef with Sous les Magnolias is that it fades too soon. Within half an hour, the fragrances retreats to a purr I can only smell a few inches from my skin, and by lunchtime I wish I had a decant in my purse.
La Fin d’un Eté’s notes include bergamot, ginger, plum, lily of the valley, jasmine, watermelon, patchouli, musk, amber and vetiver. This one’s quickie description could be “Edgy Le Parfum de Thérèse.”
La Fin d’un Eté (isn’t that an evocative name?) vibrates with a spicy, purplish melon that at first hints at an autumnal immortelle before sliding into its floral heart. It’s grounded in an old-fashioned dusky foundation with a hint of sweetness. Despite all the character these notes have, the fragrance feels light and seamless.
No, La Fin d’un Eté isn’t showy, but like Sous les Magnolias, it somehow combines quirkiness and grace. La Fin d’un Eté has a hair more sillage than Sous les Magnolias and lasts a bit longer, but I’d carry a decant of this one with me, too, for a mid-day refresh.
I already know I’ll be burning through my bottles of these perfumes, and if I’d had the cash to spare, I’d probably have added back-up bottles to my suitcase.
Now I’ll break the bad news. Although Sous les Magnolias and La Fin d’un Eté are reasonably priced at 95€ for 100 ml, as far as I know only one store in the world carries them: the Astier de Villatte on rue de Tournon in Paris. You can’t even get them on the Pierre Bourdon website — the “purchase here” link doesn’t work. Perfume boutique owners, I beg you to order this line.
Great review Angela
They both sound like very lovely perfumes. Let’s hope that perfume boutiques will bring it to their shop (I think Lucky Scent might be one of them, in the US) ..the bottles looks great and a fair price
I think I need to get one of my French friends to buy me one
I wish there was a sample option for this one!
oh wow, these sound lovely and charming. And what great names. And the perfumers name too, sounds charming in English, Peter Bumblebee. When were you in paris, what else did you smell and do? Do you have a blog?
I don’t have a blog, although I do have a monthly newsletter. You can sign up at my website, if you’re interested–www.angelamsanders.com.
I had a great time in Paris being lazy, walking for hours and hours, and seeing, among other things, the Dior exhibit at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Fabulous!
oh great, I’ll definitely sign up for the newsletter!
You had me at “Sexy Diorella.” Kinda lost me at how quickly it disappears, but still, tempting, very tempting. And, yes, La Fin d’un Eté is an evocative name. I now hear Don Henley singing “Boys of Summer” in my ear.
I do wish they lasted longer, but they’re so nice while they waft. (And thanks a lot for the ear worm, lady!)
Me too!
I hope you get the chance to try it and let me know if I’m right!
Thanks! I may ask a friend to bring some home.
They sound wonderful! I hope they become more widely available in the US and elsewhere.
So do I!
These scents both sound so interesting. I hope that these scents do come to the states in the near future. Lovely review Angela!
I hope more people are able to smell them! It’s a shame they aren’t better distributed.
I’m trying SO hard to keep the lemmings under control that I’m kinda glad these aren’t easy to get. I actually don’t mind scents that fade quickly so that is no deterrent.
They would have remained lemmings for me, too, if I didn’t happen to be in Paris. As for longevity, I don’t mind much, either, if a scent fades. I figure I can indulge my mood and switch to something else that much sooner!
Interesting, Angela! Definitely, it would be great if one of the niche purveyors like Luckyscent, Aedes, or others were to bring this line to the US.
I agre, and I’m surprised they haven’t already. I wonder if there’s some sort of supply issue? Anyway, hopefully that will change eventually!
Wonderful review, Angela!
I’m lucky enough to have a bottle of Sous les Magnolias, having searched it out after reading the positive mentions here and on Grain de Musc and Bois de Jasmin. It has been far and away my favorite perfume of the summer, its sparkling floral brightness cutting through even the muggiest weather.
I think its magnolia note is the best I’ve smelled, That’s saying a lot for me since I also have and love quite a few other magnolia scents.
I don’t know whether the ambergris in the base is natural or a synthetic but it comes very close to the effect of smelling a lump of the real thing, a sort of lifting, floating feeling I just love.
It’s such a lovely perfume that it’s a complete mystery why no one carries it. I wish someone would. I’d buy a back up bottle in a minute and would love to smell the other Bourdons. La Fin d’un Ete sounds great and I’ve heard good things about La Dame en Rose as well.
I tried La Dame en Rose briefly, and I liked it–a soft, barely truffled, powdery rose was my brief impression.
I hope you get the chance to try La Fin d’un Eté, especially since Sous les Magnolias is so good on you. Route d’Epices seemed pretty great, too.
I’ve just returned from Paris with my very own bottle of Sous les Magnolias. It is every bit as lovely as you described. La fin d’un été was lovely as well, but not quite such an instant hit. I may still get a bottle of that too. I also really liked the Astier de Villatte shop. It made for some nice browsing. Very tempted to try all those colognes, but fortunately I have access to those in the Netherlands as well.