SAMPLE .. Guerlain, Fol Arôme, Fol Arome, 'Crazy Scent', 1/2 ml. DECANTED SAMPLE from Flacon, Parfum Extrait, Baccarat, 1912, 1947, Paris

The House of Guerlain is one of the oldest perfume houses in the world. It was founded in 1828 when Pierre-Francois Pascal Guerlain opened up his first perfume store on 42, Rue de Rivoli in Paris. Pierre-Francois composed and manufactured custom perfumes with the help of his two sons, Aime & Gabriel. His unique approach was to personalize perfume for a specific person, place or event. Honore de Balzac commisioned his own eau de toilette during the writing of Cesar Birotteau, and the periodical La Sylphide, le Journal des Elegances, scented each issue with a different fragrance by Guerlain.

Guerlain catered to the high society of Paris, and obtained a very loyal following. The perfume house was so successful that Guerlain decided to open a flagship store at 15, Rue de la Paix in Paris in 1840. The house was at its peak in 1853 with it's fragrance Eau de Cologne Imperiale. This perfume gained Guerlain the prestigious title of His Majesty's Official Perfumer of France. This in turn led him to create perfumes for other royals such as Queen Victoria of England, Empress Sissi of Austria and Queen Isabella of Spain as well as other crowned heads of royalty.

Pierre-Francois passed away in 1854 and his sons inherited the perfume house. Aime became the master perfumer, a tradition that would be upheld for the next master perfumer in lineage. Gabriel managed and further expanded the house. Aime, created several fragrances for the perfume house, these include Fleur d'Italie, Rococo, and Eau de Cologne de Coq and his greatest creation, Jicky. In 1914, Guerlain moved to 68, Champs-Elysees Paris.

The business was then handed down to Gabriel's sons, Jacques & Pierre Guerlain. Jacques became the third master perfumer and created many fragrances in his lifetime. His creations include Eau de Coq, L'Heure Bleu, Apres L'Ondee, Shalimar, Vol de Nuit, Ode, and Mitsouko. These perfumes were so successful that some are still sold today. Jacques grandson, Jean-Paul Guerlain is the fourth generation master perfumer and has authored several perfumes and men's colognes including Vetiver, Habit Rouge, Samsara, Nahema, Jardins de Bagatelle and many others.

"Jacques Guerlain created Fol Arôme .. "crazy scent" .. in 1912, the same year as L'Heure Bleue. Comparing the two, the family resemblance is evident. L'Heure Bleue is a magnetizing, moving mixture of orange blossom, anise, Provençal herbs, jasmine and rose on a powdery gourmand base. Now imagine the same recipe without the romantic orange blossom, more aromatics added, and a bit less ganache, and you get the feel of Fol Arôme. We don't know why Jacques Guerlain called this fragrance "crazy", but it does smell good for sure. People who love the Guerlinade signature in its most traditional form, as represented in such classics as Jicky, L'Heure Bleue and Shalimar, will undoubtedly fall for Fol Arôme.

It starts out with a lovely combination of jasmine, anise and lavender. The feminine floral feel is markedly less heady than in L'Heure Bleue, but the beauty of jasmine can't be denied; it almost feels honeyed as it blends with bergamot, rose and sweet daffodil. The lavender provides a flavourful unisex touch, which is underscored by a whole bouquet of herbs, like mint, marjoram and clary sage. Guerlain's extensive use of herbal notes can be traced back to the great cologne era of founder of the company, Pierre-François-Pascal Guerlain. For Jacques Guerlain, herbs seemed to be the salt and pepper of any composition, be it floral, chypre or oriental. The combination of Provençal herbs and soft oriental notes that we find specifically in Fol Arôme would reappear in Bouquet de Faunes in 1922 and, worked to perfection, in Shalimar (1925).

The base notes of Fol Arôme continue the Guerlinade journey, complete with face powder, musk, vanilla and clove. Die-hard L'Heure Bleue fans will probably delight in discovering this long gone relative, but also understand why L'Heure Bleue, in comparison far more glamorous and extroverted, won the race of being the ageless, eternal classic that it is, Guerlain's most beautiful floral of them all." Monsieur Guerlain

"This is a very rich, yet quiet, herbal bouquet, subdued, fresh and minty at first, then calming down to a combination of lavender, sage and marjoram, the scent one gets by brushing one’s open palm across the upright stems of an herb garden. The guerlinade with its rose and vanilla softness is present in support. This is masterful blending at its very best. One gets whiffs of all the notes, in different combinations, as it dries down." Basenotes Review. Jack Twist

Top notes are Jasmine, Anise, Lavender, and Bergamot
Heart notes are Daffodil, Rose, Bouvardia, Mint, Clary Sage, and Marjoram
Base notes are Carnation, Sweet Acacia, Vanilla, and Orris

Offered here is an opportunity to buy a decanted sample of this wonderful perfume. Very rare nowadays .. discontinued long ago.