Houbigant, Note, 'Gesture', 50 ml. or 1.76 oz. Flacon, Parfum Extrait, 1918, Paris, France ..

The illustrious perfume House Houbigant has been in business in some form or another since the late 1700's and is still in business today. There is so much that could be written about Houbigant that it would take a book to fully address all of the achievements of this amazing fragrance company. Houbigant’s two perfumers Paul Parquet and Robert Bienaimee revolutionized perfumery and their work would influence many generations that would follow. The important innovations that they brought to the world of perfumery include creating multi faceted fragrances, using synthetic materials to achieve complex scents and creating beautiful imagery to perfume packaging, flacons and advertising.

Houbigant hired the young chemist Robert Bienamiee when he was only in his early 20's. Under the tutelage of Paul Parquet, Bienamiee, became proficient in both the Art and the Science of perfumery. His first major success was Quelques Fleurs “a few flowers." Robert Bienaimee created Quelques Fleurs in 1912 and it is a benchmark fragrance in modern perfumery as it had a lightness and a brightness that had never been achieved previously. This fragrance is credited as being the first modern floral fragrance.

Launched in 1918, this perfume was created by Robert Bienaime not too long after the launch of Quelques Fleurs. Staying with the essential femininity of flowers, Bienaime managed to created another quintessentially lovely fragrance with a strong floral accord. There is little to glean about this perfume on the Internet, but my guess at the composition would be something like this:

Top notes are Neroli, Orange Blossom, and Lemon
Middle notes include Rose, Jasmine, Ylang Ylang, Lily of the Valley, and Lilac
Base notes are Sandalwood, Galbanum, Oak Moss, Vanilla, and Tonka Bean

Offered here is an exquisite 50 ml. sealed flacon in its original presentation box. This is a very rare perfume and little can be found on it among perfume experts.