Guerlain, Après L'Ondée, Apres L'Ondee, 'After the Rain', 250 mls. or 8.45 oz. Eau de Toilette, Flacon Abeilles, 1906, 1996, Paris, France

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, the Empress Sissi of Austria, the Queen of Belgium 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.

First created by Jacques Guerlain in 1906, Après L'Ondée is a celebration of the fine weather that follows the rain. In this bouquet of powdery flowers, Jacques Guerlain orchestrated its floral note around violet, iris and vanilla nuances. It is a beautiful, delicate combination of orange blossom and violet, with spicy anis note. Smell of a spring-time garden after a downpour, smell of wet leaves and flowers warmed by the sunshine. The heart is composed of spicy carnation and violet, not traditionally sweet in this composition. The base notes include luxurious iris and soft vanilla touch.

This flacon was created by Pochet et du Courval. Après l’Ondée is considered to be a floral powdery fragrance. This lovely perfume was based on a molecule called aubépine, otherwise known as anisaldehyde or hawthorn.

"The rainstorm .. Après l’Ondée, which translates from French as “After the Rain Shower” seems like a radiant and exquisitely graceful composition, and yet there is the suggestion of a brooding darkness hiding in its opulent layers. Its velvety iris heart cradled in the ornate frame of spiced flowers and oriental resins seemed wispy and ethereal."

"The main accord was a powdery veil of violet, heliotrope and orris root butter, at once cool and warm and slightly earthy, backlit by the bright, crystalline effect of anise, neroli and carnation. As Jacques Guerlain disliked things to be deadpan or bare, he incorporated a rainbow of lily, orchid, jasmine, rose, hawthorn, vanilla and animal musk.”

Top notes are Bergamot, Lemon, Neroli, Aniseed, Hawthorn, Orchid, and Violet
Heart notes are Heliotrope, Iris, Carnation, Rose, Jasmine, Lavender, and Lily
Base notes are Orris, Sandalwood, Vetiver, and Vanilla

Offered here is an opportunity to buy a huge and beautiful eight ounce flacon of this lovely haunting fragrance presented in the iconic Flacon Abeilles or Bee Bottle. The beautiful bee bottle was used for eaux de cologne and eaux de toilette. Made by Pochet et du Courval. Originally created to house 'Eau de Cologne Impériale' for the Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III; its decorative bees were a symbol of Napoleon and have since then, become Guerlain’s house symbol.

This wonderful historic bottle is highly sought after .. So gorgeous .. Still sealed and never opened, the bottle is completely full. This is the Special Edition celebrating 125 years of this fabulous fragrance. The label has the words "Liebe 125 Jahre" with means "Love 125 Years" .. A superb find and a collector's piece. The batch code of PN 0WH, means that this bottle was produced in August 1996 and thus is 30 years old. Gorgeous .. and rare now and these Special Edition bottles are very scarce ..