Guerlain, Sous le Vent, 'Down Wind', 90 ml. or 3 oz. Flacon, Eau de Toilette, Flacon Goutte, ‘Etiquette Dauphin’, 1919, 1959, 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, 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.

"Sous le Vent was created by Jacques Guerlain in 1934 for Josephine Baker, the famous cabaret artiste who daringly performed nude except for a brief banana skirt and strode the streets of Paris with a pet leopard. Sous le Vent followed the times' chypre trend designed for the new self-confident, short-haired and trouser-clad "garçonnes". Josephine Baker was from St. Louis, but the French always seemed to forget she was American, instead associating her with the exoticism of her costumes, so Guerlain named this scent after the tropical Leeward Islands of the lesser Antilles. Jacques Guerlain was very excited about green notes during those years, and he found a perfect illustrative setting in this French overseas colony .. "greener than one can imagine," as said Guerlain, quoting the Guadeloupe-born poet Saint-John Perse. Classified as an aromatic chypre, Sous le Vent smelled principally like what could be Jacques Guerlain's last instalment of experiments with Coty's Chypre.

While Mitsouko and Vol de Nuit had the chypre accord adorned with peach and amber respectively, Sous le Vent remained significantly barer, much like dried tobacco leaves. Jacques Guerlain's omnipresent top notes of Provençal herbs .. lavender, tarragon, basil, myrtle and verbena .. were moved to centre stage, which combined with a high dose of bergamot and the sea-like softness of oak moss gave the perfume a chic, elegant aura of how relaxed and pleasant life can be along the Côte d'Azur. This, and the galbanum resin, whose scent is often likened to that of green pea pods, is what made Sous le Vent "greener than one can imagine". Sweetness and warmth, a must chez Guerlain, came from Peru balsam, sandalwood, and a white-flower accord of jasmine, ylang-ylang and tiaré, just enough to be noticeable and not markedly exotic-smelling.

At the base, we found Jacques Guerlain's legendary powder cloud of musk and orris. In terms of comparison, Sous le Vent tended mostly towards a tweed-green alfresco version of Vol de Nuit, and it surely had a breezy feel to it that fitted its name. It marked Jacques Guerlain's introduction of green notes in fine perfumery .. an inspiration to other perfumers' works like Miss Dior, Balmain's Vent Vert and several of the later Jean-Paul Guerlain fragrances. The fragrance didn't survive as one of the classics, but was re-created in 2006 by Jean-Paul Guerlain .. one of its biggest admirers who made his first fragrance Vetiver, and later Eau de Guerlain, in its spirit .. as part of the "Il Était Une Fois Guerlain" EdT collection. Sadly, the production was discontinued in 2014. Curiously, the very last batch produced before discontinuation was labelled as EdP instead of EdT, however it remains unknown if the scent concentration really was changed." Monsieur Guerlain.

"Spicy herbal citrus fougere, re-orchestrated from its chypre original I was immediately put in remembrance of Guerlain's own Derby .. with the carnation spice notes. Despite Derby's similarity to this earlier concoction of 1933, Sous Le Vent can hold its own. I am a devotee of Josephine Baker, for whom this was created, and I detect an immediate match of scent to personality. This is a very classy scent .. fresh, spicy and herbal .. and I'm sure its distinction highlighted Miss Baker's own unique sensuality. To my nose, the burst of tarragon, basil and verbena hit first, creating a citrus and herbal blast that is cool and refreshing. The carnation takes center stage and the rest of the ingredients surround it with warmth. The result: citrus, spicy fougere .. "

Launched in 1933, Sous le Vent by Guerlain is a Chypre Floral fragrance for women. The nose behind this fragrance is Jacques Guerlain. Josephine Baker was known to wear this fragrance ..

Top notes are Lavender, Tarragon, Basil, Myrtle, Verbena, and Bergamot
Heart notes are Oak Moss, Green Notes, Jasmine, Ylang Ylang, Tiare, and Carnation
Base notes are Orris, Galbanum, Peru Balsam, Sandalwood, and Woods

Offered here is an opportunity to buy a beautiful pristine flacon of Sous le Vent in the Eau de Toilette version. It has never been used and is still absolutely full. No box. This style of label dates to the 1950's. Super rare!!