Guerlain Muguet (2009): A One-Day Limited Edition, Available on April 30th {Perfume Review} + A Prize Drawing

Like each year, Guerlain releases its anniversary Muguet (Lily of the Valley) perfume (see the 2006 edition). Tomorrow April 30th, you will be able to discover the 2009 version in the Guerlain boutiques worldwide, but for just one day. Guerlain traditionally releases a muguet scent each year in anticipation of the 1st of May when sprigs of muguet are exchanged as charming tokens of spring renewal and good luck in France. As if mimicking the ephemeral quality of the fragile muguet scent which is both strong and little-lasting over the days, the Guerlain Muguet is like a bouquet of lily of the valleys to be enjoyed for a short span of time. Subtitled "Un Jour, Un Parfum"(One Day, One Perfume), the one-day launch is an event charged with both traditional symbolism and luxury acumen.

How It Wafts

The opening of Muguet 2009 is quite literally and pleasantly soapy (it smells like a refined soap), almost bubbly like Badedas fizz, fresh, green (grassy), but at the same time contrasted with raspy and indolic, almost masculine jasmine notes. Soon a more dramatic sense of intoxication and amorous abandon of the senses momentarily concludes the opening stage.

This beginning I see as an olfactory shock meant to provoke an emotion in the smeller/wearer. It is a way of telling you, "see what I am capable of", but the perfume soon calms down.

Le Muguet by Guerlain immediately appears to be a stylized yet natural-smelling muguet.The stylization effect rests on both exaggerated traits and added-on ones. There is an enhanced indolic accord of honeyed lilac and muguet mingling with softer green and white floral notes and more angular, sharper leather and nail-polish notes surfacing from the base then overtaking the stage. This "violence" or tempest, in a bottle, soon recedes while the underlying, heavier floral notes remain of a raw, raspy, bold nature...

One can catch that more impolite facet of muguet, but rather fleetingly, when it is exhaling more powerfully before dying. In Guerlain Muguet, a stylization effect is created through the significant showcasing of a moment that one in everyday life might not have even noticed or only for a brief moment.

The whole of the composition is also blanketed by a creamy-white cashmere-like texture punctuated by lemon-scented dots, an added-on facet and a sensation evocative of chinchilla, angora, all things fluffy and white. This reference to a snowy-white impression is not completely arbitrary to my nose as muguet in its natural state offers a pure and icy-cold freshness, as expounded upon previously. The base of the perfume is creamy, white and animalic/indolic at the same time, without being powdery at all. Muguet by Guerlain is more like a crème de muguet than a crystal clear fountain as the old Diorissimo used to be.

The perfume offers affinities with Cruel Gardenia by Guerlain and Beige by Chanel in this soft creamy white floral quality that betrays a note of privileged comfort, suggestive of a silk worm cocoon. A final touch of watery floralcy in the longer drydown suddenly evokes the white aqueous floralcy of Fleur de Liane. The velvety facet even takes on a doughy, almost edible quality. It is not too long before the vision of a white chocolate ganache appears and one could easily imagine a shiny white chocolate bar scented with bergamot essence, iris, cacao, lilac and muguet which would taste the way it smells to the nose. The gustatory quality however appears in filigree rather than as a literal statement, like the beginning of an impression of a mouthful.

A clearer, more head-note-like greener, more dewy muguet accord emerges from the folds of whiteness after a while. Thanks to its modern perfumery persona the base of the scent is lifted by lighter, spring-like notes, anew, instead of sinking down for good. The muguet becomes all-natural smelling after having taken a detour through cloth material and subliminal gustatory textures, especially in its sillage effect, further away from the skin. It just smells of fresh muguet, like a green, dewy aura.

Muguet Eau de Toilette by Guerlain is all in all delightful, especially when it releases its lily-of-the-valley soul in full. It is also a very expensive little thing. A 60 ml bottle is priced at 250 Euros. But you also pay for the privilege of obtaining a very-limited edition perfume issued at only 785 copies. It is first and foremost a collector's item.

One can see a potential tension arising between the tastes of lovers of the modest lily of the valley scent and the luxurious Guerlain staging of Muguet. Yet, if you remember that Dior made muguet a sign of haute-couture luxury and that Diorissimo was a symbol of elegance for decades, then through this thread of cultural symbols, perhaps the scent of muguet can be convincingly construed as exclusive. Certainly the spiritual lightness of lily of the valley note which has deserted somewhat the new Diorissimo, can still be felt here, but as if covered up in part by a warm white fur stole, à la Guerlain.

Notes listed are: bergamot, lilac, muguet, jasmine, rose.

You can leave a comment to be entered in a prize drawing for two samples of Muguet by Guerlain (2009). Two winners will be selected by a random number generator (once I receive my decanting supplies!)

Une version française de ce texte est disponible sur Anthropologie du Parfum (il ne s'agit pas d'une traduction).

Previous Posts in Perfume Review & Musings:

Rochas Eau Sensuelle (2009): Simplified Rochas Signature

Chanel Cristalle Eau Verte (2009): Unfettered Flanker or The New Freshness of Magnolia

Christian Dior Escale a Pondichery (2009): Hedonistic Cologne

Posted by Marie-Helene Wagner on April 29, 2009 | Permalink

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Comments

I'm curious about this...anything by Guerlain is a must-try. I love that you say it's "delightful"!!!

Posted by: karin | April 29, 2009

Yes, it is lighthearted and delightful. I'd say that "delightful" is underrated, but a very nice aesthetic emotion to experience with a perfume. I think that the natural scent of muguet is delightful, like the laughter of a child.

Posted by: Marie-Helene Wagner | April 29, 2009

I have been sticking my nose in every lily of the valley I come across for the past week so I suppose I am craving something just like this. Although, as you say, an expensive little thing.

Posted by: JAntoinette | April 29, 2009

Lol is one of my favorite white flowers and this sounds so lovely. Please enter me in the draw. Thanks!!!

Posted by: ChantillyLace | April 29, 2009

I just recently discovered that muguet and lily of the valley were indeed the same thing. I think limited editions can be fun but this one is a bit too expensive for my taste.

Posted by: madlc | April 29, 2009

If I were in Paris...but I am not. Would love an opportunity to sample the Guerlain muguet.

Posted by: ScentScelf | April 29, 2009

I HAD THE 1999 VERSION OF MUGUET, THE BOTTLE WAS BEAUTIFUL, I DIDN'T LIKE THE SCENT THAT MUCH AND I SOLD IT AFTER A COUPLE OF YEARS OR SO. I WOULD LIKE TO TRY THIS ONE, ITSEEMS VERY PROMISING:)

Posted by: PERFUME MANIAC | April 29, 2009

Your description makes me wish I could buy it on the spot. Like Karin said, anything from Guerlain is a must-try.

Posted by: Ssy | April 29, 2009

I feel incredibly greedy asking to be entered in another draw (if my browser cooperated I just entered the Hilary Duff draw), but this year's edition of Muguet sounds so breathtakingly beautiful that I am compelled to ask that I be entered in the draw.

Posted by: Ninara Poll | April 29, 2009

This sounds very intereting. I would really like to try it. I adore Chanel Beige and am interested on how they compare, but 250 euro...WOW. I guess I'll just have to hope I win the drawing. Your description of lily of the valley covered in a warm white fur stole is wonderful! Thanks

Posted by: tara | April 29, 2009

This sound beautiful and perfect for the windy spring days we are having.
Please enter me in the draw.

Posted by: Janet in CA | April 30, 2009

JAntoinette,

Definitely, an expensive, precious little thing. It has very good diffusion and lasts into the next day despite the fact that it is billed as an eau de toilette. So, definitely also a good quality muguet. The Diorissimo is less expensive but does not last very well, in its new incarnation.