Heritage
The Lancôme brand began with perfumery, or rather with five fragrances that its creator Armand Petitjean presented at the Brussels exhibition. They were accepted with a bang - the line received two gold medals at once: for the design of the bottle and the very content of the flasks. No one has succeeded in repeating Monsieur Petitjean's success at the exhibition, and the new Grand Cru line is a tribute to his skill. After a thorough study, it seems that the modern leadership of Lancôme, if they did not want to break the record, then certainly did not want to yield to any of the parameters. For example, it was decided to make not five, but six fragrances even.
Arman Petitjean
Expertise
Each of the six fragrances was at the mercy of one perfumer - the best "noses" in the world - Dominique Ropion, Olivier Guillotin, Shimal Maisondew, Ilias Ermenides, Christophe Reynaud and Fabrice Pellegrin - received a complete blank check for the choice of ingredients and composition. Pellegrin, for example, was finally lucky to work with oud: despite years of cooperation with niche brands, he had not been able to do it before.
Fabrice Pellegrin, Shimala Macondue and Dominique Ropion
And Olivier Guillotin made the fragrance inspired by a Provencal dessert: the idea came to him when he ate crème brulee sprinkled with lavender flowers. The only condition was to observe the assembly technique, spied on by winemakers, when the best grape varieties from the most fertile Grand Cru lands are combined with each other to create truly exquisite bouquets. (Not to be confused with a blend, professionals assure that this is like comparing the work of an artist and a painter).
Olivier Guillotin, Ilias Ermenides and Christophe Reynaud
Scent
Ask why buy the entire line? We answer: the aromas (even ouds) are very different from each other, and it is extremely difficult to choose one you like. So do not waste your time, but rather take a closer look at the compositions.
Jasmins Marzipane is harvested from two types of jasmine - Dominique Ropion took the barely blooming flowers of the first harvest and added a late harvest to them: already saturated with the sun, thicker and more piquant. And to make the scent even more interesting, a note of marzipan appeared in it. This, of course, does not exist in nature, but an experienced Frenchman was able to transfer it through sandalwood, which was infused for six months under certain conditions.
Lavandes Trianon is composed of different varieties of lavender. Olivier Guillotin mixed fresh alpine lavender with the absolute of flowers collected in the south of France, already warmed up, pollinated, with a thicker, even balsamic aroma. And the traditionally masculine note sounded much more multifaceted: it also opens up very beautifully on female skin.
The creator of Tubéreuses Castane took as a basis tuberose, a night flower with aphrodisiac properties: they say that in the Middle Ages, young girls were forbidden to visit the gardens where she grows - they could forget about honor and part with innocence in the company of the first comer. But Shimala Maysondue was not afraid to add two notes at once to the fragrance, personifying the magic of the night: a transparent and light distillate (the petals for it are collected late in the evening, while the buds are not yet open) and a sensual, captivating absolute (for tuberose at the peak of flowering you need to go after midnight) … And to remind of autumn Paris, Maisondew added a unique note of roasted chestnut to the composition.
L'Autre Ôud is a blende fragrance. Despite the word “oud” in the name, the ingredient itself is not included. The joker Christophe Reynaud imitated it by putting together 17 different wood components to make it really deep. To make the scent even more versatile and sophisticated, the perfumer added notes of myrrh, papyrus and smoky rose.
For the Ôud Bouquet, Fabrice Pellegrin used a 20-year-old agarwood to which he added guaiac wood (so dense it sinks in water), May rose, vanilla and praline, which soften the composition.
And finally, Ôud Ambroisie is the most intoxicating of the six. Ilias Ermenides, a Frenchman of Greek descent, created an aroma somewhat reminiscent of the smell of a wooden barrel in which wine must was stored. For this, he also took oud from a 20-year-old tree, but supplemented it with notes of cedar, honey and rose.
By the way, you need the entire collection not only to avoid the pangs of choice: you can combine scents with each other. For example, Jasmins Marzipane sounds good with Tubéreuses Castane, which in turn can be mixed with Ôud Ambroisie. And L'Autre Ôud is easy to wear with Lavandes Trianon or Ôud Bouquet.
Packaging
In order for the appearance of the perfumes to match their precious content, they also seriously worked on the bottles. By tradition, the flask itself is the work of Katerina Krunas. But its decoration was entrusted to the designers Alex & Marine, known for their unusual and unusually detailed wall painting. The golden canvas created by them balances the weight of the glass with a graceful mesh pattern and clearly reveals the inner world of the fragrance.
Performance
The Grand Cru collection is sold at all major points of sale, including GUM, but it is best to shop at TSUM. It is here that the perfume sommelier Viktor Arbatsky is now working, ready to tell a lot of interesting things not only about the fragrances themselves, but also about the ingredients included in the composition (in particular, the stories and legends associated with them), perfumers, the technique of assemblage and the Lancôme heritage in general. His responsibilities also include helping you choose a scent, in case you are not ready for the entire collection yet: by asking a few questions, he will analyze you, your lifestyle, tastes and habits in order to find the perfect composition. Plus: a lesson on the correct application of fragrances at different times of the day or a master class on the correct mixing of perfumes.>