A COLLECTION THAT INSPIRES AN ODE TO THE EAST
The marvellous century-long love story between Guerlain and the East continues. Launched with Santal Royal, the Absolus d’Orient collection celebrates emblematic raw materials and highlights the unbridled love they inspire among Guerlain’s House perfumers, preserving the link that has been created between Guerlain and the East, the legendary ancestral birthplace of perfumery. As much an olfactory homage to the East as an invitation to join the most exquisite of journeys, this collection celebrates a universe where rich notes, bold scent and opulent materials meet. Each perfume in the collection conjures a sumptuous and enchanting world that leaves a vibrant memory imprinted on the skin.
EPICES EXQUISES, AN EXPLOSION OF CONTRASTING SPICES
TAKING INSPIRATION FROM THE MOST BEAUTIFUL NOTES IN ORIENTAL FRAGRANCE…
… with Épices Exquises Guerlain Master Perfumer Thierry Wasser enhances the contrasts between precious spices to create an olfactory chiaroscuro that awakens the senses. At the heart of this “woody, spicy, smoky” scent lies the mysterious and enchanting aura of an olfactory memory that has left its mark on Thierry Wasser’s memory and imagination.
Captured and bottled by the perfumer, Épices Exquises represents the irresistible essence of an Oriental fragrance: the spicy aroma of cardamom coffee. “With Épices Exquises I wanted to re-transcribe the surprising scent of the irresistibly spicy cardamom coffee I’m given every time I visit the Middle East. This coffee’s unique blend of spices fills my memory with deliciously contrasting sensations: at the top, fresh accents of cardamom mingle with a warm, peppery, sensual base. It’s an intoxicating fragrance.”
For Delphine Jelk, the house perfumer who contributed to the creation of this latest opus, Épices Exquises is “a creation that breathes both warmth and coolness, as the freshness of cardamom spices and pink pepper come into contact with fiery black pepper for a woody, smoky scent with oud and patchouli notes.”
Like an intoxicating waft of coffee, Épices Exquises brings together a warm, full-bodied and sensual base with tinges of black pepper, woody notes of oud, patchouli and sandalwood and refreshing facets that are subtly overdosed with cardamom, notes of pink pepper and fresh green angelica.
Together, the sublimely surprising contrast between warmth and freshness and the explosion of noble spices leave an exquisite scent on the skin.
AN ICONIC BOTTLE WITH ADDED OPULENCE AND SHIMMER
DISPLAYED ACROSS THE EPICES EXQUISES BOTTLE, BRONZE TONES EVOKE THE WARMTH OF SUN-BAKED SPICES.
Ochre shades that echo desert sand dunes adorn the sophisticated label ornamentation and dress the bottle with a warm elegant shimmer all the way up to the tie that adorns the bottle’s legendary cap.
This year, Absolus d’Orient comes in an even more precious gemlike package than ever as the iconic bottle comes illuminated with a strikingly sophisticated translucent lacquer effect. Each of the fragrances in the collection showcases its own transparent colour that evokes the riches of the East.
GUERLAIN AND TAREK BENAOUM: A RICH ARTISTIC COLLABORATION
SITTING AT THE CROSSROADS OF GRAFFITI ART AND CALLIGRAPHY, TAREK BENAOUM’S WORK BREAKS FREE FROM CALLIGRAPHY’S TRADITIONAL CODES TO FORGE A DECORATIVE MEDIUM OF ITS OWN.
Using quotes, fragments of words and aphorisms from a wide array of sources — from Jack Kerouac to the Lebanese poet Adonis — Tarek Benaoum’s work is inseparable from the time and place of its creation. From small pieces of artwork to huge city murals found in Paris, Los Angeles and Singapore; spray paint to brushwork, Tarek Benaoum strings together and layers words and letters, elongating and reshaping them into a flowing script which, set free from all linguistic imperatives, allows each individual’s own imagination to reign.
For 2022, Tarek Benaoum’s calligraphy adorns the Absolus d’Orient collection again with his reinterpretation of Guerlain’s iconic double G. Drawing inspiration from the new Épices Exquises fragrance, the house’s emblem appears illuminated with gold and ochre tones. Reinvented, the double G evokes a shimmering gust of wind sweeping across the desert dunes to transport us into an opulent and mysterious imaginary realm.