Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Nerolia Vetiver Review – Thierry Wasser & Delphine Jelk; 2022

Daffodils, Easter eggs and a new Aqua Allegoria — three signs that spring is on its way. But this year, Guerlain’s ‘simpler’, two-accord range of scents comes to us with several changes, including refillable bottles and a commitment to more sustainable production practices. The first scent to be launched under this tweaked banner is Thierry Wasser and Delphine Jelk’s Nerolia Vetiver, which I reviewed over on YouTube the other day. Here’s a link to the video: Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Nerolia Vetiver review.

A commendable feature of the Aqua Allegoria collection has always been its ephemeral nature. If one of the scents hasn’t been especially successful, then discontinuing it hasn’t come across as a damaging loss for the brand. Everyone involved – customers included – knows that some AAs may be here to stay for a long time, whereas others may not make it beyond a single season. And it’s this fleeting quality that has had the paradoxical effect of freeing the brand to try out quirkier, more surprising ideas than those it might have dared in its signature fragrances.

But is this weightlessness – this charming refusal to be tied down by long-term commitments – going to last? With the new bottles, new advertising campaign and new, eco-conscious sensibility we also have, surprise surprise, a new price point. In the UK, the smaller, 75 ml bottle of Nerolia Vetiver will set you back £83, while the 125 ml version comes in at an eyebrow-raising £111. (Incidentally, the 200 ml refill costs £133.) Suddenly, the AAs don’t feel like the budget-friendly, great-for-an-impulse-buy scents they were considered to be not very long ago. It’ll be interesting to watch whether the collection’s new seriousness will be reflected in its olfactory profile.

All of that aside, Nerolia Vetiver is one of the more compelling Aqua Allegorias of recent years, and certainly bodes well for the future. The range’s perfumes have always been at their most effective not when they’ve taken a cutesy approach to nature (as in the case of some of the recent, juvenile florals) but when they’ve hinted at the sharpness, edginess and oddness that the great outdoors has to offer (see: Herba Fresca, Pamplelune and Bergamote Calabria).

Nerolia Vetiver falls into the latter camp, glorifying in the heated, summery beauty of its white floral note, while allowing it to be darkened through the subtle use of the vetivert. Wearing it feels like standing at a safe vantage point, basking in the heat of an August sun, while in the distance, waves crash against tall, black cliffs. A hint of danger amidst a vista of serene prettiness.

Persolaise

[Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Nerolia Vetiver review based on a sample provided by the brand in 2022.]

—
If you’ve enjoyed this post, please consider supporting my work
by ‘buying me a coffee’ using the panel below.
Thanks very much indeed.

—