Guerlain Apres L’Ondee, Nahema & Liu Review Of Current Versions – 2022

It was time to view the past through the prism of the present over on YouTube the other day. For episode 291 of Love At First Scent, I turned my attention to three Guerlain classics that were recently re-issued in the much-loved gendarme bottle: Apres L’Ondee (Jacques Guerlain; 1906), Liu (Jacques Guerlain; 1929) and Nahema (Jean-Paul Guerlain; 1979). Here’s a link to the video: Guerlain Apres L’Ondee, Liu and Nahema review of current versions.

Nothing lasts forever. But we can fight to keep some things with us for as long as possible. And I’d imagine that a combative spirit is alive and well at Guerlain. Let’s face it, the brand has a near-impossible job on its hands: dealing with the pressure to produce new work that will capture the attention (and attract the pennies) of younger customers who don’t appear to be all that interested in perfume; maintaining a reputation that has always been rightly distinct from that of Chanel, Dior et al; functioning within the giant machine that is LVMH; competing with brands that enjoy much more generous marketing budgets; and, of course, sustaining the quality and relevance of its past work, which just happens to feature some of the greatest scents ever made.

As far as the final point is concerned, on the strength of these three releases, Thierry Wasser and his team are serving us very well indeed. Apres L’Ondee is instantly recognisable with its haunting sweep of violet, iris and almond (although I wonder if a slight shift in the balance of the trio has made the whole a touch less melancholy, compared to the version we had just prior to the current one.) Nahema is as fiery, impassioned and black-hole-inexorable as it has been in recent years — still one of the most pulse-quickening roses of all time. And although I was never familiar with the original Liu, this incarnation convincingly speaks of the past, with its staunchly 1920s, diamond-brooch-in-the-moonlight blend of aldehydes, florals and musks. Thank goodness we still have them. Thank goodness Guerlain continue to do battle with whatever forces may be trying to do away with them.

Persolaise

[Guerlain Apres L’Ondee, Nahema and Liu reviews based on samples provided by the brand in 2022.]

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