Guerlain Shalimar Philtre De Parfum Review – Thierry Wasser; 2020

Sometimes, I do as I’m told. When many of my viewers kept saying that, of all the Shalimar flankers out there, the one most worth checking out is Philtre De Parfum, I knew I had to treat to myself to a bottle. And of course, I had to unwrap it live during an episode of Love At First Scent. Here’s a link: Guerlain Shalimar Philtre De Parfum review. 

Let’s be clear, we probably don’t need another Shalimar flanker. In fact, strictly speaking, we don’t need any flankers at all. If anyone needs flankers, it’s the perfume brands that produce them, presumably because they see them as a means not just of generating direct income, but also of propping up the sales of the original composition. Having said that, it’s always interesting to see what can be done with a familiar tune, and how a perfumer believes it can be tweaked to suit modern tastes. 

In the case of Philtre (which, as I discovered, means ‘potion’) Wasser’s approach seems to have been to keep the messing to a minimum. The scent is recognisably Shalimar: bergamot, leather and amber are present and accounted for. But the iris is perhaps allowed to play a larger role (shades of Wasser’s own Shalimar Parfum Initial), the florals in the mid-section are gentler, and the hip-swaying weightiness has been toned down. In short, it’s probably the nearest thing the brand has given us to Mathilde Laurent’s much-missed Shalimar Eau Legere, with its winking, meringue-pie cheekiness. So, no, we don’t need it. But I’m very happy to have it. And I shall enjoy wearing it. 

Persolaise

[Guerlain Shalimar Philtre De Parfum review based on a sample of eau de parfum obtained by me in 2023.]

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