Aloha Sprinklerinos,
Do you remember back in May when I talked about
these beautiful Guerlain products? I said that I would be sure to review more of them as and when I had given them a fair trial and now is that time. Hurrah for standing by promises.
For the last few weeks I have pushed my other fragrances to one side and have been focusing my efforts on the Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire Eau de Toilette and have been thoroughly enjoying it.
Today I sat down to do some research to see what precisely the scents are within it and what key notes I should tell you about. On visiting the
official Guerlain site I found that the fragrance was described as 'floral' and on visiting
John Lewis, I learnt that the fragrance was 'fruity'. Quite a difference and quite unhelpful.
Fortunately
Boots came up trumps and told me that this perfume has notes of roses, jasmine, orange blossom, white amber, cherry, blackcurrant and apple. With a mixture of floral and fruit, I can see where Guerlain and John Lewis were heading.
If I were to describe this myself, I probably wouldn't clearly identify the ingredients (who really does say, 'Mmmm smells just like white amber to me!'??) but I would agree with the fruity-floral hybrid. I find the scent to be elegant, initially fruity and over time fading to floral, not girlish but not something your mother/aunt would wear. Essentially, I would say this scent is perfect for the 20something girl on the go who wants a perfume that will last all day and say, 'I'm a sweet, pretty smelling human, but I'm not a ditz, I know what I'm about'. Yes, fragrances talk now.
Ranging from £36-£70 depending on size (30ml-£36, 50ml-£50, 100ml-£70) this is not a 'high street' fragrance but I believe it's worth the cost for the quality you are given. I would say this is something you would treat yourself to if you were celebrating (I'm always celebrating things haha) or would make a really lovely present for a friend or relative. I'm actually going to put this on my list for 'Gifts to give the girls when their birthday's come round'. No frantically searching round shopping centres for me!
Aside from the fact that this perfume is an absolute delight to look at (shell pink liquid in the gorgeous dainty bottle seriously floats my boat) and wear, I had another reason to be so excited to use a Guerlain scent.
An exciting story.
My Grandma Peggy is in her mid 80's now and grew up in London during the WW2 blitz. She worked as a office girl in
Whitehall where she did war administration and paperwork in the Department of Air Ministry. She says she was about 19 at the time.
One day a handsome Air Commander and two Squadron Leaders were seconded to her office. One of them, Stan Hope Joel, was a millionaire and on one of his tour of duty trips to France, he visited Paris and bought my Grandma a huge bottle of Guerlain perfume and smuggled it back to London for her. I'm told it was called 'Liu'.
Baring in mind this was the blitz and everything from sugar to hem lines was rationed, this would have been an absolutely amazing treat. Grandma says she kept the bottle for years and when Grandad feels up to it he'll have a look and see if it's still in the attic.
I know everyone does, but I love my Grandma so much. I wish she would agree to appear on camera!
I don't know about you but I thought that story was so wonderful it couldn't not be shared.
As always, what do you think? I would love to see discussions in the comments about whether £36-£70 is a lot for perfume, what you are coveting at the moment and if you have any amazing family stories about beauty products like mine? I'm really lucky on this blog that you are all so active in the comments so I look forward to chatting with you.
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