Perfume Review: Guerlain Quand Vient La Pluie...
 ...the fragrance that resurrected my interest in Guerlain, brought upon my love for Apres L'Ondee and is overall one of the most delightful recent discoveries of mine. I will be forever grateful to a fellow perfume lover who introduced me to it. It smelled so charming on her, a delicate sillage that is always there and never overwhelming, a wonderfully feminine, transluscent veil of a scent.Created in 2007 by Thierry Wasser, who, as we all know by now, has since become the new Guerlain in-house perfumer, Quand Vient La Pluie combines, like Iris Ganache, another Wasser's creation for Guerlain, ingredients that seemingly shouldn't go together but do: gentle, ethereal flowers and gourmand notes. In Quand Vient, the fragile, spring-like accord of heliotrope, violet and jasmine is paired with a praline-patchouli mix that has a deliciously gingerbread-like undertone. The effect is... Apres L'Ondee meets Une Crime Exotique. The edible notes breathe life into the melancholic beauty of the flowers, and the latter turn the sweet base into a very sophisticated skin scent. When a scent is as delicious as this, I usually feel that I am ready to bite my wrist. In the case of Quand Vient La Pluie, I am not sure whether to bite it or to reverently kiss it. Yes, it is expensive, and yes, the bottles are inexplicable. But wearing it makes me happy, and that is perhaps the highest praise one can bestow upon a perfume. Labels: Guerlain |
posted by Marina |
12:03 AM
25 Comments:
I purchased a generous split with a friend...
It is glorious.
I treasure it, like a museum piece.
When it's gone, it's gone....
Ida,
I know :-( I need to plan a split too, before it's too late.
Apres L'Ondee meets Une Crime Exotique sounds... awful... I'm sorry, I liked neither of them - I can no longer recall why I disliked Apres l'Ondee so violently (probably because it's a "cold" and "clean" and "wet" scent, which rarely agree with me, although En Passant is an exception) but Une Crime Exotique smelled like super-sweet gingerbread dough... Well, good for me, I don't have to hunt this gem down...
T,
Then you just saved yourself a significant amount of money :-)
Well, it IS beautiful, but (whining) let's put away the giant cask of heliotrope for awhile and get them to do something entirely different! That is NOT a fruity floral (I know, be careful what you wish for...)
March,
I think heliotrope "fits" Guerlain, "suit" them.
Wait, you are asking for a fruity-floral?! :-)
I went back to smell this the other day, after having learned the news about Thierry Wasser. I found it to be an extremely "legible" perfume: my nose seemed to function like a chromatograph with it, ticking off the notes. Heliotrope, check; ionones, check; etc. It's gourmand and cold at the same time, which seems to be Wasser's strong suit at Guerlain's.
Denyse,
I love that contrast of cold and yummy :-)
I love the fragrance, but the bottle... Inexplicable is a very nice way of putting it. I found it rather horrid, like a cheap Soviet era crystal decoration. :)
Still, the scent made me forgive Guerlain for this lack of judgement.
Vika
No, no (screams in horror)!! I could tell how unclear my msg was ... what I meant was, I wanted something different from Guerlain than the powdery thing, but NOT a fruity floral, that won't be a change in a good direction. How about ... leather? Something along the lines of Vol de Nuit? Mmmmmm ... a girl can dream.
Vika,
Soviet era decoration, LOL! True!
March,
I will something I never expected I'd say...I don't want leather. There. I want flowers. Powdery, dainty flowers :-)
How does it compare to L'Heure Bleue
Arwen
Arwen,
The two are very different, hard to even compare. Quand is a day to L'Heure's night.
Thank you Colombina,
I guess every time I think about Apre l'onde, somehow I think about L'Heure Bleue (my favorite Guerlain). To me L'Heure Bleue is a grown up, sophisticated version of Apre L'Onde (no offense to anybody.
I guess I will have to try QVLP.
Arwen
Arwen,
QVLP is further removed from L'Heure, imho.
Well, QVLP sounds very appealing to me: "gentle, ethereal flowers and gourmand notes", with a slightly melancholic air... Yes, please!
Arwen, I still can't decide which I prefer: Apres L'Ondee or L'Heure Bleue, but they're definitely close sisters. :-)
Emma
Emma,
I think I prefer Apres just a tiny bit more, but I have to always have both.
I am excited about the future for Guerlain. At first I was not too crazy about Wasser going to Guerlain because all I could think of was Dior Addict, which does not agree with me, but now I am hopeful. QVLP sounds lovely. Time to get a sample!
Arwen
Arwen,
I am excited too! :-)
Believe it or not, I have never smelled this. I guess I must (when I am in NY? Is it still there?) I think I might register it as "too sweet" (I certainly feel that way about Une Crime), but I should try it anyway.
The talk of combining floral and gourmand notes reminds me of the comments I've read about SacreBleu by Parfums de Nicolai. It sounds rather gorgeous, (I'm still a newbie and so can't adore the chypres!) but I've not tried it (yet), and I wondered what you think of it Colombina/Marina, and of Parfums de Nicolai in general? I know you've mentioned it a few times when discussing other perfumes, but I'd like to know more.... Just an idea, or perhaps more of a plea :-) Emma
Judith,
It is not that sweet, really. I believe they still have it at BG.
Emma,
I think I only reviewed Eau Turquoise and New York before, I should do more posts on PdN, for sure.
Sacrebleu is a very rich, creamy floral oriental (I'd classify it as that). Too rich for me, actually. It wears me not the other way round. But there is no denying that it is absolutely stunning.
Thanks, Colombina :) I think I will try a sample from LuckyScent, just for interest, as some people adore it with a passion. Emma
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