The house
Guerlain was founded in 1828 in Paris (France) by Pierre-Francois Pascal Guerlain as an apothecary and perfumer on the Rue de Rivoli. The house rapidly established itself as the premier French court perfumer, receiving appointments from Empress Eugenie and Napoleon III. It is one of the oldest continuously operating perfume houses in France.
Four generations of the Guerlain family presided over the creative direction: Pierre-Francois, Aime, Jacques, and Jean-Paul Guerlain. Jacques Guerlain created the core of the classical Guerlain catalogue, signing L'Heure Bleue, Mitsouko and Shalimar, among others. Jean-Paul Guerlain continued the in-house direction until the 1990s and early 2000s. Guerlain was acquired by LVMH in 1994.
On Osmetheca, Guerlain is represented by nine fragrances: Jicky (1889) by Aime Guerlain, L'Heure Bleue (1912), Mitsouko (1919) and Shalimar (1925) by Jacques Guerlain, Vetiver (1959) by Jean-Paul Guerlain, and four entries from the L'Art et la Matière haute perfumery collection — Cuir Beluga (2005) by Olivier Polge, Angelique Noire (2005) by Daniela Andrier, Neroli Outrenoir (2016) by Thierry Wasser and Delphine Jelk, and Musc Outreblanc (2022) by Delphine Jelk. Together these compositions document the arc from the founding fougere-lavender and chypre identity to the contemporary haute perfumery direction.
Perfumes on Osmetheca
The following Guerlain fragrances are documented with full profiles on Osmetheca. Each entry includes launch year, perfumer attribution and olfactive family.
| Year | Perfume | Perfumer | Olfactive family |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1889 | Jicky | Aime Guerlain | Fougere lavender coumarin civet |
| 1912 | L'Heure Bleue | Jacques Guerlain | Floral powdery heliotrope iris |
| 1919 | Mitsouko | Jacques Guerlain | Chypre fruity peach oakmoss |
| 1925 | Shalimar | Jacques Guerlain | Oriental vanilla citrus musk |
| 1959 | Vetiver | Jean-Paul Guerlain | Woody earthy vetiver citrus |
| 2005 | Cuir Beluga | Olivier Polge | Leather powdery (L'Art et la Matière) |
| 2005 | Angelique Noire | Daniela Andrier | Oriental floral (L'Art et la Matière) |
| 2016 | Neroli Outrenoir | Thierry Wasser, Delphine Jelk | Citrus aromatic (L'Art et la Matière) |
| 2022 | Musc Outreblanc | Delphine Jelk | Floral woody musk (L'Art et la Matière) |