A BIT ABOUT ANGÉLIQUE NOIRE Angélique Noire was part of the first trio of LArt & la Matière perfumes. Dedicated to an emphasis on raw materials, these scents are Guerlains answer to the niche trend in perfumery, and the first ones were officially signed by various outside perfumers under supervision of Guerlains then artistic director, Sylvaine Delacourte. Niche perfumery is characterised by very small businesses and a deliberate avoidance of massive appeal, targeted at the discerning few, but the concept has been somewhat diluted since most major brands nowadays offer a niche line. A niche perfume should above all be simple and unadorned in structure and not too rounded and easy to wear, which in essence is the exact opposite of the Guerlain philosophy and signature. Guerlain solved this dilemma by incorporating a gourmand element in the LArt & la Matière fragrances all the while maintaining a simple composition. This, both the gourmand and simplicity aspect, was particularly true of Angélique Noire — so much so that Luca Turin in his review denounced it as being “banal” and “something put together in a hurry”. Created by Daniela Andrier, Angélique Noire was what Guerlain terms, somewhat paradoxically, a fresh vanilla. That a vanilla fragrance can be worked into something refreshing we already know from Eau de Shalimar and Metallica. In Angélique Noire, part of the freshness came from angelica, an aromatic plant whose seeds and root contain oils that smell herbal, fruity, peppery and anise-like. Dried angelica seeds have a black-brown colour which may explain the name of the perfume. The other fresh element was a pear note, a cool, fruity scent of ripe pear of the sort we got in the first Terracotta fragrance, Voile dÉté. The mix of angelica, pear and bergamot achieved a crunchy, slightly bitter effect which was completely contrasted by the gourmand drydown, with rich, warm, oily notes of jasmine, caraway, cedarwood and vanilla. Guerlain called the composition an olfactive big bang, and it surely was big, glossy and sweet. Probably it would have been too much, like a fruit jam, if sandalwood had been used, but with the dryness of cedar the sweetness of the rest was tempered so that even a gourmand-loving man could wear Angélique Noire. The striking contrast between the crunchy top notes and the vanillic base recalled Jean-Paul Guerlains perfume Chamade, whose evaporation curve is considered one of perfumerys longest and most exceptional. Angélique Noire may not be in the same league, not as refined or balanced, more rushed and more straightforwardly gourmand, but those who admire Chamade, yet find it too ladylike, might enjoy Angélique Noire as a delicious fragrance that is, well, easy to wear. Read more below.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 06:30:02 +0000
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