Houbigant - Quelques Fleurs Collection Privée - Essence Rare
Originally created in 1928 by Roure-Bertrand chemist Paul Schving, Essence Rare was Houbigant's riposte to the infamous Chanel No. 5, the first commercial perfume ever to use synthetics (aldehydes) to create an effervescent but deeply abstract floral blur, where it is difficult to distinguish one flower from another.
And here, legendary perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena lovingly re-creates Essence Rare, but really reinterprets it, making its gorgeous swirl of florals and aldehydes far clearer, more legible, and more subtle for the modern consumer. It is a romantic, powdery blur of jasmine, roses, ylang, and citrus, all lifted by a shower of lemony aldehydes, but it reads completely as a discreet, modern perfume that a young woman might wear comfortably. Simply beautiful.
Notes: mandarin, jasmine, rose, muguet, sandalwood, oakmoss, amber, vanilla, powder, iris
