Guerlain Homme L'Eau Boisée (2012): Much Ado about Vetiver & the New Art of Sourcing and Overdosing {New Perfume} {Men's Cologne}
Guerlain have launched a new flanker to the original Guerlain Homme and later, Homme L'Eau, called Homme L'Eau Boisée. The composition, signed by in-house perfumer Thierry Wasser, is inspired by a specific quality of vetiver found in Southern India. Guerlain decided to cultivate the varietal after discovering it, hoping to introduce a new variation for our appreciation of vetiver...
The fragrance is a fresh and woody take, with an overdose of vetiver.
Interestingly, Wasser seems lately to have turned to overdosing his perfumes quasi systematically in search for a signature effect, but also in all likelihood as a result of his worldwide peregrinations in his quest for superlative raw perfumery materials. As we pointed out earlier, it is a fair attempt at approaching perfume from the specialized angle of the perfumer. The raw materiality of beautiful ingredients is making a comeback.
This is a trend that is going to be encouraged by three factors at least: 1) luxury perfume houses are going to further compete between themselves in the search for highly qualitative materials. The arrival of Louis Vuitton and Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud in hot pursuit of those will ensure that the sourcing of natural ingredients is going to be taken very seriously by everyone. 2) It is one of the available strategies for luxury perfume brands, which can thus access the higher spheres of selectivity for which there is a push, and to distinguish themselves from democratic perfumery by relying on extraordinary harvests. 3) There is a wider context of the rise in interest for natural and organic perfumery which will encourage that direction as well.
Shalimar Parfum Initial L'Eau features an overdose of Calabrian bergamot; La (nouvelle) Petite Robe Noire has an overdose of dark cherry; and Homme L'Eau Boisée confirms this penchant, with an acknowledged overdose of vetiver.
"He encountered a new kind of vetiver essence on the highlands overlooking the city of Coimbatore. Those of Java and Haïti were already known, but that of India was a first... It was therefore the opportunity to bring a new activity to the local population based on a rational and eco-friendly culture, that enabled Guerlain to use this exceptional new type of vetiver.
In Guerlain Homme L’Eau Boisée, it reveals itself powerful and of the utmost chic."
There is further green eco-consciousness thrown in with the cap made out of ash wood, sourced from sustainably managed European forests.
Fragrance notes: Bergamot, green lime, mint, grapefruit, Indian vetiver.
Available in 125 ml Eau de Toilette.
