Shalimar Guerlain 1937 Eau de Cologne

At last! The turbulent days are over, the days before the days, the days between the days, the festive days themselves and now almost the days after the days. The anticipation was still quite nice, but the celebrations themselves are now too hectic, too loud, too many opinions, considerations and changes to the usual daily routine. The world around her is changing fast, too fast for her and even faster than before. This is not only because she is already old and tapered. She also no longer wants to be part of everything. Her pale, gray hair hangs straggly over a face full of wrinkles and deep furrows that leave traces of a long life too often and too clearly. Nor does it make her any happier that she surely shares her fate with thousands of other women. Her courage to face life, her desire for new things and her happiness seem to be buried in the past.

Now she has retreated back into her own little world in her room and looks at her Christmas presents, all still neatly wrapped and unopened. Even though everyone was shouting under the tree, unpack, unpack, please unpack, she saved this personal moment for later, as always. Now there is peace, now there is silence and she spied the gift from her great-granddaughter. This one is her favorite of all, because she reminds her of her own youth with her love of dancing and rockabilly parties. As an attentive, interested listener, she is also interested in her old stories and the greying great-grandmother is happy to oblige. The stories and reminiscing about distant memories make her feel younger and these hours are now some of the few happy moments in her life.

Putting aside the card attached to the gift, she opens the small parcel and a pretty bottle of Guerlain's Shalimar Cologne smiles in her face. Shalimar is her perfume! Even as a young girl, she was enthusiastic about this dry, vanilla floral fragrance, which made her feel very grown-up at the time. Her friendly nature, petticoats, pretty, wide skirts and, of course, her fragrance made her the center of attention on the dance floor and a popular choice at every party. Her old heart leaps a little at these thoughts.

However, she did not know the Shalimar cologne. But the first spray shows that it is Shalimar. This light yet intense Shalimar aroma won her over immediately. As in the original EdT, the fragrance is quite ladylike and yet very girly in its lightness. The aroma of the striking floral blend captivates with its familiar charm, but also appears very youthful and fresh. Without overwhelming the scent of the floral blend, a well-balanced, warm vanilla soon settles over the bouquet, leaving room for slightly smoky facets and a hint of wild leather. Some sweetish melting in the style of lip gloss counterbalances this with a balsamic note. The vanilla and tonka bean form a divinely fragrant combination that carries the heavenly, warm and spicy floral arrangement through a gently smoky, slightly sweet powder mist as if on hands. Just as in the original EdT, the fragrance of this composition comes together in the finale to create a wonderfully fragrant, harmonious whole.

The basic structure of the scent of Shalimar is easily comparable in the cologne, the EdT and the EdP. The cologne impresses above all with its lightness, despite the retained intense fragrance, which more than compensates for the lack of the usual heaviness and depth with fresh liveliness, agility and vitality. The friendly simplicity makes the cologne more acceptable for wider use and also very seductive in a slightly different way to the original.

The old lady had a few tears running down her wrinkled face, but her eyes were shining. The reason was not the wonderfully fragrant cologne that now filled her room, nor the warming thoughts with which the scent transported her back to her passionate youth. Her hands trembled a little as she read the card enclosed with the gift once again, "For my grandma who is young at heart, a light fragrance of memories. Your grateful listener".

Many thanks and all the best for you too in the new year!