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Top Review
Even Guerlain Can Do Barbershop!
At first, I thought this must be a joke, a bad one at that. A somewhat inflated and old-fashioned Cologne scent next to heavyweights like ‘Derby’ and ‘Chamade pour Homme’ - same wannabe-noble packaging, same indisputable price segment?!
Does Guerlain really mean this seriously? Out with ‘Arsène Lupin’ and ‘L’âme d’un héros’ and in with ‘Le Frenchy’ into this strangely marginal and overpriced series?!
I fear they do mean it seriously.
And after multiple tests, I must admit, it’s okay like this.
Not that the two mentioned scents have disappeared is okay, nor the unsightly wooden frame bottle, certainly not the €212 they are asking for it - all of that is not okay.
But the scent is good, very good!
‘Le Frenchy’ is now the third Guerlain take on ‘Verveine’ (Verbena, Lemon Verbena). First Aimé Guerlain, then Jean-Paul Guerlain, and now Thierry Wasser. I cannot judge which parts of the old formulas have flowed into the new; I don’t know the old scents. However, the characteristic notes suggest that they must have been typical Cologne scents with fleeting citrus components, in this case mainly the lemon verbena.
And since lemon verbena has this peculiar sharp-herbaceous, almost metallic aftertaste (or after-smell), these old Colognes, like many other scents where verbena is involved, must have been shaped by this typical odor. You often find lemon verbena in old men’s fragrances, especially those from the post-war period: in ‘Moustache’ by Rochas for example, or in ‘Monsieur de Givenchy’ and Chanel’s ‘Pour Monsieur’.
In ‘Le Frenchy’, it’s making a comeback - but of course not alone.
Basically, there are two scent concepts that merge here in a very successful way: the well-known and ancient concept of a classic Cologne, and the comparatively young one of an aromatic Fougère, as besides the aforementioned verbena, it is mainly lavender, tonka, and sage that shape the scent.
All in all, this creates a wonderful mélange of a typical 70s Fougère à la ‘Azzaro pour Homme’ and the 50s verbena classic ‘Monsieur de Givenchy’.
What I mean is: an extremely powdery lavender-coumarin accord lays like mildew over the metallic-bitter sharpness of the verbena and bergamot, and over the aromatic sage in the heart of the scent.
This all-encompassing and caressing powderiness on one hand, and the bitter aromas on the other, form the tension arc in which the scent develops. While it doesn’t develop particularly dramatically - the powderiness remains, but in the base, it steadily becomes warmer and increasingly tends towards a classic Fougère, with green-mossy accents.
In this final phase, ‘Le Frenchy’ repeatedly reminds me of the old aftershave giants ‘Sir Irisch Moos’ and ‘Brut’ by Fabergé. And indeed, ‘Le Frenchy’ has a certain aftershave quality, however - and this must be acknowledged - in a sort of ‘de luxe’ version.
But anyone who believes that ‘Le Frenchy’ is a hopelessly old-fashioned scent, given all the backward references, is mistaken in my opinion. ‘Le Frenchy’ is as old-fashioned as ‘Boy’ by Chanel or ‘Invasion Barbare’ by MDCI, namely not at all. It certainly has a certain nostalgia factor and aims to have one, but Fougères, or barbershop scents, are currently ‘in’ again, and so efforts are being made everywhere to stamp the ‘new’ Fougères with a more modern touch despite all nostalgia.
Thus, Tom Ford, who was practically at the forefront of the 70s Fougère revival with 'Rive Gauche pour Homme', has just launched 3 new Fougères (unfortunately, one must call it that, as with such inflationary releases, one can hardly speak of ‘introduction’).
Guerlain, on the other hand, is content with a single new Fougère, unfortunately too hidden in that strangely hybrid ‘Les Parisiens’ series, which hardly any buyer will stumble upon, as it is rarely and usually rather carelessly presented.
In the Guerlain catalog, however, a small gap is still being closed. A gap that Guerlain has so far been unwilling to close, as they did not even perceive it as a gap. Jean-Paul Guerlain once boasted in his inimitable ignorance that ‘Jicky’ and ‘Mouchoir de Monsieur’ were the only Fougères that counted, the rest was for truck drivers.
Good that they have moved away from such snobbery.
After wearing it several times, I must say that ‘Le Frenchy’, contrary to my initial assumption, is indeed a scent with substance - it has character.
Next to ‘Derby’ and ‘Chamade pour Homme’, it can certainly hold its own, and in terms of longevity and presence, it is truly no lightweight, though also not a loudspeaker.
It is characterized more by understatement, while still being present.
Yes, I admit: a great scent, I like it!
However, I had to make a 180-degree turnaround to arrive at this judgment....
So be it.
To err is human, as they say.
Does Guerlain really mean this seriously? Out with ‘Arsène Lupin’ and ‘L’âme d’un héros’ and in with ‘Le Frenchy’ into this strangely marginal and overpriced series?!
I fear they do mean it seriously.
And after multiple tests, I must admit, it’s okay like this.
Not that the two mentioned scents have disappeared is okay, nor the unsightly wooden frame bottle, certainly not the €212 they are asking for it - all of that is not okay.
But the scent is good, very good!
‘Le Frenchy’ is now the third Guerlain take on ‘Verveine’ (Verbena, Lemon Verbena). First Aimé Guerlain, then Jean-Paul Guerlain, and now Thierry Wasser. I cannot judge which parts of the old formulas have flowed into the new; I don’t know the old scents. However, the characteristic notes suggest that they must have been typical Cologne scents with fleeting citrus components, in this case mainly the lemon verbena.
And since lemon verbena has this peculiar sharp-herbaceous, almost metallic aftertaste (or after-smell), these old Colognes, like many other scents where verbena is involved, must have been shaped by this typical odor. You often find lemon verbena in old men’s fragrances, especially those from the post-war period: in ‘Moustache’ by Rochas for example, or in ‘Monsieur de Givenchy’ and Chanel’s ‘Pour Monsieur’.
In ‘Le Frenchy’, it’s making a comeback - but of course not alone.
Basically, there are two scent concepts that merge here in a very successful way: the well-known and ancient concept of a classic Cologne, and the comparatively young one of an aromatic Fougère, as besides the aforementioned verbena, it is mainly lavender, tonka, and sage that shape the scent.
All in all, this creates a wonderful mélange of a typical 70s Fougère à la ‘Azzaro pour Homme’ and the 50s verbena classic ‘Monsieur de Givenchy’.
What I mean is: an extremely powdery lavender-coumarin accord lays like mildew over the metallic-bitter sharpness of the verbena and bergamot, and over the aromatic sage in the heart of the scent.
This all-encompassing and caressing powderiness on one hand, and the bitter aromas on the other, form the tension arc in which the scent develops. While it doesn’t develop particularly dramatically - the powderiness remains, but in the base, it steadily becomes warmer and increasingly tends towards a classic Fougère, with green-mossy accents.
In this final phase, ‘Le Frenchy’ repeatedly reminds me of the old aftershave giants ‘Sir Irisch Moos’ and ‘Brut’ by Fabergé. And indeed, ‘Le Frenchy’ has a certain aftershave quality, however - and this must be acknowledged - in a sort of ‘de luxe’ version.
But anyone who believes that ‘Le Frenchy’ is a hopelessly old-fashioned scent, given all the backward references, is mistaken in my opinion. ‘Le Frenchy’ is as old-fashioned as ‘Boy’ by Chanel or ‘Invasion Barbare’ by MDCI, namely not at all. It certainly has a certain nostalgia factor and aims to have one, but Fougères, or barbershop scents, are currently ‘in’ again, and so efforts are being made everywhere to stamp the ‘new’ Fougères with a more modern touch despite all nostalgia.
Thus, Tom Ford, who was practically at the forefront of the 70s Fougère revival with 'Rive Gauche pour Homme', has just launched 3 new Fougères (unfortunately, one must call it that, as with such inflationary releases, one can hardly speak of ‘introduction’).
Guerlain, on the other hand, is content with a single new Fougère, unfortunately too hidden in that strangely hybrid ‘Les Parisiens’ series, which hardly any buyer will stumble upon, as it is rarely and usually rather carelessly presented.
In the Guerlain catalog, however, a small gap is still being closed. A gap that Guerlain has so far been unwilling to close, as they did not even perceive it as a gap. Jean-Paul Guerlain once boasted in his inimitable ignorance that ‘Jicky’ and ‘Mouchoir de Monsieur’ were the only Fougères that counted, the rest was for truck drivers.
Good that they have moved away from such snobbery.
After wearing it several times, I must say that ‘Le Frenchy’, contrary to my initial assumption, is indeed a scent with substance - it has character.
Next to ‘Derby’ and ‘Chamade pour Homme’, it can certainly hold its own, and in terms of longevity and presence, it is truly no lightweight, though also not a loudspeaker.
It is characterized more by understatement, while still being present.
Yes, I admit: a great scent, I like it!
However, I had to make a 180-degree turnaround to arrive at this judgment....
So be it.
To err is human, as they say.
Translated · Show original
12 Comments
Und: ein guter Lastwagenfahrer schafft auch so nen U-Turn :-D.