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Notes07/26/2020
Salander
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Salander
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In doubt for doubt
What do Roja Dove, Sylvaine Delacourte and Gilles Thévenin have in common? Who knows the answer? Right, Guerlain. This traditional company employs the most talented perfumers and merchants, some of whom later become independent. Roja Dove and Sylvaine Delacourte are now launching perfume under their own names, not so Gilles Thévenin. To him, but even more so, let's first take a little trip back in time.
We are in the 18th century in France. Pierre-François Lubin is only 10 years old and lives with his parents near the Parisian studio of a famous perfumer. His name is Jean-Louis Fargeon and with him he makes an apprenticeship. He awakens the love of Pierre-François already in his childhood for fragrance essences. The boy Lubin is 18 when he leaves his patron and with him the capital, which has been shaken by the revolution. In Grasse he continues his education, and with Master Tombarelli he learns the "Italian method". When the political waves slowly smoothed, he returned to Paris and completed his knowledge with his old patron. Lubin becomes not only an outstanding perfumer, but also an extremely skilful businessman. He opens his first maison called "Au Bouquet de Roses" in Paris. Lubin expands and exports his creations - as the first fragrance house ever - to America. His clientele includes Empress Joséphine - the wife of Napoleon - the English King George IV and Tsar Alexander I. He achieved a lot, fame, honour and fortune paved his way through life. Only one thing is not granted to him, there is no male heir, no one to take over his manufactory from the family.
Felix Prot, his former apprentice and loyal employee, continues the business. Lubin becomes a successful company professionally run by several generations of the Plot family. What follows in the middle of the twentieth century sounds extremely promising at first. But neither at Henkel, nor at 4711 Fabrikanten Muehlens, nor at Wella did Lubin become a hit. The brand leads a shadowy existence, is miserably lost among the many beauty products.
Salvation came in 2004, when Gilles Thévenin, who had been Guerlain's creative director and head of marketing at Rochas, made a momentous decision, literally pushing himself to the very limits of his comfort zone and even beyond. He sells all his belongings. His prestigious house, his cars and his antiques will soon be enjoyed by new owners. In his own words he describes this time as follows: "My grandmother cried. When I was 45, I was alone in a room, a former servant's quarters. But I was happy. It was almost like getting married. I knew I would dedicate myself to this company. I want to keep this quality perfumery alive".
At the beginning he mainly works with two well-known "noses", with Delphine Thierry and with Thomas Fontaine. Thomas is the architect and also the Indiana Jones of fragrances. He systematically assembles his creations, fragrance building block by fragrance building block, and thus builds "cathedrals". He is also the master of reformulation. Delphine Thierry takes a completely different approach; she is the poet among perfumers, conveys feelings, moods, tells stories. She is also the creator of Akkad.
In many comments and on the website of Lubin it is said that Akkad was created in the style of the Mesopotamian rulers of Akkad - Sargon. "The essence of Akkad is the gift of the beautiful Ishtar, who loved and protected me. It contains the most precious ointments of Pound and the islands of the great sea and those much further away. This amber is like the light that illuminates my kingdom, the most precious treasure of my kingdom". (Quote www.lubin.eu) But that is only half the truth. The first inspiration for Akkad comes from Provance, where Delphine Thierry has been living with her family for a few years. From her house in a small village a stone path leads to the river. Walking along the same path on a summer's day, she thought about the fact that stones have a subtle smell. She enjoyed the scent of spices like thyme, oregano and rockrose. This "glowing area", the sweaty skin, a bath in the river at the end of a hot August day, the exuberant and happy feeling, sensuality, the descending sun were the true emotional sources for Akkad. The fantasy worlds around the later fragrance were later created by Gilles Thévenin. He accompanies every fragrance development, which may well last a year, until the creation is balanced and in harmony with name, bottle and history.
Please forgive the long introduction. I am often as fascinated by the people behind the scenes as I am by their compositions and I find their inspirations stimulating.
To cut a long story short, Thévenin already liked the first fragrance creation by Delphine Thierry very much. The connection between sun, nature, stone and sensuality appealed to him. And indeed, the fleeting beauty of the top note carries the sun in its heart. This light-footed, facing nature, the minimal citric, the fresh herbs and the warm, sensual, slightly human labdanum also took me by storm.
The mineral element is immediately apparent. Gilles Thévenin associates this direction with a temple. At his suggestion, the incense content of the fragrance was increased to emphasize the sacred aspect. Through balsamic notes such as resin, styrax and benzoin and also through amber, Akkad later becomes "physically tangible".
The pyramid suggests a dark scent and, to be honest, does not appeal to me at all. I was completely surprised that although Akkad "Noire" comes from there, the scent shines amazingly bright. To achieve this ambivalence comes close to squaring the circle and gives an idea of the extraordinary talent of Delphine Thierry.
At this point, I would write in other comments about the fact that lovers of incense scents absolutely must test. That all those who love NU from Yves Saint Laurent and Coco or Coco Noire should go straight to the souk and buy a bottling as soon as possible. But I do not do that. Because Akkad is niche perfume in the best sense of the word, a craft of great emotions. Everyone should be able to enjoy it at some point, because few fragrances have as much personality and natural aura as this perfume. The fact that Akkad cannot be worn by everyone is not decisive.
My conclusion: Explore the limits of your comfort zone from time to time, because that's where the adventure begins. And also test against your preferences. When in doubt for the doubt.
We are in the 18th century in France. Pierre-François Lubin is only 10 years old and lives with his parents near the Parisian studio of a famous perfumer. His name is Jean-Louis Fargeon and with him he makes an apprenticeship. He awakens the love of Pierre-François already in his childhood for fragrance essences. The boy Lubin is 18 when he leaves his patron and with him the capital, which has been shaken by the revolution. In Grasse he continues his education, and with Master Tombarelli he learns the "Italian method". When the political waves slowly smoothed, he returned to Paris and completed his knowledge with his old patron. Lubin becomes not only an outstanding perfumer, but also an extremely skilful businessman. He opens his first maison called "Au Bouquet de Roses" in Paris. Lubin expands and exports his creations - as the first fragrance house ever - to America. His clientele includes Empress Joséphine - the wife of Napoleon - the English King George IV and Tsar Alexander I. He achieved a lot, fame, honour and fortune paved his way through life. Only one thing is not granted to him, there is no male heir, no one to take over his manufactory from the family.
Felix Prot, his former apprentice and loyal employee, continues the business. Lubin becomes a successful company professionally run by several generations of the Plot family. What follows in the middle of the twentieth century sounds extremely promising at first. But neither at Henkel, nor at 4711 Fabrikanten Muehlens, nor at Wella did Lubin become a hit. The brand leads a shadowy existence, is miserably lost among the many beauty products.
Salvation came in 2004, when Gilles Thévenin, who had been Guerlain's creative director and head of marketing at Rochas, made a momentous decision, literally pushing himself to the very limits of his comfort zone and even beyond. He sells all his belongings. His prestigious house, his cars and his antiques will soon be enjoyed by new owners. In his own words he describes this time as follows: "My grandmother cried. When I was 45, I was alone in a room, a former servant's quarters. But I was happy. It was almost like getting married. I knew I would dedicate myself to this company. I want to keep this quality perfumery alive".
At the beginning he mainly works with two well-known "noses", with Delphine Thierry and with Thomas Fontaine. Thomas is the architect and also the Indiana Jones of fragrances. He systematically assembles his creations, fragrance building block by fragrance building block, and thus builds "cathedrals". He is also the master of reformulation. Delphine Thierry takes a completely different approach; she is the poet among perfumers, conveys feelings, moods, tells stories. She is also the creator of Akkad.
In many comments and on the website of Lubin it is said that Akkad was created in the style of the Mesopotamian rulers of Akkad - Sargon. "The essence of Akkad is the gift of the beautiful Ishtar, who loved and protected me. It contains the most precious ointments of Pound and the islands of the great sea and those much further away. This amber is like the light that illuminates my kingdom, the most precious treasure of my kingdom". (Quote www.lubin.eu) But that is only half the truth. The first inspiration for Akkad comes from Provance, where Delphine Thierry has been living with her family for a few years. From her house in a small village a stone path leads to the river. Walking along the same path on a summer's day, she thought about the fact that stones have a subtle smell. She enjoyed the scent of spices like thyme, oregano and rockrose. This "glowing area", the sweaty skin, a bath in the river at the end of a hot August day, the exuberant and happy feeling, sensuality, the descending sun were the true emotional sources for Akkad. The fantasy worlds around the later fragrance were later created by Gilles Thévenin. He accompanies every fragrance development, which may well last a year, until the creation is balanced and in harmony with name, bottle and history.
Please forgive the long introduction. I am often as fascinated by the people behind the scenes as I am by their compositions and I find their inspirations stimulating.
To cut a long story short, Thévenin already liked the first fragrance creation by Delphine Thierry very much. The connection between sun, nature, stone and sensuality appealed to him. And indeed, the fleeting beauty of the top note carries the sun in its heart. This light-footed, facing nature, the minimal citric, the fresh herbs and the warm, sensual, slightly human labdanum also took me by storm.
The mineral element is immediately apparent. Gilles Thévenin associates this direction with a temple. At his suggestion, the incense content of the fragrance was increased to emphasize the sacred aspect. Through balsamic notes such as resin, styrax and benzoin and also through amber, Akkad later becomes "physically tangible".
The pyramid suggests a dark scent and, to be honest, does not appeal to me at all. I was completely surprised that although Akkad "Noire" comes from there, the scent shines amazingly bright. To achieve this ambivalence comes close to squaring the circle and gives an idea of the extraordinary talent of Delphine Thierry.
At this point, I would write in other comments about the fact that lovers of incense scents absolutely must test. That all those who love NU from Yves Saint Laurent and Coco or Coco Noire should go straight to the souk and buy a bottling as soon as possible. But I do not do that. Because Akkad is niche perfume in the best sense of the word, a craft of great emotions. Everyone should be able to enjoy it at some point, because few fragrances have as much personality and natural aura as this perfume. The fact that Akkad cannot be worn by everyone is not decisive.
My conclusion: Explore the limits of your comfort zone from time to time, because that's where the adventure begins. And also test against your preferences. When in doubt for the doubt.
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