Guerlain ~ Shalimar
The trick with trying describe Shalimar is that ultimately the only thing Shalimar smells like is Shalimar. Released back in 1925, Jacques Guerlain’s creation remains modern and unique, even to this day. The notes include bergamot, lemon, orris, jasmine, opopanax, patchouli, vetiver, vanilla, musk, sandalwood, castoerum and ambergris. If I were really forced to sum up its character, I’d say it was like gazing into vanilla through smoke-streaked glass.
There are a number of concentrations available, and I heartily recommmend that if you purchase any of those to seek out the older bottles instead of the newer ones, since use of the smooth bottles seems to be tied to when a more recent change in formulation occured.
My favorite concentrations lie at extreme opposites, the strongest and weakest versions, which I like layered and individually. The parfum is the superior form of Shalimar. The notes in the parfum curl around each other edgelessly, smoothly wrapping the wearer in its charms. I also enjoy the body mist, a light spray that wears as a bit buttery, and I like wearing it most by itself in summer, though layering it over the parfum is delicious during the colder seasons. I must admit that I cannot really carry off any of the concentrations at all - Shalimar is a poor fit for me. But I do enjoy it, and wear it anyhow.
The eau de parfum would probably be considered the closest approximation to the parfum, however I feel like it’s rougher in texture. The notes are slightly jagged in comparison to the gliding ease of the parfum. But, if the parfum is far too far out of your budget, I think the eau de parfum should prove to be the next best thing for most people. Sadly for me, the eau de parfum wears intensely WRONG on my skin, as I get a distinct and overbearing motor oil note from it. But this is not something everyone experiences, so don’t let that scare you off.
The eau de cologne and eau de toilette are versions that unfortunately escape my understanding. They seem Shalimar-esque rather than like Shalimar itself. The eau de cologne strikes me as comparatively brackish, though on some folks this wears as slightly leathery, so perhaps therein lies the appeal. The eau de toilette seems unbalanced to me, with an undue emphasis on the citrus notes, specifically the bergamot to start with. The dry down does retain an almost creamy lemon and vanillic aroma, but the overall life of the edt is shallow and thin.
If you’ve only vague memories of Shalimar, or have never really given it study, you’re missing out on a huge chunk of perfume history. There is nothing else like it, and you will be glad you took the time to sniff.
Image top by Frederick Sommer: Samothrace, smoke on glass negative, second state, 1964. Second image of Shalimar from 99perfume.com.
March 22nd, 2006 at 8:59 am
Shalimar is a very poor fit for me, in any of its forms. :-( When we were first engaged, my now husband gave me a bottle of Shalimar for Christmas. I was a softie then so I wore it and suffered. Boy did I suffer. LOL.
March 22nd, 2006 at 9:21 am
Yeah, it’s not a one-size fits all scent by any means. I wear it anyhow, just ’cause I can’t bear the idea of only ever getting to smell it randomly on other people, and it seems so unalive when it’s relagated to being sniffed on paper strips only. “Boy did I suffer.” Did you get the motor oil, too? Sometimes if I’m lucky it only smells like brake fluid instead, heh.
March 22nd, 2006 at 11:53 am
I am scratching my head here … I own more Guerlain, in more concentrations, than any other perfume. And Shalimar, the most popular and best-known, is the one that continues to elude me. The only thing I can say is it (the new EDT is the only one I’ve tried) is really STRONG on me, and I can’t break it down further. This, coming from the person who layers l’Heure Bleue EDP like it’s cologne water and wears Jicky parfum, so go figure. Maybe I should try a different concentration? PS The Shalimar Lite was even WORSE.
March 22nd, 2006 at 3:31 pm
A gorgeous perfume, and another, like Mitsouko, that I haven’t really grown into yet. I do like the Shalimar light though…
March 22nd, 2006 at 4:29 pm
Wow! I just recieved my first bottle of Shalimar parfum about 2 hours ago and to find a review of it was perfect timing for me.I absolutely agree with the statement of looking at vanilla through a smoke streaked glass.That’s a perfect description.I don’t know if mine is of the old formulation or not but I managed to get the very last bottle at Scentiments as a steal, paying I think $129.00 for a 1oz. bottle.Thank you for a lovely,timely review!
March 22nd, 2006 at 4:41 pm
I am also perplexed by the popularity of Shalimar. It was absolutely unbearable on me. I would even dare to say that it reeks. I guess there’s something wrong with my nose, because it is the only perfume that I’ve ever sampled that truly made me want to flee my own arm!
March 23rd, 2006 at 6:51 am
March, the parfum is not quite as harsh, and if that doesn’t work for you, I’d just skip this one.
Robin, I still have not tried the Light yet! And after all this time, too!
Christina, lucky lucky you - that’s a great price. Enjoy!
witchygirl, I too find that its popularity is rather shocking given how strong Shalimar’s personality is. It’s not one that was made to appeal to everyone and their dog, not like so many get made nowadays. Too bad it wasn’t a good fit for you either.
March 23rd, 2006 at 7:48 am
Shalimar was my very first fragrance obsession. My Aunt wore it & I thought her so elegant.
I dreamed of the scent until I finally was old enough to get a workers permit (15) & a job as a cashier at Drug Fair. My first several paychecks went to the purchase of my bottle of Shalimar. I’m sure it was an edt, as that would have been the least expensive at the time.
Unfortunately, where ever I sprayed it I developed terrible red welts.
Oh, the irony! I gave it to my Aunt.
March 23rd, 2006 at 8:09 am
Howdy there, Red_Hot_Mama: Welts? Yikes. That’s less than elegant, sure enough, heh. Without being too nosy, how long ago was this? You might be able to revist Shalimar now, since a.) the way bergamot used to be used in perfumes has changed and that is to my mind the most likely culprit for adverse skin reactions (I can’t remember the exact time frame, but it was a good while ago), and b.) the scent has been even further reformulated to fit in with IFRA and EU regulations for allergens and all that. Who knows, you may finally get to wear it with abandon. Oooh, also, if you still love the smell of it but don’t wish to risk a reaction, Guerlain makes a hair serum (they call it a “gel” but it’s straight silicone, not a gel at all) for Shalimar. It’s wonderful, and truth be told, the fragrance wears on me as truthful as the parfum. It’s subtle, since it’s in the hair and not being warmed by the skin, but still quite nice.
March 23rd, 2006 at 9:18 am
It doesn’t behave on me either. I do dearly love it, though, I just can’t wear it. I’m always trying to convince my mom to wear it just so I can sniff it on someone it smells good on, because when it works on someone’s chemistry, it is an unbelievable scent.
March 23rd, 2006 at 9:42 am
I can’t do this one, and I have really, really tried. Even again just recently in parfum. As you said, it’s still Shalimar.
March 23rd, 2006 at 12:44 pm
Patty, your mom’s lucky then - I wish I could carry it off so well as other people sometimes do. And yet, I wear it occasionally anyhow, heh. Oh well, it makes me happy ;)
Victoria, that surprises me. Given some of the other scents you can pull off, I’d have thought this one for sure would be right up your alley. Shoot, that sucks. But yeah, it’s Shalimar - there’s no way it smells like anything else whether it works on your skin or not.
March 23rd, 2006 at 10:59 pm
I have never been able to wear this, and I love the other Guerlains. It’s just too strong and too sweet. I even love the “failed” Nahema, which is so hard to find now. I recently tried Vol de Nuit after many years of not smelling it - pure love. I just find Shalimar to be vulgar, somehow. I associate it with the kind of sad women who wear wear cracked pancake makeup and too much rouge even into their seventies, blissfully unaware of how they really look.
March 24th, 2006 at 2:19 am
“I just find Shalimar to be vulgar, somehow. I associate it with the kind of sad women who wear cracked pancake makeup and too much rouge” —oooh, does that comment resonate. In the 70s I used to work at the perfume counter of a mid-to-upscale department store (HEAVEN for a teenager, and I clearly have not recovered yet as I am now hooked on crusing perfume blogs). We had a certain category of ‘lady’ shopper who just couldn’t say no to makeup or perfume, and boy, I swore I would never, ever wear the sheer volume of stuff they wore. And if they weren’t wearing Shalimar, they were wearing its downmarket cousin Emeraude, White Shoulders, or Joy, none of which I can wear today because of their sad, past-prime connotations. But then, every once in a while I am startled to find myself liking a stranger’s scent and then realizing it’s one of the above, which goes to show you that chemistry and, above all, subtle application can make a world of difference. The good news is that, after working the counter for several years, I was able to narrow hundreds of scents down to my personal Holy Grail fragrances at an early age: Cabochard for winter and Miss Dior for summer (plus l’Air du Temps because it just smells like soap on me and sometimes clean is all I want, but it’s not an HG, though I am still a total sucker for that bottle). Unfortunately, I got spoiled: I don’t care for any formulation but the parfum, so I have to dole it out sparingly yet use it up before it turns, a tricky balance. A dab of perfume just stays so close to the body, whereas with sprays and splashes I feel I am carrying the perfume equivalent of Pigpen’s miasma around on my shoulders. Still, the enforced parsimony means that I rarely overdo it, so the concentration isn’t de trop. Anyway, thanks for the blog! It’s great fun.
March 24th, 2006 at 10:10 am
Flora, so Shalimar is sort of a Baby Jane/Joan Crawford-y scent to you, I guess? *Sniff* Poor, poor Shalimar. It’s been around so long that I’d guess most folks have their personal connotations with it. My own is actually wrapped around a friends mom, who didn’t wear Shalimar at all, but Lou Lou, which she always compared to Shalimar as being “just as good as Shalimar, maybe even better.” Heh. So to me, Shalimar became like this iconic standard around which you judge everything else. In a way, that is. :)
Hi Busylizzie! “And if they weren’t wearing Shalimar, they were wearing its downmarket cousin Emeraude, White Shoulders, or Joy, none of which I can wear today because of their sad, past-prime connotations.” Ay, I have the same problem with so many vintage scents myself, sigh. It’s kind of heartbreaking in a way, isn’t it? I’m actually kind of surprised in a way that you mention Cabochard and Miss Dior - I know that some folks feel cheated by their current incarnations. I’m guessing you find the spirit and message of those two still rings true, and I do know that you’re in good company for that appreciation of those leathery beauties. I like the parfum of certain scents, but honestly, some things I don’t think I could bear as anything other than an eau, simply because I either love the sillage of an eau too much, or because I like the way the notes in some eaus play out on my skin better. And also, I have no Holy Grail scent - I am polyamorous when it comes to perfume :) Thanks for stopping by!