Hello and welcome! Please understand that this website is not affiliated with Guerlain in any way, it is only a reference site for collectors and those who have enjoyed the classic fragrances of days gone by. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. The main objective of this website is to chronicle the 200+ year old history of the Guerlain fragrances and showcase the bottles and advertising used throughout the years. Let this site be your source for information on antique and vintage Guerlain perfumes. Another goal of this website is to show the present owners of the Guerlain company how much we miss many of the discontinued classics and hopefully, if they see that there is enough interest and demand, they will bring back these fragrances! I invite you to leave a comment below (for example: of why you liked the fragrance, describe the scent, time period or age you wore it, who gave it to you or on what occasion, what it smelled like to you, how it made you feel, any specific memories, what it reminded you of, maybe a relative wore it, or you remembered seeing the bottle on their vanity table), who knows, perhaps someone from the current Guerlain brand might see it. If you have any questions, please send all images of your bottle and pertinent information directly to me at cleopatrasboudoir@gmail.com. I will try to assist you the best I can.

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Thursday, February 14, 2013

Violette a Deux Sous c1890

Violette a Deux Sous: created around 1890.. The name means "Twopenny Violet." This name refers to one of the first postage stamps, and is a clever pun by Guerlain, I think, for a perfume.


Fragrance Composition:


So what does it smell like? It was a violet soliflore fragrance for women with a base of vetiver. All types of violette perfumes were popular during the 19th century. Formulas for these perfumes appeared in several perfumery manuals and pharmacopeias during the period. The formulas were based on mixed blends to suggest the fresh odor of dewy violets. Natural extracts, infusions, absolutes and tinctures would have been used early on, but as the 19th century drew to a close, newly discovered synthetics and aroma compounds such as vanillin and methyl ionones would have been utilized. The general recipe included the following ingredients:
  • Top notes: cassie, bitter almonds, bergamot, orange peel
  • Middle notes: violet, rose, tuberose, ylang ylang
  • Base notes: vetiver, orris, tolu balsam, vanilla, musk



The New York Times, 1901



Bottles:

Presented in the Carre flacon in the late 1800s, the flacon Plat (extrait) and in the "Louis XVI" Flacon (extrait) in 1902.







Fate of the Fragrance:

Discontinued, date unknown, still being sold in 1941.

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