Absolutely Magazine: August 2014: Significant Scents by Lawrence Roullier White

Under the cover of darkness, dressed as servants of a Russian aristocrat, the King and Queen of France attempt to flee the French revolutionaries. En route to France’s eastern border their carriage is stopped at Varennes and their true identity is betrayed by the scent of the female attendant. Only royalty, only Marie Antoinette, could afford a perfume as precious as Quelques Fleurs by Houbigant. 

There is a rising trend in selecting scent; people are now looking for history, a perfume with provenance and pedigree and there is much to choose from.

Sadly the Marie Antoinette story is myth, whilst she favoured Houbiagnt (she was said carry three vials of the company’s perfume to her execution to give her strength) actually Quelques Fleurs was not introduced until 1912. The fragrance does however enjoy a perhaps even greater significance. The brainchild of perfumer Bienaimé, Quelques Fleurs was the world’s first multi-floral and the first fragrance to use aldehydes; the molecule additions to a fragrance which make the scent sparkle. This honour is mistakenly attributed to Chanel No. 5, however Ernest Beaux’s creation for Coco Chanel did not appear until 1921, or to L T Piver’s Reve d'Or which, although was released in 1886, was not reformulated with aldehydes until 1926.

Earlier in 1882 Houbigant was the first perfumery to combine naturals and synthetics in its ground breaking Fougère Royale, the world’s first fresh ‘green’ ‘fern’ scent which revolutionised the fragrance industry forever and launched a completely new genre. 

Lubin is another French fragrance house which was also patronised by the last queen of France. Lubin’s Black Jade was worn by Marie Antoinette, a drop of which was said to have survived in a black jade flask she handed to a friend as a parting gift. The modern re-working is based on the original formula from Lubin’s archives. In the same vein, Le Vainqueur is a 2005 interpretation by Jeanne Sandra Rancé of the fragrance originally presented to Napoleon by her great-great-grand-father François Rancé in 1795.

This year Pour un Homme de Caron turns eighty, this historic scent was the first fragrance to be designed specifically for men. As elegant today as it was back in 1934, it has been worn by the world’s most stylish men. Indeed before the style icon launched his own extraordinary line, Pour un Homme de Caron was Tom Ford’s signature scent. Tabac Blond, another Caron first, is one of the most important fragrances ever made; up until its release in 1919 all scents were floral. Tobacco-based Tabac Blond broke the all the rules; suggesting an image of women smoking it represented the emancipated women who wore it.

Eight & Bob was created by French aristocrat, Albert Fouquet. Made for his own use, Albert was known to occasionally gift it to his high society friends. In 1937 Albert took a shine to a dashing young American who was touring France in a convertible sports car. He gave the cocky young upstart his fragrance with the note; “In this bottle you will find the dash of French glamour that your American personality lacks”. The young man was John F. Kennedy. Back home JFK sent a letter thanking Albert for the perfume and requesting eight more bottles “and, if you can, one for Bob”. Albert sent the package labelled "Eight & Bob". Sadly Albert soon died and whilst Philippe, his butler, continued he was forced to cease production with the onset of WWII. Philippe sent one last shipment to America and to avoid it being detected he hid the bottles inside hand-hewn books. Eight & Bob was recently recreated by Philippe's descendants and, in homage to the journey across the Atlantic, each bottle is presented inside a cut out book. History lessons never smelled this good!