Jadis c1883

Jadis was launched in 1883 by Aimé Guerlain, a period marked by the elegance and refinement of the late 19th century in France. The name, pronounced as "zhah-DEE", is derived from the French word meaning “in the past.” It evokes nostalgia, romantic reflection, and a sense of timeless elegance—images of candlelit salons, embroidered gowns, and leisurely strolls through manicured gardens. The word suggests a connection to history and memory, inviting the wearer to embrace a fragrance that feels at once classic, sophisticated, and intimately personal.

The late 19th century was a time of opulence and cultural flourish in Europe, with fashion emphasizing ornate detailing, rich fabrics, and a taste for refinement and luxury. Perfumes of this era were designed to complement these lifestyles, offering women and men a subtle yet powerful way to express elegance and personal style. A fragrance named Jadis would have resonated with consumers seeking something evocative, refined, and slightly introspective, connecting them to the romantic ideals of an earlier era while remaining rooted in contemporary sophistication.

Olfactorily, Jadis is classified as a musky vanilla fragrance for both men and women. Its soft, enveloping warmth would have been both comforting and alluring, with vanilla providing a creamy, sweet richness and musk lending a skin-like, lingering sensuality. The combination of these two notes creates an intimate aura, blending gourmand sweetness with subtle animalic depth, allowing the fragrance to feel luxurious yet approachable.

In the context of the 1880s, Jadis fit within popular trends emphasizing soft, opulent accords that balanced sweetness and warmth, yet it distinguished itself through its refined musky-vanilla composition. Unlike many highly floral or heavily spiced perfumes of the period, it offered a more understated elegance, appealing to those who appreciated subtle complexity and the evocative power of scent to conjure memory and emotion. With its evocative name and sophisticated balance, Jadis stands as a testament to Guerlain’s ability to merge artistry, nostalgia, and wearable luxury.

Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like? Jadis is classified as a musky vanilla fragrance for men and women.

• Top notes: Tonkin musk, bergamot
• Middle notes: orris, white musk, castoreum, civet
• Base notes: vanilla 

Scent Profile:

Jadis by Guerlain opens with an immediate impression of Tonkin deer musk, a rare and precious material whose aroma is intensely animalic, slightly sweet, and skin-like, creating an enveloping sense of intimacy. Its rich musky compounds—muscone and muscopyridine—lend a warm, lingering presence that is at once grounding and seductive. Alongside this, bergamot—likely sourced from the fertile groves of Calabria in southern Italy—adds a sparkling, citrus brightness with lightly bitter and green nuances. The bergamot’s limonene and linalyl acetate provide a crisp, effervescent contrast to the deep sensuality of the musk, balancing the opening with freshness that elevates rather than diminishes the animalic intensity.

As the fragrance unfolds, the heart reveals a sophisticated interplay of orris, white musk, castoreum, and civet. Orris, extracted from Italian or French iris rhizomes, offers a powdery, slightly floral warmth with soft woody undertones. The irones in orris enhance the bouquet with a creamy, violet-like elegance that complements the animalic notes. White musk adds a clean, soft, modern touch, toning the more potent natural musks while reinforcing longevity and sillage. Castoreum, traditionally obtained from beaver glands, contributes leathery, resinous, and slightly smoky facets, weaving a tactile, almost sensual richness into the heart. Civet adds a subtle warmth and complexity, its naturally occurring civetone deepening the animalic aura while harmonizing with the musk and castoreum to form a luxurious, enveloping heart. Together, these elements create a layered, textural experience: simultaneously powdery, leathery, and animalic, with a refined balance of softness and intensity.

The base of Jadis is anchored by vanilla, sourced from Madagascar or Bourbon pods, offering a creamy, sweet, and resinous warmth that tempers the animalic richness above. Its key component, vanillin, blends seamlessly with the musk and castoreum, transforming the raw animalic power into a soft, enveloping aura that lingers on the skin. This sweet, almost gourmand foundation provides comfort and sensuality, smoothing the fragrance into a velvety finish that is long-lasting and intimate.

Overall, Jadis is a masterful synthesis of animalic and gourmand elements, where the bright citrus of bergamot and the powdery elegance of orris counterbalance the richness of musk, castoreum, and civet. The final result is a fragrance of sophistication and sensuality, simultaneously bold and refined, offering a musky, vanilla-drenched journey that evokes both warmth and intimacy.

 

Bottles:

Presented in the flacon Plat, the perfume epitomized the grace, elegance, and aristocratic femininity associated with its time..

Fate of the Fragrance:

Discontinued, date unknown. Still being sold in 1898.

Extrait de Caryophilus album c1848

Extrait de Caryophilus Album, launched in 1848 as part of Guerlain’s celebrated Jardin d’Hiver Collection, exemplifies the maison’s dedication to elevating single botanical notes into refined, aristocratic compositions. The name Caryophilus Album is derived from Latin, referring to the white carnation, and is pronounced as "Ka-ree-OH-fi-lus AL-bum". It evokes images of pristine floral elegance: a bouquet of softly swaying carnations, their petals pure and delicate, exuding a sweetness with a whisper of spice. The title conveys sophistication and classical refinement, mirroring the 19th-century taste for learned and exotic references in luxury perfumery.

The fragrance itself is a spicy floral oriental, built around the nuanced aroma of white carnation. Caryophilus album offers a gently sweet floral heart punctuated by subtle clove-like spiciness, which brings warmth and complexity to its otherwise delicate character. This combination would have been heightened by the skilled blending of natural extracts, infusions, and tinctures, creating a harmonious bouquet that is both graceful and subtly provocative. The spice adds an unexpected depth, balancing the soft floral sweetness and aligning with contemporary preferences for multi-layered fragrances that appeal to both the senses and the intellect.

In the context of 1848, France was in a period of social and political change, with the February Revolution marking the end of the July Monarchy. Yet high society continued to prize elegance and refined taste, often expressed through fashion, jewelry, and fragrances. Women of the period would have related to Caryophilus Album as a statement of sophistication and discernment, a scent that signaled both knowledge of contemporary trends and an appreciation for natural elegance. The perfume’s floral oriental character would have felt both familiar and distinguished, in line with the era’s fascination with botanical essences while standing out for its delicate, spicy signature.

Interpreted in scent, Caryophilus Album conjures the image of a sunlit conservatory, where soft white carnations bloom alongside hints of warm spices. It is simultaneously gentle and intriguing, capturing the refinement of a 19th-century salon while offering a subtle sensuality. In its time, this perfume was both a reflection of popular trends—floral, subtly spiced compositions—and a unique expression of Guerlain’s artistry, demonstrating the maison’s ability to transform a singular botanical note into an elegant, enduring signature of luxury.

Jardin d’Hiver Collection:

Guerlain’s Jardin d’Hiver Collection, launched in 1848, represents a remarkable celebration of botanical singularity and refined artistry. Each fragrance within the collection is devoted to a single floral or plant note, captured with painstaking care to highlight its unique character and essence. The collection’s Latin-styled names—Tilia microphylla, Lathyrus odorans, Mimosa fragrans, Cyperus ruber, and the most recent addition (1853), Mimosa Esterhazya—lend an air of classical sophistication, evoking the scholarly prestige and aristocratic refinement associated with the study of plants and natural sciences. These names, both precise and exotic, signal the high level of craft and attention devoted to each fragrance, appealing to a clientele who valued knowledge, taste, and exclusivity.

At the 1851 Universal Exposition, these perfumes competed not merely as products of luxury, but as demonstrations of technical mastery and artistic innovation. Each extrait is a distillation of a single botanical note, conveying the essence of the plant in a way that is at once vivid, nuanced, and enduring. Tilia microphylla, for instance, would have unfolded with the delicate, honeyed softness of its linden blossoms, while Mimosa fragrans exudes a sunlit, powdery warmth, evocative of early spring mornings. Cyperus ruber, with its earthy, subtly green facets, contrasts with the intensely floral sweetness of Lathyrus odorans, creating a spectrum of olfactory experiences within a unified concept.

The collection was designed for the highest echelons of society, intended for women who were not merely consumers of fragrance but arbiters of taste and refinement. These perfumes were not relegated to the dressing table as casual adornments; they were worn as statements of identity and prestige, perfuming the air with subtlety and elegance. In essence, the Jardin d’Hiver Collection embodies the aristocratic ethos of mid-19th century Paris—a union of botanical scholarship, artistic sophistication, and the cultivated elegance expected of the queens of fashion and fortune. Each fragrance is an intimate portrait of a singular flower, captured with the utmost care, and presented as a jewel of olfactory refinement.

Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like?  It is classified as a spicy floral oriental fragrance.

• Top notes: Italian neroli oil, nerol, Tunisian orange blossom, iso eugenol, phenylacetaldehyde, Jordanian almond, Moroccan cassie, amyl salicylate, isobutyl phenylacetate, linalool, Algerian jonquil, hyacinthine
• Middle notes: French carnation, Zanzibar cloves, Ceylon cinnamon, caryophyllene, benzyl isoeugenol, linalool, Grasse rose oil, geranyl formate, Grasse jasmine, Manila ylang ylang, Florentine orris, ionone
• Base notes: heliotropin, Mexican vanilla, vanillin, Venezuelan tonka bean, coumarin, benzyl acetate, terpineol, Hungarian clary sage oil, ethyl benzoate, Tibetan musk, Indian musk ambrette, Maltese labdanum, ambergris

 

Bottle:

Presented in the carre flacon.

Petit courrier des dames: Journal des modes, 1848:

"By creating the Château des Fleurs, inventing the Jardin d’Hiver, and making flowers fashionable in all the salons of Paris, the trend of perfumery simultaneously returned—after having been somewhat neglected due to the overuse of amber, musk, and vetiver. Yet the perfumes that reappear today bear no resemblance to those bourgeois emanations of old-fashioned coquetry. At Guerlain, 11 Rue de la Paix, however, belongs the right to this thoroughly modern renewal, offering compositions more delicate, more suave, more gentle on the nerves, and more voluptuous to the sense of smell than any other.

Ladies of good society are recognized by these perfumes, just as the high lineage of noble families is recognized by their coats of arms; and when a lock of hair flutters near you, when a magnificent handkerchief falls beside you, or when a fresh, coquettish glove happens to brush near your lips, you can judge by the fragrance emanating from that hair, that handkerchief, or those gloves whether the woman to whom they belong has received at Guerlain the mark of good taste, fashion, and refinement.

New odors composed by Guerlain:

• Extrait de Lolium agriphyllum 
• Extrait de Phlomis asplenia, 
• Extrait d'Azalea melaleuca
• Extrait de Cyparisse Elaidon
• Extrait d'Hyemalis anthelia
• Extrait de Cytise sylvaria 
• Extrait d'Anthemia nobilis 
• Extrait de Cyperus ruber  
• Extrait de Tilia micropluilla
• Extrait d'Hymenaea nitida 
• Extrait de Mimosa fragrans
• Extrait de Caryophilus album 
• Extrait d'Amyris Polyolens 
• Extrait de Polyanthe suaveolens  
• Extrait de Lathyrus odorans  
• Extrait d'Ocymum dulce 

By bringing to light these entirely new perfumes, Guerlain points out that they can only be found at home, and recommends to be on guard against the imitations that one will try to make."

Fate of the Fragrance:

Discontinued, date unknown.