The time in which this fragrance was first created — the Belle Époque — was one of cultural flowering and romantic idealism. Society in France was basking in optimism, technological progress, and artistic innovation, yet also clinging to nostalgia for the old world. In fashion, corsets were softening, silks and chiffons fluttered in delicate pastel shades, and the ideal of femininity was poised between the ornamental and the natural. Bon Vieux Temps fit perfectly within this landscape: its name and character appealed to women who cherished refinement and emotional depth. To wear it was to embrace the poetry of memory — a reminder that beauty, like time, lingers softly and cannot be rushed.
To imagine its scent is to open a time capsule. Bon Vieux Temps is described as a deep, unisex oriental chypre infused with the rich florals and musks that were beloved in the late 19th century. The first impression is tender yet complex — a whisper of violet and rose, their sweetness tempered by the faint mustiness of aged petals, recalling the interiors of porcelain potpourri jars that once adorned the mantels of genteel homes. These jars were filled with fragrant mixtures of dried flowers, spices, and resins — rose, orange blossom, violet, cinnamon, cloves, lavender, orris root, and patchouli among them — each one steeped in the slow, natural oxidation that produced a warm, velvety muskiness. The perfume seems to echo this same blend of the floral and the resinous, soft and spicy, sweet and dry.
The oriental aspect reveals itself in the base — ambergris, with its subtle marine saltiness, and musk, both natural and deep, evoking intimacy and warmth. Together, they lend a soft animalic hum beneath the florals, giving the perfume a tactile sensuality that would have been considered daring for its time. The chypre structure — rich mosses and resins balanced by delicate citrus — grounds the sweetness, keeping it refined and aristocratic. Unlike the fresh floral colognes of earlier decades, Bon Vieux Temps is shadowed, mature, and resonant — a fragrance that breathes with life and memory rather than sparkle.
In scent, Bon Vieux Temps would have captured the essence of “the good old days”: the comforting familiarity of cherished surroundings, the perfume of pressed linens and antique wood, the mingling of powder and musk on lace gloves. For women of the time, it represented continuity — a romantic reflection of heritage in a fast-changing modern world. It would have been perceived as elegant, sentimental, and quietly sophisticated, embodying Guerlain’s gift for transforming memory into fragrance.
In the broader landscape of perfumery, Bon Vieux Temps stood apart for its emotional resonance. Where other houses were leaning toward sharper, more modern florals, Guerlain created a perfume of depth and reflection — one that seemed to exist outside of time. It was less about innovation than preservation, an olfactory keepsake of the 18th and 19th centuries’ most beloved scents — violets, roses, musk, ambergris — reimagined through Guerlain’s poetic hand. In essence, Bon Vieux Temps is the perfume of remembrance: an intimate, tender bridge between the past and present, wrapped in the soft veil of nostalgia.
Fragrance Composition:
So what does it smell like? Bon Vieux Temps is classified as a unisex, deep oriental chypre with violet, rose, (potpourri jar scents) and ambergris notes. It was described as very "musky".
- Top notes: bergamot, neroli, orange, orange blossom, verbena, bay leaves, geranium, linalool
- Middle notes: myrtle, lavender, carnation, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, jasmine, violet, orris, ionone, rose, geraniol, heliotrope, piperonal
- Base notes: frankincense, ambergris, castoreum, civet, oakmoss, labdanum, patchouli, musk, musk ambrette, tonka bean, coumarin, vanilla, vanillin, benzoin, sandalwood, vetiver, Peru balsam
Scent Profile:
To smell Bon Vieux Temps is to step into another century — a place of velvet drapery, beeswax-polished furniture, and the lingering perfume of flowers pressed into linen drawers. The air feels warm and intimate, dense with the scent of time itself. As the perfume unfolds, each ingredient seems to breathe a story from an age when perfumery was a poetic craft, not just chemistry. Guerlain’s Bon Vieux Temps is classified as a deep oriental chypre, both floral and musky, a composition that bridges nature and nostalgia. It opens with a radiant glow of citrus and herbs, softens into a powdery floral heart filled with clove-studded blossoms and violet powder, and settles finally into a base that hums with resins, animalics, and moss — a sensuous memory of the “good old times.”
The top notes arrive like a morning light through lace curtains — fresh yet mellow. Bergamot lends its characteristic sparkle, bright and slightly bitter, filled with natural aroma molecules such as linalyl acetate and limonene, which provide its crisp, airy lift. This bergamot, most likely from Calabria in Italy — where the fruit achieves its most nuanced oil — carries a lively green edge that dances beautifully with neroli, the steam-distilled oil from bitter orange blossoms. Neroli, traditionally sourced from Tunisia, offers a honeyed, dew-laden floral quality; its main components, linalool and nerolidol, give it a luminous, almost silken character. Orange and orange blossom echo this bittersweet duality, marrying zest and petal, while verbena — with its fresh lemon-herb greenness — adds an almost soapy clarity. The inclusion of bay leaf and geranium gives the opening a faintly spicy, aromatic sharpness, recalling the herbal notes of traditional potpourri. Linalool, both naturally present and possibly enhanced synthetically, connects these disparate elements — floral, citrus, and herbal — with a smooth, unified brightness.
As the fragrance develops, the heart notes emerge, deepening and warming into a velvety, floral-spiced accord. Here, violet and orris form the soft powder at the perfume’s core. Orris, derived from the rhizome of the Florentine iris and aged for several years before extraction, contributes buttery, suede-like tones thanks to its high content of ionones and irones — molecules that create that hauntingly powdery, violet-like scent. Ionone, a key synthetic used by Guerlain since the late 19th century, enhances these natural materials, amplifying their nostalgic, dusty sweetness while lending extraordinary persistence. Jasmine and rose bloom gently in the background — the jasmine likely from Grasse or Egypt, warm and indolic, while the rose, perhaps Bulgarian, exudes full-bodied floral depth with hints of honey and green. Heliotrope introduces an almondy tenderness through its compound piperonal, while geraniol and linalool, present in geranium and rose, enhance their dewy brightness.
The spicy elements — clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg — infuse the heart with the warmth of old-world potpourri jars, where dried spices mingled with rose petals and resins. Clove contributes eugenol, the same natural molecule found in carnation oil, giving the fragrance its slightly medicinal, antique quality. Lavender and myrtle add herbal refinement, the former lending a clean, aromatic tone from its linalyl acetate, and the latter, a hint of camphor and sweetness. These spices not only scent the perfume but anchor its emotional tone: they are the ghosts of the home, the lingering perfume of wood cupboards and sachets of dried blooms stored in drawers.
The base of Bon Vieux Temps is where its soul resides — an opulent blend of natural resins, woods, animalic musks, and sweet balsams that speak to Guerlain’s mastery of sensuality. Frankincense and labdanum form the smoky, resinous backbone, both rich in ambered sweetness. Ambergris, once gathered from the sea, lends a salty, skin-like warmth — subtle and diffusive, making every note feel more alive. Patchouli from Indonesia contributes an earthy depth, while oakmoss adds its characteristic forest dampness, connecting the composition to the chypre family. Castoreum and civet bring the unmistakable animalic undertone that would have been highly prized in Aimé Guerlain’s time — civet adding a creamy, musky glow and castoreum a leathery, sensual purr.
The sweetness of the drydown is tempered by a delicate interplay of vanilla, benzoin, and Peru balsam, each adding its own warmth. Tonka bean, rich in coumarin, brings a dry almond-vanilla softness that merges seamlessly with vanillin — one of the earliest synthetic notes adopted by Guerlain. This combination of natural and synthetic vanillas became a Guerlain signature, giving longevity and richness to the blend. Sandalwood, likely from Mysore, provides the creamy, milky smoothness beneath it all, its santalols harmonizing the floral, resinous, and animalic elements into one continuous, golden hum. Vetiver adds a final trace of smoke and root — an anchor that keeps the perfume grounded in the earth even as its florals ascend toward memory.
To smell Bon Vieux Temps is to experience time suspended — a fragrance that feels like an heirloom. Its structure, a blend of nature’s deepest warmth and the early artistry of synthetics, bridges eras of perfumery. The floral-spiced heart, the musky, resinous base, and the luminous citrus top all coalesce into a scent that is less about perfume and more about remembrance — a whisper of powdered lace gloves, polished wood, and the faint, comforting perfume of the past that lingers softly on the air.
Bottles:
The perfume was originally housed in the Empire flacon (parfum) starting in 1902, the Louis XVI flacon (parfum) starting in 1902, and the Goutte flacon (eau de toilette) starting in 1923.
Fate of the Fragrance:
The historical record of Le Bon Vieux Temps paints a vivid portrait of its influence, both on the public imagination and the world of perfumery. In Country Life, 1902, a whiff of the fragrance in a foyer was described as recalling “a summer breeze laden with the hearts of flowers,” immediately evoking both freshness and elegance. The scent was already being recognized as “the latest pleasure of Madame la Mode,” signaling its fashionable appeal to Parisian society.
Similarly, in Rapports (1902), the broader context of Guerlain’s oeuvre was emphasized. The article listed the House’s extensive repertoire dating back to 1788, including early masterpieces such as Excellence, Héliotrope Blanc, Impérial Russe, Pré d’Automne, Eau de Cologne Impériale, Poudre de Cypris, and Pâte Royale, alongside more recent creations like La Gavotte, Jardin de Mon Curé, Le Bon Vieux Temps, Eau de Cologne Hégémonienne, Extrait de Pot-Pourri aux Plantes Marines, and Voilà Pourquoi J’aimais Rosine. Each fragrance was displayed on consoles or pedestal tables—sometimes bare to emphasize the product itself—underscoring Guerlain’s unwavering dedication to luxury perfumery. The House’s pedigree was further solidified by awards from prestigious exhibitions: London, 1862; Paris, 1867 and 1889; Brussels, 1897; and jury distinctions in Antwerp, 1885, and Paris, 1878.
The personal resonance of Le Bon Vieux Temps is highlighted in accounts from La Semaine de l’Hippique (1903). In a playful exchange, two friends recognized one another’s use of the fragrance, affirming the perfume’s intimate role in social rituals and personal style. The dialogue reflects the way scents were not merely worn, but shared, discussed, and even subtly flaunted as a marker of taste and sophistication.
International perspectives reinforced this reputation. La Ilustración española y americana (1903) praised Guerlain’s ability to balance modern refinement with gentle subtlety, noting the fragrance’s rare quality of being both distinctive and smooth, traits that led to its widespread adoption among the Parisian aristocracy. Likewise, The Atlantic (1917) emphasized its nostalgic power, invoking memories of hoopskirts, potpourri jars, and the faded sweetness of grandmothers’ parlors. This connection between scent and memory helped solidify Le Bon Vieux Temps as more than a fragrance—it was a vessel of culture, history, and sentiment.
By 1937, the fragrance remained a central piece in Guerlain’s catalog, alongside notable creations such as Après l’Ondée, Sillage, Jicky, Chypre de Paris, and Tsao-Ko. Reviews in Stage reflect a continued recognition of its elegance and enduring charm, affirming its role as a defining scent of the House. Le Bon Vieux Temps, with its musky, potpourri-inspired warmth, floral nuances, and ambergris depth, exemplifies Guerlain’s artistry in blending historical richness with contemporary refinement—making it both timeless and immediately resonant to those who experienced it firsthand.
This collection of contemporary accounts demonstrates that Le Bon Vieux Temps was more than a fragrance; it was an emblem of Parisian sophistication, a bridge between eras, and a signature of the Guerlain legacy.
Bon Vieux Temps was discontinued, date unknown, it was still being sold in 1956.
