When it was launched in 1910, France stood at the height of the Belle Époque, an era of beauty, artistry, and cultural confidence that shimmered with progress and pleasure. Paris was a world capital of elegance — a place of cafés and salons, of dancers at the Moulin Rouge and fashionable promenades through the Tuileries Gardens. Women’s fashion, designed by couturiers like Paul Poiret, had begun to free itself from corsetry, embracing more fluid, oriental-inspired silhouettes. Hats were broad, gowns were draped in lighter fabrics, and perfumes began to reflect this new ease — moving away from the heavy animalics of the 19th century toward lighter, more impressionistic compositions. Within this world of flourishing art and self-expression, Quand Vient L’Été captured a modern spirit — sophisticated yet relaxed, radiant yet intimate.
To the women of that time, a perfume called Quand Vient L’Été would have conjured visions of sunlit leisure and the newfound independence that came with travel and the outdoors. The name evoked the sensual pleasures of the Riviera, the scent of warm tobacco drifting from café terraces, the sweetness of fresh-cut blooms carried on the wind. In an age when women were beginning to claim moments of freedom — cycling through parks, picnicking by the Seine, holidaying by the sea — Guerlain’s summer fragrance would have symbolized a new kind of femininity: graceful, modern, and self-assured.
If one were to interpret the phrase Quand Vient L’Été in scent, it might open with a burst of sun-drenched brightness — perhaps citrus, hay, or mimosa, touched with the aromatic greenness of herbs warmed by the sun. The heart would bloom with soft floral notes — jasmine, rose, or heliotrope — radiant yet gently powdery, reminiscent of skin perfumed by garden air. Threaded through it might be a whisper of tobacco, not smoky but sweet — the golden, honeyed aroma of cured leaves, suggestive of warmth and depth. This tobacco note, softened by florals and Guerlain’s signature vanillic base, would have made the fragrance distinct for its time, balancing freshness with sensuality — a foreshadowing of the oriental-floral style that Guerlain would later perfect in L’Heure Bleue (1912) and Mitsouko (1919).
In the landscape of early 20th-century perfumery, Quand Vient L’Été would have been innovative yet refined. While other houses still leaned toward straightforward florals or simple colognes, Jacques Guerlain was already exploring mood and atmosphere — translating light, temperature, and emotion into scent. The presence of a tobacco nuance, softened by flowers and the creamy undertone of Guerlain’s Guerlinade accord, would have distinguished it as both sensuous and intellectual — a perfume that captured the poetry of a moment, the shimmering stillness when the air grows heavy with summer.
Ultimately, Quand Vient L’Été embodied more than a season — it was an ode to sunlight, freedom, and quiet happiness. It evoked the scent of a warm afternoon after rain, the memory of laughter on a terrace, and the golden glow of a time when life itself felt like an endless summer.
Fragrance Composition:
So what does it smell like? Quand Vient L’Été is classified as a floral tobacco fragrance for women.
- Top notes: honey, jasmine, mint, lemon, bergamot
- Middle notes: jasmine, rose, heliotrope, ylang ylang, clove, orchid, leather, hay
- Base notes: orris, civet and vanilla
Scent Profile:
The first impression of Quand Vient L’Été unfolds like the moment when sunlight pierces through the last veil of morning mist — golden, fragrant, and alive. The perfume begins with a bright shimmer of lemon and bergamot, their oils cold-pressed from the rinds of fruit grown along the Calabrian coast. Calabrian citrus has a particularly vivid quality — its aroma sparkling and crystalline — due to the high concentration of limonene and citral, natural molecules that give their effervescence a tangy luminosity.
The citrus is softened by the nectarous warmth of honey, a natural bridge between gourmand sweetness and floral depth. Here, the honey feels golden and sun-thick, evoking bees moving lazily between blossoms in high summer. The note is enhanced by a hint of methyl anthranilate, a molecule naturally present in orange blossoms and jasmine, which lends an almost grape-like lushness that blends seamlessly with the honeyed tones. Threaded through the brightness is a cool whisper of mint, a breeze over the warmth, containing menthol and carvone — refreshing compounds that sharpen the senses and give structure to the otherwise languid opening.
As the fragrance warms on the skin, the heart blooms into a complex tapestry of floral and animalic tones. Jasmine dominates — not the delicate tea-like jasmine of China, but the richer, narcotic Jasmin sambac from India, known for its indole-rich complexity. Indole, a naturally occurring compound found in white flowers, gives jasmine its sensual depth — an almost skin-like warmth beneath its petal softness. In Quand Vient L’Été, this jasmine is deepened by rose, likely a Bulgarian or Turkish variety, whose damascenone molecules add a fruity, honeyed undertone, enhancing the sense of ripeness.
As the fragrance warms on the skin, the heart blooms into a complex tapestry of floral and animalic tones. Jasmine dominates — not the delicate tea-like jasmine of China, but the richer, narcotic Jasmin sambac from India, known for its indole-rich complexity. Indole, a naturally occurring compound found in white flowers, gives jasmine its sensual depth — an almost skin-like warmth beneath its petal softness. In Quand Vient L’Été, this jasmine is deepened by rose, likely a Bulgarian or Turkish variety, whose damascenone molecules add a fruity, honeyed undertone, enhancing the sense of ripeness.
Ylang-ylang, distilled from the flowers of trees grown in the Comoros or Madagascar, unfurls like molten gold — creamy, exotic, and faintly spicy, rich in benzyl acetate and linalool, which together create a narcotic, solar radiance. Heliotrope lends a tender, powdery sweetness, its almond-like aroma derived from naturally occurring heliotropin (piperonal), which bridges the transition between the floral heart and the creamy base to come.
There is an unusual tension in the middle — a suggestion of clove and hay, balancing warmth with dryness. Clove, distilled from the dried flower buds of the Syzygium aromaticum tree, contributes eugenol — a spicy, medicinal molecule that warms the florals and underscores the faintly leathery quality that follows.
There is an unusual tension in the middle — a suggestion of clove and hay, balancing warmth with dryness. Clove, distilled from the dried flower buds of the Syzygium aromaticum tree, contributes eugenol — a spicy, medicinal molecule that warms the florals and underscores the faintly leathery quality that follows.
The hay note, evoking sun-cured grasses, introduces coumarin, one of perfumery’s earliest and most beloved aroma chemicals. Found naturally in tonka bean and sweet clover, coumarin imparts a dry, honeyed warmth that conjures fields baking under the July sun. A subtle trace of leather appears, faint and supple, echoing the scent of gloves and sun-warmed saddles, grounding the airy floral tones in something tactile and sensual.
The base of Quand Vient L’Été settles into a languid, dusky warmth. Orris, derived from the rhizome of the iris plant and aged for years before distillation, brings an exquisite, powdery smoothness — a fusion of violet, suede, and soft earth. Its main constituents, ionones and irones, create a serene, nostalgic quality — a reflection of light on pale silk. Into this comes vanilla, likely from Madagascar, its vanillin sweetness deepened by natural balsamic resins. Vanilla lends a comfort and familiarity that wraps the earlier floral and honeyed notes in a golden haze.
The base of Quand Vient L’Été settles into a languid, dusky warmth. Orris, derived from the rhizome of the iris plant and aged for years before distillation, brings an exquisite, powdery smoothness — a fusion of violet, suede, and soft earth. Its main constituents, ionones and irones, create a serene, nostalgic quality — a reflection of light on pale silk. Into this comes vanilla, likely from Madagascar, its vanillin sweetness deepened by natural balsamic resins. Vanilla lends a comfort and familiarity that wraps the earlier floral and honeyed notes in a golden haze.
The faintly animalic civet, once obtained from the civet cat but now replicated synthetically, hums softly beneath — a note of warmth and intimacy that enhances the natural muskiness of the skin. Synthetic civetone, the primary molecule used to reproduce this effect, gives the base its roundness and sensuality without the harshness of the natural extract.
As the perfume evolves, every element seems to shimmer between sunlight and shadow, warmth and air, innocence and seduction. The interplay of honeyed sweetness, sunlit florals, dried hay, and animal warmth feels both nostalgic and alive — as if capturing the memory of summer as it is happening. Quand Vient L’Été smells like the air just before dusk on a long golden day — when the flowers have grown sleepy in the heat, the fields hum with hidden life, and the sky carries the promise of another warm morning to come.
As the perfume evolves, every element seems to shimmer between sunlight and shadow, warmth and air, innocence and seduction. The interplay of honeyed sweetness, sunlit florals, dried hay, and animal warmth feels both nostalgic and alive — as if capturing the memory of summer as it is happening. Quand Vient L’Été smells like the air just before dusk on a long golden day — when the flowers have grown sleepy in the heat, the fields hum with hidden life, and the sky carries the promise of another warm morning to come.
Bottles:
Presented in the Fleuri flacon (parfum), the quadrilobe flacon (parfum) and the Goutte flacon (eau de toilette) starting in 1923. Also presented in the Persane/Mauresque flacon, created by Pochet et du Courval in 1910. Based on a 17th century Persian or Moorish perfume flacon in the Guerlain family collection. This flacon was also used for other Guerlain perfumes.
Photo by ellenaa
photo by ebay seller trust8909
Photo from dgaudit
photo by ebay seller trust8909
Fate of the Fragrance:
Its discontinuation likely coincided with the evolution of perfumery in the mid-20th century, when tastes shifted toward crisper aldehydic florals and modern chypres. Yet, Quand Vient L’Été represents a bridge between two eras—the romanticism of the Belle Époque and the emerging modernity of postwar France. Even in its absence, the name carries a wistful poetry: Quand Vient L’Été—“When Summer Comes.” The fragrance endures as a whisper of Guerlain’s early artistry, an olfactory memory of sun-warmed petals, sweet hay, and ambered air, echoing from a vanished summer that never entirely faded.
1998 Reissue:
In 1998, Quand Vient L’Été returned briefly from obscurity when Guerlain reissued it as a limited edition of only 2,500 bottles, each presented in the elegant Fleuri flacon, a design steeped in the house’s tradition of refined craftsmanship. This edition contained 75 ml of eau de toilette, a lighter interpretation that sought to capture the original’s golden warmth and nostalgic charm while adapting it to modern sensibilities. The reissue felt like a love letter to Guerlain’s heritage—a quiet nod to collectors and connoisseurs who cherished the grace and poetry of the house’s early works.
After its fleeting reappearance, the fragrance was again discontinued, fading once more into the archives. Yet its story did not end there. In 2005, Guerlain relaunched Quand Vient L’Été for a second time, hoping to rekindle the affection that had once surrounded it. The revival was short-lived, however, as it was withdrawn soon after, leaving behind only a few treasured bottles and the lingering memory of a scent that seemed forever tied to sunlight and fleeting beauty.
This pattern of disappearance and revival mirrors the very spirit of the perfume itself—a fragrance born to celebrate transience, the warmth of passing seasons, and the bittersweet nature of summer’s end. Each reissue served as a delicate reminder of Guerlain’s ability to evoke nostalgia through scent, reaffirming Quand Vient L’Été as one of the house’s most quietly poetic creations.
