Senteurs des Champs c1828

Senteurs des Champs, launched in 1828, was one of the earliest creations of Pierre-François Pascal Guerlain, the founder of the house. Its name, in French, translates to “Scents of the Fields” and is pronounced as “Sahn-turr day Shahn.” The title conjures images of pastoral beauty—meadows kissed by sunlight, wildflowers scattered across rolling hills, and the gentle sweetness of freshly cut hay carried on a summer breeze. In choosing this name, Guerlain tapped into the Romantic era’s fascination with nature, nostalgia, and the simple poetry of rural life.

The fragrance appeared during the early 19th century, a period known as the Romantic era, when society embraced both refinement and a longing for natural purity. Fashion favored high-waisted Empire gowns and delicate fabrics that echoed classical antiquity, while literature and the arts celebrated the sublime and pastoral. In perfumery, bouquets inspired by the countryside—such as Field Bouquet, Prairie Flowers, or Bouquet du Champ—were popular, reflecting an escape from the industrialized city into the idealized charm of nature. For women of the time, a perfume called Senteurs des Champs would have carried the allure of both elegance and innocence, suggesting refinement blended with fresh, wholesome beauty.

Olfactorily, Senteurs des Champs was built around the warm, hay-like sweetness of tonka bean extract, which was the leading natural ingredient used to recreate the smell of newly mown hay, a scent deeply cherished by lovers of the pastoral ideal. Early formulas relied on tinctures, infusions, and absolutes from natural materials, but as the century advanced, discoveries such as coumarin—first isolated in 1868—allowed perfumers to enhance and refine this impression with greater clarity and intensity. Coumarin’s warm, almond-hay aroma intensified the tonka’s natural sweetness, giving the composition more radiance and staying power.

In this sense, Guerlain’s Senteurs des Champs was both of its time and ahead of it. It aligned with contemporary tastes for pastoral-inspired perfumes, yet it also foreshadowed the evolving technical artistry of modern perfumery, where natural extracts and new synthetics would blend to create increasingly evocative scents. For women in 1828, wearing Senteurs des Champs was not just a gesture of personal adornment, but a way of carrying the countryside’s tranquility and charm into the salons and drawing rooms of Paris.

Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like? Senteur de Champs is classified as a floral fragrance for women.  

• Top notes: cassie, bergamot, verbena, geranium, neroli, petitgrain, sweet orange, lemon
• Middle notes:  lavender, rose, jasmine, orange blossom, orris, violet, tuberose 
• Base notes: tonka bean, civet, musk, ambergris, Peru balsam 

  

Scent Profile:

The first impression of Senteurs des Champs bursts forth with a vibrant green brightness, like stepping into a sunlit meadow after morning dew. The sharp citrus sparkle of bergamot from Calabria introduces a clean, slightly floral zest, softened by the green, lemony freshness of verbena. Lemon and sweet orange add juiciness and radiance, conjuring a sense of open air and wide skies. Petitgrain, distilled from the twigs and leaves of the bitter orange tree, lends a crisp, slightly woody bitterness that balances the fruits and grounds them in earth. The unusual, powdery sweetness of cassie (from acacia blossoms in Provence) contributes a honeyed, violet-like nuance, while geranium from Egypt introduces a rosy, minty coolness that foreshadows the floral heart. Neroli from Tunisia, distilled from orange blossoms, rounds out the top with its delicate white-petal brightness, tying the citrus and florals together in a radiant pastoral prelude.

The heart blossoms into a full bouquet, unfolding as though the countryside itself is in bloom. Lavender from Provence releases its aromatic, herbal calm—floral yet resinous—layered seamlessly with rose, whose velvety sweetness forms the core of the bouquet. Jasmine from Grasse adds opulence, a narcotic warmth that deepens the romance, while orange blossom carries forward the honeyed lightness from the top notes. Orris, derived from aged iris rhizomes, lends a powdery, buttery softness—an echo of refined elegance. Violet leaf contributes a green, slightly cucumber-like freshness, while violet flower creates a candied, nostalgic powder note, evoking pressed blossoms in a book. At its height, tuberose blooms with creamy, intoxicating lushness, lending sensual weight to the heart. Together, these florals weave an impression of fields alive with wildflowers, both delicate and luxuriant.

As the fragrance settles, the base anchors the pastoral freshness with depth and warmth. The hay-like sweetness of tonka bean from Venezuela, rich in natural coumarin, creates a soft almond-vanilla warmth that recalls new-mown hay in summer sunlight. Musk adds an intimate, skin-like softness, while civet, used sparingly, lends a subtle animalic warmth, like the lingering heat of the body after a day outdoors. The marine, amber-salted richness of ambergris expands the composition, giving it both diffusion and a touch of mystery. Finally, Peru balsam brings a resinous, slightly smoky sweetness, blending vanilla, cinnamon, and amber facets into a resinous embrace that enriches the tonka and balances the florals with lasting depth.

What makes Senteurs des Champs remarkable is its balance of natural essences with the beginnings of synthetic artistry. The natural extracts of orange, rose, violet, and tonka create the impression of a real field, while coumarin, later isolated and refined, would give perfumers the ability to heighten and prolong this hay-like warmth. The synthetic element did not erase the natural—it amplified it, transforming the fleeting freshness of flowers and grasses into a lasting memory on the skin.

This perfume does not simply suggest a bouquet; it tells a story of stepping into a countryside alive with blossoms, warmed by the sun, with the sweetness of cut hay rising from the earth. It embodies a Romantic vision of nature—one that is fleeting, nostalgic, and yet made eternal through scent.

Bottles:

Launched as an extrait and presented in the Carre flacon.

Fate of the Fragrance:

In 1883, Pierre-François Pascal Guerlain created Arôme Synthétique de Fleurs des Champs, a perfume that marked an important step in the evolution of perfumery. At a time when chemistry was opening new frontiers, Guerlain embraced the use of synthetics—then a novel and daring innovation—to enhance and extend the freshness of natural floral extracts. Its name, which translates to “Synthetic Aroma of Field Flowers,” reflects both its pastoral inspiration and its modernity, combining the romanticism of meadows with the scientific progress of the late 19th century.

The fragrance was housed in the Carré flacon, a simple yet elegant square bottle whose clean geometry matched the forward-thinking character of the perfume. While the precise date of its discontinuation is unknown, Arôme Synthétique de Fleurs des Champs holds historical significance as one of Guerlain’s earliest experiments with synthetic notes—ushering in a new era where man-made molecules could not only imitate but also magnify the beauty of nature.

Although it eventually vanished from Guerlain’s catalogue, this creation remains a testament to the house’s pioneering spirit: a perfume that bridged the artistry of natural fields with the innovation of modern science, capturing both nostalgia and progress in a single bottle.