Plus que jamais

Visiting Guerlain’s beautiful house on Champs d’Elysée is a little bit a dream come true. Situated right next to the largest Sephora I have ever seen, the ground floor is modest and features lots of fancy lipsticks and the new said-to-contain orchid extract beauty products. A little stair goes one store up, making 180 degree and you enter a room which looks like the interior of flacon, with rounded walls and lots of gold shining modestly from the walls in somewhat dim light. You approach and find yourself inside a room, its windows facing the champs d’elysée, a room which is dominated by an arrangement of perfumes in a huge circle right in its middle, featuring beauties such as Vol de nuit with its beautiful art deco flacon. On the wall to the left you would find some men’s perfumes, to your right you find an assembly of limited series, the expensive stuff. Initially I was alone up there, with a helpful lady, showing me everything.
Suddenly, we were surrounded by hectic men, style journalist, a camera appeared, more hectic people, style creative assistant and then, like from an other planet where the temperature is set at constant 27°C, where the ground is paved to allow 12 cm high heels and where a soothing sun tans all bodies to a discrete brown that fits with the planet’s inhabitants golden hair, Ms unknown to me but very famous entered the room. Rather overdressed, but not in terms of square meters fabric covering her body, she started to pose in front of the beautiful perfume bottles, moved her body in a strange way to further accentuate her perfect line and was filmed how she artfully touched the bottles. I asked who she was and was told that it was Ms xxx, a famous Spanish actor; being a piece of art herself, she did not really care about the perfumes, it seemed to me. But like a comet passing by the sun, dust particles gleaming in the dark, she will light the evening sky with her golden hair on the tv screens, making people buy Plus que jamais.
Plus que jamais was launched rather recently, it is a limited parfum anniversaire and created by Jean-Paul and I had a chance to smell it while at Guerlain’s (and got a sample....hurra!). I was told that it points back to the good old days, living the memories of for instance L’heure bleu. For me, however, on closer inspection, it breathes more the spirit of Mitsouko. I did not understand the fragrance right away, but to me it looked like a juvenile version of Mitsouko, modern in a sense, less dirty, more adapted, with a start that reminded me of fresh white peach, with hints of citrus (Bergamot), in front of a classical Guerlain accord (the vanilla-Bergamot based Guerlinade) powdery cistus accord with mousse de chêne impressions, some soft woody lines and animalic touches in the back. The powdery aspects, on paper, are very present, it might be the special quality Ylang that Jean-Paul employed, and play with a sweet line that is also more or less constant at hand.
Plus que jamais had an unfortunate disadvantage last Saturday… it was last smelled by me after Vega and Cuir de Beluga…. and Vega it will not beat. No way. For me, it will also not beat Mitsouko. This masterpiece is one of a kind. Coincidence or not: It will fit wonderfully with Ms famous……to be continued.