Nahema

The vintage rose that makes Jean-Paul Guerlain proud. Luca Turin bestowed on Nahema the nickname "Virtual Rose". "Daughter of Fire" is noble and sexy, with extraordinary bearing. What is burning are petals made of velvet, not fire. A back-and-forth dance song "Polileo" sets the tone for Nahema's structure. Nahema is Guerlain's second most expensive fragrance in terms of raw materials alone, at more than 2,000 francs per kilo of formula. Nahema rose to the challenge as a pioneer, and was unpopular for being too avant-garde, but after 1980, several future imitators have greatly dipped in Nahema's light, such as YSL Paris and Lancome Tresor. Not being born at the right time is a classic regret. If you query Nahema, you will find that there is a 1998 rose named Nahema, which is indeed a rose to pay tribute to Nahema and its creator Jean-Paul Guerlain. IFRA restricts methyl eugenol. The absolute content of methyl eugenol in the Bulgarian rose of Nahema is between 2.5% and 3%. In 2016, Nahema parfum was discontinued due to an IFRA ban. Nahema is bright and beautiful. Its attributes are very clear, a velvet rose with a sweet trend, the texture is like rose petals, and it is also like Catherine Deneuve's skin, delicate and delicate, like pearls and flawless. Nahema is pure and round, infinitely endearing. I would never think of a rose. Jean-Paul Guerlain has the character of being bold and daring to create new things. Nahema is not a garden, don't define and understand it directly with figurative things. On my first impressions, Nahema doesn't smell like roses, specifically, a sticky, rose dew-like consistency different from rose jam. Roses of the Nahema type, mostly seen after 1980, are still of the chypre type. Categorizing it in oriental florals is another approach. In 1975, the rose coordination proposed by Jean-Paul when he made Parure was used in Nahema in 1979. Nahema evolved from Chamade, removing the greenness in Chamade, and the rose core was infinitely enlarged and stripped. Based on Rose Nouvelle, Nahema gradually took shape and was born as an independent individual. Made with Guerlain's proud peach aldehyde, infused with a Firmenich rose base, Rosessence, the apricot presents a rich honeyed finish. The cool aldehyde fragrance, with the soft greenness of white rosin and hyacinth, the eternal peach rose-ylang-ylang smiles away, and on the honey-like texture, small and lovely molecules are built into hexagons, building a pocket Rose Tower. The conflict between cold and warm, Nahema blooming in golden light is pink in color, with the breath of early spring, beautiful and unparalleled. I smelled the Nahema again, and it showed the scene from The Roses of Heliogabalus, ecstatic, with rose petals all over the sky, fluttering lightly on the faces of the guests, blocking their breath. The standard concentration of PDT at the time of design is very practical, and the gradient of Parfum is slow and traceless. Jean-Paul said in an interview: "Nahéma, which I created in 1979, is a real bouquet of roses, a hymn to roses. It's one of my favorite scents." I was so overwhelmed by the magic of Nahema that anyone who smelled it revered or adored it, it was irresistible and completely addicted. And I know very well, I'm just amazed by the perfumery skills shown by Jean-Paul

oh, nahema! i've waited a long time to try this, unable to find a tester at ANY guerlain counter in multiple countries (i travel a lot). i heard that nahema does NOT age well, so i avoided the vintage juice. i read several interviews with thierry wasser, head perfumer at the house of guerlain and hand-picked successor to jean-paul guerlain. he talks about the increasing fragrance restrictions that requires extensive reformulations of the classic house fragrances—including nahema. wasser is generally regarded as a very good reformulator. so long story short, i wanted to smell the very latest version of nahema. quick note on extrait vs. eau de parfum. the extrait was discontinued in 2016, though it is still available. i decided to seek out the freshest (and only current) version: the 2017 eau de parfum. now on to my review.... oh. my. goddess. there is NOTHING that compares to nahema. it's a unique bird: exotic, mesmerizing, unforgettable. as such, it's not for everyone. the opening is powerful and in-your-face. i detect two strong notes: green and rose. the green note is hyacinthus orientalis, or rose hyacinth. i love it so much. i keep sniffing through the composition to identify this note. it's strong at the opening and stays through the middle, though in decreasing strength. sometimes i can even smell it in the dry down. the second opening note is of course the rose. this is an oily, powerful rose. it has that lemon note in bulgarian rose oil. i usually dislike that lemon note in rose as too sharp and strong, but in nahema it works. jean-paul guerlain simply could not have used a mild, pretty rose in his composition; it would not have worked in such a statement fragrance. the strong opening mutes quickly into a medium sillage green rose heart. the middle character of nahema is quite blended. it's harder to isolate just the green or just the rose, so i call it "green rose". the dry down is surprising to me. usually i lose most of the green and rose and get just a sweet woods and vanilla base. this base is quite different from the opening and middle. i don't mind it, but that "big" character of nahema is gone. never in a perfume have i smelled such a clear opening, middle and end. despite nahema being a "big rose" its life cycle is only 3-4 hours on my skin. i believe this is largely due to the fragrance restrictions. the old formulas were touted as sillage monsters, but for better or worse that is not the case in 2017. i find nahema perfect as an evening fragrance, with just the right longevity for a date night or cocktails with the girls or an evening of debauchery ;-) nahema wears well in the winter and in open air, as well. in summary, nahema is magnificent.

I was 18 when Nahema hit the stores. A lover of Opium, Shalimar and Cinnabar (as I still am). I had no time for this with its roses. I was scarred by Lauder's florals of the time and the imo hideous Perfumer's Workshop Tea Rose that women of my mother and grandmothers age were overspraying themselves with. I still don't like those. and I'm picky about rose in fragrance. But I love Nahema. I've read it's totally synthetic rose, and I've read that it contains huge amounts of rose absolute. Interesting, but in the end I don't really care which is true. Nahema bursts open as a fresh, damp-leaved bouquet of roses - red, pink, coral and yellow - with a bit of hyacinth and the peach of Mitsouko. The aldehydes in this have a very different effect than I expect with aldehydes - no soapiness. I can't find words to describe it but they are there on the top and give the perfume a sort of joyous lift. It's a gorgeous, happy, elegant fragrance. I'm not generally a big fan of green notes but they are perfect here. The rose just goes on forever. When the aldehydes and peach walk away there are more flowers - jasmine, hyacinth, I don't know what else. It seems that the peach and the green are dynamic at this point. I catch whiffs as I move my hands for a few hours, but when I sniff my wrists they're gone. In the drydown I get subtle, velvety sandalwood - rich and luxurious but not at all heavy - with a bit of fruit, some vetiver and the lightening yet ever present rose. I see vanilla listed but I've never picked up on that. Rose is the star here from start to finish. Without deliberately thinking about it I wouldn't much notice any other flowers, they're all background for the rose. I get neither powder nor wateriness from Nahema at any point. There's a hint of sweet but nothing like the sweetness of currently popular perfumes. I guess it's a soliflore but it's not a linear scent. It's much more interesting than any of the other rose soliflores I've worn. I'm afraid that I'm one of those old ladies who is all like "Back in my day our perfumes lasted all day, the sillage was huge, and the oakmoss was real." I have a new tester of the parfum and a 1985 bottle of Parfum de Toilette, and I had a 2010 edp. I assume there have been reformulations along the way but I don't really notice a major difference in Nahema like I do with so many others. The sillage is great (more with the pdt/edp than the parfum of course) and longevity for me is all day.

Absolutely staggered by this perfume. I'd tried a vintage sample of this years ago and my recollection was 'very nice, rose dominant, Guerlainesque' and this was all I had in my mind but it's sooooooooo sooooooo good. So another great pal sent me a vintage sample recently and I'm blown away by a key element of this perfume, the rose as a fleeting top note. Well it's not fleeting it remains present probably but not in the way I've experienced in any other perfume, it's like a wave of the most beautiful, faceted, sweet but not too sweet, almost cool (temperature wise), perfect rose absolute washes over you and then retreats right the way back so this exotic, powdery, floral mixture with warm vanillic amber tones and inherent, classy, gorgeousness can come to the forefront. It basically flips from fresh, vibrant, rose dominant opening (and super intact fruity pitchy topnotes for the age of this bottle BTW) to all of a sudden a sort of exotic infused, white floral, Lilly of the valley but with a really resinous warm, vanillic (in a good way) ambery base. It's an absolute revelation!!! It's not pungent or commanding in that way old, seen as stuffy, "WOMEN'S" florals can be. I'm absolutely enamoured and looking at the notes list here, rose in the top notes (and it's in the heart too but I'm gonna give Fragrantica some credit here) is really accurate because it's there, then it's basically gone. Working with rose, understanding and experiencing rose perfumes, I've never witnessed this effect, and Jean Paul Guerlain did that. I think it's creative genius and we've not even really got into the base which is one of the most nose nuzzling drydown's I recall experiencing. Listed here is peru balm and I'll go along with that as I've read that used correctly in an amber accord of sorts it creates a playful powdery sort of effect, even though when you smell the raw material or use in heavier doses and you get a spicy, cinnamon/clove/anise inflected heavy balasmic resin effect. Everything about this screams quality to me and has come at a time I maybe needed it as I'm feeling slightly disillusioned with everything at the moment and Nahema has done a great job of lifting my spirits. Fantastic!!! Now comes the hard part... keeping myself away from eBay, Etsy and the like because a vintage bottle of this is likely to set me back a few quid.

This really is a bit of a masterpiece. I am wearing a decant from a wonderful fellow Frangrantician, and I'm not sure which version I am wearing, but I think it's the most recent EDP from the bee bottle. I gave this a quick spray to get a sense of it when I first received it months ago, but quickly realized that one must devote some serious time to unlock and appreciate just how singular this perfume is, and today is the day I am doing so. The first few minutes are almost intolerably dry and medicinal on my skin, so much so that if I was a fragrance novice I would have immediately scrubbed upon application! However, it does not take very long before Nahema begins to unfurl, releasing a rose that somehow manages to be simultaneously hyper realistic AND abstract. There is a honeyed sweetness that steers well clear of cloying territory through use of spices, woods, and resins. Again, I find myself marveling at the contradictions, the duality of this fragrance - real AND abstract, sweet AND dry. I use "dry" the way a wine lover would, not as the opposite of "wet". It is extremely difficult for me to identify individual notes, other than the majestic rose, and I don't think I'd want to even if I could. I am far more content just allowing Nahema to be Nahema - far, far greater than the sum of her parts. Right now, I am just enjoying the ride! I am not one to limit myself to wearing certain types of perfumes based upon what clothing I am wearing. This is the exception to the rule. I plan on purchasing a full bottle, and can only see myself wearing this under the most special of circumstances, not because I think it needs to be preserved for those moments, but because it almost demands to be worn in situations where it's beauty can be fully exploited. Nahema is NOT an "I don't know what to wear so I will just spray some of this on" type of fragrance. As a matter of fact, that is probably the only aspect of this work of art that is not based on duality. Is this my favorite perfume ever based upon my personal likes and dislikes? No, but I would be hard pressed to name any other fragrance that is superior to Nahema in terms of it's execution. It exists among a pantheon of masterpieces where others may equal but none exceed.