Vetiver

I've wanted to write this review for a while now, but what's new to say about such a storied icon? Well, if I could, I'd change my username to GuerlainVetiver (There's a gentleman over on Basenotes named "Paco Rabanne Pour Homme"). The fragrance subreddits have frequent posts asking what would be one's scent for life, and guess what? Guerlain Vetiver always shows up... yes that's partially because I throw it into the hat too. What makes such an anachronistic, deceptively complex fragrance work so well, despite being initally unleashed on the world in the late 1950's? Personally, I find Vetiver to be ridiculously versatile, spanning any season or occasion without seeming out of place. The amazing opening that many liken to a "gulp of cold water" is easily my favorite opening in my collection. Zingy lime and bergamot swirl around the dominant note of dry, grassy vetiver, making for an amazing wake-up call. That opening lasts for a surprising amount of time before settling down into the beautiful combo of prickly, spicy vetiver, sweet bergamot, and slight vanilla laced with cedar. Like a popular alternative, Terre D'Hermes, Vetiver is a chamileon in its profile: Sometimes the overall effect is straight clove, sometimes sweet grass baking in summer, sometimes a minty soap/aftershave. There's so much going on here that everyone I've asked has given a different answer to what this smells like. Some say licorice, some said "minty," others said lavender and citrus. But everyone who tried Vetiver agrees that it smells great, it just takes some a bit longer to come around. Because it really doesn't smell "current," even if people don't know how long this stuff has been around, they know it's a scent hailing from another time. Although I gather that the current square bottles are the most tame when it comes to the traditionally dated notes of tobacco. Or maybe, if it's there I just don't get it. Everything is blended so well that it's hard to sit down and pick out every single note here. Despite the age gap between this and say... YSL Y (ignoring the fact that this has definitely changed from even its 2000 revival), Vetiver still manages to not feel as dated as something like Polo or Lauder for Men. I guess it's like classical architecture, yes it's old, but it's still considered beautiful and eternally relevant. Shoot, Terre D'Hermes is basically the Neoclassical version of Vetiver. Alright, everyone cares about performance, and I consider it too when making a purchase, so here's what I get: Hours. Like a healthy 12 hours of use out of two sprays kind of hours. Summertime? Mmm, refreshing. Winter? Smells amazing under a wool scarf. Anything in between? Just do it. Projection is definitely good for the first hour or two, I've had people notice within this window of time. That opening pierces its way through people's noses better than a Claire's, but sits back down for the rest of the day. Never too much (though you shouldn't overspray this one), 10/10 performance, total goldilocks. Side tangent, I like the idea of Guerlain claiming the square bottles are a callback to the 60's bottles (despite also being retooled L'Homme Ideal bottles), I also wish they'd go back to unique bottles depending on the scent. Not to mention this doesn't come in 50ml anymore (but Habit Rouge does?), making travel awkward with the overbuilt faceted beast of a bottle. Maybe I just really want to see the reissue of the odd columnal bottles from the 70's... I'm also miffed that my bottle has a bum atomiser... so there's that. But at any rate, Guerlain Vetiver is a must have if you appreciate classical perfumery, or are really bored with the perfume counter nowadays. Guerlain's prices have gone up, even discounted, but Vetiver and Habit Rouge make such an excellent duo. I haven't tried the newer parfum yet, partly because it's steep, and mostly because I don't think it'll live up to the EDT. No mention of a citrus opening concerns me also. That's fine because Vetiver is always going to have a place in my collection, eventually I'd like to track down older versions to compare and contrast (and just to hoard more Vetiver...). Wonderful masterpiece from Guerlain that, in my opinion (please be gentle), trumps Habit Rouge as the greatest Guerlain masculine. Anyone can wear this stuff, old, young, male, female, it just works. It's rugged, suave, harsh, comforting, dated, timeless, clean, dirty, cooling and warm all at the same time. Now to try L'Instant de Guerlain Pour Homme to see where it places on the scale of Not-Vetiver to Vetiver.

My very first experience with Guerlain's Vetiver, some years ago, was the current parfum flanker by Delphine Jelk. For a perfume called the "reference vetiver" by Luca Turin, the modern parfum concentration certainly let me down; I was not impressed. I thought for a while that it was just me, and I retried it, and kept reading about it, and kept hearing how legendary Guerlain's Vetiver is and I just couldn't understand it. It was too thick and cloying, it felt lifeless, and carried way too much tonka bean - in fact, it should've been called Expired Vetiver & Baking Tonka. I told myself that I needed to go to the source, that I needed to try the original Vetiver in its original concentration and original formula as envisioned and executed by Jean Paul Guerlain. I found a late 80s EdT that was (and still is) in great condition, so today I am taking the plunge and giving Guerlain Vetiver another try... and now I finally get it. In this formulation and concentration "reference vetiver" is an appropriate description, with Guerlain delivering the perfect vetiver accord in all of its complex glory. Why this perfume is special needs two key pieces of context. In 1961 when it was released, vetiver was and had been used in many releases up to that point, obviously, and had been around as a staple aromatic in Southeast Asia in particular for hundreds if not thousands of years, but Guerlain can claim with limited debate that it created one of the first vetiver focused fragrances in modern perfumery; this was a fairly novel idea at the time (Carven was the first). The reason it was novel - the second piece of context - is that vetiver is a difficult ingredient to handle in perfumery (the natural extraction of it, at any rate, and synthetics aside). The amount infused into a perfume vs. the olfactive intensity of the accord seems to follow an exponential scale: there is a definite line where once you add a certain yet relatively conservative amount of vetiver to a perfume, vetiver tends to just take over the perfume. Couple this point to its olfactorily temperamental nature depending upon terroir and extraction technique, and you could get a vetiver that's woody and earthy, green and aromatic, or sweaty and swampy - or some combination thereof. All of this means that the material, up until 1961 at Guerlain generally speaking, was an accent to a perfume - not the star. Guerlain's Vetiver finally gave this incredible material of modern perfumery its own spotlight and showcases it at its absolute best and most compelling. The vetiver accord in this perfume is primarily green and aromatic, also woody and earthy at the base, and a bit salty and turned at the top. Guerlain doesn't hide any facets of vetiver, including the difficult facets, but it does make sure the edges are smoothed to a silken but lively texture. To make sure it was sufficiently rounded out and that all notes of the vetiver were allowed the correct volume, Guerlain added a juicy yet smooth lemon top note, a good heaping of fresh tobacco, and touches of pepper and nutmeg at the base. This perfume won't be for everyone: it won't strike anyone as modern (new generations will probably snub it), but it should strike everyone as a classic. Vetiver is also challenging by nature, but it is one of those materials that when at the hands and brain of a master, like Jean Paul Guerlain, it can be one of the most beautiful, complex, compelling and alluring accords in modern perfumery - if you are one of the people it speaks to, then it will have your heart. I am one of those people. I love vetiver in nearly all of its forms, and I especially love this Guerlain. I am very fortunate to have been able to get a vintage bottle in the correct concentration and in great condition, and I am grateful - as I sit here constantly raising my wrists to my nose for one more sniff, eyes nearly misting over at the beauty - that I can wear this exceptional piece of perfume history on a beautiful spring day.

Stellar from Guerlain. I can’t add much, since this has been reviewed for many years, by many more-talented noses than myself, but I want to speak slightly to the TF Vetiver comparison. These two have much less in common than commenters and the ‘smells like’ section might lead you to believe. I’ll start by saying I think that Guerlain’s Vetiver is about 10x the fragrance that TF’s is. When I first smelled the TF, each subsequent application lost a little appeal. It’s very flat. It becomes boring, despite a delicious vetiver note. While there are complexities beneath the surface of grey vetiver, namely in the readily identifiable pimento note; it doesn’t change much at all throughout a wearing. Despite their price point, I’ve always thought of TF scents as more designer than niche. I think their Vetiver proves that point, and in so doing, likewise demonstrates where Grey Vetiver falls short. It is grey. And like so many other Tom Fords such as BdJ, their attempts at recreating and subverting something end up detracting from its original idea rather than being a boon to it. With Grey Vetiver, which I can’t help but see as a Tom Fordification of Guerlain’s Vetiver, the traditional masculine notes and juicy citruses are replaced... or dare I say even subtracted. The TF is more focused, but much more linear. Where Guerlain’s is a vetiver amid a traditional and classic citrus scent, a la Eau Sauvage or Bois du Portugal, the TF is more or less just vetiver. The vetiver note in the TF and Guerlain’s vetiver is itself very similar, but just with respect to the vetiver accord. So in sillage, and when smelled by untrained noses, one might see the broader scent as similar, but I think that couldn’t be further from the truth. Behind and alongside the vetiver in the Guerlain is a symphony of citrus, floral, and traditional masculine notes. These all prop up and support and add to the delightful vetiver accord (that Guerlain shares with TF), and make it greater than the sum of its parts. Supporting the TF Vetiver is just grey. There is no addition here. It’s so grey it could hardly be called a subtraction either. And the end result for TF is just a gorgeous vetiver surrounded by a bland nothingness. Whereas every addition in the Guerlain add tremendous value, from the florals to the tobacco, to the juicy citrus. In short, it seems the subtraction of the ‘traditional’ notes from Guerlain’s masterpiece were thought by TF to lurch the scent into dated territory, and accordingly, in removing those notes, they ripped out its heart and deprived it of all charm, fun, wisdom, and mastery; leaving just grey. Guerlain’s Vetiver defines timeless and defines vetiver. I could only wear this scent forever and would never tire of it. Maybe some day I will. I can’t recommend it enough. And it is hundreds of times better than its oft-compared, pricier relative in TF Grey Vetiver. Save yourself the time and money and go straight to the well.

Guerlain Vetiver true story: I sprayed this on myself in the morning after my shower and forgot about it. Couldn’t smell it anymore, thought it was gone but didn’t care because I wear this more for myself because I love it, more than to impress. After work, went to pick up a few things at Walmart. Yes, WALMART! I’m looking at the bagged salads in the produce area and I hear two ladies talking down by the cucumbers and peppers. The one calls out to me: “Sir, excuse me, could you come over here and walk past us?” “I’m sorry, excuse me,” I replied. “Something smells good and we think it’s you. Could you just walk past us?” [I remembered that I hit up the Vetiver that morning.] So I smiled and humored them and walked down toward these two ladies and walked close to them and got “in their personal space.” “Yeah, it’s you,” the one declared. They asked me what I was wearing and I proudly answered: “Vetiver. You can find it on Amazon and it’s in a green square box.” This really happened! IN WALMART!!! I know we sometimes think that our scent is gone a few hours after we DOUSE ourselves in it, but Vetiver has some staying power even when we don’t notice it anymore. I would say that, in my experience after a few hours, Vetiver leaves a subtle trail verses filling up a room. Sure, after a hot shower and shave in the morning, it will fill up a room, a house! But after that first hour or two, it becomes more tamed down. It blends more with your natural skin oils and somehow it almost becomes a part of your own natural scent. Which I like most of the time. If I’m going out for a swanky dinner where I’ll be in mixed company with some of the ladies who I’d want to notice me, I would not choose Vetiver. I would choose something bolder. But for work, for a daily driver where I’m in my own office but also interacting with coworkers who come close to me for my normal workday tasks, when I want to be fresh and clean, Vetiver is a perfect choice. (After the first two hours) it’s subtle and fresh, it’s clean, I would use the word “soapy,” it’s understated, classic, and masculine. I’ve had good results when I spray it along my jawline and neck after I shave and have had a hot shower. The bathroom is still steamy, my pores are clean and probably open and primed to receive a scent. That’s when I spray it generously to my neck and jawline area and under the ears. I can smell it on myself for about two hours or so, then my brain blocks it out, but it’s still there in a subtle way, apparently. Because around seven hours later the ladies in Walmart were picking it up after I thought it was long gone!

What can I add that hasn't already been said about this icon? This is a reference vetiver and one of the first commercially successful vetiver-centered fragrances (see also the marvelous Carven Vetiver), but to my nose, and may do agree, this is just as much a tobacco-forward fragrance as it is vetiver. It's citrus aromatic opening is classic Guerlain and no sooner than this develops does the vetiver and tobacco, supported by some carnation and spice, flourish on my skin contrasting with the green grassiness and hesperidic delicacy. Today is a rainy, damp late August day in New England, and Guerlain Vetiver is a sublime accompaniment as it really blooms in this weather, with its woodier elements coming to the fore, and the dry and dusty qualities contrasting with the wet air. Be that as it may, Guerlain Vetiver could be worn in any season and on the sunniest of days as well; I find it has that sort of versatility. I also want to draw attention to the concept of scent association and ageism. We are all free to have our own personal response to scent and choose to pass something because it is evocative of something for which we do not want to associate. However, there are so many other ways to assert this stance without using "old man" or "old lady" tropes. We all will reach "old" in what will seem like the blink of an eye, but will we have the wisdom to match? Just like how "I" statements are better than "you" statements, perhaps just say that we feel "too young" or "not mature enough" for a particular fragrance? That really shifts the tenor and puts things in perspective; at least I think so. Back to Guerlain Vetiver⁠—I absolutely adore it. It excludes, class, elegance, a certain sprezzatura that cannot be said for a lot more "modern" fragrances that beg for attention and leave a nagging trail of synthetic woody desperation or saccharine artifice in their wake. It smells like someone well-read, worldly, yet compassionate and approachable. Cerebral yet warm, thoughtful yet playful. Some things are better left in the past, but to be a gentleman shouldn't be jettisoned, but distilled in the 21st century, leaving a place these qualities and the pillar fragrances such as Guerlain Vetiver.