Sortilège

Mysterious and elegant, with profound charm. Sortilège is definitely a perfume born of instinctive cravings. In 1937, Le Galion launched Sortilege. Before that, Arpège was Paul Vacher's most famous fragrance creation. Paul Vacher leaves Lanvin to take over Le Galion. The master perfumer has left many classics for Lanvin, but Le Galion, which he focuses on, is rarely known. Aldehyde aroma has a burnt bitter taste after a long time. Sortilège—meaning witchcraft, in my opinion, pain and suffering complement each other. The old EDT part is missing. The burning smell dissipated, and then it was like saying goodbye to the dense clouds. The sun shines from the clear sky, illuminating the smooth, soft, sweet, subdued non-powdery floral scent of Sortilège. Paul Vacher waited for jasmine and rose to meet on the musk wood base, and invited ylang-ylang and iris to participate in the grand church chant. I wear Sortilege to reminisce about the golden age, because true elegance stands the test of time. Even if there is a stereotyped coordination that I have heard, I have repeated thousands of appointments, and I, who is fascinated by retro, will always be as surprised as discovering treasures for the first time. Aldehyde flower has unique conservative beauty. Sortilège is a child of Arpege. Although it is still difficult to match the height of Arpege, Sortilège can be compared with Caron Fleur De Rocaile and Guerlain Liu, reaching the upper-middle level. It must have been easy for Paul Vacher. Aldehyde flowers are not all similar in style, but they have a common connection at the core. Whether it is Arpege, Liu or Sortilège, they have witnessed the changes of the world together. Then, a hundred years later, Sortilège reaches the finish line. The great ship Le Galion is about to dock. The sea breeze whipped up waves of white waves, I heard the sound of the waves remained the same, the seagulls lingered and croaked, and the far-sighted flags were flying, and I was in a port tens of thousands of miles away. Greet the Sortilege, greet the dawn.

Sortilege by Le Galion is the first perfume I recall from childhood and the genesis of my life-long love affair with fragrance, aldehydic ones in particular.. When I was only 4 or 5 years old my father won a sales contest at work and chose his prize as a gift for my mom: a 1oz bottle of Sortilege parfum extrait in a fascinating crystal bottle with a glass stopper, same as the one in the photo above. Even though she didn't care for the fragrance she wore it for special occasions because it was a gift from my father (good advice for anyone who receives a gift of fragrance from a loved one!). While preparing to go out my mom would put her red hair in a french twist and dab that little crystal stopper behind her ears, on her neck and wrists and then would dab some on me, making me feel very special, indeed. A few years ago I found the very same bottle on an auction site, still sealed and in the same green, black and white paper wrapped box, and I was instantly swept back 50+ years to my parents' bedroom, watching my mom open her bureau drawer to take out that glorious, grown-up scent of heaven. Without hesitation I hit the "buy it now" button and a week later, for just $40.00 (!!!!) my childhood arrived in my mailbox. Many of these original bottles are still available on-line but prices are rising. I realize my emotional connection to this fragrance means no one will experience it as I do but if you love aldehydes Sortilege belongs in your collection. There's a honey-sweetness and oakmoss bite that's very "French" and truly intoxicating. The edt & edp (usually in tall, cylindrical bottles) have soft sillage and stay close to the skin but you'll know it's there for 8-10 hours. If you splurge on a bit of this extrait you'll have wider sillage and 12-14 hour longevity. With any concentration I promise you will feel like a queen!

Trying a vintage Sortilège sample, this is a fascinating aldehydic floral smoothed by a bit of powder with an animalic kick. This is distinct from No. 5. The aldehydes here are more subdued. There is an altogether more soft, sultry, smooth vibe here. It reminds me of DSH's animalic collection (the more I explore vintage the more I realize how her perfumes really are true to the classical styles). The perfume has a grandness to it. It is dressed up and ready to be out on the town. It is unapologetically womanly. And it is quite comfortable being noticed. This was a mainstream perfume! Now most women hide behind innocuous sugar bombs afraid of any note that might be offensive. What happened?

Sortilege original perfume!!!!!!!! I just got my first bottle from Ebay today. My mother wore it, and I remember feeling intoxicated by her glamour when she did. I havent smelled it in 50 years. When I first put it on today, it was rough and raspy, and I wondered if it had spoiled. 15 minutes in, intense sweetness started to emanate. Two hours in, it is heady and extraordinarily beautiful. My favorite perfumes are Joy, 31 Rue Cambon, Quadrille by Balenciaga, Mitsouko and of course Shalimar. Now Sortilege has joined my top tier perfumes. By the way, I also have vintage original Bourrasque by Le Galion. Sublime. (The new version is "meh" but layers well with the original.

i now have 3 different iterations of the "vintage." one like the foto here etched on the bottom "47," one eau de sortilege and one extrait. each is a different strength but each is magnificent. today i am wearing the eau de parfum and looking at the 20% remaining in the bottle of the rich orange amber juice. altho formulated as a woman's fragrance, it's power is equally, if not more, masculine in 2021. perhaps, some of the floral notes have given up to let the base notes rule. so, i get amber and vetiver dominant with sandalwood, musk, and labdanum rounding out the masculine profile. the remnant floral shades are ghosts of memories. there is an inexpressible beauty.

My adorable 1-dram bottle of Sortilege is simply delightful. The bottle is heavy and the lid is weighty brass, machined to perfectly match the sharp grooves of the flacon. Its design is surely what has kept the few drops of juice in the bottom smelling fresh after 50+ years. Exciting aldehydes are followed by lush indoles and iris, which is the part that reminds me of Arpege, or No. 5. Not as woody or animalic as Arpege, not as rich as No. 5. But wonderful! Dries down to a soft vetiver and light floral musk skin scent. If you love vintage floral aldehydes and chypres and find this gem at an affordable price, it is worth the money.

Sortilège understands—and confers—the sensation of glamour .. It's giving me the smoky back room of a restaurant with a checkered floor, mirrored walls, and a vaulted chestnut colored ceiling —a woman in evening dress (I've just met her, she invited me here) is pouring me some floral liqueur, it's splashing over the edges of the glass.. Someone is giving a clever slapdash toast, and everyone is drunk and laughing .. in the dry down I'm kissing someone in the cab .. But I think it's also meant to be smelled the morning after, as the afterglow and mnemonic mark of a night of pleasure (vintage parfum de toilette)

I received such unopened bottle. I suppose it is from the late 70s or early 80s. The box is soft green and it is decorated with lace like paper inside and outside. The fragrance is typical of that period 20s,the time of Chanel n5, till the 50s. The perfume is strong and elegant. It is very similar to Chanel n5 but it also reminds me of the original vintage Diorama and a bit of the original vintage Crepe de chine, both of which I also have. It combines aldehydes, flowers and a strong, rich, lady style base in the style of monsieur Paul Vacher.

Absolutely delightful,the epitome of a fine perfume.

This is an ultra-formal aldehydic floral, of the same seamless, abstract type as Chanel No. 5 and Van Cleef & Arpels First. golden, sparkling, like a glass of champagne. Possibly a little drier than Chanel No. 5, maybe a little more animalic. Certainly feels a touch easier to wear, slightly less like a ceremonial golden anointing oil and more like something a mortal can wear. But still, a very, very glamorous mortal. It’s got a lot of golden sandalwood and a “soapy” ivory aspect. I have a vague memory of my mother or grandmother getting a soap version of a fine perfume – it might have been Arpege soap – and it smelled a bit like this. Golden ichor + creamy milled soap, gilding + ivory, that kind of effect.

I have a vintage bottle of this, (brown lid, narrow paper sticker below the lid which says Sortilege Concentrate). The first spray must have been stale in the nozzle, smelt of rum! But a proper spray is warm, velvety, powdery iris. Soft but strong. Very similar to vintage Miss Dior (before the reformulations). Miss Dior is a little more complex, so I prefer that, but this is very nice.

Sortilege (original) is the mother of White Linen. It pushes much harder on the dry white florals (especially narcissus) and aldehydes than Arpege or #5, and there is nothing in Sortilege that isn’t bone dry and clean - unlike the lush roses of Arpege and the richly spice of #5. It opens all White Linen and drydown softens into soapy, snuggly) musk, rose, and LOTV.

A real old timer,I found by pure pure chance a full bottle in a flea market,that smells to a rich old lady,an enriched Tabu with touches of Patou,s Joy and Chanel n5,a few drops and EVERYBODY will notice of you

When a beloved perfume from the past such as Le Galion’s Sortilège (1936) is relaunched, the logic of perfume marketing demands that the new version be praised as a faithful continuation of the legacy. Meanwhile, those who know the original version can be expected to wail in chorus, “It’s not the same.” But If you love vintage perfumes, you already know it won’t be the same. At best, you hope that the relaunch shows some respect for the history of the perfume and the memories of those who wore it in its original form. Ideally, the essential character of the original perfume will be maintained in a new composition that uses current materials and technology. You just do not wish to see a great vintage reissued badly, as in the appalling new Jeanne Lanvin My Sin (2017), which transforms the great animalic aldehyde and its iconic Art Deco black flacon into a fruity floral in a hot pink bottle. From the start, the Le Galion house could boast of an impressive pedigree, having been established in the 1920’s by Prince Murat, a descendant of Napoleon I’s brother-in-law. The perfume company acquired an even more influential leader when it was sold to Paul Vacher in 1935. Vacher (1902-75) was one of the most successful and talented perfumers of the twentieth century, with a long and highly diversified career. After training in chemistry, the young Vacher worked at Guerlain and then at Lanvin, where he and André Fraysse, the nephew of Jean Lanvin, designed Arpège in 1927. Vacher left Lanvin when he took over Le Galion. For the next four decades, Vacher produced and marketed his own perfumes under the Le Galion label while continuing to design perfumes for other houses, most notably when he collaborated with Jean Carles to produce the inimitable Miss Dior in 1947. Vacher also designed Diorling for Dior in 1963. With such success, Vacher was able to move his operations to Neuilly, where he formulated perfumes while also producing perfume essences and ingredients that he continued to provide to the Chanel and Dior perfume labels, among others. Le Galion’s biggest hit of all was surely Sortilège, launched a year after Vacher took over Le Galion, in 1936. In a particularly effective promotional strategy, Le Galion partnered with the Stork Club, which generated photos of Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall, and Judy Garland sitting at cafe tables with a box of Sortilège in front of them. Sortilège is often compared to all the usual suspects: No. 5, L’Aimant, and Arpège, and for a long time, Sortilège didn’t seem mandatory to me as I investigated all of those better-known vintage perfumes in succession. I finally decided to try it and, of course, I thought it was wonderful. The vintage parfum lasts beautifully on the skin, as does the somewhat lighter vintage parfum de toilette. Sortilège’s aldehydic opening is very soft and gives way to a luscious floral bouquet of exceptional quality, dominated by jasmine and ylang-ylang notes, that dries down to a honeyed, slightly animalic musky base. Vintage Sortilège parfum feels inevitably and ineffably gorgeous, and I wish I could go to the Stork Club wearing it. After Vacher’s death in 1975, the Le Galion company was sold and resold until it was acquired in 2014 by Nicolas Chabot, the current owner and creative director. Coming from a family of perfume retailers, Chabot worked in the perfume industry and became intrigued by Le Galion’s history a few years ago. Although many perfume houses are revived as empty facades, Chabot has the spirit of an archivist and true vintage perfume geek. The revived Sortilège (2014) is available in an EDP formulation in a tall classic bottle that evokes the shape of the vintage Le Galion parfum de toilette. I don’t detect much of an aldehyde presence in the new EDP, which steers well clear of the powdery notes that can be perceived as dated by many current buyers. The flowers are just as lush as in the original, with perhaps a little more fruitiness. Worn side by side, the effort devoted to matching the 2014 Sortilège to its 1936 ancestor is evident, and the perfumes smell very similar in their middle stages. The base of the 2014 version does contain some modern musky ambery aromachemicals, Timbersilk perhaps, but used with great refinement and restraint. The EDP has excellent longevity for a modern perfume although it can’t match the performance of the vintage parfum; nevertheless, I think Paul Vacher would be quite pleased with the new Sortilège.

Just purchased on E-bay, a small, travel-sized spray PDT, and I am excited to try it. A lot depends upon this, as it will determine whether or not I continue to seek out vintage, aldehydic florals for me collection. I've had a bit of a disappointing success rate. The majority ARE wearable, and do hit the spot when nostalgia creeps in, but it's just been my experience that the aldehydes and or top notes generally go off in such a way that they smell musty even though I smell the genius underneath. The most recent disappointment was a vintage Caleche. It is so beautiful, but though the mustiness recedes, I'm always conscious about it and therefore only wear it and others for myself at home. Sortilege has been on my radar for a while and I will review when I receive it. My gut tells me that it's going to be a similar experience. However, if that's the case and I love what I smell elsewhere, I can always give the reformulation a try. Review to follow. EDIT/REVIEW 10/27/21 I've had this for a while now but somehow misplaced it so I'm testing for the first time tonight. I'm a bit perplexed! Turns out that this is a dab on, not a spray. I THINK it's parfum, not a PDT. The confusion is because my first impression was that this definitely contained oak moss! There is a definite earthy smell upon application and it takes a while for it to calm down and for the florals to emerge. In a sense, it reminds me of vintage Ma Griffe, though not nearly as potent and biting in the opening. Once Ma Griffe settles down, a beautiful green floral rises to the forefront. This is the same thing I am experiencing with Sortilege. Is it from the labdanum? The vetiver? Or has my bottle gone off? It's difficult to tell, and even though it's a recreation of an older version launched in 1937, I was floored to read that this came out in 2014! There's nothing modern about Sortilege, and I don't mean that in a bad way. I can smell the beautiful florals much more clearly when I directly sniff my wrist, but even 30 minutes in, it's projecting like a chypre from the 70s. Come to think of it, it is much more a chypre than a floral aldehyde! Am I smelling the same fragrance as everyone else? With comparisons being made to both Chanel #5 and #22, I feel like I must be, and yet it came in proper packaging, with a tightly sealed bottle. The opening is so small that I can't imagine how anyone could replace the switch the contents. Nevertheless, I really like this, especially as it softens. The longevity, projection and sillage are all above average. I can see this working best in cooler weather, and think it would be most suited, and a very sophisticated choice, for the evening. I may look into purchasing a larger bottle, a spray rather than dab on, as I am almost positive that the opening will be much different. All in all, this is a solid and strong Like for me, and I'm looking forward to getting to know Sortilege better!

This Sortilége yet remains a deliciously golden floral nectar, but I can't/ won't claim to identify too many notes. Before even looking at Fragrantica's notes, I tried to detect what I could: I got rose (most likely), other mixed florals, oakmoss (perhaps not...), and the rest of some antique amber-wood base. I am sampling from a vintage bottle, not from the 1930s mind you, but probably 30 or 40 years old. On the negative side, the fatty aldehydes seem to have left the building and doubtlessly some of the complex accords (lilac, muget) have shifted (or mellowed) ...but more positively with time the floral heart and base notes have matured, blended, and enriched themselves in a way analogous to fine wine. Indeed there is a honeyed syrup note that literally reminds me of aged Sauternes, even perhaps one blessed with noble rot. ...and just as with sipping such a fine dessert wine, there is indeed a deeply languid sense of luxurious indulgence in smelling this rarified ambrosia. The bottom line is that Sortilége still casts a bewitching enchantment and the changes time has wrought are largely for the better. If any perfumer out there would like a real challenge, try making a new perfume that smells as deluxe as this venerable relic does right now.

Interesting bio of the man who created this fragrance: Talented perfumer Paul Vacher became the owner of Le Galion in 1935, having bought the perfume house from its founder, Prince Murat. Having created fragrances for many prestigious houses including “Lanvin”, for whom he co-created Arpège, Rumeur, and Scandal with Andre Fraysse, he thought it was time to branch out on his own. In 1936, his perfume Sortilège became an immediate success and remains one of the jewels of the house. Sortilège fragrance notes Top Notes Bergamot, Peach lactone, Orange blossom, Aldehydic complex Heart Notes Lily of the valley, Jasmine, Ylang ylang, Rose, Violet, Orris, Lilac Base notes Musk, Oakmoss, Vetiver, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Tonka, Opoponax, Styrax, Balsamic ambers. What wonderful notes! No wonder this smells so good! Another interesting tidbit - Sortilège, was once given as a gift at The Stork Club of New York City, to its wealthy clientele, which led it to becoming known as the "fragrance of the Stork Club." If you do an internet search, you can see boxes of the perfume on the tables of many socialites and movie stars.

My Mom had a bottle of Arpege bath oil whenI was a child. 1970’s. I have purchased several vintage Arpege bath oils trying to find one that matched that wonderful scent. No luck, some came close to hinting at it. Ironically, this perfume comes quite close! As time goes on, a powdery base shows up.

I got a very early bottle with glass stopper with a bit liquid left. It’s very floral, saved very well. Slightly indolic. Much less aldehydes than Chanel 5 and less indolic than Arpege. The bottle is so cute: you want to take and hold it again and again