Regardless of whether this is a source joy or stress, Christmas is upon us, so please forgive me for boring your socks off with more noise about the end of year holidays if you’re not in the mood or don’t celebrate. I know that if you live in Europe, and I suspect much of the Western world, it is hard to ignore this time of year and it can feel quite relentless. Of course what Yuletide means for most people is endless gift buying, the implicit permission to eat 10,000 calories a day for a few weeks and generally speaking, a lot of stress due to family gatherings and logistical headaches.
But what is the “olfactive soundtrack” to all this jazz? Many familiar scents have come to embody this time of year: cinnamon and ginger biscuits, mulled wine, burning logs on a fire, spiritual incense at Mass, etc. All these scents have their origin in time and have come to form the “sensory fingerprint” of the end of the year. As we have seen last year with the article dedicated to one of the season’s most distinctive spices, cinnamon, the reasons why we associate Yuletide with certain smells generally has a practical explanation. In any case, we now think of Christmas smells as warm, ambery, woody and spicy, just take a look at the selection of candles that feature these notes around this time of year!
Instead of dissecting them one by one, I thought I would go back to the origins of Christmas. It is after all, if one sets aside all the modern trappings of Christmas, a tale of redemption and love. One that starts with a birth. So really, the main scent should be that of a baby and what it symbolises, love. For any mother, it is an unforgettable memory, the first time you cradle your child in your arms and softly smell his head. How to describe it though?
It is both subtle and soft, cozy and sweet, vaguely milky and delicate. The smell of pillowy clouds and heartbreaking love. Not easy to translate in olfactive form. I started wondering if there had been any perfumes that had tried to mimic the scent of a baby. As it is often the case, it depends on one’s perspective. There certainly have been several perfumes as early as the 80s marketed towards new mothers and their babies. I remember, when I had my first baby, my mother-in-law gifting me a bottle of Bulgari’s “Petits et Mamans”, a fluffy powdery musky scent. But there are many other perfumes that are in a similar vein, such as “Le Ptisentbon” from the brand Tartine et Chocolat or “Bonne Etoile” by Dior.
Generally they feature lots of white musks, some powdery notes reminiscent of iris (methylionone, etc.), some almond-adjacent accords (heliotrope/coumarine, etc.) and some fresh florals such as orange blossom water. At least in the French/European olfactive imagination, these are the notes that often feature in baby creams and baby products, so we instinctively associate them with a baby’s smell.
Interestingly, I have noticed in recent years a series of perfumes that have not been marketed in that way but feature similar notes and translate, in my view, the sense of softness and comfort of cuddles. These are not your average luxury brands, these are the “creme de la creme” of brands that, in their most exclusive lines, have come out with what I consider to be “fancy baby scent”. Generally built around a powdery almond accord, these perfumes seem to be having a bit of a moment. Sometimes the notes listed seem a bit fanciful (i. e. cherry blossom, laurel blossom, etc.) but on the whole, I think their feel is that of baby’s skin to me.
So, if this Christmas what you crave most of all, and what you wish for most of all for the world, is love and a cuddle, then here are a few suggestions for you.
-Comète, Chanel Les Exclusifs
Released in 2024 and created by Olivier Polge, it is the most recent scent on the list and, like for most Chanel’s Les Exclusifs perfumes, I was very very excited to try it. I have to admit it was a bit of let down. Of course, there is nothing wrong with it, but it didn’t move me nor did it manage, I think, to add anything new to the category of almondy/musky scents. The one thing I would praise it for, is for its decisively bitter almond opening. It is discernible, if fleeting, and seems, to my nose, not to be trying to please immediately. It then settles into a light floral powdery musky scent, very cosy, very plush, very cocooning. Lovely really if a bit on the boring side. I just wondered what made Chanel go in that direction. It’s a 180 turn from their last Les Exclusifs’ release, “Le Lion” in 2019. People who fail to love this will no doubt blame it on “the Asian market” saying that it was developed with that demographic in mind, while “Le Lion” was clearly meant for a more Middle Eastern clientele. I don’t know. It took me awhile to appreciate “Le Lion”, now I love it, so I will circle back to this one and give it a chance. The very name “Comète” also seems, incidentally, completely in line with my nativity theme.
-Dans Paris, Celine
I mean, it’s really a vanilla scent. But one that manages to seduce even someone as adverse to sweetness as me. I think it’s the aromatic opening (coriander seeds?) that keeps the sweetness in check. In Guerlain’s l’Art et la Matière collection, there is another vanilla scent, “Angelique Noire” (AN), that uses the same trick of adding an aromatic top note (Angelica seeds in that case, that has the added benefit of also acting as a “vegetal musk” and bridging the sweetness of the composition with the musky elements) to balance out the sweetness. But unlike AN, “Dans Paris” (DP) is in my view more restrained in its sweetness, more subtle. More refined. It’s the perfect balance of musky and sweet. So in my unconscious, the perfect evocation of a cuddly baby’s skin. As a side note, Celine doesn’t reveal the name of its perfumer(s). I always find that rather anachronistic. I have no insider knowledge of course but my money is actually on Olivier Polge, Chanel‘s perfumer and the creator of the previous scent discussed here and the following one from Guerlain, “Cuir Beluga”, before he became Chanel‘s exclusive perfumer. You see how there is a thread there.
In any case, coming back to “Dans Paris”, I just know I feel slightly out of character when I wear this, but it comforts and soothes me.
-Cuir Beluga, Guerlain L’Art et la Mature
Created by Olivier Polge in 2005, it is, according to the sales representative at the Guerlain counter here in Rome, their best seller. The name is rather misleading though. Beluga leather? What do they mean by “Cuir Beluga”? Beluga as in caviar? Fishy leather? A truly odd choice in my view, so forget the name.
If you go on the Fragrantica website, most users will say that there are strong similarities between “Dans Paris” and “Cuir Beluga”. They are right. I would say it’s 85% similar. “Cuir Beluga” is not really a leather scent at all, maybe a soft suede but even that is hardly discernible. The suede is just a suggestion, providing a slight backbone to the scent to avoid it being flat. What is very discernible is the powdery almond facet, which constitutes, with the vanilla, the defining character of the composition.
On the whole, I slightly prefer “Cuir Beluga” to “Dans Paris”, because the sweetness is tamed by a more pronounced bitter almond note. But the Guerlain is 325 eur for 100 ml (I mean, completely mad really) while the Celine is a “bargain” at 250 eur for 100 ml. Crazy I know, this is why I only have samples for both.
So there you go. I am not saying you should buy any of these scents, I am just mentioning that they remind me in a way of the cuddly softness of a newborn and that they somehow manage to evoke the tenderness of maternal love. Really what the world is in need of now is not more unbridled consumerism but for people of goodwill to stand up for peace. So, if you find yourself praying during this season, let it be for peace.
Happy holidays to everyone and my heartfelt wishes for happiness to all!
