Habit Rouge
Guerlain Habit Rouge Eau de Toilette is one of the genuine landmarks of masculine perfumery, a 1965 composition by Jean-Paul Guerlain that put sweetness and leather in the same bottle decades before the rest of the market followed.
The opening is a burst of citrus and it is bigger than you expect. Lemon, orange, bergamot, lime and tangerine arrive together, bright and slightly bitter, with basil adding a green herbal snap and brazilian rosewood a warm, rosy, faintly peppery wood underneath. For a moment it smells like the most elegant cologne ever made.
Then it changes direction. Rose and carnation come forward, carnation carrying its spiced, almost peppery bite, with cinnamon beside it, jasmine smoothing the flowers and sandalwood, cedarwood and patchouli beginning to build the floor. By the time the base arrives you are somewhere else entirely: vanilla, soft and powdery, poured over leather, with benzoin and labdanum adding resin and amber a golden warmth, while oakmoss keeps a dry, earthy bitterness in play so the sweetness never wins outright.
That contrast between the vanilla and the leather is the whole idea, and it is why the fragrance has stayed in production for sixty years while fashions came and went. At eau de toilette strength it is comfortable rather than loud, giving five or six hours with a soft trail, and it rewards two sprays on the chest rather than a cloud. It is marketed to men, often worn by women, and it suits evenings, cold weather and anywhere a little formality is expected.
Guerlain opened its doors in Paris in 1828 and now belongs to LVMH. Habit Rouge came from the family themselves, as Jicky had in 1889 and Shalimar in 1925, which is why it is spoken about in the same breath as those two.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
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