The Guerlain boutique on 68 Champs-Elysees is my happy place (I considered calling it a perfumista's Disneyland, but that would be so very wrong). It was the opposite of my wretched Caron experience, both in terms of the wonderful gracious and patient customer service and of scent. It didn't hurt that the store is very spacious and elegant.
The street level entrance doesn't prepare you for the golden oppulance of the second floor, where you can go around the three tiered table in the center to play with the more famous classics and major releases (the parfums are on the top tier) from Jicky to Insolence. There's a wall that holds more of the popular ones like the new flankers and Eau de Shalimar, but the main attraction is the stuff you'll never see in Sephora.
Mouchoir de Monsieur, the last escargot bottle, sits in its vault in all its 800-something euro glory (I got to sniff and it's gorgeous). L'Art et la Matiere collection sits on a table by the large window, all yours to play (and overdose on the vanillic aftertaste you get from having several of them on one arm). I tested them before, but this is way more fun than Bergdorf.
Then there are the re-issues, the Parisienne collection, the crystal bottle of Quand Vient La Pluie that comes in a box with a funnel, and the bee bottles. Speaking of the latter, I got a kick out of the option to have your own engraved gold-plated bee bottle in any size of your favorite Guerlain. I'm not sure who buys the 32 oz, but I wouldn't have objected to a small personalized one of Shalimar parfum that reads Gaia, the Non-Blonde...
I was too tired to really play much in the other rooms, the ones with the makeup and skin care, but having purchased a bottle of Sous le Vent (I was sure I'll end up with one of the la Matiere, most likely Spiritueuse Double Vanille, but the grownup sex appeal of Sous le Vent won over the cake and booze that day) , I got some generous samples that are worth a review once I actually try them.
The street level entrance doesn't prepare you for the golden oppulance of the second floor, where you can go around the three tiered table in the center to play with the more famous classics and major releases (the parfums are on the top tier) from Jicky to Insolence. There's a wall that holds more of the popular ones like the new flankers and Eau de Shalimar, but the main attraction is the stuff you'll never see in Sephora.
Mouchoir de Monsieur, the last escargot bottle, sits in its vault in all its 800-something euro glory (I got to sniff and it's gorgeous). L'Art et la Matiere collection sits on a table by the large window, all yours to play (and overdose on the vanillic aftertaste you get from having several of them on one arm). I tested them before, but this is way more fun than Bergdorf.
Then there are the re-issues, the Parisienne collection, the crystal bottle of Quand Vient La Pluie that comes in a box with a funnel, and the bee bottles. Speaking of the latter, I got a kick out of the option to have your own engraved gold-plated bee bottle in any size of your favorite Guerlain. I'm not sure who buys the 32 oz, but I wouldn't have objected to a small personalized one of Shalimar parfum that reads Gaia, the Non-Blonde...
I was too tired to really play much in the other rooms, the ones with the makeup and skin care, but having purchased a bottle of Sous le Vent (I was sure I'll end up with one of the la Matiere, most likely Spiritueuse Double Vanille, but the grownup sex appeal of Sous le Vent won over the cake and booze that day) , I got some generous samples that are worth a review once I actually try them.
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