Baccarat Rouge 540

Maison Francis Kurkdjian does not describe Baccarat Rouge 540 in terms of top, heart and base, but as three auras inspired by crystal-making. At the top, the airy facets of jasmine and the radiance of saffron stand for the aura of air, that of the artisan’s gesture as he shapes the crystal.

Hedione carries this airy part: the house describes a fresh material with the scent of grandiflorum jasmine, slightly lemony, which Kurkdjian likens to a breeze of petals. It notes that saffron is reproduced in perfumery with safranal, bitter and slightly metallic, with a leathery facet.

The mineral aura rests on an accord evoking ambergris and on dry woody tones. The house attributes it to Ambroxan, a molecule obtained from sclareol, which clary sage provides, and which mimics the ambery, dry and mineral facets of ambergris.

The aura of fire comes from ethyl maltol, a note with gourmand accents that the house pairs with a saffron accord. Angela, of Now Smell This, hears cedar take over the heart of the perfume, beneath a sugary jasmine, over an idea of salty ocean.

The list of notes published at the Baccarat release also cited blood orange, oakmoss, lavender and sage. Today the house retains jasmine, saffron, ambergris and cedar, with Hedione and Ambroxan as supporting materials.

What the label declares

The ingredient list names jasmine extract, bitter orange peel oil, limonene, linalool and benzyl benzoate. It includes an ultraviolet filter, butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane, and two colorants, CI 19140 and CI 14700, which tint the juice yellow and red.