Bois d'Arménie

These fruitful partnerships gave rise to magnificent, original and luxurious fragrances, exemplified by this Bois d’Arménie composed by Annick Ménardo under the guidance of Sylvaine Delacourte. Bois d’Arménie, or the sophistication of an obscure vanilla, opens its doors to its wonderful world…

Back to the roots of perfume with Bois d’Arménie and its mysterious wisps

Bois d’Arménie was born of a desire and a magnificent encounter between two perfumers. Sylvaine Delacourte dreamed of being able to capture in a bottle the precious remembrances of the scents of her childhood home, where Papier d’Arménie was burned as a room fragrance. Annick Ménardo, celebrated Firmenich perfumer, who had also “fallen in love” with this Papier d’Arménie, wanted to work with the house of Guerlain to recreate this woody and powerful scent as a fragrance. It would simply be called Bois d’Arménie.

Bois d’Arménie is therefore a composition designed to magnify Laos benzoin, the main ingredient of Papier d’Arménie. It is also a fragrance intended to be unisex, offering men the strength of a woody sillage and women the spicy, woody softness of a mysterious benzoin. The two perfumers therefore did not seek to bring benzoin toward contemporary scents but rather to magnify it in all its finest facets, even if somewhat retro!

The idea of Papier d’Arménie was the starting point we chose with Annick Ménardo, who was also hooked on this note! The laborious work was to dress this accord in multiple facets and turn it into a Fragrance, not just a beautiful fragrance but a Guerlain fragrance. Sylvaine Delacourte on Bois d’Arménie.

Guerlain’s Bois d’Arménie bewitches us with iris, woody notes and incense

As has been noted, Bois d’Arménie answers absolutely no commercial criteria but rather stems from a desire and a spontaneous boldness on the part of the two perfumers who created it. Thus, the beautiful Bois d’Arménie clothes itself in raw materials that are as feminine as they are typically masculine, the better to convey the power of its majestic wisps.

Bois d’Arménie opens on a striking marriage of olibanum, pink pepper and iris, lending these top notes a dynamic woody atmosphere delicately softened by the powdery touch of precious iris. At the heart, the famous benzoin blends with guaiac wood, the better to enchant with its amber power, a pure oriental power accented by a fresh aromatic note of coriander. Finally, the white musks turn creamy to welcome patchouli and Copaiba balsam notes, powerfully sensual and powerfully addictive. There is no doubt that Bois d’Arménie has definitively bewitched us with its warm oriental wisps…

Warm and enigmatic, this interpretation of Papier d’Arménie surrenders to the spell of incense, enriched with hints of spices, wood and benzoin. Guerlain on Bois d’Arménie.