Habit Rouge: A strong man in contact with nature. If the Shalimar woman has a man, his name is Habit Rouge and he wears beautiful oriental and animalic colors. Released in 1965 at a time when men's fragrances lacked originality, Habit Rouge offers a distinctive olfactory world, leathery, spicy and animalic, to strong and elegant men, accomplished yet always tender...
Jean-Paul Guerlain was a great horseback riding enthusiast. So, on a fine day in 1965, he decided to create a fragrance in homage to his passion. Today, this fragrance is among the oldest still on the market. But where does the secret of its longevity come from? Here is our review of this timeless scent. With Habit Rouge by Guerlain, the scents of the forest and the energy of horses blend together, giving rise to an oriental and invigorating leather.
Olfastory’s review
Habit Rouge, a tribute to horseback riding
In our view, the first element behind the success of Habit Rouge by Guerlain lies in the fact that it tells a genuine story. Indeed, like many fragrances signed Guerlain, Habit Rouge does not merely follow trends, but truly recounts an event or an emotion. Here, it is about the Guerlain family's boundless attachment to horses and the equestrian world in general. Moreover, Jean-Paul Guerlain was himself an outstanding horse trainer. Very often, he liked to lose himself at dawn in the forest of Rambouillet. And it is precisely the pleasure he derived from these horseback escapes that the fragrance Habit Rouge seems to capture. As such, this scent carries within it the confidence of an elegant, serene man, combined with the boundless energy of a spirited, untamable thoroughbred.
Jean-Paul Guerlain creates a highly contrasted fragrance
Another major element of this fragrance is its love of contrasts. Indeed, Habit Rouge blends several opposing elements, all of the highest quality, giving rise to a fragrance that is harmonious yet striking. Here, contradictory scents clash with one another. The freshness of citrus is confronted with the warmth of the undergrowth. Everything begins with a lively cocktail of bergamot, lemon, mandarin and bitter orange. In this sense, Habit Rouge could almost be mistaken for an eau de Cologne. Yet it is nothing of the sort. A balsamic accord then emerges, pairing with the sensuality of leather and vanilla. The woods of patchouli and birch ultimately give this scent more body and persistence. Naturally, none of these elements is chosen at random. As always, the house of Guerlain strives to favor exceptional raw materials of the finest possible quality. And it is precisely through this outstanding expertise and attention to detail that the exceptional success of this fragrance can also be explained.
Guerlain's timeless bottle
From there, only a bottle was needed to complete the whole. Habit Rouge comes in a massive bottle, forming a refined glass square, whose sharp edges are shaped to leave room for the label of this fragrance. Echoing its name, the label is dressed in a bright red. Habit Rouge's cap, for its part, also carries this color, while being wrapped in a metal ring. Carrying an undeniable passion within it, Habit Rouge has rightly sparked desire for many decades.