L'Homme Idéal: a seductive and innovative Guerlain for ideal men? After making a strong impression with La Petite Robe Noire, Guerlain had to show just as much audacity and imagination to launch its new men's fragrance, L'Homme Idéal. And the least one can say is that the marketing communication matched this magnificent juice created by Thierry Wasser.
After literally changing the landscape of 2010s perfumery with the inimitable La Petite Robe Noire, it had become essential to offer a chic suit to men in search of originality. In 2014, Thierry Wasser, by then the in-house perfumer of the house of Guerlain, presented L'Homme Idéal and its oriental, gourmand and woody accents.
Thierry Wasser, Guerlain and L'Homme Idéal
I imagined this fragrance as a trigger that reveals the full potential of man, Thierry Wasser recounts about L'Homme Idéal. And the least one can say is that the perfumer relied on the finest raw materials and facets to offer the ideal man a fragrance worthy of him!
Before L'Homme Idéal, Thierry Wasser had already offered magnificent reinterpretations of Guerlain's great classics, such as Shalimar, which became Shalimar Souffle de Parfum, but also, of course, Delphine Jelk's composition reorchestrated into a divine Petite Robe Noire. This time, the fortunate heir to Guerlain's history and formulas set out to revisit the men's fragrance category by blending the best of the house's heritage with utterly surprising and unprecedented gourmand, almond-like accents.
Indeed, when it comes to the connection to the house's history, Thierry Wasser does not hide having drawn inspiration from the venerable Jicky, composed by Aimé Guerlain in 1889, to create the famous almond note that runs through our ideal man from start to finish, lending him a rather sweet gourmand character.
What makes L'Homme Idéal unique and recognizable is the almond inherited from Jicky, created in 1889, which reflects the audacity that prevailed at the time. In L'Homme Idéal, I worked the almond in a figurative and pervasive way, no longer merely suggested in the base. Thierry Wasser for Guerlain's L'Homme Idéal.
The famous amaretto note, however, is worked in an extremely modern way so as to align with the different facets, or rather the different qualities, one should say for this specific case, of our ideal man.
Thierry Wasser and his L'Homme Idéal essence
As we have come to understand, Thierry Wasser wanted to give La Petite Robe Noire a masculine alter ego just as original as she is, with L'Homme Idéal. Thus our man, dreamed up in fragrance form, unfolds across three contrasting facets, though linked together from beginning to end by the masculine almond notes. The idea is that each of the three facets represents one quality of this famous ideal man.
Obviously, L'Homme Idéal is handsome, intelligent and strong! For these three qualities, three accords were created with noble and vibrant raw materials. Guerlain for L'Homme Idéal.
Thus the intelligence of our man is revealed through fresh, sparkling top notes of bergamot and rosemary accompanied by a luminous orange blossom. The heart of our man and his fragrance represents beauty through the sensuality and gourmand character of tonka bean, sugar cane, vanilla and cherry. Finally, the woody, lively depths of L'Homme Idéal symbolize strength, virility and the power of our man. Amber woods, patchouli and licorice turn more leathery and masculine than ever to bring to light the ideal man that, deep down, lies within each of them!