Liu

But the extraordinary N°5 composed by Ernest Beaux for Chanel gave Jacques Guerlain ideas, and he too played with aldehydes to offer a floral and powerful Liu of absolute femininity… Thanks to the talents of Thierry Wasser, Liu was reborn in the Les Parisiennes collection for Les Exclusifs.

Liu, or Jacques Guerlain's tribute to Puccini's heroine…

Mitsouko was a romantic and passionate heroine from the novel by Jacques Guerlain's friend, Claude Farrère. She was in love with an English admiral and, amid war, this love story was impossible, yet she never abandoned the idea. Jacques Guerlain turned it into a fragrance.

For Liu, Jacques Guerlain drew inspiration this time from a character created by Puccini in his opera Turandot. Liu is a young slave who, having fallen in love with Prince Calaf, would rather take her own life than reveal her secret and risk causing the downfall of the object of her desire. The wild and rebellious Liu is therefore the heroine Jacques Guerlain chose this time to compose a fragrance of powerful and distinguished femininity.

Liu was thus composed to highlight delicate flowers and bracing freshness representing romanticism, in contrast with the power of the aldehydes and oriental base notes symbolizing strength and determination.

In the Roaring Twenties, Jacques Guerlain evoked Liu precisely through an extraordinary fragrance combining floral notes (rose, jasmine), powdery notes and aldehydic notes. Sylvaine Delacourte on Liu by Guerlain.

The very first aldehydic fragrance from the house of Guerlain: Liu

Beyond its powerful, aldehydic composition, Liu's black lacquer bottle, at its first release in 1929, stood in contrast to the usual clear glass bottles. To create this highly distinctive bottle for Liu, it is said that Madame Guerlain offered one of her tea boxes so that Baccarat could draw inspiration from it for Liu's bottle. Today Liu has lost its black lacquer for the Les Parisiennes collection but is still dressed in the traditional “bee” bottle that adorns all of Guerlain's greatest fragrances.

Liu offers a spectacular surge of aldehydes of absolute femininity paired with a Calabrian bergamot and an exotic, luminous neroli flower. Jasmine and May rose meet at the heart of Liu to lend it the beauty of their floral, delicate scents. Finally, vanilla notes and woody notes sketch out the famous Guerlinade which, for Liu, is tinged with a few powdery touches of iris, bringing elegance and luxury to this oriental strength.

In a brilliant breath, luminous aldehydes soar, a sensual armful of rose, and a caressing base of vanilla, iris and wood notes. Scent and light vibrate in unison to capture every sense. They shine together on a mysterious, festive and refined air. A fascinating and lyrical allure. Sylvaine Delacourte on Liu, Les Parisiennes, Les Exclusifs collection by Guerlain.