So today I have a great guest post from author Jan Moran, I hope you all enjoy this post. I am very excited to share it with you and its to celebrate her amazing new book Scent of Triumph.
Blog
Post for Ali’s Bookshelf
Award-Winning
Vintage French Perfumes
By
Jan Moran
I’m so honored to be taking over Ali’s blog for the
day! And
I’m happy to share my novel, Scent of Triumph,
a suspenseful historical saga about a young French perfumer.
This is the last stop on my blog tour, and I’ve
really enjoyed sharing insights from my writing, as well as beloved vintage
perfumes. Why perfumes? Because in Scent of Triumph,
the protagonist, Danielle Bretancourt, comes from a long line of perfumers.
Perfumery is her profession and her passion, so vintage perfumes are prominent
in the story.
Scent
of Triumph takes places during the 1940s, with
World War II as a backdrop. Today I’m featuring a duo of historic perfumes from
two important perfume Houses: Guerlain and Dior. From 1925, Guerlain’s Shalimar
was heralded as the first “Oriental” perfume, a blend of flowers with essential
oils that originated in Asia. It was created just after World War I. In 1947, Miss
Dior
debuted as World War II ended. Though two decades apart, both perfume
compositions reflect joy and jubilation in the return to peace.
Shalimar by Guerlain (1925) - Shalimar is an intoxicating, yet
subtly sensuous blend that has endured for decades. With a long-lasting base of
spices and aromatic woods, it became the archetype for Oriental blends. A highly
distinctive and dramatic fragrance, it was designed for the woman who is
sensual, sophisticated and uninhibited...another grand entrance-making perfume
from Guerlain.
A 1925 composition,
Shalimar is reflective of its period, of a cosmopolitan Paris in the midst of
celebration after World War I, of the Roaring Twenties, of exhilaration and new
life. This attitude is mirrored in the zesty citrus top notes. Heady florals
flow into a spicy base that is particularly rich in vanilla, incense, and
sandalwood.
In creating Shalimar,
Jacques Guerlain was inspired by a love story told to him by a Maharajah
visiting Paris. The Guerlain company shared the story with us:
More than 300 years ago, Shah Jahan succeeded
to the throne of his father, Jahangir, and became the third Mogul Emperor of
India.
Jahan loved only one woman. Her name was Mumtaz
Mahal.
Some say he loved her unto madness, that she
was not his wife but his fever. Victories, empires and riches were dust as
compared to her...in his eyes, she alone was the balm that made life bearable.
When she died, Jahan's hair turned white. He
would burst into tears at the mention of her name. In her memory, he built one
of the world's greatest wonders–the Taj Mahal at Agra.
But the Taj Mahal is only an empty monument. While
Mumtaz was alive, Jahan created a series of gardens for her at Lahore, gardens
the like of which had never been seen before. He called them the gardens of
Shalimar, the Sanskrit word meaning "abode of love."
From every corner of the Earth, the most
fragrant and delicate blossoms were brought. Deep pools were built with crystal
fountains and terraces paved in marble. The rarest birds were summoned to sing
here and lanterns were hung to rival the stars. In the gardens of Shalimar the
lovers were truly happy, and Mumtaz bore fourteen children to her beloved
Jahan.
Jacques Guerlain
decided that the perfume should be called Shalimar, not Taj Mahal, because, you
see, Taj Mahal marks the end of the story, and this love story can never
end....
The flacon was
designed by Raymond Guerlain and is also a reminder of the fountains in the
gardens of Shalimar. The ornamental stopper in sapphire blue evokes the flow of
the fountains' water. Voluptuous and enveloping, Shalimar is a fragrance of
eternal romance.
Miss
Dior by Christian Dior (1947) - A classic, impeccable
floral fragrance, Miss Dior was created by French couturier Christian Dior. Christian
Dior once said, “Perfume is the indispensable complement to the feminine
personality, and the finishing touch of a dress.”
Miss Dior was launched in 1947–the year Dior
introduced his New Look. The New Look was actually a throwback to the pre-World
War II years, full skirts, tiny waistlines, gloves, and bare shoulders, a far
cry from the despondent styles of the war years. When consumers flocked to
update their wardrobes with the New Look, they also snapped up his new
fragrance, Miss Dior. The fragrance represented the re-emergence of the
feminine, elegant style of the Belle Époque.
Today, the perennial French debutante Miss Dior is
enjoying a resurgence, or second debut. So who has worn Miss Dior? From today’s
Natalie Portman, who serves as the current spokesmodel, to Princess Grace and
Marlene Dietrich. And for a special treat, watch the video on the history of
Miss Dior on the Dior
site.
Thanks for sharing your platform today! If you’ve
been following my blog tour, I hope you’ve enjoyed it. Visit me at www.janmoran.com
to learn more about fragrance and Scent of Triumph.
Please sign up on my email list to be notified of my upcoming books. Au revoir!
Jan Moran's latest work is Scent of Triumph, a historical-suspense novel, on all Amazons worldwide in print and kindle: US http://amzn.to/VvQNir, UK http://amzn.to/PFiHUy. Also for the Nook, iPad, Kobo and other formats: http://bit.ly/ZGkzOg. She is the Rizzoli Books bestselling author of Fabulous Fragrance I & II. A perfume and beauty expert, she is the creator of Scentsa, a touch screen fragrance finder in Sephora stores. Follow her blog on Goodreads, or on the web at http://www.janmoran.com, on Twitter at https://twitter.com/janmoran, and on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/janmoranbooks. “Scent of Triumph [is a] World War II epic.”— Los Angeles Times From Jan: "I love smart and fierce female protagonists. I set the story during World War II and gave Danielle the profession of perfumer, which I'm quite familiar with. I hope you enjoy it, and if you'd like to Skype me into your bookclub meeting, simply send me a message!"
