Jardins de Bagatelle by Guerlain

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Jardins de Bagatelle is a light, soft happiness that makes me feel joyful the moment I try it.

Few perfumes, despite their apparent simplicity, give me this kind of joy. Its flowers, combined with grace, seem to belong to another era but fit perfectly today. I don’t see it as something simple or understated; from the start, I sense complexity because of how many flowers are in it. You can detect the neroli and jasmine, with that summer sweetness ripened by the sun and a touch of bitterness, yet always soft. The violet is gorgeous—not icy, just a little so thanks to those aldehydes. There are many flowers, but without that massive punch; they’re light because the perfume aims to be airy and youthful, in the style of the last century. Smelling it is like being in a sunny spring park, barefoot, in a billowing white dress, walking on the grass feeling nature and the breeze, with freshly washed hair and cooling off in a fountain. If I had known about it earlier, when I struggled to get out of my floral phase, it would have been my favorite. I don’t understand why modern florals don’t have this natural, sincere execution of a real garden. Its woody finish with vetiver lingers on the skin without leaving that idyllic garden vibe, and the trail is just right, at least for the eau de toilette. It’s a gorgeous fragrance I loved from the first minute, tailor-made for what I used to like but had to forget because they stopped making it. What a pity I didn’t know it; now it’s an obscure discontinued scent, and you can find others until you’re sick of seeing them in ads.

• Floral
• Aldehydes
• Sweet
• Violet