Liù (1929)
by Guerlain

So, for reasons I'm not sure of this Guerlain has slipped under my radar. I went through a phase a while back where I was trying all things Guerlain and can't remember why i thought this wouldn't work for me.

Yesterday I found it at the Guerlain boutique and oh hey, I like it very much!!!

This is a powdery perfume, but different from their other powdery green, Chamade. This is a bit heavier than Chamade (which i own in EDP strength)

I was also worried about the aldehydes, which I tend to not like on myself, but here I can't detect it. I do pick up on the neroli (as compared to the hyacinth in Chamade); and neroli is one of my favorite earthy florals.

they drydown is really special, although all phases are perfect in this fragrance.

In short, I"m very pleasantly surprised with this one, and will by eyeing it as a future purchase.

26th September, 2010.

On me Liu is identical to No5. There's not a lot else I can say, other than I like it!

19th May, 2010.

Like so many of the early abstract Guerlain perfumes, this is interesting but not appealing. Aldehydic and somewhat powdery, I enjoy this most as an ambient scent. Added to sweet almond oil and allowed to simmer in an oil burner, it creates a great atmosphere for watching Fritz Lang movies and drinking absinthe martinis. But on the skin (my skin, anyway), even the lightest application is both chest-crushingly heavy and unpleasantly artificial. In addition, while it starts off as a fairly complex fragrance for the time, it doesn't seem to develop much on drydown. I'm glad I tried it for the history, but it's not something I'd wear out - too unapproachable and self-insistent.

13rd December, 2008.

I hate to be the party pooper here, but I'm not crazy about this Liu.
It does have prominent aldehydic notes, likening it to Chanel's No.5, however, it is completely void of any sweetness. This is by far, the driest floral I've encountered. To my nose, it is more like Wind Song by Prince Matchabelli ~ a musty smelling frag. The drydown leaves me smelling...er...uh...not so fresh.

24th July, 2008.

After the Japan-inspired Mitsouko, Liu from 1929 was the next in line to unite Jacques Guerlain's enthusiasm about the oriental world and the European arts. Liu is the name of the heroine in Puccini's last opera 'Turandot' from 1926, based on a story from a Persian collection of stories called 'The Book of One Thousand and One Days', and set in ancient China near the walls of the Imperial City in Peking. This opera is about the battle between dangerous obsessions and the need for life, love and sanity, and Liu's character is a slave girl so devoted to her master that she kills herself in order to save him from his fateful yearnings. Together with Sous le Vent, Coque d'Or, Véga and Djedi, Liu is one of Guerlain's very '1930's style' perfumes that were momentary successes, and Liu was perhaps the most missed when it disappeared. It was reissued in 1994 in its original and extremely decorative 'snuffbox bottle', and it now exists again as an Eau de Parfum in the exclusive 'Les Parisiennes' collection. Liu was created for Rose Kennedy, mother of John F. Kennedy, but an unconfirmed story goes that Jacques Guerlain once caught his wife wearing the iconic Chanel no. 5 and then immediately felt inspired to create a competitor. Its top notes includes aldehydes, but Liu bears the true Jacques Guerlain-signature: It's dry, dark and not fruity-floral like Chanel no. 5.

12nd April, 2008.

Deep yummy resinous vanilla w/ soft aldehydes, a smidgen of dried fruit, not too sweet. Very sultry.

3rd December, 2007.