Sous Le Vent (1933)
by Guerlain

It’s Derby for girls! Well, maybe not exactly, but the opening sure is a dead ringer for Derby in its smoky, bittersweet, green leather chypre structure. Sous le Vent’s top notes include a magnificent sweet bergamot that’s lacking in Derby, and there is a more obvious floral component, but the two still present themselves as siblings. I’m left wondering whether Jean-Paul Guerlain consulted grandpa’s formula when he made Derby, or whether the resemblance is purely incidental.

Unexpectedly, the bergamot note expands rather than fades with age, contributing a bright accent to what otherwise might be a rather somber accord. Next to appear is a whopping note of civet, which serves at once to infuse the composition with a lascivious animal warmth and to associate Sous le Vent unmistakably with the tradition of Guerlain’s vintage perfumes, particularly Jicky, Shalimar, and Mitsouko. The current Sous le Vent was composed in 2005, and whether it follows the original formula or not, it certainly smells like something out of 1933.

The intensely animalic chypre accord persists for hours, growing ever more sweet, spicy, and balsamic, until the civet dissipates to reveal warm amber and oakmoss base notes. This drydown goes on forever on my skin, though sillage and projection are only moderate. I’d consider Sous le Vent equally appropriate for a man or a woman, assuming you’re comfortable with its raunchy animalic aspect. I think it’s a great scent, and regret that it’s so hard to come by.

I'm just a beginner and my nose isn't very articulate as yet but I absolutely adore this perfume. It's the vintage perfume I have. It's rationed for special occasions.

to me Sous le Vent is all about colours : the head is fresh-green with a hint of spices then it evolves toward something i would call yellow-green (a luminous feeling, like the first rays of sun on your face at spring with a gentle wind); the middle notes are back to fresh-green and soapy-green and the drydown is spicy-green (with a note that reminds me cinnamon?)
very subtle and refined, very unisex

Well, odysseusm has hit this one on the head! In addition to his accurate description, I have to comment upon the "lightness" of Sous le Vent. For all the grand herbs, florals, and woods - this one will never weigh you down!

Am in [B]Sous Le Vent[/B], and I love, love, love it. A gorgeous citrus-green, at first very much in the manner of a funky O de Lancome, with oodles of grass, moss and verdure -- all the things I love to roll in! I tend to struggle with older Guerlains, but this is an utterly effortless wear. I'd even go so far as to say that it appears to lack the requisite [I]guerlinade[/I] -- there's not a trace of vanilla, as far as I can establish, and I thank heaven for this small mercy. My only grumble -- and, sadly, it's a serious one -- is that longevity is short, which I find unusual for a Guerlain. It disappeared on me in an hour or so.

A mélange of green-herbal, spicy, and floral notes on a chypre ground. This is a very fresh, green chypre, however; a substitution of tonka bean for the patchouli in the base could easily have made it a green fougère, and the lavender does lend it that sort of character. This comes only in eau de toilette formulation, which is rather appropriate to the freshness of the composition.

Sous le Vent is French for "leeward," as in the name of the Leeward Islands. The scent was supposedly composed by Jacques Guerlain for Josephine Baker in 1933, for her to apply after her dance performances, which were the rage of Paris at that time.

How can I describe it? Fresh, green, neither feminine nor masculine. I feel it would be suitable for day or night; it would probably be better in warm daytime weather than in cool. It is a bit light-handed to expect much development from it apart from moderate to warm temperature.

The scent starts out very fresh: dry citrus, herbal, very green. It becomes subtly floral, the jasmine not predominating (but boosting the floral side of the lavender a bit); the carnation contributes a clove-like spicy freshness, and then there's some more green. The iris comes on as slightly earthy, but never chases away the green theme; and the woody notes give it depth and a certain roundness. It has a decent sillage and longevity for an EdT, but doesn't project especially far. Hug someone, though, and they're sure to notice.

Overall, the fragrance is refreshing and energizing; I would call it generally subtle (by which I *don't* mean weak); the subtlety is in the art of the blend and in the balance.

If you can find it, it's well worth a sniff. ...Oh, and in spite of Josephine Baker, not just for women...