Quand Vient La Pluie (2007)
by Guerlain

Guerlain’s Quand Vient la Pluie is yet another classic offering from Guerlain which showcases the super-sweet, vanilla-ish “Guerlainade” base to perfection. If you take that base and add black cherries and violets, that is what Quand Vient la Pluie smells like to me. I have to confess that I really don’t like this style of perfume and can’t imagine wearing it, however, for an incredibly sweet perfume, the notes are true and it seems to be of very high quality and well made.


Per The Perfume Court, here are the notes: Top:bergamot, orange blossom and rosemary; Heart: heliotrope, jasmine and violet; Base: patchouli, praline and musks.

I think of early spring flowers mixed with exotic tubers and rhizomes. Something in the middle reminds me of a sasparilla mojito. Effervescent, and worth hunting down. Superb:)

The heliotrope and violet in this definitely recall Après l'Ondée, the centenarian classic from the redoubtable House of Guerlain. It is a somewhat fleeting impression, an allusion to the former masterpiece, a point of departure, if you will, into the modern tribute offering that QVlaP seems to be.

And this does stand up very well on its own, with a base note of sweet praline and musk, ever so slightly powdery. The rosemary in the top is a departure from the original, too. This is an inspired move, bringing a needed touch of green to the neroli note. The heliotrope-violet combination seems to be subtly transformed as well, either by an undeclared note, by the interaction of some of the newer notes, or by the suppression of the blackcurrant note from Al'O. Perhaps it is just that they brought up the heliotrope from the base notes into the heart. The deletion of benzoin from Al'O does reduced the powderiness a bit as well. Eliminating the orris root certainly further reinforces this change away from powder.

Fresh, and perhaps slightly more penetrating that Al'O. QVlaP is at once sexier and shyer. A different consciousness for a different age.

Does this surpass, negate, supersede Al'O? Oh, no... that would be impossible. No one can erase a high-water mark like that! Also, on its own, it isn't really in competition with its inspiration. It just uses some of the same words to say something new. That was then (bow low!); this is now!

Top note: Bergamot, Rosemary, Orange Blossom
Middle note: Heliotrope, Violet, Jasmine
Base note: Patchouli, Praline, Musks