Guerlain - Quand Vient la Pluie

I'm glad to read this as I have a sample of it coming to me this week, maybe today when the mail comes, we'll see.

Can you post a picture of the bottle? Would love to see it...

Oh my god, it's a work of art! If light wasn't so bad for perfume, it should be but for display in the living room!

Is that base rock crystal??

Ah yes, I see the leaf now, but it really does make it look like rock crystal in that last picture (and how fantastic would THAT have been?)

My sample did not come in yesterday like I was hoping it would have. I'll most likely get it on Monday.

I know that there is a vat of this perfume available for around $2500 for 17 ounces but what does the small bottle cost?

Thanks Gerald - the bottle is fierce (very...Lord of the Rings, no?).

Meanwhile, the description of the scent sounds like something I'd really enjoy - but also downright spring/summer-y. Not what I would've expected Guerlain to release pre-Fall 2007.

Can you see enjoying QVLP in the colder approaching months?

Thanks to bbBD, I've now tried the expensive extrait version of this (I'm grateful, bbBD!). Here's my impressions after two days of wearing.

Notes according to osmoz: Bergamot, Rosemary, Orange Blossom, Heliotrope, Violet, Jasmine, Patchouli, Praline, Musks.

When I first applied it, I mainly noticed the praline, a fruity-woody nougat scent. It surprised me a bit. The next thing I noticed was the clear kinship - as often mentioned - with Après L'Ondée (the heliotrope and violet). Strangely, on my next wearing, the praline felt more subdued, so I guess my brain wasn't "surprised" anymore.

I'm not sure I can add too much new besides what has already been said. It's clearly inspired by Après L'Ondée's kind of "rainy-melancholic" scent of helitrope and violet. But's it's Après L'Ondée turned more gourmand, and it's to me clearly belonging to the now renowned Sylvaine Delacourte generation, where florals are mixed with gourmand notes (think of Insolence, L'Instant, L'Art et la Matière, Cologne du 68, Les Elixirs Charnels). The praline is in QVLP as evident as in Cologne du 68, and sometimes it almost seems like a more refined Cologne du 68. The praline together with the rosemary gives a sort of licorice-like, almost fruity scent. The patchouli with the praline somehow makes you think of L'Instant de Guerlain pour Homme - and I'm almost tempted to say that this is Après L'Ondée meets L'Instant pour Homme EdP, just slightly more green.

So there seems to be this whole new floral-gourmand family chez Guerlain - Iris Ganache, Cologne du 68, QVLP, Les Elixirs Charnels - and they really join the culinary Guerlain tradition beautifully.

QVLP EdP deserves to join the Les Parisiennes line as a more constant classic, it's inventive, beautiful and very evolving. I was afraid that the praline would be too much at the beginning, but after a few trials, the beauty of the whole construction unfolds.

Sounds delicious Ulrik.

OK - for clarification: There is a EdP and a parfum of Quand Vient la Pluie?

Yes. The EdP is the "normal" version, the extrait is the very limited, very expensive, very big one.

OK, I understand.

I loved Cologne du 68 when I smelled it and hope to own it soon.

Same for Apres L' Ondee - my decant is dwindling quickly. It is something I have to be very careful in choosing at appropriate times - not an everyday scent for me, that's for sure. It's austere and dusty-museum-in-a-midafternoon-rainstorm vibe can suddenly turn my emotions a little...weepy. It's magical stuff.

If QVLP incorporates both scents, I'm in.

As I predicted, Mr. G's thoughts/mini-review provide me with the structure and framework with which I can analyze and understand this fragrance. Sometimes with Guerlain I am too overwhelmed and the notes are too well blended for me to articulate what I'm smelling. The floral/gourmand description is spot-on, and I'm glad to have the connection drawn with Cologne du 68, another favorite of mine.

I have a decant of the QVLP EdP, and unlike some Guerlains there is no difference in notes between the EdP and extrait - it is just a concentration difference. I'm trying to collect the information on the different releases of this fragrance since I've been getting inquiries, and I will post what I learn, along with some photos of the set, once I can figure out how to get a good photo without glare from the crystal (as keeps happening). I do know the EdP was released in a 60ml version (10ml in the presentation atomizer w/50ml refill bottle). My extrait has a slightly smaller 7.5ml presentation atomizer, which also has Swavorski crystals on it. From the pictures I've seen, the EdP doesn't have the crystals on the atomizer.

Ironically the EdP actually turns out to be more expensive per ml than the parfum, the atomizer in the EdP presentation is 7,5ml as well, but no crystals just as bbBD observed. The two concentrations are indeed very similar, the differences subtle, they are comparable even in longevity in my opinion. A friend told me though that she could detect a musky note in the EdP, which was replaced by amber in the parfum.

Quand vient la pluie is a fabulous scent indeed
inspired by Après l'Ondée, which decribes the nature after a shower rain, Quand vient la pluie is supposed to describe the moments before the rain starts falling
to my nose it smells as if Après l'Ondée had been electrised and had become nervous , i hear thunder, i feel the wind blowing
i think these impressions come from discordant or disonant notes added in it
truly magnificient

I just reread Turin's review. I actually can follow his notion that it's more linked to L'Heure Bleue than Après L'Ondée - it's more spicy than that finally - but I don't get why he mentions a "anisic-vanillic drydown" as I get more anisic-patchouli Ã* la L'Instant pour Homme...? And according to the osmoz pyramid, there is no vanilla in there.

Finally! Some pics...

Here's the sculpture - notice the faint 'Guerlain' etching on the side:



Top relief shot, unfortunately the leaf vein detail is too fine for my camera:



Bubble sprayer detail - Swavorski crystals in shape of spider web:



Here's the presentation box - lacquered and velvet lined (w/funnel and estagnon):

Stunning! Wish I could afford it... After several days of sniffing your sample, I've finally decided that I find it mostly linked to Après L'Ondee, and on my site have called it "a modern update of the old Après L'Ondée Parfum with warm gourmand notes of rosemary and caramel". Like Après L'Ondée, it's a "quiet perfume", and It's really lovely and delicious.

An excellent description!

Great pics bbBD. I had seen the bottle at the Guerlain boutique that Ruggles and I visited, but theres did not have those glitzy gems stuck all over it, it was just a clear glass spherical bottle.

It looks heavy.

Gorgeous! Very complicated bottle & fascinating artistic concept. Do you know if the EDP is still available?

When I priced the EdP directly from La Maison in December it was still available. A BNer posted on another thread he saw a bottle at the SF boutique in Saks, and mikeperez saw a set at the Orlando boutique, though I don't know when. Whether they're still making new bottles I don't know, but it seems like they are around at various boutiques.

Actually I saw the EdP at the Guerlain boutique at The Breakers Hotel (Palm Beach).

I didn't realize that it was not just the juice inside of the sphere atomizer but also a refill...that makes sense. I didn't ask the price.

Seeing the bottle makes me want one. Plus, didn't someone say it is cheaper in the parfum? Are those sold out?

I think the person meant it was cheaper "per/ml" in the extrait - not per bottle. If you want to PM me I'll let you know what I know about the prices. I don't know if they're sold out, but if there are any at boutiques I'm sure Guerlain customer service could locate one for you.

Wow! Very impressive indeed. Guerlain rules!

The EdP is an LE as well, I think it was priced at €280 in Paris last fall, considering the price it seems probable that it is not sold out yet.

Timely thread.
If anyone is interested, the EDP is a numbered limited edition version.
There is one set left in Toronto boutique (as of this past FRI afternoon at 6pm). I think the price is $490. plus 13% tax -- yes we are taxed heavily.

Set includes the leaf base (i think it's swarovski), plus 10ml bubble dispenser and 50ml refill.

Good luck!

ps - fragrance is to die for, and aptly described in this thread, especially for Apres L'Ondee lovers.

280 Euros would be OK for 57.5 ml extrait, but not EdP. I love nearly all the Guerlain presentations, but this one is just irritating and a barrier for experiencing the scent.

I assume that's in CAD, right? If so, subtract about 15-20% to convert to USD which puts it around $390-400.

Gosh 13% sales tax is no joke. I thought Texas was high at 8.25%! And they call Massachusetts "Taxachusetts" (5% sales tax).

Right, per/ml. I have the decant of EDP. I have been going a bit wild for quality stuff lately. I started to realize I have about all the samples I need. It seems every time I get on TPC or similar I get $100 of some junk so if I hold off I should be able to get some of the more one time things. Up till now I seem to have missed the boat. EX: 'Djedi' found out about this too late. A good example of how Guerlain discriminates against newcomers.

The bottle + the base could have been placed inside MoMA without slightest problem .

So, I finally decided to go ahead and wear my sample of the parfum/extrait of this - I am wearing it as I type this:

WOW! This could have easily been released as a flanker for Apres L' Ondee and noone would have blinked - it's that similar. It has the same beautiful heliotrope / floral vibe going on, but it smells colder (if that makes sense) and sheerer.

The sweetness is gratifying, not treacly, and it reminds me of a sip of iced chamomile tea (aromatic, refreshing) with the sweet pastry accord humming nicely in the background. I find the drydown more floral than I expected it to - is that iris I smell?

This is so easy to wear - entirely unisex. I daresay it has a melancholic, barbershop vibe to it (if there was such a thing) - possibly due to the helitrope that lingers in the drydown and smells like almond shaving cream or something mimosa scented.

If Guerlains intentions were to introduce a more modern Apres L'Ondee to the market, they succeeded. Now they just need to make it more affordable. Fat chance, eh?

If they got rid of the utterly pretentious container, did an EdP, put it in a bee bottle, then the world could have another exquisite Parisienne available for $220. But someone at Guerlain believes in Stueben-style CEO glass trophies!

Wow...looks like some great stuff. I noticed this at TPC and will now most certainly be ordering a decant. I like the 'functional sculpture' concept as well.

I might do this myself, as now that I like it, I want to try the Eau de Parfum also - sometimes in certain scents I prefer the EdP over the parfum. I'm sure the samples at TPC ain't going to be cheap, though.

Guerlain might do this, but they have to get rid of the remaining stock first I think...

I'm with you on that. I got a whiff in the boutique and had to restrain myself. I would not restrain myself in the case of your scenario.

As great as it would be to get 125ml/$225 instead of the current 60ml/$360, it makes sense that QVLP is a stand-alone scent vis-a-via Guerlain's marketing. Here's my reasoning: all thre Les Parisiennes with the exception of (the discontinued) Plus Que Jamais are former Guerlain releases, either in the same name or a different name. Seems that Guerlain uses this line for re-releasing previous scents. You could say it should go in the L'art et la Matiere line but the concept with that line is that each fragrance pertains to an identifiable single ingredient/note, and QVLP doesn't do that. Of course you also have the problem that they can't lower the price now that they've been charging nearly triple the per/ml cost of the Parisiennes. A 125ml bottle of QVLP EdP would have to cost $750 to be consistent.

I did some research after reading this threasd and it seems that this scent - with the sculpture/presentation bottle was more intended as a LE 'prestige piece' not a normal part of the lineup. Iwasnt paying much attention to this the last time I was at a boutique but I may roll down to Bergdorfs just to see the sculpture/bottle. Who else is really doing/has done this? I think it's immensely creative.

As Mr. G wrote, it is a shame that Guerlain is saving their best work for only those who can pay top dollar, but welcome to the world of LVMH, right?

When did they discontinue PQJ? I have to get a bottle of this one now! It's still available at Saks and BG. Saks charges $220, BG $240!!!!!!

PQJ was discontinued almost 6 months ago... only remaining stock is available. I bought a bottle when I heard... now I'm stressed I should buy a backup.

I bought the EDP version of QVLP and it came in the giant hunk of glass holder shown. I'm bummed that it does not have the Swarovski crystal spiderweb decoration on the bubble! No, they cheaped out on my bottle. So now not only is it a worthless display, it's not even pretty. The bubble bottle is just a plain bubble on the EDP, I guess. The one shown must be the perfume? It was $2800 when the price was quoted to me. The one I got was bad enough at around $330. It is so crazy. The perfume in the bubble bottle is designed to sit in the holder UPSIDE-DOWN?! I don't get it. I will never use that thing. It is so heavy it crushed the interior molded storage plastic in its box. I just keep the juice in its auxiliary refill bottle.

A agree, Kumquat. I love the packaging in principle, but the more it becomes part of reality - even just approaching it in the store - the more it seems like an obnoxious clear brick. And while it certainly reminds me of a beautiful drop of water on a leaf, I cannot escape associations with those disturbing leaf galls.

Hee Hee, It does look like a goiter, doesn't it?

According to one of the 'other' fragrance websites, the parfum that has the crystal decoration on the sprayer comes only in 490ml (!) size, less then 200 were produced, and it lists for 1800EUR (as of 2007, maybe more now?). I was wondering why the parfum would be so much more but 490ml is a LOT of parfum. Looks like TPC has the parfum, not the EdP. Anyone try both and can answer whether the parfum and EdP are very similar or somewhat different, as Guerlains can be?

I have tried both. The parfum is nice but not THAT nice. ($2500 worth!) it's just a little stronger, IMO. But it (The EDP) is already basically a stronger (although more gourmand) version of Apres L'Ondee which is needed since there is no longer a parfum in that one.

Mike, when I first tried QVLP I also immediately thought "Après L'Ondée!", but soon I realized that the heliotrope is really the only clear link - stuff like rosemary, cinnamon, musk and amber make it much more gourmand and modern and much less powdery, while patchouli gives a "dramatic" woody aspect Ã* la Bois d'Armenie, and contrary to you, I find it to be warmer than Après L'Ondée, but also more uncanny. But it clearly has the famous melancholy style. I get quite a bit of jasmine from it, maybe that's the floral aspect you refer to?

I've learned that the EdP should be similar except that it doesn't contain amber.

Thanks Mr. G.

Oh I wish I had more juice of it, to play around with. The tiny sample I wore is all gone...I'm going to have to try and get more. Those aspects of the scent, I'm sure will reveal themselves with subsequent wearings.