Fragrance review: Guerlain Vol de Nuit

Jacques Guerlain created Vol de Nuit, “night flight”, in 1933 in homage to the brave aviators of the 1920s and Air France Company. The French company Aéropostale was one of the first operations to fly the mail from continent to continent. The chief pilot of Aéropostale's operations was Antoine de St. Exupéry. After serving as a French combat pilot during World War I, he wrote several books, among them Wind, Sand and Stars, Night Flight and The Little Prince. He disappeared during the World War II while flying a reconnaissance mission in 1944.

Vol de Nuit was named after a novel by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The bottle is emblazoned with the shape of French Air Force wings and is made in dark amber colour.

A dark complex composition that almost verges on masculine, given its accent on woodsy and cool notes. Indeed, nothing can be more appropriate to conjure an image of a dark sky, a plane traveling across its starry depth... It captures the daring and creative tradition of perfume making when experiments with unusual combinations (peach and oakmoss in Mitsouko or aldehydes over flowers in Chanel #5) opened doors to new creative avenues. The extrait de parfum is incomparable! The EDT is rather subpar, like most Guerlains tend to be in that concentration.

Notes: Orange, mandarin, lemon, bergamot, orange blossom; jonquil, aldehydes, galbanum; vanilla, spices, oakmoss, sandalwood, orris, musk.

Comments

[N aka parislondres]

Love VdN parfum - yummmmmm. It is soft and gentle and just wonderful...

[mreenymo]

Hello, lovely Victoria!

I read your entire blog last night, and loved every word of it! But, I wondered where your review of my beloved Vol de Nuit was. You must have read my mind, because here it is in today's posting!

You know, I love Guerlain, but I "hate" Guerlain, too. I am so tired of them discontinuing historical parfums like Apres L'Ondee. I get entirely disgusted, with a capital "D," when they refuse to make the entire fragrance range. How about an EDP version of Vol de Nuit or Parure (my other favorite) or any of these other classics? A body lotion, maybe? How about some soap, folks? I have Mitsouko and Jicky in EDP strength, but as far as I know, those are the only two classics that you can find in EDP. What a shame! I suspect that I would like Chamade and L'Heure Bleue a heck of a lot better if I could get my hands on an EDP. Plus, parfum is very costly. Not all of us "working broads" can afford the extraits, even the 1/4 oz. size.

Anyway, back to Vol de Nuit. I do have a small decant of the extrait, which is divine. Otherwise, I use EDT. I admit it smells more alcohol-y (is that a word? ha, ha!) to me, but I love it. I think VdN is one of those fragrances that a woman has to grow into, as it is a very mature fragrance. I would not have worn it, even liked it, in my twenties. But now being, shall we say, of a certain age, I can appreciate its timeless beauty, depth and voluptuousness.

I can't wait to read what you have in store for us tomorrow! Hugs!!

[Diane]

Hello, dear N, V, and R!! *huge triple wave* Dear R, ITA with your sentiments re: Guerlain. They are quite an annoying lot, aren't they?

BRING BACK APRES L'ONDEE PARFUM!!!!

On a positive note, they do provide Nahema as a PDT and L'Heure Bleue as a EDP. I have both and like them very much.

[mreenymo]

Where did you find L'HB EDP, dear one? I would love to try it, but have never seen it locally. Hugs!!

[mreenymo]

$39.??? I'm there! Thanks, darling. I have never, ever seen L'HB in EDP at any of the upscale department stores that carry Guerlain. For example, last time I checked, Nordstrom has the EDT and parfum. That's it. So this information is very helpful.

And, thank you for saying that you will review Parure tomorrow. I can't wait to read it. :)

Hugs, rsj

[LaureAnne]

Vol de Nuit is incomparable. Even in my turning-away-from-Guerlain phase, I never left Vol de Nuit. I think of it almost as my signature scent.

[Woodcock]

Love that galbanum! I got the edT of Vol de Nuit in December, and have been saving up for the parfum since then, and how annoying to find out over the weekend from Saks and Barneys that Guerlain has pulled this scent from US distribution. Luckily, Bergdorf still has a few bottles left. Big thanks to NST for the tip.

[julien]

I adore the old guerlain.
Vol de nuit is one of the hardest guerlain to wear even though it is very sophisticated as it evolves in many directions...
Nevertheless,its first notes are hard to me,too "green" and spiced...
But a great guerlain....
Does anyone know the new guerlain like Rose barbare,Cuir beluga and angéliques noires?
I have had the opportunity to smell them many times and i must confess they are quite disapointing,except CUIR BELUGA which is so sweet,a white leather,very powdery,creamy,gourmand...a background à la SHALIMAR....
mmmm,guerlain my love!:)

[Victoria]

Oh, interesting to hear your thoughts on new Guerlain fragrances. I have not had a chance to sample any, but Cuir Beluga and Angéliques Noires were the ones I would be most interested in. What was Angéliques Noires like?

[julien]

Well...angéliques are flowers very difficult to put in a fragance because they are too fragile.
In the new guerlain,it's a spiced flower perfume,with a lot of amber background.
Recalls me something like EN AVION of CARON.
Not bad,but already seen,that's why i was disapointed about it.

[Victoria]

Thank you. I will make a point of sampling it soon. I always love the scent of angeliques, but I agree that they are difficult to capture in fragrance.

[Karin]

VdN is one of my favorites. I've worn it for years. I usually start out with Chant d'aromes or Chamade, then as the day goes on, layer with Mitsouko and end with VdN or end at Mitsouko or skip the Mitsouko and go directly to VdN. I like it late in the day into evening. I don't object to the edt, but that may be because it is layered when I wear it and not alone.

[BoisdeJasmin]

Karin, Guerlain fragrance layer really well, as almost anything from a line which is created by the same artist. Serge Lutens is another example. I shall try to follow your lead and experiment.