THE FRESHNESS OF DELPHINE JELK : : AQUA ALLEGORIA ROSA PALLISANDRO + OUD YUZU + BOSCA VANILLA (FORTE) BY GUERLAIN (2023)

With the recent Allegorias it has felt as though Guerlain was just phoning it in. A bit of sparkly effervescence up top and then a nothingy musky pap – none for me have been memorable. I tend to think of them as being just something people pick up mindlessly when passing through airports.

The latest three (discounting the new Florabloom, which I haven’t smelled yet) immediately on testing feel as though they have been created by a non-Thierry Wasser: sleeker, tauter, urbanically stream-lined – and in fact they have; these were all solo pieces by co-in house perfumer Delphine Jelk. I sense something new here: a sturdier gleam. My favourite of the trio is probably Rosa Pallisandro, a rosewood/gerainum/rose boisée featuring a very dehumidified , gossamer aridity with coriander, chypric tonalities, and a crackled dryness of patchouli underneath that detractors say smells like dill pickles – but whose sillage, though admittedly a touch harsh, I think is rather chic for the contemporary trench-coated femme or homme fatale.

I love, also, the contrast between the Dubai-dry (if somewhat anodyne) ‘oudh’ base in the Yuzu variant of this trio, and the sheer effulgence of the citrus opening, which for a few minutes or so gives a genuine sense of futuristic optimism; revitalizing and awakening – perfect as you fling open the curtains in the Burj Khalifa to stare out at the glittering sea.

In really hot sun, post-beach, I can imagine trying the Vanilla Bosca – again, bone-dry driftwood, salty, and rather un-Guerlainish, even with the solar vanilla all gliding underneath (unless you have worn Lys Soleia, which I sometimes do in summer): shimmering like wave mirages on the sun-tingled ocean, with fresh green touches of eucalyptus, this smells saline and chemical – and undoubtedly is – but it is also rather dazzling, like sun-oiled skin, soaking the rays in a state of blissful oblivion.