Jacques Guerlain at 150

Jacques Guerlain was the very opposite of his rival Coty.

Where François Coty was active in business and politics -as well as being a consummate creator- Jacques didn’t concern himself with that outside stuff.

In the Guerlain empire there were others to take care of worldly pursuits and they left him to get on with creating perfumes in his own particular way. When he was working on a project he went through several phases.

First of all there was the creative phase, where he drew inspiration from art, nature, cuisine; or even people he knew (like his rival Coty?).

Then he would spend time in his study, surrounded by his books and paintings — and where he would dream up the shapes, colors, and textures of his latest creation.

Once an idea had firmed up he would then go to the lab. With a list of materials in mind, he would select bottles from the perfume organ, give them a shake to wet the stopper, pull it out and dab it on a smelling strip. When the strips were done, he’d fan them out and -smelling this way and that- try to get a feel for the different accords.

If one of the paper strips was too strong he would take a pair of scissors and snip off the end.