Aromatics Elixir, the senses in turmoil
You should know that all Clinique products undergo allergy tests and are designed with the help of dermatologists. The release of the perfume “Aromatics Elixir” in 1972 turned out to be against this policy. Very different from the sanitized image that the Clinique brand possessed at that time, “Aromatics Elixir” appears as a perfume with a strong character.
Aromatics Elixir, a very special elixir
Upon its release, “Aromatics Elixir” was a great success in the United States. Representing a chypre family, hitherto neglected, “Aromatics Elixir” conveys the idea of the new “chic”. The perfumer creator Bernard Chant, had the heavy task of creating a timeless and unconventional perfume. Unique with a very assertive character, “Aromatics Elixir” is noticed from its first aldehyde notes with metallic accents. Its “soapy” side is also reminiscent of the very famous Chanel N ° 5. The floral and chypre scents of “Aromatics Elixir” offer an elegant and chic fragrance. It makes women more seductive and more sensual. Born over 40 years ago, “Aromatics Elixir” is still one of the 30 best sellers in France. If his reputation is well established,
Aromatics Elixir, a heady fragrance
“Aromatics Elixir” opens with aromatic scents of chamomile, verbena, geranium and clary sage. Its heart then evolves into a very floral chypre bouquet thanks to the presence of Bulgarian rose, jasmine, ylang-ylang and tuberose. The base is green and chypre with the association of vetiver, oak moss and patchouli. The relaxing aromatic scents at the start gradually give way to spicy, heady, almost animal notes. Its bottle is simple and sober. With its appearance of an apothecary vial, “Aromatics Elixir” gives the appearance of a magic potion from another time. Nothing has been particularly done to attract the eye, because all the beauty of “Aromatics Elixir” is inside the bottle.
Clinique is a brand that saw the light of day at the end of the 1960s. It quickly established itself thanks to its pure, hypoallergenic, almost dermatological products. Released in 1972, the fragrance “Aromatics Elixir” with chypre and floral fragrances immediately seduced. Not only does he honor the Cyprus family, considered at the time as “old-fashioned”, but more than anything, he sublimates the seductive side of women. Bewitching and timeless, “Aromatics Elixir” is an undisputed reference in the world of perfumery. More than 40 years after its release, it is still one of the favorite perfumes of women.
In 1972, the young Clinique house, born 4 years earlier, successfully offered powerful but fragrance-free cosmetic products, sober and refined for maximum results. When the house announced the creation of its first perfume, it was imagined presenting the same sobriety as the previous products. Big mistake, because on the contrary, Bernard Chant the perfumer of Clinique will offer an Aromatics Elixir with a frank and chypre character!
Aromatics Elixir, “much more than a perfume”!
If at first glance the manufacture of a perfume is not the priority of the Clinique house, its boss Carol Phillips, former editor-in-chief of Vogue, as well as the great lady Estée Lauder (owner of Clinique) seemed convinced of the project. This is how the Clinique perfume would be born under a single watchword: a perfume that would be “much more than a perfume”! And the least we can say is that the perfumer Bernard Chant did not disappoint anyone with Aromatics Elixir.
The nose, creator of this magic potion, was first of all inspired by tastes d’Estée Lauder for scents with a trail and if possible chypre. But Bernard Chant did not stop there in such good way and did not hesitate to choose the raw materials according to their elegance but also to their medicinal power. Because Aromatics Elixir may not want to be related to the medicinal whiteness of Clinique products, it was no less sold for a long time as a scented remedy. As a result, the composition of Aromatics Elixir was presented to the public first of all as the magic formula of a scented potion: “Aromatics Elixir… plays the role of a perfume but goes beyond”, thanks to “ingredients carefully chosen for their historically recognized effect on body and soul. “. Ylang-ylang and oakmoss are emollients, orange blossom is meant to be relaxing, sandalwood and chamomile have hygienic properties …
Despite its multiple medicinal properties, Aromatics Elixir is mainly offer a juice with a radically different image of its Clinique house but also of all the standards in perfumery of the time.
Aromatics Elixir, Bernard Chant’s masterpiece for Clinique perfumery
As we have seen, Aromatics Elixir had the crazy audacity to mix the aesthetic use of a perfume with rather old notions of aromatherapy. However, the greatest daring will be to offer a powerful chypre juice, sometimes even considered to be retro elegance, while fashion in perfumery is much more focused on fresh waters or green notes. Let’s be clear, Aromatics Elixir is a bomb of sensuality in its raw state.
Bernard Chant offers first to open Aromtics Elixir aromatic notes, which in itself does not surprise anyone! Verbena and Roman chamomile therefore play on freshness with a pretty bergamot to make us believe in fresh water. By touching the powerfully flowery heart of this Aromatics Elixir, we understand that the queens of this perfume will be notes of roses, jasmine, roses or even tuberose. However, the magnificence of these flowers will not hesitate to come alongside the indecent sensualities of patchouli, civet and vetiver, giving this Aromatics Elixir a suave, opulent and absolutely irresistible animality.
” Aromatics Elixir, totally against the tide of the refined, even “sanitized” image of the brand, quickly became a success in the United States and in the 20th century was placed as one of the most important representatives of the chypre family. ”
Floral