ÇaFleureBon Modern Masterpieces: Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune (Mathilde Laurent) 1999~th’ inconstant moon

Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune ad (1999)

1999 ad for Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune©

“O, swear not by the moon, th’ inconstant moon,
that monthly changes in her circle orb,
lest that thy love prove likewise variable”
Romeo and Juliet, act 2, scene 2 – W. Shakespeare

Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune casts its spell even before smelling it; its lovely name actually is a portmanteau combining the French words “pamplemousse” (grapefruit) and “lune” (moon). Wear it on a midsummer day and you’ll be charmed forever. The opening stanza of the Aqua Allegoria line which was meant to showcase easy going colognes, yet Pamplelune is anything but simple.

Mathilde Laurent composed as her first perfume Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pamplune

Mathilde Laurent courtesy Cartier©

Juxtaposing masculine and feminine elements is part of the Guerlain heritage for their Eau de colognes. Of note, Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune was the first creation by a young  29 year old Mathilde Laurent (who is now the inhouse perfumer at Cartier) and hired as a trainee assistant to Jean-Paul Guerlain right after graduating at ISIPCA.

Guerlain Chamade 1972 review

Guerlain Chamade 1972 ad by Nikasinovich

Borrowing the sweet-and-sour fruity green ghost of Chamade as a Maison terroir connection, and pouring a touch of  brisk bitter citrus was so innovative it not only showed a deep understanding of the Guerlain classics, but also a fresh approach to the formulation terroir that gave us exquisite gems like Eau du Coq (a bergamot cologne with a dash of Jicky). Above all, daring for the first time to overdose grapefruit as the centerpiece and not just a minor squeeze of it.  Pamplelune’s emphasis is the natural sulphur compounds exuding from both citrus paradisi (that’s the lovely botanical name for grapefruit, the citrus of paradise) and leafy blackcurrant buds.  A visionary, Mathilde Laurent reinvented the 21st century Eau de Cologne pioneering and setting the standard for the luminous colognes to follow: Mugler Cologne (Alberto Morillas, 2001), the bitter citrus Cologne Bigarade (Jean-Claude Ellena, 2001) by Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle, Hermès Eau de pamplemousse rose (Jean-Claude Ellena, 2009) and Parfums de Nicolaï Eau Mixte (Patricia de Nicolaï, 2010). That’s why Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune  is inducted into the hallowed halls of  CaFleureBon Modern Masterpieces.

Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune review

 Erotic grapefruit – lithograph by Salvador Dali (1969)

Shakespeare’s “inconstant moon” represents one of the most desirable features of fine perfumery.. variation. After the initial blast, Pamplelune follows through with tart bergamot and angular petitgrain coolness before morphing into a rosy floriental base cheered by a blackcurrant-tinged vanilla and patchouli sweet embrace. Don’t blame this moon; rejoice for the radiance and dark dynamics of Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune blooms on your skin throughout the whole day.

best lemon perfumes

Still life with grapefruits -detail – by Paul Gauguin (1901)

Sulfurous Blackcurrant absolute and bittersweet grapefruit play a mind-blowing juicy song in minor key here for most of the time, modulated in diminished chords. You never know where the catty red berries end purring and where the aromatic bitterness of the freshly sliced yellow globe starts. They complete each other giving way to an augmented reality fruit, swinging from sparkling peel to stinging white pith and making you bite its lip-smacking pulp to the core.

Today after more than 20 years and a couple of tweaks to tame it, Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune is still one of the best citrus fragrances on the shelves of commercial stores populated with “sent bons”. Chilled, nonchalant sophistication shines from top to bottom making Pamplelune standout. Yet the Gauguin-esque yellow opaque grapefruit pomace sprinkled in vanilla and cocoa-tinged patchouli seems almost edible. The drydown softens the biting temper of Pamplelune, making it also eminently wearable and long-lasting but never veering into mundane musk or trivial sweetness. Give it a chance and you’ll fall in love with it forever.

Notes for Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune include Bergamot, Grapefruit, Neroli, Petitgrain, Blackcurrant, Patchouli, Vanilla.

–Ermano Picco, Editor and Perfume Expert

Light editing by Michelyn Camen, Editor-in-Chief

This review is based on a personal sample of Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune. My opinions are my own.

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Have you tried Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune?

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9 comments

  • carole says:

    I have tried this,and loved it. I also used to have the shower gel which would perfume my whole house when i used it-it’s fantastic.

    And one year at Christmas I was under a lot of mental stress. I had some beautiful new colognes, courtesy of a perfume store I loved dearly, and so I sprayed on lavish amounts of Shalimar on my ankles, and equally lavish amounts of Pamplelune across my wrists. I loved that combination, on that day-it all worked to make me feel better. I know it probably sounds gross and anyone reading this is cringing at my bad taste-but I focussed on the perfumes and breathed my way to a better life.

  • ScentitarFragrance says:

    I just limon verde from this line and I can attest that these are very well done and classy fresh fragrances ! Even though some might want more longevity, they do well for being fruit and citrus only and are unbelievably cheerful and refreshing scents !

  • Carboytony826 says:

    Ermano, thank you for the wonderful review and background.

    I have not smelled this (I did come close to buying a bottle a couple months ago, but was talked out of it, reason being was that moving into Guerlain, one needs to be phased in) – and now I regret it.

    I do own L’eau Mixte by Mme. de Nicolaï and adore it. Actually it’s time for it to be worn again.

    Looking forward to finally getting some of this perfume.

    -Tony

  • VerbenaLuvvr says:

    I have found that often, people whose perfume profiles are so very different from mine, at the intersection of our perfume worlds is Pamplelune.

  • Kathy Witter says:

    In July 2019, I received a bonus from my job and wanted to spend some of the money on something that wasn’t instant gratification. I chose Pamplelune because I love gratefruit and wanted something different and refreshing to deal with the sticky London heatwave. Pamplelune is a quality product and without doubt the best money I have spent on a perfume. It’s about quality not quantity.