Guerlain
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Raspberry and lychee burst forth with immediate juiciness, their natural acidity catching light and creating an almost effervescent opening that's more fruit-forward than floral. The initial sweetness is restrained—these are ripe fruits, not confectionery—lending a dewy, fresh-skinned quality to the spray's first moments.
Violet and rose gradually surface, their powdery character tempering the fruit's glossiness and introducing a faintly almond-tinged warmth courtesy of the heliotrope. The fragrance pivots here from bright and fruity to something more intimate and slightly creamy, where the notes begin layering atop one another rather than sitting in isolation.
White musk and iris anchor the composition with a subtle soapiness and peppery dryness, whilst vanilla provides a whispered sweetness rather than gourmand domination. The result is a skin scent that hovers between powdery floral and barely-there gourmand, intimate and tactile rather than projecting—French Kiss becomes something you lean in to smell, not something that announces itself.
French Kiss is Thierry Wasser's unabashed celebration of tactile sensuality, a fragrance that arrives without pretence or architectural restraint. The moment it touches skin, you're enveloped in a juicy, almost syrupy fruit accord—raspberry and lychee colliding with a brightness that suggests freshly cracked stone fruit rather than artificial sweetness. Yet this is no simple fruity floral. As the composition settles, violet and rose emerge not as delicate florals but as powdery, almost dusty counterpoints to the fruit's glossy exuberance, creating an intriguing tension between wet and dry aesthetics.
What makes French Kiss genuinely compelling is how the base transforms this fruit-and-flower narrative into something far more sensual. Heliotrope brings a subtle almond-tinged warmth that softens the violet's sharpness, whilst white musk and iris (that peppery, slightly soapy iris) provide a skin-like second layer that prevents the fragrance from tipping into cloying territory. The vanilla arrives last, barely sweetening the composition but rather binding everything into a cohesive whole—it's not gourmand excess but restraint.
Add fragrances to your collection and unlock your personalised scent DNA, note map, and shareable identity card.
Guerlain
3.8/5 (156)