Vol de Nuit c1933

Vol de Nuit: (night-flight) was created in 1933 by Jacques Guerlain. Pronounced "VOL-DUH-NEWEE."

It was named after Antoine Saint Exupery's second novel 'Night Flight', a fragrant story of love and romance of the first years of aviation.

Every year the Air Force College at Salon-de-Provence orders Vol de Nuit in presentation boxes decorated with the emblem of the French Wings. These are distributed by the Cadets during official visits to other countries.

Original Fragrance Composition:

What does it smell like? It is classified as a oriental chypre fragrance for women.  Blended with the hesperidic aromas of expressed citrus peel oils, are dry mountain herbs: bay, marjoram, basil, rosemary, mint, thyme, and the lyre sage of Provence and flowers of the mountains: laurel, dittany and lavender. The narcotic sorcery of jasmine and orange blossom is tendered by violets, narcissus, roses, dusty orris root heated with the pungency of spices: nutmeg, coriander and cinnamon. Vegetal mossy covered oaks are mixed with the essences of exotic woods, myrrh, vanilla and animalic infusions of civet, musk, precious ambergris and castoreum.

• Top notes: orange, orange blossom, basil, mandarin orange, rosemary, mint, lemon, bergamot, galbanum, sage and petit grain
• Middle notes: lavender, wild thyme, dittany, rose, carnation, violet, aldehydes, narcissus, jasmine, daffodil, bay leaf and nutmeg
• Base notes: myrrh, spikenard, civet, cascarilla, castoreum, musk, orris, oakmoss, iris, vanilla, ambergris and sandalwood

Marie-Claire, 1937:

"Vol de Nuit: subtle. A chypre note. For the woman of the world. She does honor to her husband when she goes out with him, and receives in a perfect way. Elegant, distinguished, 'the charming Madame X.'

L'Amour de l'art, 1950:

"This supernatural flight hovers above the nocturnal gardens and Guerlain the magician has captured the melody of these wide open spaces embalmed in a suave and lively fragrance that takes on its full character on contact with fur."

Combat, 1955:

"Vol de Nuit (eau de cologne parfumee) by Guerlain - for the most civilized of city dwellers, the fireflies of the Mediterranean night have composed a philtre with the coarse herbs of the charred earth. Lavender, basil, rosemary, mint, bay leaf, lyreleaf sage of Provence - and also nards, nutmegs, cascarillas and dittany - and stacte, which is the liqueur of myrrh, mixed with pillolet, which is that of wild thyme, conspire to make us hear, despite the curtains drawn on the sumptuous night , the lapping of the sea in a hole in the rock. But the witchcraft of roses, heated with civet and castoreum, has made a royal cloak out of this fur of brushwood and moss."

Reformulated version:
It is classified as a woody fragrance for women.

• Top notes: orange, orange blossom, galbanum, mandarin orange, bergamot, narcissus, lemon
• Middle notes: aldehydes, iris, narcissus, vanilla, violet, Indonesian carnation, jasmine, rose
• Base notes: spices, sandalwood, musk, orris root, oakmoss

Bottles:

The perfume was housed in the dark smoke colored flacon Rayonnant (extrait) which has a relief of a moving aircraft propeller.

The fragrance was also sold in the Goutte flacon (eau de toilette), the Montre flacon (eau de cologne), the Borne flacon (parfum), the Guerre flacon (parfum), the quadrilobe flacon (parfum) and several different spray bottles over the years.

Fate of the Fragrance:

The perfume is still sold today.




Photos from rubylane,ebay, luvparfum and other sources online.

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