Osmothèque Open Day - Save the date!

Grab your mobile or, for the vintage junkies, get your agenda and save the date: Saturday - September 19, 2015. Place: Osmothèque Versailles. Are you wondering what's up?

During the European Heritage Days 2015 the Osmothèque Versailles opens its doors disclosing its perfume collection. On September 19 from 10.00 to 17.30 it will be possible to visit it for free, meeting the extraordinary passionate perfumers that keep it alive and attend to a serie of lectures that will make you experience an olfactory journey through four raw materials used in perfumery: bergamot, rose, patchouli and vanilla. You will be granted access to a unique library of olfactory gems most of which have disappeared since longtime.

The guided discovery tour in the perfume history through raw materials is composed of four lectures:

• Bergamot: a surprising fruit, the Calabrian gold at the base of eau de colognes and one of the most used essences in perfumery. Presented perfumes: Eau de Cologne de Napoleone à Sainte-Hélène (1820), Jicky (1889) GUERLAIN, Nuit de Chine (1913) LES PARFUMS DE ROSINE by Poiret, Eau de Campagne (1975) SISLEY...
• Rose: the queen of flowers gives very different essential oils and absolutes making of it one of the main shades of the perfumer's palette. Presented perfumes: La Rose Jacqueminot (1904) COTY, Joy (1930) PATOU, Nahéma (1979) GUERLAIN, Paris (1980) YVES SAINT LAURENT...
• Patchouli: originary from Indonesia, the essential oil is extracted from the leaves and it is used in perfumery since the XIX century. Essential to give depth to the chypre accord.
  Presented perfumes: Chypre (1917) COTY, Patchouli (1970) RÉMINESCENCE, Mystère (1978) ROCHAS, Angel (1992) MUGLER...
• Vanilla: extracted from the berry of a tropical orchid, it is obtained through a very careful process making it one of the costliest raw materials. Presented perfumes: Ambre Antique (1904) COTY, Un Air Embaumé (1912) RIGAUD, Emeraude (1921) COTY, Eau d'Ambre (1980) L'ARTISAN PARFUMEUR...

Moreover there will be a raw materials discovery room where you will be able to smell natural essential oils, concretes and absolutes together with some of the most used synthetic molecules. Small groups will also have access to the Osmothèque "cave" or meet some perfumers as part of a 2 hours tour.
In case all of this doesn't tease you enough, please remember the Ville Lumière is simply amazing in Autumn. Haven't you already booked your flight to Paris?

Mystère de Rochas 1986 ad