1. History

2. Scent

3. Marketing

4. In popular culture

5. References

History

Shalimar was created by Jacques Guerlain in 1921, but after another company claimed to already have a fragrance by the same name, Guerlain was forced to rename the fragrance "No. 90" until a legal dispute over the name was settled.^[2] Shalimar was re-released in 1925 at the International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts.^[2]

Jacques Guerlain was inspired by Mumtaz Mahal,^[3] the Persian woman for whom the Taj Mahal in Agra and the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore were built.^[4] The harmony of Shalimar was created when Jacques Guerlain poured a bottle of ethylvanillin into a bottle of Jicky, a fragrance created by Guerlain in 1889.^[1]

During the 1920s, Shalimar was popular with flappers which helped give it a "bad girl" reputation.^[6]

In 1985, Shalimar was repackaged and presented encased in a Lucite box to commemorate the 60th anniversary of its original launch.^[4] In 2004, Guerlain issued Shalimar Light by perfumer Mathilde Laurent. However, Shalimar Light was taken off the market and replaced by Eau de Shalimar in 2008.^[7]

Shalimar is preserved in its original 1925 formulation in the archives of the Osmothèque, donated by Jean-Paul Guerlain.^[8] As of 2017, Shalimar was Guerlain's second best selling fragrance, behind La Petite Robe Noire, with approximately 108 bottles being sold every hour.^[1]

Scent

The fragrance contains notes of bergamot, lemon, iris, jasmine, rose, patchouli, vetiver, opopanax, tonka bean, frankincense, sandalwood, musk, civet, ambergris, leather, and vanilla. It is considered to be an Oriental perfume (see Fragrance Wheel).^[9]

Marketing

Illustrator Lyse Darcy created many illustrated ads for Guerlain products, including Shalimar, from the 1930s through the 1950s.^[10] Photographs taken by Helmut Newton were used in a print campaign for Shalimar in 1997.^[11]

In 2013, Guerlain produced an advertisement titled "The Legend of Shalimar," featuring Natalia Vodianova.^[12] The advertisement was directed by Bruno Aveillan and featured music by Hans Zimmer that had been originally composed for The Da Vinci Code.^[13]

In popular culture

Shalimar is mentioned in the songs "On a Little Street in Singapore" recorded memorably by Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller and Manhattan Transfer, "Forty Shades of Green" by Johnny Cash and "Madame George" by Van Morrison.^[14][15]

In the musical La Cage Aux Folles, Shalimar is mentioned in the song "A Little More Mascara".^[16]

In the episode "In Camelot" of The Sopranos, Junior Soprano mentions sending bottles of Shalimar to Fran.^[17]

In the 1989 Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor movie "See No Evil, Hear No Evil", Richard Pryor's blind character identifies the villainess played by Joan Severance by the smell of Shalimar.^[18]

In the 1971 movie The Mephisto Waltz, Shalimar is the perfume favored by Jacqueline Bisset's character, Paula.^[19]

In the 1981 movie The Four Seasons, Shalimar is given as a gift.^[20]

Shalimar is mentioned during an episode of "NCIS" (Season 11, Episode 12).^[21]

In the Mad Men episode "The Long Weekend", Joan Holloway's roommate notices that Joan is wearing Shalimar.^[22]

In the novel "L'Indic", by Roger Borniche the aristocrat Sylvia de Neyrac utilizes Shalimar to fascinate the policemen Roger Borniche.

In the novel "War Cry", by Wilbur Smith (with David Churchill), Saffron is caught attempting to descend the Cresta Run in St. Moritz due to her forgetting that she had used the perfume Shalimar following her morning shower.

In the 1988 movie "Working Girl", Katharine asks Tess to get her bottle of Shalimar.^[23]

In the novel "Angel of Baker Street", by Catherine Bell, Olivia always pictures her mother in her mind whenever she caught a hint of the perfume. Olivia is also given a bottle of Shalimar as a gift by Dominique, who had protected her during Olivia's stay in Paris.

In an episode of Orange Is The New Black (S1:E6 "WAC Pack"), Nicky describes Piper as smelling of Shalimar after she receives a hug from her mother during visitation.^[24]

In 1991, Louise Bourgeois created Cell II, a work of art which featured multiple empty and nearly-empty bottles of Shalimar on top of a mirrored table and next to a sculpture of wringing hands.^[25]

In the 1991 novel Wise Children, by Angela Carter, Nora Chance wears Shalimar. This is the only way other characters can distinguish her from her twin sister Dora, who wears Mitsouko.

In season 3 episode 10 of "Love", Mickey (Gillian Jacobs) tells her boyfriend Gus (Paul Rust) that his childhood home smells like "laundry detergent, ham, and Shalimar."

In season 1 episode 19 of "Person of Interest," villain Elias remembers his mother wearing Shalimar perfume.

S5:E11 of American Horror Story: While pouring herself a drink, the Countess realizes that Ramona Royale has entered her suite behind her back. Without turning around the Countess says, "It’s not the Shalimar that gives you away - it’s your blood."^[26]

In the 2018 novel "Greeks Bearing Gifts", by Philip Kerr, the anti-hero, Bernie Gunther (alias Christof Ganz) comments upon Elli Panatoniou's Shalimar perfume as having the effect of “making a woman smell like a woman and making a man want to behave like a rampaging gorilla”.

In the 2018 novel "Lethal White", by Robert Galbraith, the private detective, Cormoran Strike about his ex girlfriend, Charlotte "...could smell what he knew to be Shalimar on her skin. She had worn it since she was nineteen and he had sometimes bought it for her."

Mentioned in two Fannie Flagg novels, in the plot of one (Welcome to the World, Baby Girl) of which it is a clue to the mystery.

References

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