Black Jade by Lubin

I found this beautiful scent story on US site, www.luckyscent.com
centred around Marie Antoinette. As you might expect, her court had a royal perfumer, Jean-Louis Fargeon who created luxurious fragrance just for her, inspired by the rose filled gardens of Le Petit Trianon. Marie Antoinette reportedly kept this money-no-object fragrance in a black jade flask and with her at all times including the time before her execution when she was imprisoned in the Temple Tower of Paris. Handing it over to the Marquise de Tourzel just before she died, his descendents are reported to still have the original flacon.  Although the exact formula was supposed to be a secret, a young apprentice recorded its composition and it has now been revived by the House of Lubin and is known as Black Jade. Apparently, it was kept in black jade to protect if from deteriorating in daylight.


Whether the story is completely true or not, I love the idea of a fragrance with roots in such dramatic history and rather like the idea of the notes: Galbanum, bergamot, cardamon, rose and jasmine with a back drop of incense, cinnamon, sandalwood and amber. 


I know from a million and one highly elaborate French press releases that they are masters of storytelling when it comes to creating a reason for releasing a fragrance, but whether this is faithful to fact or has had some dressing up, its still a powerful tale and the imagery is just gorgeous.