Upon opening in 1885, Les Bains Guerbois was Paris’s first spa and offered an unprecedented variety of massages, steam baths and treatments. The original plaque remains in place over the entrance to what subsequently became Les Bains Douches, one of the world's hippest nightclubs around. Now in its third reincarnation as a luxury boutique hotel and celebrating its first birthday, owner Jean-Pierre Marois has teamed up with master perfumer Michel Almairac to create a complex and subversive unisex cologne.
The first of its kind, the Les Bains Guerbois cologne seeks to embody the spirit of the hotel and the myth of its past. 'We had a lot of fun creating it,' says Marois of the process with Almairac. 'Michel had carte-blanche with just me to please.'
L'Eau de Cologne lures you in with warm ginger and cardamom top notes, followed by a patchouli, cedar and papyrus heart before drying down to a sultry finish of musk, amber and Frankincense. The intensity of the components make the scent linger much longer than a classic splash-on scent. The retro cut-crystal flacon is evocative of the bathhouse era, while the stopper features the facade's stone Bacchus emblazoned atop.
The new cologne joins the ranks of the property's signature candle, created by nose Dorothée Piot on the occasion of the hotel's opening. The Atmosphère candle has the same top notes as the cologne, brightened by a nuance of violet before melding into wild leather, Frankincense and Tonka Bean. It comes in a hand-engraved Limoges porcelain holder for a hint of debauchery.
Both the cologne and candle will feature in an exhibition entitled ‘PARIS!’ at local Bon Marché department store between 1 September and 15 October, to further celebrate the city’s home-grown talent and products.
The original 1885 plaque is still in place over the entrance of the historic building. Pictured: outside Les Bains hotel, and inside the concept store
For the first scent, master perfumer Michel Almairac to created a complex and subversive unisex cologne (pictured)
The cologne joins the hotel’s signature candle, created by nose Dorothée Piot on its opening, which will be joined by further scents in due course
INFORMATION
Eau de Cologne, €120 for 260ml; Atmosphère Scented Candle, €65 for 220g. For more information, visit the Les Bains website
ADDRESS
Hotel Les Bains
7 rue du Bourg-l'Abbé
75003 Paris
-
Contemporary artist collective Poush takes over Château La CosteMembers of Poush have created 160 works, set in and around the grounds of Château La Coste – the art, architecture and wine estate in Provence
-
Sun-soaked European destinations to visit in springDreaming of Florentine palazzos and Greek islands now that the weather is starting to turn? Check into one of these beautiful European hotels and holiday homes
-
Inspired by the French Riviera, Été Celine heralds the arrival of summerCeline’s new summer collection, capturing the ‘freedom and lightness’ of Saint-Tropez escapes, arrives at The Selfridges Corner Shop in a transporting pop-up
-
This perfume bottle archive was nearly lost. Now, it offers a rare whiff of fragrance historyFifty blueprints from a forgotten French crystal manufacturer will be for sale as part of the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair
-
Bastille Parfums: the French fragrance house blending technology with olfactory craftBastille Parfums is on a mission to shift the perception of high-end fragrance
-
Ramdane Touhami on design in the reinvention of Buly 1803In an exclusive interview, Ramdane Touhami shares the story behind his redesign of the historic brand, Officine Universelle Buly 1803
-
Amen’s new collection takes on abstract, sculptural forms handcrafted by Katharina KaminskiAmen candles officially launches its new series of figurative light sculptures, ‘Luminous Beings’
-
Take a tour of Louis Vuitton's fragrance houseMaster perfumer Jacques Cavallier Belletrud offers a peek inside Les Fontaines Parfumées
-
New French fragrance maison Ormaie references modernist design greats -
Top of the glass: Pauline Deltour’s first design for Cire Trudon has serious bottle -
Hermès gallops in with a new equestrian themed fragrance
