Clara Feder’s artistic interpretation of Le Jardin Retrouvé Oriental Sans Souci

“The echo of your steps reverberates sounds of the past, recalling intimate memories, filled with an addictive sweetness” -a note from the brand

Le Jardin Retrouvé Oriental Sans Souci was brought back to life in a unique manner, not seen before in the fragrant firmament. It captured hearts and noses before it was even put back into production. Like all the best people we know, it has a sensational back story. 

A young Yuri Gutsatz in 1941

Le Jardin Retrouvé is a small family house that was reawakened in 2016, eleven years after its founder, perfumer Yuri Gutsatz passed away. His legacy was hundreds, if not thousands of meticulously kept formulas: a fascinating legacy when you realise that his perfumery career spanned nearly six tumultuous decades. 

 Yuri’s Le Jardin Retrouvé perfume formulas

In life, Yuri had been a devoted husband and father of three. By 2016, only one son remained, Michel Gutsatz. Michel was a university professor married to artist Clara Feder. Neither were professionally involved in the perfume industry, but both shared a passion for keeping this unique legacy alive. Le Jardin Retrouvé was revived in 2016 with a curated selection of seven classic French fragrances. But what to do with the thousands of unmade formulas in the archives?

Revival project sample pack

Yuri had never skimped on ingredients and Michel and Clara used many of the same suppliers that Yuri had. The cost of making them all up was unthinkable, so an idea formed. Let the people vote. Four samples were gathered, identified only by a dot. No names were given, no ingredients, no notes. This sample quadrant was sent to perfume lovers around the world. Everyone had one vote. The winner was clear. Polling 48% of the total vote, Team Black Dot enjoyed a landside and Oriental Sans Souci was born.

 

 Sans Souci Gardens via Wikimedia©

Jardin Retrouvé Oriental Sans Souci was named after the Sans Souci gardens in Potsdam, Germany. The house ethos is that Le Jardin Retrouvé (the garden refound) leads you to the childhood garden sanctuary we all have within us; thus each fragrance is named after a garden. So what does this vote winner smell like and why did so many fall in love with it ? To my nose, Oriental Sans Souci is a winding path that starts with a garden of flowers and leads you into darker territory. It has a fantasy quality behind it. It reminds me of my childhood when we played in the neighbouring woods and dared ourselves to go deeper, as our hearts raced thrillingly.

 

Still from the movie The Secret Garden 1993

You’ll begin your garden journey with jasmine and neroli. As you enter under an archway of flowers into a darker arboretum, woods and earthy patchouli greet you, adding a robust and not-quite-spicy accord. This forest is a welcoming sanctuary of birdsong. Warm amber embraces you and the comfort of mouth-watering vanilla and tonka bean add a cloak of warmth. The bright citrus notes dart through like shafts of welcome sunlight, fusing the sharp with the soft in perfect harmony, like the sparkle of dew drops on moss.

Maxence Moutte in Le Jardin Retrouvé’s Paris lab.

Oriental Sans Souci has a vintage feel which is no accident. The formula was written in the 60s and was strictly adhered when it was constructed in 2016 by in-house perfumer Maxence Moutte, a fan of Yuri’s legacy long before he worked for the family.  In this case, there was no original bottle to refer to: Oriental Sans Souci had never been produced before. Had Michel and Clara not rifled though pages of archives, it might never have seen the light of day. Perfume lovers around the world are glad that it did.

Disclosure: Thank you to Le Jardin Retrouvé for my review sample. I have a working relationship with this house, but even so, opinions are my own.

Notes: jasmine, neroli, bergamot, woody notes, amber, resins,  vanilla, tonka bean, patchouli

Samantha Scriven , Senior Contributor and author of  I Scent You a Day

Le Jardin Retrouvé Oriental Sans Souci

Thanks to the generosity of Michel and Clara at Le Jardin Retrouvé, we have a 50ml bottle of  Oriental Sans Souci Limited edition (only 200 were made) eau de parfum for one registered reader in EU, UK, USA or Canada. You must register here or your comment will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what you enjoyed most about Samantha’s review, if you have favourite Le Jardin Retrouvé fragrance, and where you live. Draw closes November 3, 2020

Select Le Jardin Retrouve in the USA at Perfumology and  all of the current ten plus skincare and candles are available at Le Jardin Retrouve’s website (here)

Former ÇaFleureBon Contributor Aaron Potterman reviews of the brand were amongst the first: Sandalwood Sacre, Cuir de Russie, Tubéreuse Trianon and Citron Boboli    and Eau des Délices, Verveine d`Été , Rose Trocadéro

photos courtesy of Le Jardin Retrouvé unless otherwise noted

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