Guerlain Jicky (1889)

Jicky is not a love-at-first-sniff scent, unless you are blessed with an adventurous nose or cursed with anosmia (the inability to smell). I sampled a modern formulation at Saks Fifth Avenue last year when I just began to get into vintage scents, and I was truly baffled. After spraying it on, I couldn't believe that people said they loved it. Are they faking, I wondered, because they're supposed to love a classic?

Between the blast of citrus and lavender, followed by the stink of (synthetic) civet, Jicky was a fragrance I was horrified that anyone would have worn. I began to wonder if perfume simply meant something different at this time.

I have since developed a more complicated nose, and able to appreciate other perfumes I've loved with enough civet to make them mysteriously erotic (Rumeur, Narcisse Noir, and My Sin), I began to crave the civet-drenched Jicky in a hard-to-explain way. I couldn't find my modern-day vial, so I went and got a sample of vintage, parfum-concentration Jicky. Like a junkie seeking a hit of civet but having to wait for it to kick in, I was a little disappointed that the parfum concentration was so well-blended and rounded! Unlike the modern EDT, which gives you a one-two punch of lavender/civet, the vintage parfum Jicky took its sweet time to take off its underpants, as it were.

Like a horny teenage boy faced with a gorgeous, brilliant woman, I was not inclined to appreciate having to make small talk with Jicky before she showed me her carnal side. But, it had to happen. I got to know Jicky first as lavender, then as bergamot, easing into vanilla, and then, in the afterglow, the civet that hovered over these bright notes like the smell of sex after a romp between two freshly bathed people. 

Jicky's notes: bergamot, lavender, basil, bay, rosemary, sandalwood, cinnamon, good ol' urinous civet and two synthetic notes — coumarin (from the tonka bean) and ethyl vanillin. (Roja Dove, The Essence of Perfume.)

Here's what Dove has to say about Jicky in The Essence of Perfume:

"Jicky was launched exactly 100 years after the French Revolution; it too was revolutionary, and shocked in a way that has rarely been equalled. The volume of civet in its base is truly outrageous, and any trained nose would wonder how he got away with it: in true Guerlain style, Aime created something magnificent. No woman in polite society would have dared wear it and only the most audacious man took the risk (perhaps it reminded them of the civet of the earlier part of the century). It was to take many years before women readily adopted it, but adopt it they most certainly did."

The closest I've come to the massive, in-your-face dose of civet that Jicky brings is CB I Hate Perfume's bizarre and wonderful Old Fur Coat. This crazy perfume smells like a ratty old fur coat you'd find at a thrift store with stale traces of yesteryear's perfume petrified into its fibers — the scent a combination of iris, mothballs, urine, fur, and ballroom dances past. Amazing. 

Comments

[Wild Violets]

Do they still make it?

[Perfumaniac]

Hi Wild Violets, Jicky is the oldest perfume ever made that's still on the market. It's available in its new form at Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys, eBay... You can also get a sample at The Perfumed Court if you're not near those big department stores and don't want to commit to a whole bottle.

[Sylvia]

I love this review :)!

[Brenda Heath]

I have a vintage bottle of Extrait Jicky,belonged to my late Mother-in-Law who lived in Australia. It's circa 1967 according to the zigzag pattern box, the inner box is white with a gold lattice pattern and the bottle is ribbed, tapering and has a gold cap. Now I tried a drop on my wrist, (as it had been opened, although it's still full) and that was some time ago, and it has mellowed into a wonderful soft scent. How amazing is that?

[Dark Moss]

Hi, vintage lovers! I think I'm missing something or my nose is still on holidays... Today it was the first time I saw Jicky in its true dimensions (believe it or not, I had never seen it anywhere in Greece until today) and I was so excited I found it (after so many reviews I had read) that I put it immediately on my wrist. At that moment I smelled something like bergamot and I said "OK, that's only the beginning, let's wait". I smelled it again after five -six minutes and I felt so disappointed. It's warm and rich, yes, but where is the dirty thing? It reminds me Shalimar but more powdery. Is there any difference between EdT and EdP? Is my skin that kills the perfume? I don't know. I still have the hope the this Jicky I tried it's just stale (is this word right?) and the real thing is in a vintage bottle somewhere out there.

[Perfumaniac]

Dark Moss - Do you have the vintage or no? The civet in both EDT and EDP is pretty intense, even richer in EDP. The reformulation is nice but in this case, the vintage gives you a true taste.

[Dark Moss]

Thank you, Perfumaniac! I'll try to find a vintage bottle or a sample and soon I'll know...

[PERFUMEKEV]

Jicky has been my favorite all time fragrance since I was a teenager. Of course this was in the early 1980's and the formula was still much closer to the original. I am a perfumer so I have been privy to many formulations and many vintages of Jicky. It is truly the best when it is made with true Italian Bergamot oil because it is 35% of the formula and the bergamot they use now has all the furocumorins and bergaptines removed. The new version uses a synthetic civet base which smells very dirty like stinky cheese. I know Roja dove and he is incorrect in one thing that Jicky contains vanillin not ethyl vanillin. Jaques Guerlain started using Ethyl Vanillin when Shalimar was created. So now I create my own Jicky with all the original materials no substitutions. The Older Jicky has a softer more Barber shop quality, It definitely has civet but the unregulated bergamot helps to make the whole composition more sweet and rounded so easy to wear.

Jicky is the Parent to all Oriental style perfumes.

[Lina]

I like the review by ''Perfumekev''.My story is the following:''When I was around 12 yrs old a friend of the family ,who lives in Paris , and also worked at ''Guerlain'' came to visit .The room was filled completely by one of the most beautiful smells I have ever smelle.I asked which perfume was it>It was Jicky! Many yrs passed and last spring I was on holiday in Venice, and I found Jicky in a small, private perfumery and bought it!This waiting to have it was over 25 yrs long.I was exhilarated from only holding its packaging in my hands!The perfume wasn't like the one I smelled on my friend in 80's.After reading your comment I see that for some reason Guerlain has changed the ingredients, unfortunately!Never the less wearing it, even it wasn't as grand as it used to be 30 yrs ago,presented something sacred to me!I remember the story that it was made for a girl that Aime was in love when he was a student and I remember the fact that it's the first perfume with synthetic ingredients ,not made of natural ingredients only!Everyone should respect that!