One of the most interesting stories from Yuri Gutsatz' life is his meeting with Estee Lauder detailed here in both French and English.

It was a little confusing for me to follow but suffice it to say that Estee Lauder had a mind of her own and threw it around with abandon!

...the gist of it was that being the creator of YOUTH [Dew], ARAMIS and SUPER ESTEE which she made herself and having earned millions of dollars she knows best what a successful perfume should be... YG

Imagine the hubris:

Mrs. LAUDER was present during the second performance she gave to approximately the same assistance. She was very flamboyant, lecturing us again about how a perfume of success has to be made, about the non importance of the European market, about French women not knowing what perfumes to use and how to use them, insisting briefly that GUERLAIN's latest CHAMADE perfume would be a flop... YG

You have to laugh at the idea of lecturing French women on the art of fragrance. Excuse me, France is a major seat of the fragrance industry. BTW, Chamade was not a flop. It's one I continue to like to wear -- more now than then. It is still available. OTOH, you can't argue that Estee Lauder has made millions and millions.

The story goes that she was in development with Ungaro to come up with a fragrance, and Gutsatz was the nose. December 8, 1969 (do you know where you were that year?) he brought with him 4 finished perfumes at 20% concentration (with infusions) and about a dozen of concentrated oils such as:

- Concentrates of D/17 complete
- Concentrates of n° 2135 (HEURE BLEUE type)
- Concentrate of Berilium (HEURE BLEUE type)
- Concentrate of Base GRG 1762 (BAL DE VERSAILLES type) made in consultation with Mr. Guy ROBERT and various bases entering into formula D/17.

You have to appreciate that at this point in time, 1969, L'Heure Bleue and Bal de Versailles were very popular. Both were considered sophisticated and sensual. But BdV was the more aggressive of the two, a fragrance for the night. BdV was the precursor to those later blasts from Giorgio Beverly Hills, which didn't smell the same, but knocked you off your feet in a similar fashion, though it was ubiquitous in the daytime.

Just like women who wore Youth Dew seemed to have no concept of how strong it was, women who wore GBH would asphyxiate you with the fumes. Seriously. You know I'm telling the truth. One woman wearing a few spritzes of YD would scent an entire theater. And if you didn't like it, you were doomed.

Interestingly enough Estee Lauder claimed that everyone liked Youth Dew.

Mrs. LAUDER said the very day she had launched at MAXIM's and put on her perfume D/17-U-IV and nobody has even asked her what perfume she was wearing which was naturally extremely disappointing for her whereas when she wears YOUTH or SUPER ESTEE everybody is saying "Oh dear what a beautiful perfume you have today !".

By the way upon my remark that I did not know of a perfume in the world which has a unanimous approval of everybody, she looked at me with surprise and indignation saying that her YOUTH is approved of everybody without a single exception which proves that such kind of perfume can be made. YG

Have you ever wondered why some Lauder fragrances are so strong they will knock you over?
Never fear. The answer is here:

As a matter of fact, Mrs. LAUDER's skin is an absolutely extraordinary phenomenon which in my 35 years of practice I have never encountered. A perfume lavishly spread on the back of her hand or forearms loses its smell within less than 5 minutes, leaving after 10 minutes a faint and blurred odor! (This explains so far I am concerned her 70% concentration YOUTH bath oil and non alcoholic SUPER ESTEE Perfume). YG

For myself, I find that either a fragrance disappears on me or it becomes extremely large, so I always go gently with application until I know which is which.

And the end of the story?
Well, evidently the fragrance was never made. Or maybe it was. After all, Ungaro has a couple of fragrances.

You just have to appreciate the flamboyant Lauder mixing the various vials with abandon, without measuring -- how would they know the concentrations to replicate it!

I wish to report also a few words said by Mrs. LAUDER which depict her attitude during all my meetings with her. Concerning one of the mixtures she made herself and which she has discarded later on herself, she said: "I like it when I say I like it, it means it's good".

In one sense, you can't argue with success. Lauder has produced some fine fragrances, world renowned, made a heap of money, worn by millions of women. There are some I like; some I don't. My mother-in-law wore Estee to great effect. It was gorgeous on her. My sister has worn Beautiful. Another relative wore Private Collection to the extent that it permeated everything and everybody, and while it was nice on her, even today I can't bear it.

I can't help but think how marvelous any one of Gutsatz' representions would have been if they had only been chosen. He had a true gift.

Karin
www.savvythinker.com

Originally posted 2009-10-23 09:13:12.

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Estee Lauder, Yuri Gutsatz