Corps et Ames 2012

In 2012, Pierre Guillaume revisited his 2006 creation Corps et Ames Eau de Parfum and created Corps et Ames 2012.

I love Corps et Ames Eau de Parfum and have a bottle of it, but once Corps et Ames 2012 started showing up on blogs as one of the top frags of 2012, I put it on my “Scents to try” list (it’s on the back of the perfumniche.com business card that you get when you order decants from us) before going to Paris. I walked into Sens Unique to smell it and walked out with a bottle and a big smile (Thank you Renata!)

It opens with verbena, soothing, green and gently anisic, its citrus facet plays on the citrus aspect of geranium leaf which adds a lovely minty greenness to the top notes. I smell patchouli here too, dark and deep, but not earthy or musty. As it moves to the heart, the rose facets of the geranium bloom and it begin to smell like roses, even though ‘rose’ isn’t listed anywhere in the ingredients – I don’t know why and I don’t want to know cause I don’t want to ruin the spell. Jasmin is here too and gives it an animalic whiff along with a creamy lushness. The base has a soft woodiness from sandalwood and a gentle warmth from musk. The drydown is sophisticated with an aromatic herbal/floral elegance.

Corps et Ames 2012 is labeled Eau de Toilette Apaisante. “Apaisante” means ‘lulling’ or ‘soothing’, a reference to the soothing qualities of verbena, and it’s an EdT, so you know it’s going to be lighter than the original. But the ‘lightness’ isn’t just in the concentration. The 2012 version has had the immortelle and leather stripped from it allowing light into it so that it has depth but not heaviness, making it a sunnier and lighter but not weaker. It hasn’t diminished the original, it just means there’s more excellent juice to wear.

I like to think of it this way: Corps et Ames means body and soul, so Corps et Ames Eau de Parfum is of the body while Corps et Ames 2012 is of the soul.

Sometimes it’s good to revisit an old recipe.

Notes: geranium leaves, verbena, patchouli, jasmine sambac, sandalwood, musk

Type: EdT

Parfumeur: Pierre Guillaume