Yesterday we discussed My Insolence, an unfortunate example of When Guerlain Goes Wrong. Today I have the happier task of reviewing a a perfume where Guerlain got it right, the sadly discontinued Meteorites. I suspect that might have had something to do with the fact that the bottle most closely resembles a bottle of nail polish. Seriously, I keep mistaking it for a topcoat.
Meteorites is meant to be an amplification of the fragrance found in Guerlain’s famously violet-infused Meteorites face powder. The scent is not quite the same- Meteorites perfume has a chilly touch of iris that is altogether absent from the face powder- but Guerlain did succeed in evoking the spirit of these indecently luxurious, glistening pearls.
Despite having been released as recently as 2000, Meteorites’ notes of violet, iris and heliotrope give it a charmingly old-fashioned character. Some don’t consider “old-fashioned” to be a desirable quality in a perfume, but to me this sweetly musty violet scent speaks of glamour. Red tubes of lipstick, an oversized powder puff, crystal vases brimming with calla lilies. Meteorites is a deeply feminine perfume, just the girlish beauty that I had mistakenly believed My Insolence to be. To be worn with bright pink lipstick and the flirtatious cherry-studded sundress Marilyn Monroe wore in The Misfits.
SCENTS OF SELF 
I need to try this. Parfums de France has several bottles of it still and it sounds lovely.
Likewise, My Insolence is a disaster. I sniffed it in Bloomingdale’s a few months ago and found it terrible. I’m not certain what Guerlain was thinking with that one.
I have tried Meterorites and did not love it – powdery violet is very iffy for me – but it’s so much more interesting than My Insolence that I can’t quite hate it.
Doesn’t Marilyn look like tempting in that little rag? Like an opened box of candy.
Just adore Meteorites and keep meaning to get a bottle…before they’re all gone! It makes me think of a light soft version of Apres l’Ondee which is one of my favourites. And you’re right! That funny bottle does look like a nailpolish.
Okay, the first time that I tried Apres l’Ondee I thought it was the most beautiful violet I’d ever smelled, and the second time it smelled like glue. Your comment has convinced me to give it a third try. You’d better get yourself some Meteorites ASAP- it hasn’t been on fragrancenet or any of the main online perfume shops for a good year or so, much to my dismay.
I just found a bottle in an online shop! Can’t wait for it to get here so I can try it. Your review only confirmed that I had to buy it. (It had to be now–the bottles are getting harder to find every day 😉
Congrats on your find, Alice! Meteorites really is getting awfully hard to find online, the supply must be running out 😦 Maybe they could secretly repackage it as Insolence! Would anyone but us perfume folk even notice??