Let them drink perfume: Marie Antoinette-inspired fragrance launches

On the heels of Bastille Day comes a new release by perfume house Lubin that will allegedly make you smell just like the famous French queen of the 18th century.

The new fragrance is based on Marie Antoinette's signature scent, created by royal nose Jean-Louis Fargeon and inspired by her beloved Trianon gardens in Versailles, containing rose, jasmine, and bergamot.

Vogue reports that the queen carried the fragrance with her in a black jade bottle at all times, even when she was imprisoned in the Temple Tower of Paris. Shortly before her death, she confided it to the Marquise de Tourzel, whose descendants are still in possession of the original flacon.

The 2011 version of the scent, which goes under the name of Black Jade and retails from $130, has just been launched by fragrance company Aedes de Venustas. Additional notes of the updated perfume include galbanum, cardamom, incense, cinnamon, Indian sandalwood, patchouli, vanilla, tonka bean, and amber.

This is not the first attempt to recreate Marie Antoinette's scent: Le Château de Versailles hired Francis Kurkdjian to create the orange blossom-based M.A. Sillage de la Reine and L'Artisan Parfumeur released a jasmine-heavy La Haie Fleurie du Hameau by Jean-Claude Ellena.

http://www.aedes.com