Perfume Review: Guerlain Secret Intention

Secret Intention was created in 2000 by Jean-Paul Guerlain as a limited edition fragrance. With notes of bergamot, lemon, Ceylon tea, cardamom, coriander, jasmine, peony, neroli, sandalwood, Tonka bean, and vanilla, this is primarily a scent of black tea infused with tangy berries, fruits and subtle flowers. Being inclined to dismiss Guerlain’s limited editions as very “un-Guerlain” scents lacking substance and depth, I discovered, to my surprise, that, even though indeed completely without the renowned “Guerlain accord”, Secret Intention is a very injoyable, quite rich and refined fragrance, now one of my favorite scents featuring a tea note. Despite the fact that bergamot and lemon are among the notes, Secret Intention is not a citrus scent at all, to my nose. It starts with an unexpected and very welcome cranberry note, which is bracing, astringent and tart. The opening of Secret Intention reminds me a little of the beginning of another fragrance with a cranberry note, 100% Love. In a little while the black tea note comes into play; it is not smoky, but it has pungency of the tea that has been brewed for quite a long time, the quality that I appreciate. I do smell a faint coriander accord, but cardamom and flowers are practically non-existent here, apart from neroli, which I can smell very vaguely, somewhere in the distance. I love the fact that the tea note, once it appears, does not leave the scent; it is still quite prominent in the drydown, which also consists of sandalwood. Vanilla and Tonka bean are very subdued here, in general Secret Intention is not a sweet scent. I wouldn’t go as far as to call it dry, but it is leanbing in that direction. It is a scent of well-brewed black tea blended mainly with cranberry and with some flowers, and with only a tiny bit of sugar added. All that makes it the kind of tea I enjoy. Secret Intention is available at PerfumeMart.com, $46.00 for 30ml.