With one whisper of Guerlain’s Vol de Nuit, I am dark-haired beauty wrapped in white fur, striding away from everything she loves and knows into an unknown and dangerous night.

Vol de Nuit is one of very few perfumes I can think of that perfectly sustain intense drama, never giving in to the ordinary, never becoming laughable by descending into melodrama. (And it is worth saying that the other perfumes I can think of which achieve this are also by Guerlain.) So it is fitting that Vol de Nuit takes its name from a novel of sparse beauty and visceral prose: Night Flight (Vol de Nuit) by French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The perfume is so perfectly matched to the novel that the novel itself tells more about the mood of the perfume than I can.

Sometimes, after a hundred miles of steppes as desolate as the sea, he encountered a lonely farmhouse that seemed to be sailing backwards from him in a great prairie sea, with its freight of human lives; and he saluted with his wings this passing ship.

Saint-Exupéry’s novel about the early airmail system in Argentina weighs, over and over, the worth of one man’s life against progress and a dream for a greater good.

And, heartening himself, he let his thought flow on. These men of mine, I love them; it’s not they whom I’m against, but what comes about through them … No, I cannot say if I am doing right or what precise value should be set on a human life, or suffering, or justice. How should I know the value of a man’s joys? Or of a trembling hand? Of kindness, or pity?

Reading this, it strikes me how few endeavors and great discoveries in our lifetimes require people to be willing to sacrifice their lives for something larger than themselves. I am conflicted about the philosophical questions this raises, but who can help but admire the bravery of people willing to make such sacrifices? As in The Little Prince, Saint-Exupéry writes both directly and delicately about these weighty matters.

In 1944, during World War II, Saint-Exupéry himself crashed and was lost at sea during a reconnaissance flight from Corsica. An identity bracelet and some wreckage of his plane were discovered in 1998-2000. (via)

Guerlain created Vol de Nuit in 1933 and named it after Saint-Exupéry’s novel. The bottle is a stylized propeller, metal and amber glass. The perfume contains notes of bergamot, galbanum, petit grain, jasmine, daffodil, spices, woods, iris, vanilla, and amber. (via) Initially, the bergamot and a “spicy powder” are the primary notes I smell. The galbanum is slightly sour, an affect that I think some people associate with “old lady” perfumes but which for me lends elegance and the aforementioned drama. As it dries down, the perfume flattens and smooths out into a rich and well blended base of iris, spices, vanilla, and amber.

While I was writing this review, I realized how the perfume’s development mirrors a night flight: an initial acceleration, powerful and aggressive, followed by the leveling off and remote calmness that Saint-Exupéry describes to such stunning effect in Night Flight. Me telling you how Vol de Nuit smells doesn’t do it justice, because wearing it is like taking a journey. In my case, the journey sees me transformed me into the glamorous adventurer I described above. What about you? Have you tried Vol de Nuit? Where did it take you?

Vol de Nuit is readily available in eau de toilette concentration. This year’s Guerlain holiday collection also includes a beautiful bottle of Vol de Nuit scented powder, which I mentioned and showed an image of here. Sadly, both the EdT and the powder are very fleeting. Lasting power is less than two hours for the eau de toilette, and sillage only lasts for maybe 30 minutes. I would love to try the extrait, but have not had that opportunity. 

Image via Fragrantica