Lightyears Collection
Nahéma
Guerlain
(1979)

Click on image to enlarge Nahéma Tester

The store tester bottle shown at the right was used by Guerlain for a number of fragrances. This particular one once held Namhéma.

Perfumer Jean-Paul Guerlain created Nahéma while thinking of French film actress Catherine Denneuve (for quite some time!) and hearing Ravel's "Bolero" in his head. This, according to his own reflections in his book, "Le routes de mes parfums".

The fragrance is based on rose and was deliberately intended by be very, very feminine. Sadly, the market in 1979, when Namhéma was introduced, was not heavily into this type of fragrance and did not receive it well.

Philosophically, Jean-Paul muses that perhaps in time it will come to be better understood and appreciated. But, unfortunately (he adds), a perfume's success must be immediate, due to the large financial investment needed to create and launch it.

Namhéma is still on the market and, in time, it might prove out Jean-Paul Guerlain's beliefs.

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