The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Myrrhe & Délires entered Guerlain's L'Art & La Matière collection in 2012, the house's space for compositions that push against convention. Thierry Wasser built it around myrrh, a resin used for millennia in sacred contexts, but filtered through a modern sensibility. The title itself is the clue: myrrh and delirium, warmth and disorientation. A fragrance named for what happens when something ancient meets something contemporary and the result isn't quite either.
The structure is what makes it unusual. Most fragrances build warmth gradually, a slow accumulation of amber and vanilla. Myrrhe & Délires inverts this. The opening is sharp, almost mineral: black pepper and pink pepper against grapefruit's brightness. The heart then shifts into something cooler, almost austere, iris and rose creating a floral presence that reads as powdery and slightly earthy. Myrrh arrives not as a bridge but as a destination: warm, balsamic, resinous. The black licorice in the base then does something unexpected, it adds a faint sweetness that prevents the drydown from becoming heavy. It's a composition that plays with temperature throughout its arc, not just at the opening.
The evolution
The opening hits bright and almost sharp. Grapefruit cuts through the peppercorns, black, pink, a faint green edge, and for the first twenty minutes the fragrance reads as zesty, almost astringent. Then the hand-off: grapefruit recedes and the heart arrives. Iris takes the lead, cool and powdery, followed by rose and a soft apricot sweetness that tempers the earthiness. Myrrh begins to surface, warming the florals from beneath. By the drydown, the bright elements have fully retreated. Incense and myrrh deepen together, the vanilla adds a soft creaminess, and the black licorice introduces a faint, almost medicinal sweetness that lingers. The sillage is moderate, intimate rather than announced. Hours later, the myrrh persists close to the skin, still warm, still resinous, the kind of presence that rewards proximity over projection.
Cultural impact
Myrrhe & Délires was discontinued not long after its 2012 launch, which has only deepened its appeal among collectors and serious fragrance enthusiasts who seek out what the house calls its most personal expressions. The L'Art & La Matière collection itself has contracted since then, releasing fewer and fewer challenging compositions as Guerlain's catalog has shifted toward broader market appeal.
