Ne te lave pas, j'arrive
(Don't wash, I'll be back soon)

 

These words, supposedly written by Napoleon to Josephine, attest to the passion he felt for his wife and to the erotic feelings evoked by her personal scent.    

  
Even if not authentic - I have not found it in Napoleon's published correspondence - this famous quote perfectly captures the French proverbial sophistication for nature's bountiful scents - think of the smell of France and we tend to conjure up garlic and onions, a ripe piece of camembert, a bouquet of musty truffles, and perhaps some top notes of stale body odor.  The French sensitivity to scents and their power to recall a person or a distant memory in emotionally rich detail has its paragon in Proust's madeleine.  And the French perfume industry remains unmatched in the world.   
 
Both Napoleon and Josephine were fastidious about their personal hygiene, and took a long, daily bath.  The imperial couple also loved perfume, and understood its power to make a powerful impression and evoke sensual feelings.   Their influence as arbiters of taste and trend setters was felt in perfumery not only in their age, but to this day.    

 

Josephine, who grew up in the island of Martinique in the West Indies,

had a preference for exotic scents such as vanilla, clove, and

cinnamon.  She introduced the young general Bonaparte to rare

perfumes, though Napoleon's favorite scent throughout his life remained

Eau de Cologne, a light fragrance mixing citrus oils, such as lemon,

orange, tangerine, bergamot, lime, grapefruit and neroli with oils of lavender, rosemary, thyme, petitgrain (orange leaf), and jasmine

in a diluted alcohol base. 

 

In 1806, Jean Marie Joseph Farina, the heir to the founder of the

legendary company, Giovanni Maria Farina (1685-1766), and its formula, settled in Paris and became the official supplier of Eau de Cologne to the Emperor Napoleon.  Aside from the prestige conferred by this appointment, Napoleon was a dream customer - as he is said to have used eight quarts of cologne for rubdowns every month! 

The Rancé family, originally from Grasse, the world's capital of perfumery

in southern  France, has created refined scents since 1795.  François

Rancé was one of Napoleon's favorite perfumers, and created "Le Vainqueur," "l'Eau d'Austerlitz," and "Gloire à l'Aigle Français" for the emperor.
 
In honor of Josephine, Rancé created "L'Impératrice," which he presented

to the empress in a precious Sevres porcelain box. The last example of

this objet d'art is kept in the Rancé archives.  Also in the archives are records indicating that Napoleon, while he was First Consul, apprenticed

for a few weeks of relaxation with Francois Rancé in the art of perfumery, proving himself an exceptional pupil with a great "feel" for olfactory compounds and meticulous attention to detail. 
 
Several generations of Rancés have continued the family tradition.  At the end of the 1800s, Alexandre Rancé moved to Milan, Italy, where the family firm is today headed by Alexandre's granddaughter Jeanne Sandra Rancé.   She has revived several of the scents presented by her great - great - grandfather François to the imperial family, among them "Le Vainqueur," "Triomphe" and "Joséphine." Made entirely or rare natural ingredients, they have recently become available in the U.S., and their distinctive and seductive fragrances evoke the splendor and elegance of the Napoleonic age.   
 
In 1807, Houbigant, who had been the perfumer to French royalty before the revolution, was appointed personal perfumer to Napoleon and created a special perfume for Empress Josephine, which had strong notes of musk and civet.  It may well have been this fragrance that Josephine, before leaving after their divorce in 1809,  sprayed throughout the Emperor's living quarters in order to remind him of her.  Musk is known to be a particularly tenacious scent, and no doubt it prolonged the pain caused by the end of their thirteen years together.  Much later, the House of Worth created another scent inspired by Napoleon's early ardor for Josephine. That fragrance, Je reviens, like Napoleon's famous words, lives to this day.