Tahar Rahim becomes the face of the new Caron fragrances

In 1934, Ernest Daltroff, founder of Maison Caron, combined the pungent freshness of lavender with the suave roundness of vanilla and offered men a unique fragrance, “Pour Un Homme”. A juice with opposite essences which, after a dazzling success, has survived the ages without ever going out of style. Almost a century later, the house – under the thumb of its master perfumer Jean Jacques – reinvents this timeless fragrance and offers it in two new juices: “Pour Un Homme Le Matin” and “Pour Un Homme Le Soir”. Two olfactory innovations with, as a heart note, lavender – mixed with the freshness of ginger for the eau de jour, and the intoxicating wood of oak for the eau de nuit – in order to respect the original spirit of the classic while bringing a wind of novelty. “You don’t rewrite myths, but you can read them differently depending on the time of life or the day. More freshness in the morning, more sensuality in the evening. I wanted to play with the spirit of Pour Un Hommes de Caron without ever betraying it, reinventing it to show its infinite richness,” explains the master perfumer. And to embody this richness of which Jean Jacques speaks, the house turned to the French actor Tahar Rahim for the first time muse of a perfume. Meet.

SHE. It’s the first time you’ve been the face of a perfume, what does that mean for you?

Tahar Rahim. I have already been approached to be the face of a perfume but, at the time, I did not find myself through the advertisements of fragrances for men. When Caron approaches me, it’s different. I’m touched, even honored, because “Pour Un Homme” has been a legendary perfume since the 1930s. We’ve all smelled it with an uncle, a father… For me, with my big brother. So it’s a smell rooted in my memories. Moreover, it has the particularity of being very modern, even avant-garde, of being the first perfume for men mixing genres since at the time, if lavender was used for men, vanilla, it , was reserved for women. A perfume from the era when genres were beginning to mix. And if, over time, we have gone through a form of machismo, today, and for some time now, the trend is coming back. It’s symbolic, I recognize myself in this perfume. It is close to my personality.

SHE. What do you think a Caron man is?

Tahar Rahim. Audacious, generous, dreamy… Ultimately, like the countryside. Varied character traits, diverse moods and as many portraits of men who assume this complexity. He is a man far from all stereotypes, a modern man.

SHE. Are you more of a men’s fragrance or a unisex fragrance?

Tahar Rahim. For my part, I prefer to abandon myself to a perfume, rather than to choose it. So when it catches me and I like it, I take it, I wear it whether it’s feminine, mixed or masculine. Moreover, I can very well perfume myself with perfumes that have existed for a long time simply because they awaken the olfactory memory and send us back to memories, strong moments that we have been able to experience. And sometimes, it’s good to have the feeling of reliving something since you can’t go back to the past.

SHE. If you had a memory linked to a particular smell, what would it be?

Tahar Rahim. Many smells remind me of the precious moments of my childhood: the smell of orange peel dried on a radiator, that of the swimming pool, when I was little, I swam a lot, that of café au lait, the smell of the summer. These smells make me travel.

SHE. If you had a smell related to a feeling, what would it be?

Tahar Rahim. It would be the smell of the wood fire. A smell that I love but which, above all, gives me a feeling of calm. I like to feel it through the French countryside.

SHE. What was your first perfume?

Tahar Rahim. As far as I can remember, it was a perfume borrowed from my brother again: Azzaro pour Homme. I didn’t really choose it, it was there, it smelled good…I snuck it from him from time to time.

SHE. What is your relationship to beauty?

Tahar Rahim. Very simple. I would even say that it is a hygienic report. In the morning, I only need 10 minutes in the shower, I do my hair, I get dressed… And I wear perfume, of course.

SHE. Which of the three “Pour Un Homme” fragrances do you prefer?

Tahar Rahim. I will not speak of preference. Let’s just say that with the arrival of fine weather, I like to wear “Pour Un Homme Le Matin”, I like its freshness, its bottle, its color… And it stays on me well!