L’Air de Rien by Miller Harris
"And suddenly it became clear that she was to remain a girl forever."
Miller Harris L’Air de Rien
Keep smiling, it takes 10 years off!
When I Googled ‘Jane Birkin now’ as a teen, I was disappointed to learn she had retreated into motherhood and wrinkles, dressed down like an old philosophy professor. I imagined she smelled like loose tobacco, cavities, and stale books. A couple of years later, I watched an interview with old Jane. She was humble, with a fine-wine wisdom. She waved her hand when asked about her distinct gamine beauty; it’s fun for a while then it flees and leaves behind wrinkles…and that’s when life begins.
Mid-life Jane had an unfolding wisdom, warm and graceful. She had become a delightful orator of love and beauty. In another interview she recounted the release of Je t’aime moi non plus, leaning in and grinning at the memory of the song being denounced by the Vatican. And suddenly it became clear that she was to remain a girl forever. Her sensual swag was there, her inner world was deep, but she remained playful and mischievous about it all.
Miller Harris’ L’Air de Rien was made for a Jane in 2006 when she turned sixty years old. She carried the fragrance with her until her death, though I hear the first release smelled like ‘dirty underwear and cat’s ass.’ I was gifted the fragrance (after it had undergone a few changes) by a friend who didn’t like it on himself because it was too strange. The cap smelled like oak moss and patchouli which I initially dismissed. One day, I serendipitously sprayed it on my neck while wearing a maxi skirt and no underwear. I was on my way to the Topanga Canyon farmer’s market; it turned out to be the perfect combo.
The fragrance starts as a playfully odd blend of both vegetal and powdery notes, like sunscreen on top of oily skin. The neroli, orange blossom, patchouli combo does have a very freaky hippy touch, like Jane’s Portuguese fisherman’s basket. And then it all settles into something quite magical, the ‘forever girl’ smell: vanilla.
This vanilla is for a sensitive soul who finds great eloquence in aging. It is tender and maintains a quiet resilience that lasts all day. It’s a cute and sweet vanilla, that makes men drool, but the deep musk and amber add some intelligence and maturity, like the wrinkles that come after years of crooked-toothed smiles. Some people say it smells more like lignin than vanilla. For me, it’s like sex in the library, warm saltwater breeze between your legs… girlish, filthy, adorable — skanky, even.
‘It-girl’-ness is a kind of l’air de rien, ‘an air of nothing’, an effortless ineffable charm that sticks around even when youth fades. Jane’s special strain of that charm is captured in this naughty fragrance. On the right person, it’s that forever girl swag that can’t be faked.
ꕤ
Riska Seval is a writer and model living in New York. She occasionally publishes on Substack.
