The link between Queen of Crime Agatha Christie and the world of beauty seems tenuous at first, but if you look at her beginnings as a novelist, it starts making sense. In 1966, she told the New York Times: "I got my plots in the tub, (…) just sitting there thinking, undisturbed, and lining the rim with apple cores." Hot baths did indeed bring her inspiration, the fruit of her imagination then scribbled in notebooks she scrupulously left in her bathroom and every room of her home, Greenway House, in Devon. The result? 66 crime novels, of which more than two billion copies were sold worldwide.

Following Christie’s trail, L’Officine’s products form a treasure hunt. Each is inspired by one of the fabulous mysteries and is a homage to her dark world, where a cup of tea served in the library evokes English Honey and other remedies, where gentleman detective Hercule Poirot grooms his luxuriant moustache with great skill and obsession, where the Orient Express becomes the stage of a tragedy, with matches and monograms the only clues where travels to Egypt and archaeological digs in the Middle East lead to the unearthing of unpleasant truths, and where roses are more intoxicating than they seem. Now is the time to put your grey matter to work and, like Poirot, follow the beauty trail in Dame Agatha’s works.

"Poetry is not the most important thing in life… I’d much rather lie in a hot bath reading Agatha Christie and sucking sweets."

Dylan Thomas

HERCULE POIROT, BARBER-DETECTIVE

There’s no doubt at all about what the man’s profession has been. He’s a retired hairdresser. Look at that moustache of his." Doctor Sheppard’s rather cavalier description of Hercule Poirot, the brilliant Belgian detective created by Christie, in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926). Poirot’s perfectionism and skill don’t stop at solving the most complex mysteries. He also excels in other areas, with a sure taste for order and Art Deco, impeccable attire even in the middle of the desert, and a perfectly groomed moustache that became an integral part of his personality. In Murder on the Orient Express (1934), he’s described as "A little man with enormous moustaches". To groom such an extraordinary feature, L’Officine would recommend a pocket comb, perfect for impromptu fixes, such as Le Rebel, as well as that indispensable tool for a precise shave: our shaving brush with a beech handle.

The look would not be complete without perfect hair: a feat for which The Methodical comb, available in two colours, ivory and tortoiseshell, will be ideal, both in name and in purpose. Its elegant, square design reflects Poirot’s reasoning skills: "It is so mad, my friend, that sometimes I am haunted by the sensation that really it must be very simple… But that is only one of my 'little ideas'…"

"If you must have a moustache, let it be a real moustache–a thing of beauty such as mine."

Hercule Poirot to Arthur Hastings in Peril at End House, 1932

It’s not a complete surprise that the detective Christie imagines is such a meticulous man. During World War I, the novelist enlisted as a volunteer nurse before becoming a pharmacist’s assistant in 1917. The knowledge she acquired was of tremendous use when she had to design poisonings of every kind and describe impeccable hygiene standards. It is easy to imagine her using all kinds of soaps – one of her novels, Sleeping Murder, even features soapy water as a weapon of last resort used by Miss Marple to stop a murder attempt. What better choice, then, than L’Officine’s Savon Superfin Miel d’Angleterre, with its honey, musk and cedarwood notes, to restore the atmosphere of a library mystery?

"A bath! The receptacle of porcelain, one turns the taps and fills it, one gets in, one gets out and ghoosh-ghoosh—ghoosh, the water goes down the waste-pipe."

Hercule Poirot in Evil Under the Sun, 1941

CLUE N°1 : THE ORIENT EXPRESS 

In the famous 1934 novel, someone is murdered one night on the luxury train from Istanbul. Hercule Poirot happens to be on board, along with a Russian princess, a Swedish missionary, a Hungarian count, an English colonel, and many others. The atmosphere evoked by this mythical train, going full steam between the Orient and Europe, is perfectly embodied by L’Officine’s Eau Triple Medina Oud and its oud, rose, saffron and amber notes.

Hercule Poirot uses all his skill to decipher every clue, including a delicate handkerchief embroidered with the mysterious letter "H" – not unlike the Baumes des Muses marked with their owner’s initials.

"It is, my friends, an extremely expensive handkerchief—an objet de luxe, hand-made, embroidered in Paris. Which of the passengers, apart from the initial, was likely to own such a handkerchief?"

Hercule Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express, 1934

In the victim’s cabin, Poirot finds two types of matches, one flat, one rounded, the butt of a cigar and a burnt piece of paper. What would he have thought of the remains of one of L’Officine’s scented matches, the kind that delicately perfumes the atmosphere in one swift gesture?

"Poirot was feeling in the pockets of Ratchett's clothing. Presently he pulled out a box of matches. He compared them carefully with the burnt ones."

Hercule Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express, 1934

CLUE °2 : MYSTERIES IN EGYPTE

A traveller at heart, Christie spent a lot of time in the Middle East, particularly with her second husband, archaeologist Max Mallowan, whom she married in 1930. She stayed almost a year at the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan and visited the temples at Abu Simbel to create the background of her novel Death on the Nile (recently adapted for the screen by Kenneth Branagh). She describes Egypt and its treasures as 19th-century scholars dreamt and discovered. An atmosphere brought to life by two scents by L’Officine, Retour d’Égypte, a bewitching home perfume with deep notes of jasmine, amber, musk and rose, and Alexandrie, a green scent of lemon, blackcurrant and mint tea spiced with ginger and softened by vanilla, both available as Scented matches or Alabasters.

"And, as I say, we’ll go to Egypt for our honeymoon. Damn the expense! I’ve always wanted to go to Egypt all my life. The Nile and the pyramids and the sand..."

Death on the Nile, 1937

CLUE N°3 : ARCHEOLOGISTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

CLUE N°4 : TEARS AND ROSES