Fragrance review: Guerlain L'Heure Bleue

This has become another favourite Guerlain fragrance, and the one I am glad to have had an opportunity to revisit in the Eau de Parfum concentration which is far better balanced, less powdery than the Eau de Toilette. The extrait de parfum is simply gorgeous--a mouthwatering confection, to say the least.

The fragrance invokes softness of velvet and is very luminous. The top notes are of bitter sweet anise which meld slowly into the heart of rose and precious jasmine de Grasse. I detect iris note as well which is sweet as opposed to the common metallic rendition of this flower. The soft floral facets rest on the base of vanilla and an elusive Guerlinade accord which must be tonka bean and rose among other things. This element is not particularly prominent in the heart, but reveals itself more in the dry down. The leitmotif of anise persists through the layers of the fragrance along with a subtle breath of sweet jasmine--very delicate, perceptible only when I stop sniffing my wrist obsessively. A gorgeous fragrance that is mysterious and elegant, definitely one of the fragrances that I would call timeless.

L'Heure Bleue was created in 1912 by Jacques Guerlain. Guerlain website tells a lovely story about the fragrance creation, "One summer evening, Jacques Guerlain was overcome by intense turmoil. It was the suspended hour, the hour when the sky has lost its sun but not yet found its stars. Everything in nature is clothed in a blue light". Although the story did not exist until well after the fragrance was created, it never fails to appeal to me.

Comments

[N aka parislondres]

This is a real beauty. It took me while to appreciate this but now I have the parfum - I love wearing this when I want to feel special. Summer evenings in Paris is a perfect time for me to wear this.

[Diane]

I agree, this is a remarkable and classical beauty. And N, my first encounter with it was not exactly love. :) I tried it in the EDT and I was sent into a sneezing fit. Later, when I tried the EDP and parfum concentrations, I was taken to a state of wonderment. It is one of the most evocative and atmospheric fragrances ever created. And I love the story behind it.

[Tania]

I wore this exclusively for a couple of years. Still a stunner. The parfum is worth shelling out for.

[julien]

Yes...Even though i am a man,i love this scent and wear it.
It is so sweet,like a mother's caress...
One of my favorite scent ever...sometimes,when i feel blue,i smell it and everything's as if time and space stood still...only sweetness with this fragance.
It is also quite spiced and generous and powdery...
EDP is great for the "sillage",but parfum(i find it in paris where i live),is truly an olfactive dream...

Kisses.
J.

[Victoria]

Dear Julien,
Thank you for the comparison. I also find L'Heure Bleue warm and comforting. Exceptional fragrance!

[julien]

The pleasure is mine...
I am a great fan of perfumes.
Sharing experiences is very important to me...it's the only way to learn...
So,the pleasure is really all mine.
Thanks.
kiss.
J.

[Linda]

I've just bought my first bottle of the parfum which I shall cherish all my life. I'm so happy that other people think this is a truly great creation. I started wearing it(as a student so I could only afford a tiny bottle of Eau de Cologne) in 1973, and I return to it again and again. The memories it evokes are both melancholy and joyful: it seems to sum up life itself.

[dawn]

i read your lovely review and the following poem was inspired by your poetic turns of phrase. i hope you like it.

~

l’heure bleue

the scent of bittersweet anise
melds slowly into heart of rose,
like the way the blue hour spirals
imperceptibly into night,
like the way I once fell into you.

but love’s first blush is transient –
like the fleeting rose accord,
and it is the leitmotif of anise,
like a veil of melancholy haunting my skin,
that drifts on the winds of my passage
leaving a sillage of unspoken goodbyes,
inner journeys that lead ever further,
a distance - of elusive dreams.

if scent is evocative of memory,
like the elusive jasmine note that gradually blooms,
perhaps one day when my absence no longer lingers
and echoes of our love no longer resound,
you will breathe in fragments of anise
and remember the hour blue.

[angelyn]

What a lovely poem by Dawn sums it up exactly so poetically.
Very beautiful poem to match an evocative perfume. Angelyn