Bon Anniversaire!
It’s not often that a perfume turns 100 years old, heck it’s not often that a person hits the big one double zero, let alone a scent. But in a world where there are a cool 1,200 + perfume launches per year, many of which ride the coat tails of some quasi-celebrity or another whose career is most likely going to be short lived, longevity isn’t something that’s guaranteed. So it stands to reason that a perfume which has managed to last for a cool century should be celebrated.
2012 marks the 100th anniversary of Guerlain’s classic fragrance L’Heure Bleue and the house is celebrating in style. To honour such a huge feat Guerlain has released a trio of Thierry Wasser penned limited edition interpretations of L’Heure Bleue; L’Aurore, Le Crépuscule and Le Zénith, the latter of which has been added to the Les Parisiennes line as an Eau de Parfum entitled L’Heure de Nuit.
“I felt something so intense, I could only express it in a perfume.” Jacques Guerlain
L’Heure Bleue took its inspiration from the colour of the sky just before dusk, when the world is bathed in a melancholy blue light. L’Heure de Nuit represents a softer side of this blue hour, when the light is almost entirely faded from the sky and darkness begins to take hold. It encapsulates the placid coolness of the evening evoking feelings of calm rather than sadness.
The Blue Hour
The Notes
White Musk, Orange Blossom, Iris, Heliotrope, Jasmine, Rose and Sandalwood
How Does it Smell?
L’Heure de Nuit starts as a surprisingly lively and effervescent fragrance. In the very beginning it appears as a stripped down version of Insolence, where the Godzilla-esque berries and fizzy hairspray-violets are washed away leaving room for a cool, bright and powdery blend of iris and heliotrope. Whilst being very much alive, L’Heure de Nuit manages to be incredibly understated with each of its intricacies playing out finely on the skin.
Where the original laid powder, spice and anise over a great big doughy base, L’Heure de Nuit opts for a more subtle approach of musks and sandalwood. The result feels like pale lilac suede, smoothly textured yet patterned with soft, powdered spices. It’s easy to enjoy this more finespun approach but at times it can come across as anaemic, almost as if it is deficient in a certain something to take it from being simply pleasant to transcendently beautiful.
L’Heure de Nuit is very well done, as you would expect from Wasser and Guerlain, but it fails to really put forward anything particularly exciting or special. Yes, it’s a softer, more powdery and iris-centric version (gotta love that Guerlain iris) of L’Heure Bleue but one can’t help but feel that compared to it’s non-Guerlain contemporaries, Kurkdjian’s APOM Femme in particular and the original for that matter, it is somewhat of a lacklustre effort. L’Heure Bleue deserves something more spectacular to honour this blue year, that said, I’d love to smell the other two versions…
Availability
L’Heure de Nuit is available in 125ml Eau de Parfum for $270 as part of Guerlain’s Les Parisiennes collection. It is exclusive to Guerlain boutiques and department stores where Les Parisiennes are sold (Harrods etc).
Disclaimer
Image 1 via perfumshrine.com. Image 2 via perfumeniche.com. Notes via Fragrantica.
The review and the picture really get my heart beating! Thank you (shame it doesn’t smell so astounding, but then what do you expect ? Wouldn’t you say that ultimately, Mr Wasser has been a disappointment?)
You know, I don’t think I would. I’ve really enjoyed a lot of things he’s done for Guerlain, specifically; Idylle, Homme/Homme L’Eau Boisée, Iris Ganache and Parfum Initial (which is pretty phenomenal) to name just a few.
This is the first real disappointment of his for me.
I have really enjoyed your reviews of the scents you mentioned, actually, but for me there is a lack, somehow; they feel very competently put together but lack the magic. Mind you it must be a terrible responsibility trying to create anything really good with such an illustrious back catalogue…
I think that’s an interesting view point, I don’t think Guerlain have had ‘magic’ for quite some time, at least not in the way they used to.
Still, I might go and try Initial again….if you rate it that highly!
Initial gets some stick but I think it’s really well done. I love the juxtaposition of carrot-like iris, fruits and the balsamic Shalimar base. Wonderful stuff.
I sadly can’t wear the original (headache inducing) L’Heure Bleue so I doubt I would get on with the new interpretations, but gee that bottle sure is purdy!
This one is so much softer that I think there’s a good chance you might find it a bit more palatable.
The bottle is gorgeous isn’t it?
Hi CPB,
Lovely review but sad to hear it is lacklustre. I also have to echo Tara’s sentiments- LHB and I don’t get on, but I do appreciate its structure and story behind it. That bottle is absolutely to die for, however, shame to hear the anniversary juice isn’t as special.
Cheers,
Madeleine
Hi Madeleine
Like you (and Tara) I’ve never really been a LHB fan, which is why I’d hoped for this to be the missing link for me. It wasn’t
I’m afraid that I share Ginza’s view of Mr.Wasser’s recent creations – they lack any sort of magic. And it should have been so different.
That’s a shame. I think he’s done some great stuff!
Great review. Great minds think alike. I was just writing a review of original L’Heure Bleue
Excellent!
a perfect coincidence
I would have bought this for the bottle alone, so thank you for the warning, CPB! I’ll save up for a bottle of L’Heure Bleue parfum instead.
The Parfum would most definitely be a better buy!
Oh pretty blue juice in pretty Guerlain atomizer! It’s a shame that it’s not more dramatic. When I think “nuit,” I want something with more oomph!
Hear hear! There’s no oomph here…
I just completely echo what Tara said too! Pretty pretty bottle…
Very pretty!
A sample is coming my way and since a) I do not like the original at all and b) I do not have high expectations I might like it. Though I hope I won’t: it’s a beautiful and expensive bottle
You might just like this one.
The problem is, it’s so expensive for a reinterpretation of one of their mainstream perfumes.
I heard that this is a younger version. Usually, Guerlain’s fragrances smell a bit dated. However, it sounds good.
I do adore those classic Guerlain’s though.