L’heure bleu de Guerlain

L’heure bleu de Guerlain

While enjoying the hospitality of Tunesia and finding the right balance between a sensitive skin and the Maghreb sun, I devote some time over noon to smell my favourites. Besides smelling perfumes, I read books. One is about the development of the sense of smell in the 18^th century, in Paris. It is filled up with anecdotes and scientific references and makes you wonder about many things, such as how to survive a city like Paris on a hot summer’s day without a breathing mask, some extra oxygen bottles and a confirmed flight ticket tacking you back the same day.

Thus, I smell perfumes also to complement my reading; yesterday, it was L’heure bleu, not a vintage version but one I bought in the perfumery lately. Enlightened and with the fragrance still very close in memory the thoughts went to the women who might wear this classic. Well, l’heure bleu is for sure not a girlie thing, with its heavy animal touch, its powdery hints of lily, its slightly woody base behind a chorus of sweet, flowery notes. What always amazes me again about this scent is how focused it is. It starts off powerful with a chorus of citrus, bergamot somewhat dominant, with traces of linalool and a hint of anis, which renders the second impression somewhat green. Powdery cistus and vanillin are coming through rather early, intermingled with heavy lily scents, but less stingy than the real lily. And of course, there is civet in it, maybe traces of castoreum, balanced by some very soft vetiver notes in the base. It is so nicely structured and balanced, and yet, behind all this elegance and balance there is something dirty in it, this hint of vulgarity, which makes it so powerful, so French! A women wearing l’heure blue has seen a good part of life already, but she wants more of it and knows how to get it. She has a well educated sense for beauty; she is strong and knows how to make use of her feminine side, without falling into the trap of loosing her women power. If you are not a woman fitting above descriptions, yet: Try L’heure bleu nevertheless and you may find yourself one day turned fitting this description perfectly!