The woods and vanilla, as well as some of the other flowers - I think I can single out ylang-ylang and heliotrope - develop afterwards, as well as a very faint citrusy element mixed with spices, like one of those old-fashioned pomanders made with oranges and cloves. Others perhaps wore it and survived but could not bear to wear it again, due to the painful memory associations that fragrance has on our hearts and minds. And while that description does sound sweet it is missing the syrupy, heaviness that I associate with gourmands. Yet, totally same character, with the EDT much brighter on the citrus part of the opening while the coriander comes out strong in the old EDP.

I feel like I've finally "grown into" vintage Guerlain as I previously felt too young to appreciate this. Anyway, this has become my favorite scent, and I'm so glad I took the chance on it (and gave it to my character! Powdery yet spicy, and that old fashioned perfume smell to the top notes, but still with a totally up to date feeling base with the vanilla, spice, powder and tonka beans.

I woke up in the middle of the night and for a couple of seconds felt like someone else was in the room! I am at an age where older family members used to wear this and other classic perfumes when they were at their best. I believe that L'Heure Bleue inspired few legendary perfumes like Poeme, Vanderbilt, Oscar, or even maybe A Sweet Pastry In Paris by Zara today.

I readily accept that this could be just me, as I get various public-toilet scents off the top of Louve and Fleurs de Citronnier too—both of which I love. L'Heure Bleue opens with a medicinal blast of anise, coriander - and like another reviewer mentioned - carrot seed. L’heure bleue is a liminal hour of melancholy, 1920s, fleeting like the apparition of a young tender girl pale as a February rose.It's beautiful, subtle, slightly melancholy and would not be out of place on some of our glamorous grandmothers( like mine) or any of our granddaughters. Never mentioned in the Fragrantica pyramids of the classic Guerlains is the aromatic note of French thyme, which I believe is the "medical gauze"/medicinal quality they possess in their upper structure. Then in the EDP a strong leather note comes out - very likely due to time - with violet and iris in the background while the coriander note still lingers on. The quasi-cherrylike qualities of almond and heliotrope, so forward in LHB, are what's giving you that impression of public toilets. As I smelled this unique perfume for the first time, I also felt I must have smelled it before, but I couldn't remember when and where.

This is an elegant scent that brings to mind a formal ball held in a 1900s ballroom, complete with the entire works: polished floors, smart tuxedos and intricate ballgowns. The heart is a complex floral blend dominated by sweet Violets in harmony with Heliotrope, Jasmine, lashings of Bulgarian Rose, soft tones of Ylang-Ylang and Tuberose and powered by Orchid.It was this fleeting moment that Jacques Guerlain he tried to express in 1912 with L'Heure Bleue perfume, an engaging, moving and spellbinding fragrance with an unusual and vivid key note of Violet and Ainse. Reading through the other reviews, you'll notice how it reminds different people of different things. It is like an entanglement with a forbidden lover: cherished moments that will only give way to memories of blue starry nights caressing under a great big sky. I've been a longtime lover and wearer of Insolence, but lately have been feeling that it is missing something, and this soft, spiciness is exactly what it is.