Hi all, Anne-Marie here.
Danielle and I have been chatting online about L’Heure Bleue, she having VERY very kindly sent me samples of vintage parfum and EDT to compare with the modern EDP I have from The Perfumed Court. I sketched for her my impressions of how the three compare, and Danielle suggested I post them on the blog. Thanks for the invitation Danielle! Here is what I wrote:
The main thing I notice is that the although the EDP and EDT seem similar to me on opening, the EDT retains a slightly sharp twang to it for some time, whereas the EDP softens almost immediately and becomes gentler, richer and rosier. The parfum, I thought, brings out some of the citrus and bergamot at the top more noticeably than in the other versions.
Not surprisingly the EDT is the lightest version but that doesn’t (for me) mean thin, and I like it a lot. I notice that what you have sent me is vintage EDT, so my next task will be to compare that to a spritz of the modern EDT from a shop tester. I remember somehow not liking the EDT last time I did this, but department stores are not ideal for properly testing and getting to know a fragrance.
On the whole I didn’t think that there were vast differences between the different concentrations. (I also think this – heretic that I am – about Mitsouko EDT and EDP.) Not like, say, Chanel No 19 or Chamade, where there is a different character to each concentration (I think).
To that I would add that, having done the three-way comparison a few more times, the ‘play-doh’ accord that many people notice in L’Heure Bleue (and which does not bother me) seems to me most noticeable in the EDT, diminishing to least in the parfum. Still, I think all three are beautiful and I would not dismiss the EDT as inferior at all. The wonderful thing about L’Heure Bleue is not just the scent on the skin, lovely though that is, but the veil that it creates around the wearer.
I don’t claim to have the most discriminating nose, so if you disagree, please comment!
beauty on the outside 
Welcome Anne-Marie! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with L’Heure Bleue… now, if I could just get my hands on some of that EDP 🙂
Well, after 2 years of yearning I bought an extrait of LHB (in the refill bottle) and I must say this is a masterpiece in perfume. It is not that I love it, I like it and I wear it but I this more because I admire it. The basenote turns very sweet and calm on me skin, which is uncommon to me because I rather like musc.
I love the harsh bergamotte, I love the perfume turning around, going away, coming back and never fading – it stays and changes though for days on my skin.
After the first two days of wearing it I grew tired of the old-fashioned scent and returned to my little black dress scent (the one you can always wear) but the next day I felt a desire to wear it again. So I did.
The EdT is could never sample, the EdP is dryer and more soapy – the extrait is the truth. But – I admit each formulation is a masterpiece istelf and they are different enough to have them all.
Andreea, Isn’t the dry-down to die for? I admit that I don’t *love* the first few minutes, but I have not met any perfume either before or after L’HB to rival those last, lingering hours. They’re perfect!
Actually I love the bergamot in the burst of the top notes much more! The sweet lingering vanilla notes are a tad too sweet and do not fit to my person (to my skin?! I am a very fair skinned with dark hair, think it is more suitable for a blonde, I do not why…). but I am also impressed by how long the scent lasts.
Oh, we must be evin scent twins!!! 😉 Those are very useful, right??
I too think that on some level coloring effects how we wear a scent, although I tend to lump all the classic Guerlie’s into the “brunette” category. Wishful thinking 🙂
I too don’t find it a fragrance that I could wear every day. It is so complex, I think my fragrance-brain gets weary. But the best thing is that it is so intriguing and challenging. A reading analogy – I need a variety of things to read, from Agatha Christie to Albert Camus and everything in between. I could not read Camus every day, but I’d go bananas reading Christie every day too! I love it that you live the bergamot. Lots of people find it icky. Thanksk for your comment.
That’s a great analogy Anne-Marie—and one I apply! Sometimes you need a Guerlain, sometimes you need… less complicated entertainment!
(I call them my “pair of jeans” frags)
🙂
…and I call them my LBD frags (little black dress, got this expression from NowSmellThis) and I find it mostly @Ellenas range frpm Hermès. I think good scents should be wearable, accessible to the mainstream market and affordable. Compared to the niche stuff, I think that Hermès does the best job.
My scent to go is Kelly Calèche as EdT, a very feminine and light rose fragrance.
Nevertehless I wold die to find something that is just this bergamot that you get from Jicky, Mitsouko and LHB without the sweet and moth-ball powdery 😉 or even harsh dry down.
I am addicted to bergamote anyway, I use to drink Earl Grey for years now every day, so probabaly my nostrils got damaged 😉
If you have any idea about a bergamot blast…
Oh, Kelly Calèche is wonderful—an excellent day wear fragrance! I tolerate bergamot in fragrance, but am by no means a lover, so not a good reference for the note: can someone help Andreea with a bergamot suggestion???