L'Heure Bleue Guerlain Eau de Parfum

L'Heure Bleue (Eau de Parfum) by Guerlain

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Ranked 30 in Women's Perfume

8.3 / 10 782 Ratings

A popular perfume by Guerlain for women. The release year is unknown. The scent is powdery-floral. The longevity is above-average. It is being marketed by LVMH.
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Main accords

Powdery

Floral

Spicy

Oriental

Sweet

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Aniseed

Bergamot

Heart Notes

Carnation

Neroli

Base Notes

Iris

Vanilla

Benzoin

Tonka bean Violet

Violet

Perfumer

Jacques Guerlain

Videos

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Ratings

Scent

8.3782 Ratings

Longevity

8.4607 Ratings

Sillage

7.7573 Ratings

Bottle

8.8579 Ratings

Value for money

7.9179 Ratings

Submitted by Kankuro, last update on 04/05/2025.

Variant of the fragrance concentration

This is a variant of the perfume L'Heure Bleue (Extrait) by Guerlain, which differs in concentration.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

L'Heure Bleue Eau de Toilette

Shem-el-Nessim Eau de Parfum

L'Heure Bleue Extrait

Shem-el-Nessim Perfume

L'Heure Bleue Eau de Cologne

L'Heure de Nuit

Reviews

39 in-depth fragrance descriptions

12/29/2012

7.5
Sillage 7.5
Longevity 9
Scent

Cryptic
24 Reviews

Cryptic

Top Review 18

Dying Swan

L'Heure Bleue in its current formulation never interested me much. It always struck me as the wallflower sister of the classic Guerlain family of Mitsouko, Shalimar, Jicky and Apres L'Ondee. Although LB seemed pleasant enough, it couldn't hold a candle to its more interesting relatives in my mind.

Recently, I was gifted with a generous sample of vintage LB from one of the old "donut" bottles. The color alone was enough to get my attention. It had that deep garnet hue that confers a certain gravitas to perfume and is never associated with anything light, simple, aquatic or gourmand. Testing vintage LB brought home to me how much perfumery has been crippled by the loss of eugenol/iso-eugenol and heliotropin. The current miniscule allowance of these ingredients permitted by the IFRA accounts for the vast difference between the nice LB of 2012 and the glory of Jacques Guerlain's original creation. Belatedly, I can understand why LB inspired so many other perfumers to strive for that same powdery perfection with Insolence and Kenzo Flower, or the "blueness' imparted by clove/carnation in Bluebell, Blue Grass and Wild Bluebell.

LB really was trend-setting, ground-breaking stuff in its day, but along with the loss of its true, natural carnation note, the current juice is also handicapped by lack of heliotropin. Whereas my precious vintage vial contains a luscious, almondy heliotropin that whispers, "I'm what's for dessert," today's version of the flower simply says plastic doll head. I never got the melancholy, the "blue hour" poignancy of this perfume until now. I can see the progression from the wistfulness of Apres L'Ondee to the voluptuous but pensive moodiness of LB like lavender deepening into navy on Jacques Guerlain's palette. If you can find it, do try the vintage in order to fully appreciate this beautiful wonder. Thanks again to the lovely person who made this revelation possible with their generosity. :)

04/20/2013

10
Bottle 5
Sillage 7.5
Longevity 8
Scent

LadyRogue
166 Reviews

LadyRogue

Top Review 15

Blue Hours Can be Beautiful

What can one say that's not yet said about a perfume whose name casts a big shadow and is on the same shelf as Mitsouko, Jicky, Vol de Nuit, Liu & Shalimar? Classics that helped define our taste in perfume. Countless of people grew up with these scents as the epitome of french perfumery...Long before Chanel made a name for herself Guerlain was selling these beauties that still are coveted by reputation alone. Complicated classics that might confuse, nay even repel the modern perfume palate.

So, what do I think of this much discussed and reviewed L’Heure Bleue? Well, after reading some reviews I came across sentences like: "it smells sad" - "It smells dusty like an old attic" et cetera. I understand these statements, or, more accurately, I understand what evokes them. L'Heure Bleue is very unusual and very polarising, I understand both ends of the spectrum that people feel/smell in it.

To a nose that has never smelled L'Heure Bleue before and might not have smelled anything like it...it might come as an olfactory shock! Moth balls? Hospital hallways that just got cleaned with an antiseptic? Dusty rooms? Oh, dear! Poor LHB, I make her sound as though I feel the same...I don't; I love her because she is unique, unforgiving, ever-changing and represents her era so impressively well.

But she also reminds me of a lot of things that I love: Antique book-shops where a lady just walked through the aisles perusing books as she permeated the air with a light floral perfume that mingled with the stories in the books...paper and florals, and I inhale deeply thinking of all the adventures, dramas and love stories locked up in these books that are waiting to be released by the reader.
I smell the ancient Roman-Greco wings of the British Museum where the mummies are wrapped in linen that was scented with precious oils and adorned long ago with wilted and dried flowers....Do they really still permeate any floral scent? Perhaps not, perhaps it is in my imagination...I mingled the images of the dried floral wreaths and oil amphoras with the slightly dusty smell of old civilisations that fascinated me my whole life.

LHB is not just something you can discern and explain by listing the notes and trying to see which ones your nose can pick up. No, to me LHB is a mood that captures you --for good or bad-- you must smell LHB and see what trip it takes your senses & imagination on. It's a time-machine in a bottle that might transport some of us to their (great)grandmothers bedroom where she always had fresh flowers on her vanity next to her luxurious body powder with big fluffy puff. Or, to a Cathedral where you walked in on a sunny day...it's warm and bright outside, a big contrast with the cool, solemn mood of the inside where the smell of beeswax candles, polished pews, hymn books and the flowers on the altar mingle into an image of all the prayers that were spoken.

LHB is kaleidoscope of nostalgia is every drop, and nostalgia conjures up many different moods. I love LHB because I have always been fascinate with history, old books & antiques. But what I love most is that LHB makes me travel back to many nostalgic places from my own past...it mirrors the nostalgia of your own life too......It does that, you see.

Even when one loves/likes LHB it's a scent you have to be in the mood for; I wear it as such...To bed when I am reading before sleep. To the office...when I know its going to be a busy day, because it's such a calming scent to me. On an autumnal walk with the dog...or to a party - It's all up to the wearer.

LHB is special and most certainly a required taste. Don't be sad if she isn't for your chemistry/olfactory. Not all people like to revel in the dust of time. Just make sure you sniff/test her at least once in your life...Because she is a scent every Perfumista should have experienced.

Silage is: I could embrace you forever and keep you safe - Longevity is: One century of memories and countless flowers.

04/26/2014

Danieq
2 Reviews

Danieq

Very helpful Review 10

A comforting blanket

I'm not especially good with notes, and when you are trying to tear apart notes for classic Guerlain, I find it even more daunting. So I won't try.

First, let me say how curious I find some of the reviews below. But then, I often notice that we all react very differently to fragrance. Cold? Dusty? Mothballs? Antiseptic??!!???

To me, this is a fragrance that takes me to a warm, safe cocoon. It's softer than soft, protective. The powder is certainly there in the drydown, but it's not alone. There is sweet sophistication, like cashmere and feathers.

I own both vintage extrait and current EdP and I love both. Oh, and some vintage Lotion Vegetale. I enjoy all three and often layer them together to get the full effect of my favorite comfort scent. When I wear L'Heure Bleue, I feel more like a woman, full grown, strong, yet also a safe haven for others. It's comforting, I'm comforting. It's a classic for a reason.

02/18/2013

6
Scent

Coutureguru
223 Reviews

Coutureguru

Very helpful Review 11

Disappointingly ... not for me!

From the Guerlain website:

"The sun has set, but night has not yet fallen. It’s the suspended hour… The hour when one finally finds oneself in renewed harmony with the world and the light. L’Heure Bleue is the moment when the sun disappears beneath the horizon and the sky is painted with night’s velvet. It is an atmosphere, an inexpressible rendering exceptional moments.

L’Heure Bleue was born in 1912 of the fleeting sensation that inspired the Impressionist painters whose works Jacques Guerlain collected. He pictured this bouquet of roses softened with iris, violet and vanilla, which evoke his favorite moment of the day when, as he put it, “the night has not yet found its star” and all of nature’s elements are cast in blue light."

I am testing the EDT, a decant of which was sent to me by EvaK (thank you!!) when she learned that I'd never tried this classic fragrance.

I am truly puzzled by it! If this is a bouquet of roses softened by the twilight then I should ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. To be quite honest, on my skin L'Heure Bleue has absolutely no mystery whatsoever ... she simply sits there, dower-like, smelling strongly of talcum powder and faintly of mothballs ... and very much like a vase of dried roses made to smell by adding potpourri oils. It's very sad!
To add insult to injury I just nipped over to my long suffering guinea pig's house (my adorable mother teehee) and hit her with a few hefty sprays to make sure I wasn't going out of my mind. "Ooooh," she coo-ed ... "that's gorgeous!". Now to put things into perspective, my Mom is a glamorous 68 year old who could pass for 52. On her, L'Heure Bleue erupts into the most beautiful cascade of scintillating hesperidic top notes before softening to a glorious symphony of soft florals in a lipstick like base of Iris and powdery woods. It's just fabulous!!
Back on my skin ... there she sits ... Whistler's Mother, cackling maniacally and smacking her toothless gums (no disrespect to Whistler intended) ... how unfair!! Truly ... all I get from L'Heure Bleue is overdone, plasticky violet and the aforementioned heaps of talcum. So sorry Eva ... I tried to love it!!

All of that said ... when I smell how beautiful this is on my Mother I can see what all the fuss is about. Her birthday is in two weeks ... I think I'll treat her to some! I could certainly enjoy someone in my life smelling that way :) ...

04/08/2013

10
Bottle 7.5
Sillage 10
Longevity 8
Scent

Sherapop
1239 Reviews

Sherapop

Very helpful Review 11

Endothermia or The Coldest of All Possible Perfumes

I have both the eau de toilette and the eau de parfum of L'HEURE BLEUE, neither of which I wear more than about once a year, believe it or not. Sounds like I hate this perfume, right? But I do not! Is this a contradiction? Am I hoarding L'HEURE BLEUE for fear that twenty-first-century LVMH-supervised bottles may contain inferior liquids inside? No.

The truth is that I rarely feel like wearing L'HEURE BLEUE, and yet I do not find it ugly and in fact find it even rather appealing, in a cold and intellectual way. I've seen many people compare L'HEURE BLEUE to APRES L'ONDEE, which is to me a mistake. APRES L'ONDEE is so human and fragile, while L'HEURE BLEUE is cold and clinical, like a scalpel of the soul.

Yet I like it. Back when it was named, "blue" would have seemed the perfect way to describe this pensive, introspective creation. After the aquatic blue movement some decades later, "blue" no longer seems quite right because that term has been usurped by the tsunami of calone-based, seasickness-inducing, vat-produced "no plants were sacrificed in the production of this perfume" juice.

L'HEURE BLEUE to me is akin to an endothermic chemical reaction. Exothermic reactions give off heat. Endothermic reactions absorb heat, sucking energy in and creating a lower temperature than before the reactants were mixed together. L'HEURE BLEUE does not meld with the skin to become a warm cozy seductive perfume. L'HEURE BLEUE is like Spock or a sociopath--someone totally devoid of any human emotions and warmth.

This is not a romantic elixir. L'HEURE BLEUE is the perfect perfume for an eccentric recluse or an anchorite. Wear L'HEURE BLEUE and use its pointed nib to write a poem, all alone.

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