Eau de Narcisse Bleu Hermès 2013

7.5 / 10 218 Ratings

Eau de Narcisse Bleu is a perfume by Hermès for women and men and was released in 2013. The scent is floral-fresh. The production was apparently discontinued.
Pronunciation

Main accords

Floral

Fresh

Green

Woody

Powdery

Fragrance Notes

Narcissus

Bergamot

Orange blossom

Perfumer

Jean-Claude Ellena

Ratings

Scent

7.5218 Ratings

Longevity

5.9158 Ratings

Sillage

5.5165 Ratings

Bottle

7.6176 Ratings

Value for money

6.433 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 21.03.2024.

Reviews

13 in-depth fragrance descriptions

02/04/2021

9.5
Scent

Susan
59 Reviews

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Susan

Top Review 30

A treat for the senses......

In an increasingly "noisy" world of fragrances, my longing grows for olfactory "oases of silence"......for fragrances that do not have to be "worn"......that do not "mask"......for fragrances that leave the wearer "visible"........that do not disguise or even smother his personality, but rather bring his innermost essence to shine....

Even if not too many Ellena fragrances meet my personal taste, they are all such "oases of calm".......never loud, never chumming up or attention-seeking........they are the soft-diffuse light of a dawning day......in contrast to the glaring artificial spotlight that so many other fragrances adopt and which dazzles rather than illuminates.....

Narcisse Bleu is one of those gently subtle fragrances that envelops its wearer in an almost angelic aura of scent......that gives him a sense of being carried, of floating, almost of weightlessness.....

In the first few seconds after application, I perceive a sea-like freshness.......not a citrusy or aquatic freshness.......it's a freshness that seems more milky-green and very clear and pure.....

However, this brief moment - which may seem slightly pointed to some noses - is short-lived.....within a few seconds, the fragrance becomes rounder, softer and milder..... everything arranges itself.....finds its place.....melting into a transcendent mist.....

Narcisse Bleu has a comforting, enveloping softness.....fine, powdery blossoms float softly and calmly through light green light onto sun-warmed woods.....the world rests.....

This fragrance is balm for the soul.....indescribably beautiful......

05/16/2013

10
Bottle 7.5
Sillage 7.5
Longevity 10
Scent

Ysbrand
84 Reviews

Ysbrand

Very helpful Review 8

Lukewarm Narcissus

And please, read "lukewarm" as a mere temperature description and not as my reaction to Eau de Narcisse Bleu. Colognes are meant to be refreshing (and so is this one, very much) but there is a sort of residual warmth in it. Like the cool water chilling down the heat a body radiates after swimming several lengths.

When i first smelled Eau de Narcisse Bleu i thought it was very similar to its close relative Eau de Gentiane Blanche. Nevertheless, while they share a clean, confortable freshness that reminds you of pristine landscapes of untouched nature, they are fundamentally different: where Gentiane Blanche feels virginal and has a strange herbal mustiness, the Narcisse Bleu is a physical green floral scent.

And it feels summery. Makes me think of swimming pools, gardens, naked skin and a summer-storm coming up.

As it opens it is bright and sunny, with a sparkling neroli, a bit of orange and leaf-green galbanum, all gift-wrapped on what i think is hedione. The citrus spark is soon to be dimmed, although it will stay in the background for a while, making room for the narcissus to unfold its sensual scent, that comes with an orange blossom tint. Narcissus is a bit of a paradox, being animal and persistent as a white flower would be, but somewhat tepid, low-key, airy and green.

Or blue! As the name implies, Eau de Narcisse Bleu makes us see the narcissus through a blue/violet tinged lens. Bluish, grayish notes as orris, violet leaves and cedar wood shavings are crucial allies to the green sprouts, to conjure up a moody mist over the obsessing sexuality of the narcissus, and the fragance never settles between the rainy soil and the muscly arms, so why not keeping both? Eau de Narcisse Bleu reminds me in spirit of another favourite "blue" fragance, Bas de Soie: it smells cool, detached and delicate, but if you give it a closer glance, you notice there are some bedroom eyes, looking back.

Anybody who likes green florals will be pleased with this narcissus fragance, and surely will appreciate its voluptuous, grown-up twist, quite unusual in a fresh cologne. I don´t have to say I am in rapture with this complex fragance, not being so excited about a new release in a very long time.

10/16/2014

Omni
70 Reviews

Omni

Helpful Review 7

Love is Blue

Ellena translates as ‘The Greek’ in English. Should Jean Claude aspire to being King of Hellena, by virtue of a Mediterranean ancestor, I would be a loyal subject.

Greek Mythology fascinated my Father, a man whose further education was shattered by WWII during the bombing of London. He became an armchair academic instead and we listened to radio stories before the advent of television, the childrens’ bathed bodies in pyjamas, sitting on the hard bare-boarded floor that was barely covered by an old hessian rug. We ate toast and tomato, or crumpets and jam for supper, as tales of Pegasus, Cyclops, and Narcissus, cadenced by melliflous British voices, shapeshifted in our imaginations.

Eau Narcisse Bleu,well, the clues are in the name.

Narcissus, a young man blessed with unsurpassable beauty spurned male and female alike. He and his Mother, Liriope, gave their names to naturalising bulbs of great charm, the trumpet flowers of daffodils and earlicheer and the Grape Hyacinth.

Using today’s parlance Narcissus was stalked by Echo, a single white female, who, under the spell of an angry Hera, could only repeat his uneasy call of ‘Who is There? She was therefore incapable of captivating Narcissus with scintillating conversation. She faded away, (anorexic probably) from unrequited love and only her echo remained in the glades of their sylvan abode.

Narcissus came upon a glistening pond where the water reflected not only the azure sky but the plumage of birds on the wing and overhanging trees. He stooped at the waters edge and saw his one true love, a creature so perfect he fell in love, truly, madly deeply, with himself. Unable to tear himself away Narcissus pined away until his soul left his body. The search party found only a nodding daffodil growing at the edge of the pool.

The perfume is a homage to Ovid's story in my opinion. The elements of sylvan glade, water, blue sky and the slight scent of Narcissus are present. Voila.

To wear it successfully you will need garments without any laundry detergent scent residue left in them and unperfumed soap and body lotion for your toilette. It is quite fleeting and is easily drowned out. Edmond Roudnitska, at his doorway in Grasse, shouted at a very young Jean Claude Ellena to 'go home and not come back' until his (trademark) white shirt carried no smell of soap. Roudnitska set Ellena the discipline of an unperfumed life; to this day Ellena eschews fragrance on his person.

Not being such a sensitive nose, I prefer my other JCE fragrances, Kelly Caleche, Apres La Mousson, Claire des Merveilles etc and my husband and son are devoted to Terre D'Hermes.

02/01/2016

8
Bottle 6
Sillage 6
Longevity 8
Scent

AromaX
33 Reviews

AromaX

Helpful Review 3

Natural Narcissus went blue with cold

When trying to find Narcissus in Eau de Narcisse Bleu, it's important to forget everything you know about the narcissus note in perfumery and switch the reference point to the natural narcissus absolue. A Russian blogger Ekaterina Khmelevskaya in her aromablog.ru has perfectly described that smell, so let me cite her here: "The real narcissus absolue doesn't smell like tight honeyed yellow and white gramophone shaped flowers. But rather like hay, a little bit of soap and small blue flowers." Fleur de Narcisse by L’Artisan Parfumeur is good reference for the natural narcissus note.

Another interesting point about Eau de Narcisse Bleu is its translunary character. While smelling it I don't get a clear visual impression, but rather a sequence of gleaming illusions overflowing into each other. First I percept a simple sketch of white and blue hyacinths painted by the green galbanum note. But in a moment that vision falls apart into thousands white snowflakes of powdery musk. I feel the citrus nuance of the scent touching my skin like a white magnolia petal, but it easily melts under the lukewarm rays of winter sun. Eau de Narcisse Bleu could perfectly express the smell of snowdrops as it's all about early spring, melting snow, frosted grass and narcissus flowers went blue with cold.

05/06/2014

7.5
Bottle 2.5
Sillage 5
Longevity 6
Scent

WRoth
154 Reviews

WRoth

Eau de Narcisse Bleu

Opens with iris note of Hiris, but settles on my skin quite differently: as a mixture of multifaceted green notes, but not necessarily iris. Like most modern-day Ellena creations the fragrance is light and diaphanous , making it hard to distinguish the singular notes. Apart from the iris I mentioned before, there might be a heavy dose of galbanum (probably the scent's key player) and bit of petitgrain. The fragrance is a nice spring-summer scent, but nothing out of the ordinary compared to Bel Respiro or Hiris.

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