Histoires de Parfums founder and owner Gérald Ghislain is a clever dog. With his "This is not a blue bottle" series, which takes its idea from one of the most famous works of surrealism, in which the Belgian painter René Magritte subtitled the picture of a pipe "This is not a pipe" in order to trigger a reflection on the traditional concept of linking object, image and word and thus conventions in general, Ghislain creates a stage in this sense to break through fragrance conventions and create completely new, unconventional concepts. The color blue could also symbolize the blue background used in photography and film, a projection screen on which everything (technically possible) can be depicted. Ghislain's statement of an "infinite realm of blue" points to this. He reinforces this impression by not giving his fragrances in the series names, but only a consecutive number. Imagine if he also gave no other information about the fragrances, so that the recipients could devote themselves to the discovery with complete impartiality and were not subsequently influenced by explanations from the brand. The scope for interpretation would be limitless. Unfortunately, he does not pursue this approach consistently, because even if he does not give the perfumes names, he does give each individual fragrance a theme and a brief description of the idea behind it on his homepage. In addition, with the exception of the first edition "1.1", he has designed all the other fragrances in the series, which so far comprises seven, with their own graphics on the bottle. These are usually kept so open that no conclusions can be drawn about the fragrance profile, but in the case of the "1.2." edition reviewed here, it is different from my point of view. The colorful dots or splashes of color, which seem to be randomly thrown onto the "blue wall", suggest something like exuberance, creativity, liveliness, cheerfulness, playfulness, non-conformism, etc. And this actually fits to a large extent. And this actually fits the fragrance profile to a large extent. I would therefore have liked him to have kept all the flacons completely blue, with only the respective lettering from 1.1 to 1.7 to distinguish them from each other, and not to have given any information on themes and designs. That would have been real freedom. At least for the consumer. Where Magritte provides food for thought and enables an open discussion, Ghislain restricts it with his guidelines. A missed opportunity and, in my opinion, a clever but ultimately just another marketing move.
Fragrance profile:
The fragrance is basically there in its entirety right from the start: a candy-like sweet floral with a dense, creamy-soapy musk base, subtly powdery and slightly vanilla-colored, as well as some sandalwood spice. Infused with a very delicate, green - almost ethereal - freshness. This is incredibly playful and lively, almost exuberant and at the same time clean and well-groomed. And although the main profile sounds generic - sweet flowers on vanilla clean musk - the implementation is very unique. In my opinion, this is due to two things. Firstly, the very cleverly used, contrasting green freshness - ivy is mentioned in the pyramid, but I don't recognize it as such - which gives the fragrance a lightness and gentle inner tension, as well as the gentle, spicy soft woodiness, which adds just enough seriousness to keep it from being a pure children's fragrance. And secondly, the composition, which has wonderfully coordinated and blended the ingredients. As a result, the fragrance appears as if it has been cast from a single mold. The ingredients flow into one another and form a dense overall mass. Luca Maffei thus creates an intensity that goes beyond superficial cheerfulness. It reminds me of a childlike joy, of being completely absorbed in the game, charged with meaning and bringing great satisfaction. The brand-typical richness of the fragrance profile, which is often on the verge of too much, is also achieved here, but remains far removed from aromachemical nuclear bombs. This is due to the predominantly fully synthetic components, such as the candy-like sweetness, which is neither sugary nor clearly fruity or balsamic, but remains in a state of its own and which I associate most closely with an artificial flavor enhancer. It is supported by a very restrained use of vanillin. This lends the floral heart, in which a very fresh, clean, slightly green lily of the valley is initially clearly audible, a kind of sweet, innocent, pure rosiness that is not quite so pronounced in Frédéric Malle's 'Iris Poudre', for example. While Malle's fragrance remains very classic, Maffei's is modern. What it has in common with that fragrance is also a dense creamy soapiness that is reminiscent of body care products such as soaps and - very distantly - body powders. Due to the modernity of the Histoires fragrance, I even associate it with the smell of Play-Doh. The white musk tone that slightly dominates the fragrance forms the basic framework for the strong clean character right from the start and is very comparable in this respect to Acca Kappa's 'Muschio Bianco' or Nasomatto's 'Silver Musk'. However, while the artificiality of the latter soon gets on my nerves, here it is almost sufficiently, but not entirely, masked by the sweet florality. Overall, it seems blatantly artificial, but in a charming and civilized way. In addition, all the ingredients appear eerily reduced, without any background noise or nuances. One-dimensional and rich. As if on a fixed frequency. This certainly takes some getting used to, but - in my opinion - it allows a rarely encountered tone to develop. Not natural, but at the same time very lively. This fragrance thus manages the balancing act that Gishlain wants to achieve with this series, namely to depict the spectrum from the abstract to intense feelings.
Durability and sillage:
The powerful, but at the same time civilized character traits are also evident here. Both are clear, but not overpowering. On the one hand, the fragrance is gone after a shower the next day and on the other, it delights the immediate surroundings with a gentle veil of fragrance in the air. In my opinion, the generous use of white musk is primarily responsible for this. It maintains the tonality perceptibly for almost a day without disturbing the surroundings.
Conclusion:
If you like colorful, playful, optimistic and at the same time clean fragrances that have substance and weight (density), you will find a successful and very special edition here. The candy-like florality on slightly vanilla cream soap with a hint of green freshness and delicate woody spice has a very unique and life-affirming radiance. The white musk sometimes makes it a little too artificial for me, but I have become very fond of its character.
Follow-up:
By the way, if you want to read about what Ghislain really had in mind when designing the fragrance, you can do so on the homepage (https://www.histoiresdeparfums.com/products/perfume-this-is-not-a-blue-bottle-1-2). By not going into it here, I don't want to deprive anyone who wants to deal with the fragrance as impartially as possible of this opportunity. Although my interpretation does of course represent an influence. But it is certainly less important than Ghislain's.
Top Notes 
Ivy
Pink pepper
Heart Notes 
Lily of the valley
Ylang-ylang
Lilac
Base Notes 
Vanilla
White musk
Sandalwood
SarahHunt
Topfpflanze3
Manonlescaut
Stinkypenny
