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Histoire d'Eau 2002

7.0 / 10 31 Ratings
A perfume by Mauboussin for women, released in 2002. The scent is spicy-floral. The production was apparently discontinued.
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Main accords

Spicy
Floral
Leathery
Woody
Oriental

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes Top Notes
Mandarin orangeMandarin orange Ylang-ylangYlang-ylang
Heart Notes Heart Notes
NutmegNutmeg CardamomCardamom PepperPepper
Base Notes Base Notes
AmberAmber LeatherLeather MuskMusk MyrtleMyrtle

Perfumer

Ratings
Scent
7.031 Ratings
Longevity
7.522 Ratings
Sillage
6.821 Ratings
Bottle
7.832 Ratings
Submitted by Evita · last update on 09/07/2025.
Source-backed & verified
Interesting Facts
This scent is occasionally falsely listed with the addition Topaze.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to
Le Feu d'Issey by Issey Miyake
Le Feu d'Issey

Reviews

5 in-depth fragrance descriptions
5Scent
Awesomeness

247 Reviews
Awesomeness
Awesomeness
Helpful Review 1  
Occasionally sultry, too often harsh, just plain difficult to wear
Histoire d'Eau doesn't seem very oriental to me, much less floral. Where is the leather, orange, myrtle, and ylang-ylang?

I've had a rough road learning how to wear Histoire d'Eau. Over the last few months, I found it inconsistent, unreliable, & changeable. In fact, the first review that I left was not too kind, calling HdE a scent reminiscent of old, dusty books and of old, crusty professors. Let's just say, trial & error and luck & patience have paid off.

For me, Histoire d'Eau reveals its wonders in warm weather and is a steamy & sultry, almost incense-like. (Think Kathleen Turner in the movie Body Heat.) This is one that I've applied on a hot summer evening and stepped out for a stroll or a beverage on the veranda - WONDERFUL! If only Histoire d'Eau was like this each & every application. At other times, it's been nearly unwearable. For now, summer wear only -- the hotter, the more humid, the better. It intensifies as its worn, although it lasts only 3-4 hours on me.

Histoire d'Eau is hard to wear, but it's even harder to pass up. It's worth the risk on a blind buy imo, provided it is at a good price.

Rating: 4 out of 5 when it decides to be sultry on me.

Rating: 1 out of 5 all other times, when HdE is harsh, when the spices are combative, and when it reeks of dusty, dark places. Unfortunately, that's most of the time.

I adore most of Nagel's creations, but I find HdE very difficult to wear. For an everyday fragrance, I think HdE is better suited for those who can carry masculine scents. Unfortunately, I can't.
0 Comments
jtd

484 Reviews
jtd
jtd
Helpful Review 1  
The middle ground
Is this the intermediate species between the classic amber oriental and the Lutens cedar oriental? Its 2002 birth date tells me no, but my nose says it could be. Histoire d’Eau is a smoky, spicy cedar/amber. There is just enough sweet amber to fall into the Shalimar camp, and enough cedar and fruit to be an SL Bois. It also has an opacity that sits right between Shalimar’s richness and SL’s transparency. Unfortunately, the middle ground is not necessarily the ripest locale for inspiration. I can’t help but feel with a few tweaks, this could have been spectacular.

I’ve only smelled SL’s Daim Blond once, and while Hd’E does smell like it a bit at the outset, it doesn’t hang together like Daim Blond. It doesn’t so much fall apart as become flatter over the course of the heart. It rallies a bit in the drydown, leaving a pleasant but unexciting spicy cedar.
0 Comments
Sherapop

1239 Reviews
Sherapop
Sherapop
2  
Hurray for Auto-Pilot Houses!
I have been curious about Mauboussin HISTOIRE D'EAU for quite some time, always tempted to buy blind since it's being nearly given away for free, but I'm trying to curb my bad habits from the past and avoid accumulating bottles that I'll never use. Happily, awesomeness came to the rescue with a sample. Now, what do I think?

My first impression was: what a surprise! I had no idea what this was about: spices and leather. I, like others, was persuaded by the name that HISTOIRE D'EAU was going to be an aquatic fragrance, when nothing could be further from the truth. I am intrigued by one reviewer's interpretation (at another site), according to which 'eau' is homonymic for 'O' and this perfume is about leather and bondage! Hmmm...

The scent is quite likeable and of much higher quality than I had been expecting, to be honest, at this price. (I was in fact fearing a scrubber...) Of course it's also true that I have found that many of these sorts of apparently cheap fragrances were composed by big noses (in this case, Christine Nagel) and often these sorts of houses, apparently on autopilot, do not make the tragic mistake of reformulation, which would require an effort of some sort, a willful act of consciousness, a vision, a plan, and a budget for execution. Consequently, what survive are quite decent perfumes at incredible prices.

HISTOIRE D'EAU features cardmamom, nutmeg, and pepper all light enough to form a pleasing melange along with the equally light leather note. This is a nice, eminently wearable, all-occasion oriental perfume. My perceptions of this creation vary a lot depending upon whether I dab or spray. The leather becomes much more prominent when I spray, but either way, I like this a lot!
0 Comments
Evita

48 Reviews
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Evita
Evita
Helpful Review 12  
Blind Trust.....
In a woman, the creator of the perfume, Christine Nagel.
It was a purchase without testing beforehand, and it was... not much to think about, because the composition and the bottle, which is a real sphere floating in a glass (plexiglass) case, conquered my trust.
It smells quite complex.
At first, almost everyone would say it is cinnamon, there are fine spices, between aromatic and sweet. In the second phase, it shows a masculine characteristic; expressive, leathery, woody, spicy... and that can break many a woman's heart and love can be lost... but patience is required... it becomes balsamic and powdery at the same time, only now in the fading it smells more floral and feminine. It leaves a smaller aura, but it is enough for such a demanding scent. It lasts intensely for about 3 hours, then another 2 in its last and most beautiful phase.
It unites many characteristics. Spices, Yin and Yang, leather, oriental jasmine. This is how I subjectively experienced Mauboussin Historie d'Eau.
Yes, Eau... quite a beautiful allegory... everything, just not a little water.
0 Comments
Lauser93

1199 Reviews
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Lauser93
Lauser93
3  
Different but exciting!
The Histoire d'Eau is an extremely interesting fragrance with a DNA that I haven't encountered often. In the end, I was quite taken with it because it is indeed different. The longevity on my skin is 7 to 8 hours with a solid sillage.

The top note starts off fruity thanks to mandarin peels and orange zest. Then it has a slightly herbal and green scent with aromas of thyme and myrtle, but also subtly resinous like pine cones. The heart note has an intense scent of black pepper but also an oriental-spicy aroma of cardamom, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. The base then actually smells smoky with myrrh, opoponax, as well as incense. Additionally, there is a certain leatheriness and woodiness that resonates.

This is a very exciting fragrance that I honestly find quite unisex. I thank Sören for the manufacturer sample.
Updated on 08/04/2024
1 Comment

Statements

6 short views on the fragrance
1
This smells like Nagel's tribute to Chanel's Egoiste. Dry, woodsy, heavily spiced and lovely. You don't need both. I picked this.
0 Comments
26
36
A beautiful floral-spicy scent with subtle fruity notes and well-balanced pepper, fading softly. Here is still...
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36 Comments
20
25
It's pleasant. A nice contrast between moderate floral sweetness and spicy notes, with myrtle coming through well in the base.
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25 Comments
9 years ago
2
Floral bath foam with pepper. Why not? It doesn't belong to the floral mainstream vanilla monotony. I don't detect any leather.
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0 Comments
10 years ago
2
Here you really get a kick.
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0 Comments
1
Minimal fruity, then especially peppery, spicy, pleasantly stands out from the sweet vanilla monotony, definitely not mainstream!
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