Description
Histoires de Parfums is launching their new unisex fragrance THIS IS NOT A BLUE BOTTLE arriving in blue flacon and packaging and is characteristic for refreshing notes with shades of honey and oriental finish. The new fragrance reflects the feeling of eternity and freedom and is signed by owner of the collection of Histories de Parfums and perfumer Gerald Ghislain who plays on contrasts and abstraction. This year, besides the fragrance This Is Not a Blue Bottle the collection of Histoires de Parfums added fragrance Fidelis, whose composition is also signed by perfumer Julien Rasquinet. Fidelis belongs to the subcollection Edition Rare.
Composition of the fragrance THIS IS NOT A BLUE BOTTLE opens with aldehydes and cheerful orange zest, exchanging warm shades of honey and tart, metal shades of geranium in the heart. The base provides musk, patchouli and amber.
Histoires de Parfums This Is Not a Blue Bottle arrives on the market by the end of 2015.
punaizer – :
Sillage: Mild
Longevity: Good for a light fragrance 8+ hrs
Originality: Very Unique. Avant garde even. (A+)
Craftsmanship: Well made. High quality. (A+)
Scent (Subjective): This is unique, can’t easily compare this to other perfumes. It is pleasantly sharp and just a bit bitter. It is bright, vaguely citrus with a very clean musky vibe. I get a synthetic whif sometimes when I wear it but not in a bad way, I kind of like it actually. It’s somewhat sexual for some reason, the musk maybe. (A)
Season: Warm spring days. It’s fresh but the musk might be too much on a hot day.
Drydown: Not complex. It just ‘milds’ down nicely from a fairly bright opening.
Value: Moderately priced niche. I paid $125 for the small bottle.
Gender: Unisex leans slightly masculine.
Universality: May not be for everyone. I happen to like it a lot.
Learning Curve: I liked it the first time I tried it. My nose is fickle with it. Some days I’m more drawn to than others. Needs to be worn in just the right weather, I go with my gut.
Emotional Response: I really enjoy this. My wife really likes it on me. She raves about it in fact.
Dainurs – :
At the moment I smelled it from blotter I thought: “This is it! I found it! This is how the ultramarin smells!!!” One of my favourite colors. On my skin it later turned into regulat men cologne though…
oqh409Bessinepome – :
The initial blast was so odd like…saliva. Then, it smells sweet then orangy then soft floral. It smells off-putting on the dry down, like powdery saliva. This scent made me certain of my disdain for aldehydes and geranium.
tractorist64 – :
Nothing in particular with this scent. It’s my casual “go-to” when you am in doubt or want to try something new.
The opening is horrible and will make you say “yuck”, but give it time. The real deal kicks in after it settles down, transforming into a much more pleasant experience. I would see this as an office/work environment scent.
Personally, I really like the dry-down, and would recommend it to try it for at least one day before giving their opinion.
zgt154intitytek – :
This is just so much SEX in this fragrance for me, that my hormones just scream: ” F**k me!”. Increadible, how much power it has!
It starts with musk-clementine jummy citrus and changes with cedar-honey base. Incredible longevity for a hesperide, 8h+.
Williamisjfy – :
You’re in a torture chamber getting stabbed in the face by knives covered in sharp and bitter orange juice, while also getting burned alive by a fire fueled by some really potent charred/smoked patchouli. You want to cry out, “Help!” but, you can’t think of any words other than sharp ones, because everything, in this moment, is sharp. To finish you off, someone begins rubbing some thick honey into your wounds, and you pass out. This Is Not A Blue Bottle by Histoires de Parfums.
olga_90_90 – :
Fresh chamomile from the beginning to the end. Interesting this note is not even listed. I know this smell very well, fresh chamomile has a very strong smell, especially when you crush it in your hand. When we were children grandmother asked us to pick the chamomile flowers for tea. Very fresh and very strong sent, very linear too.
zheka88 – :
Very synthetic to me – as in, this smell does not occur in nature. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, nor is it a cheap kind of synthetic scent. On the contrary. It smells like an ultra high-quality dryer sheet that you would get at some swank boutique. An unusual smelling dryer sheet that is quite interesting to the nose. It is also VERY long-lasting, more so than anything in recent memory.
I received good feedback on this one when I wore my sample, and I find it very intriguing myself. I’m not fond enough of it to buy a whole bottle, and it surely would not be an everyday fragrance for me. But for a French take on today’s perfumery scene, this is not bad at all. It is worth a try and makes me look forward to trying the rest of the samples in the Histoires box set I received not long ago.
Vitang – :
Spicy, musky, soapy, aldehyde aquatic. Huge geranium.
Cologne-ish and proverbially contemporary.
Outlandish.
That being said, I get the reference entirely; it is what it is – or perhaps it is not? Musky spicy aldehidic aquatic? Are you joking??
I like very much what it represents, wouldn’t wear it myself, though. Too many challenges at once.
Sensitive and shy noses beware.
Vald1409 – :
There’s this thing in this perfume that smells like generic men’s cologne to me. I can’t really put my finger on what it is but I smelled it in other men’s perfumes too. I smell nearly no musk, just fresh spicy men’s cologne. Quite sad.
SXS – :
I bought a discovery set for this house which is, I believe, 13 samples for twenty dollars. For what I’ve gotten already, I’m satisfied with my purchase. So far, I have tested all the masculine fragrances and one strictly feminine fragrance (1804). While that feminine frag was quite unisex to me (bordering on feminine), I figured the unisex frags would be the home runs that the masculine line is. For my first foray into them, This is Not a Blue Bottle, I have mixed feelings.
Upon first spray, it is HEAVVVVY musk. I haven’t tried or owned too many musk dominant fragrances. The only fragrance I have that is heavily musky is English Laundry’s Cambridge Knight. With that said, the Knight’s musky top note masks everything else but only lasts for I’d say 5 minutes. That five minutes is sharp, offensive and mildly acidic smelling. Like someone just puked. However, becomes one of the most sublime frags I own. Well, This is Not a Blue Bottle mixes that with some citrus, powder and ambery tones. For the first 2-4 hours, though, be prepared for your senses to be rocked by musk if you are not familiar or a fan. After that, the musk mixes nicely with the rest of the composition. It’s powdery, sweet, aromatic. It really comes into it’s own and is a scent I’d wear regularly. Unfortunately, the top of this one is crazy strong and off putting for several hours. Again though, it is subjective. If you like musk, this is a good bet. However, if you like musk as a part of a greater composition, maybe you should pass.
The longevity and sillage are excellent. No qualms with that. It’s a quality fragrance. It’s just not something I am particularly into.
castean – :
Scent – metallic, musky, aldehydic citrus.
Season/Time of Day – I prefer to use this one in the warmer months, at night.
Projection – I did get noticed, I didn’t get a compliment.
Longevity – I get 12hrs consistently.
kobekorb – :
A brilliant fragrance in its “apparent” simplicity! Urban and powerful, with the strong metal aldehyde note with a beautiful feeling of freshness with orange in the background and honey! At first it may seem generic, but do not be fooled, because over time it develops by changing. It’s not a simple scent but it’s too complex.. it’s to try, I really like it! thumb up 🙂
Sillage: 9/10
Longevity: 10/10
Scent: 8./10
Overall: 8./10
ASIK123456 – :
I need to wear this for a few more days because on first day, I CANNOT decide if I like it or not. I thought I’d outright hate it due to…well, every ingredient. Not an orange scent fan, amber and musk both usually stink on me, etc. Also, I have hated every sample bottle I’ve tried from this line (admittedly only two before this one), and I was really disappointed because those were two I REALLY thought I’d like.
On my first spray, I thought, “Gee, this smells like Obsession from Calvin Klein”. Spicy, earthy, etc right away. Then I caught a sharp but sweet orange. Then I smelled earth and soap (guessing that was the patchouli). Then there was powder. And musk. Then a sharper version of Pillowtalk Poet from Pinrose.
As the day has gone on, the chameleon properties of TiNaBB continue, and while it is impressively soft but noticeable at the same time, I’d kind of like a little more…definition. Maybe the charm IS the versatility of the scent, and I dig that, but I am especially sensitive to tying scents to memories. It may sound weird, but I feel like if I wore this regularly, I’d never be able to connect it with specific memories because it changes from minute to minute.
cov160Negeltzex – :
this goes on like a soft oud scent with a tiny hint of citrus; as it dries down the musk, amber and patchouli rise. I would not call this an aldehyde nor honeyed. It is beautiful and rounded and soft as most HdP are but not a stunning wow for me that I want to run out for a full bottle. I am happy to have sampled.
lamargreer – :
different and unique lasting power is stunning lasts forever!!!
ssg-76 – :
With This Is Not a Blue Bottle I was expecting something very aldehydic in the sense of fizzy, soapy-green aldehydes and a real metallic texture. I was expecting a cold sort of fragrance; something that would remind me of cold, crisp blue mountain air. with sweet floral notes floating around and lots of white musk. I got something very different. It opens with a strange concoction that smells like some kind of tart, fruity candied syrupy, a little chemical at times, that’s been caramelized, similar to the glaze that would result from a fruit-based flambé style dessert. This burnt sugar aspect is immediately warm and sweet, and seems to serve as a bridge to the heart, where a spicy, prickly warm musk and honeyed amber appear and take control of the scent. The honey is not the natural, golden kind in its liquid form, but rather honey that’s been turned into some kind of candy; more crystallized and sugary in character. Paired with a rounded amber, both are given a sort of rough, synthetic anti-polish from the musk The musk lends a (for lack of a better word) “scratchy” sheen to the scent, and plays an important role in its overall texture. While the musk itself is of the warmer variety, it doesn’t feel particularly cozy because it’s accented by geranium, which brings a brisk, crisp kind of spiciness to its edges, semi-sweet but with a cold spicy bite. Beneath the geranium musk is a dry and dusty patchouli, muted to an extent but pairing well with the geranium, lending some woodiness to the composition, and helping to reinforce a sort of cool, dry, spicy character that accents the musk. The heart of TINABB persists in this sweet, swirling array of caramelized honeyed woody musk with occasional flashes of the brighter tart, candied fruit syrup from the opening. There’s a synthetic quality to this that seems intentional. It’s the fragrance’s less-than-smooth texture that’s been bolstered through its musky components which include the geranium and patchouli accents. When it finally reaches its base, TINABB reflects a warm, sweet amber; much simpler than what had preceded it, and a pleasant enough way to finish.
I find this a hard fragrance to describe. If I had to compare it to anything, it reminds me the most of Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge. Both feature a sort of warm, scratchy synthetic woody musk paired with a sweet, burnt sugar candy accord at their heart. And both have sort of strange, ambiguous, chemical/industrial opening where you’re not exactly sure what you’re smelling or where things are headed. But just as I find Baccarat Rouge ultimately a very wearable and alluring fragrance, so is the case with This Is Not a Blue Bottle. To begin, it’s an appealing smell. The warm sweet character that persists through the heart is attractive. More importantly, the rough, sort of scratchy texture that comes about as a result of the synthetic musk is not detectable at a distance, it only feels like that up close. And I’m okay if everything I wear doesn’t seem “natural” all the time. Performance is fantastic. TINABB has a casual appeal, and could also work well on dates. It’s kind of a fun scent. For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t place this as highly as I place Baccarat Rouge, which I think is an excellent scent. I think TINABB is probably a step down, but still good.
In the end, this gets two thumbs up and is recommended for sampling. I think if you like Baccarat Rouge, you’ll like this. For some reason (reasons I attempted to explain above) I just find them very similar. Different scents–but very similar in some way. You may also like this if you like sweet scents for men.You may not like this if you’re averse to synthetic musks, or sweet fragrances for men, particularly those which exhibit a sugary, cotton candy quality (which this does at times). Although I like this personally, I do not think it’s a “beautiful” scent; just a sort of fun kind that can be worn for the casual enjoyment of yourself and your company. At the same time, I may come back at some point and edit this review. There are some strange things going on in TINABB, sort of unusual combinations of notes, and it’s possible my understanding of this may evolve the more that I wear it. But for now, this is how it smells to me!
By the way, it’s completely unisex. It never once entered my mind that this is designed for women any more than men.
seregapodzin – :
It’s got that weird synthetic warm musk/amber that seems to radiate and take over everything. I’m searching for the geranium and not finding much of it. Quite linear as well.
There certainly isn’t anything about it that says “blue,” so that’s accurate.
4692130a – :
Well now i feel stupid. Note to self: do not review based on first spray/first 10 minutes. Ok, so I was wrong. This is unisex. And I must admit, my first sniff was “wow, what a disappointment.” Well, I was wrong. This is thoroughly enjoyable. What’s really weird is – I received this, along with a bottle of Versace Dylan Pour Homme, and I see some similarities. Maybe it’s the citrus top and aldehyic (sp?) notes mixing together – regardless – I hope Mr/Ms Non Blue Bottle will forgive me for jumping to conclusions.
FeanorGrey – :
Simply amazing.
It is different,it is unique,it is magical and it is affordable. 9.5 out of 10 With my chemistry it just works i have over 200 niche perfumes and I have never smelt anything like this. Last over 8 hours on my skin and projects well. Get a sample check for yourself.
Fejurus21 – :
This was love at first sniff. I was just going moving around and I saw this bottle in Sephora. Since it was HDP I couldn’t stop myself trying it on my skin. At first i thought it was too strong. But 10 mins past the opening … WOW.. This turned into a beautiful scent. Metallic Aldehydes and orange. Patchouli in the base is beautiful. This is one of those scents which makes you feel playful yest sophisticated. 8.5/10 for me.
The only drawback is that after four hours it becomes a skin scent and starts evaporating. Stays for about 8 to 9 hours on my skin and then vanishes completely. However stays for 14 plus hours on fabric. Got me compliments as well.
This is not a safe blind buy but definitely must sample fragrance. Beautiful creation by HDP.
AloneAncelE – :
I can’t classify this fragrance as niche! to my nose it’s hideous in away that has that aquatic heavy artificial muscy one that i can find in Chanel Blu… not the animalic but the quite usable one that will make anyone who doesn’t understand fragrance fall for it .. oh and love it. If the bottle was changed and Polo was written on it i definitely would believe it!
Not for me.
XTorX – :
The name and the color of the bottle is a mix of two well known European artists:
This typical blue is from the French artist Yves Klein, International Klein Blue (IKB) was developed by Yves Klein in collaboration with Edouard Adam, a Parisian art paint supplier whose shop is still in business in Paris.
And Belgium artist René Magritte, his painting “La trahison des images”(the Treachery of images) shows a pipe with the text “Ceci n’est pas une pipe.”, French for “This is not a pipe” …. so you get the rest “This is not a blue bottle”
Done many times before and not original obviously, whats next? maybe “Fresh Parfum” copying Marcel Duchamp’s “Fresh Widow”