Experiencing The Blue Hour
You can read everywhere that wearing L’heure bleue from Guerlain is experienceing the blue hour. There are actually two blue hours, the one that marks the passage between day and night and the one that gets you out of the night and leads you to another day. Magical moments, secretive time.
Guerlain, in 1912, captured one rare moment in the evening and brought it the force of the iris root, the intensity of vanilla to make of each blue hour an hour to be fully lived. Either a short passage between two realms or a realm in itself appearing and disappearing.
In this modern version, L’heure bleue takes flight on a note of iris that brushes against an ozonic accord, marrying the impression of sky and breath with an aqueous sensation. The heroine who wears L’Heure Bleue carries her ambitions and desires through a Paris by the Seine, embraced by the falling night. On her cheek. On her lips, she captures a trace of it.
A seductive, youthful fragrance—though inspired by the legendary L’Heure Bleue, created by Jacques Guerlain in 1912 (and now known within the brand as “L’Heure Bleue 1912”).
The new Eau de Parfum, created by Delphine Jelk—Guerlain’s Director of Fragrance Creation—is a contemporary reinterpretation. It preserves the spirit of the original composition—iris and vanilla—while introducing a novel ingredient: a custom-developed iris tincture that captures the flower in its entirety.
Guerlain
Every major perfume house seems to be revisiting its greatest classics—some reinventing them, others tweaking the formulas to meet current industry standards. Here, an iris tincture—a true partner to your skin, created specifically for L’Heure Bleue—blends with iris butter for added voluptuousness. Ozone notes soar, seemingly brushing against a shyly approaching vanilla amidst a lingering breath of fresh air. It echoes Couleur Vanille—a creation by Aliénor Massenet for L’Artisan Parfumeur that didn’t get the acclaim it deserved, having launched during lockdown. A « lipstick » effect adds a touch of glamour. It is a contemporary scent—easy to wear and almost carefree, imbued with an infectious lightness. A fragrance of sisterhood, perfect for sharing among girlfriends.
Collectors will undoubtedly admire the House’s latest Pièce d’Exception inspired by L’Heure Bleue, created in collaboration with Begum Khan—a Turkish jewelry house driven by the virtuosity of its founder, Begum Kiroglu. This rare, limited-edition bottle is priced at €25,000.
Joining Guerlain’s Flacons d’Exception collection, this creation features a cascade of finely set irises spilling down its neck. The fragrance’s signature flower—and one of perfumery’s most precious ingredients—is transformed here into an ornament. Each element is handcrafted in the artist’s Istanbul studio, the result of many hours of meticulous work. In total, no fewer than 12,224 gems—in shades of sapphire, turquoise, and indigo—are hand-set into 24-karat gold-plated bronze. A golden structure links the flowers in an asymmetrical cascade, concealing a textured gold-and-blue band at the neck that is designed to stand alone as a piece of jewelry.
