Histoires de Parfums This Is Not A Blue Bottle Range Review
Ever wondered what a perfume big bang might feel like? An explosion of colour, a splash of fragrance, and a burst of emotion, the Histoires de Parfums This Is Not A Blue Bottle collection is the closest thing we might ever get to it. Read on to find out all about this wildly imaginative fragrance line…
The Fragrances Smell Like…
• Histoires de Parfums This Is Not A Blue Bottle 1/.1 Eau de Parfum: 1/.1 is the scent of abstraction. It’s unique and unexpected but undeniably seductive as it travels from sharp, pleasure-boosting orange and hypnotic aldehyde to a sticky honey, metallic geranium heart. Finally, a warm, patchouli-heavy musky base takes over the senses.
• Histoires de Parfums This Is Not A Blue Bottle 1/.2 Eau de Parfum: 1/.2 is a piece of art, and your skin is the canvas. The perfume of light, 1/.2 Eau de Parfum is a floral-musk fragrance that opens with a cool green splash of ivy leaf that’s enhanced by a sprinkling of pink pepper before honey-like, powdery lilac collides with a multicoloured kaleidoscope of soapy lily of the valley and sweet ylang-ylang. Finally, the base is a masterpiece of soft sandalwood, cosy vanilla and sensual white musk.
• Histoires de Parfums This Is Not A Blue Bottle 1/.3 Eau de Parfum: 1/.3 Eau de Parfum is the energy of a molten ring, but it’s not overpoweringly spicy or hot. Instead, the fragrance falls into the oriental-leather fragrance camp. And it’s more a celebration of the colours and energy of fire – vibrant, radiant blood orange with crimson, leathery saffron – balanced by soft rose petals, rounded off by the smoked tones of leather and the deep earthy facets of patchouli.
• Histoires de Parfums This Is Not A Blue Bottle 1/.4 Eau de Parfum: Warm, spicy and deliciously ambery, 1/.4 is a fragrance that’s inspired by the universal principle of yin. To me, it feels like a slice of warm, spiced fruit cake in the middle of winter: sharp, balsamic davana blends with aromatic lavender, while a hot flash of cardamom kicks your senses into action. The heart settles into a cosy amber tone as sweet ylang-ylang blends with benzoin and creamy tonka bean before leathery labdanum, earthy patchouli and spicy, warm opoponax cling to your skin in the base. To complete the concept of yin and yang – which are complete opposites and yet work in harmony together – 1/.4 can be layered alongside 1/.5.
• Histoires de Parfums This Is Not A Blue Bottle 1/.5 Eau de Parfum: Airy, light and just a little bit mystical, 1/.5 Eau de Parfum is an aquatic fragrance designed to honour the universal principle of yang. The perfume plays with bright ozonic facets and soft soap-like aldehyde in the opening before sweet, airy tones float throughout the heart, and a musky, salty mineral wave hits you in the base. 1/.5 is the polar opposite of 1/.4, but they can be layered together to create a unique olfactory experience.
• Histoires de Parfums This Is Not A Blue Bottle 1/.6 Eau de Parfum: If I had to compare 1/.6 Eau de Parfum to a place or experience, it would be the act of sipping cool, freshly squeezed orange juice as you recline on a lounger on your balcony; you’re overlooking the luscious Mediterranean garden in full bloom, the rich, intoxicating of sun-kissed white florals filling the air. It develops from bright, tart citruses to heady florals and vanillary musks.
What’s The Story Behind The This Is Not A Blue Bottle Collection?
Abstract, playful and probably not like any other perfume line you’ve experienced to date, Histoires de Parfums’ This Is Not A Blue Bottle range calls for you to throw the fragrance rulebook out the window and get creative. And with such a unique, unexpected and almost absurdist story, you have to do just that to appreciate it fully. So, let’s allow ourselves to be fully immersed in the ingenious allegory of a fragrant big bang, and allow Histoires de Parfums to take us on a journey from the most abstract concepts to the most fiery of emotions, all within an infinite, all-encompassing realm of blue. This Is Not A Blue Bottle is an olfactory hallucination.
But that’s not all. Histoires de Parfums also have another inspiration (think of it as an extra special treat for those of us who love a perfume story!)
As the name and flacons suggest, This Is Not A Blue Bottle continues the surreal concept of an infinite realm of blue created after a perfumed big bang. But, the name is also a play on words inspired by René Magritte’s 1929 painting, ‘The Treachery of Images’, better known as ‘This Is Not a Pipe’. The surrealist artwork depicts a pipe with the statement, ‘this is not a pipe’ written beneath (translated from French) to show that it isn’t a pipe, but a painting of one, drawing into question the nature and reality of art.
You Will Love This Niche Fragrance Line If…
If you like fragrances that are a little bit different and perfume collections that are a little bit quirky, This Is Not A Blue Bottle is the one for you. It has a range of fragrances – from the spiciest to the most sweetly aquatic – so there’s bound to be something that will appeal to your senses.
Is Histoires de Parfums’ This Is Not A Blue Bottle Collection Unisex?
Here at Escentual, we believe that you should wear whatever perfume you like – no matter who it’s marketed at. As long as you love it, that’s all that matters!
This collection ties into our views, too, as each perfume is unisex and will certainly appeal to all genders.
What’s The Longevity Like?
As all This Is Not A Blue Bottle fragrances are of an Eau de Parfum strength, you’d expect them to last a long time, at least four to five hours, to be precise. Well, those expectations are blown out of the water when it comes to Histoires de Parfums; their perfumes well exceeded that mark. To the point that they still cling to your skin hours after the first spritz.
What’s Special About The Bottles?
As you might have guessed from the name, all perfume bottles feature or are predominantly blue. This is a blue bottle! Although they all tie into the range perfectly, each design has something unique to offer, which links to the fragrance itself:
• 1/.1: The first bottle and the most simplistic, 1/.1 is a plain but vibrant blue that recalls the name of the collection.
• 1/.2: Described by Histoires de Parfums as the ‘fragrance of light’, 1/.2 continues the idea of a fragrant big bang; after the initial explosion, a perfumed prism refracting light into a splash of colour is revealed. 1/.2 Eau de Parfum is a piece of art in its own right.
• 1/.3: Inspired by a molten ring, 1/.3 is certainly eye-catching. It features the same iconic blue shade, which only goes to draw out the vivid ombre hues of blood orange, fiery red and blazing yellow.
• 1/.4: As one half of the yin and yang fragrance pairing, 1/.4 Eau de Parfum is a blue-and-white, abstract rendition of the yin half of the ancient symbol. It’s the opposite of Histoires de Parfums’ yang-inspired perfume, so when they sit next to each other, they, of course, recall the full symbol.
• 1/.5: Naturally, 1/.5’s bottle is the complete colour opposite of 1/.4’s, tying into the concept of yin and yang.
• 1/.6: This flacon has a slightly fun, disco feel to it; the bright blue is contrasted with a hypnotic, uplifting orange hue that not only recalls the sweet orange fragrance note within but also recalls the title of Paul Eluard’s love poem, ‘The World Is Blue As An Orange’, which it is inspired by.
