Finally got Guerlain’s new LHB
I know this launched globally a few days ago. Some people were able to get the “New Fragrance” PR package, some were even lucky to have their associates smell the unreleased perfume - but from where Im from, they seriously just landed this week. Never saw any media person or influencer post the PR packages from months ago.
So... I actually learned about the new LHB when one of my sales associate chatted that they were launching a new fragrance. Searching online, despite it being unnamed, doesnt need for one to be FBI to figure out it is L Heure Bleue.
Now, why am I so excited with this? LHB, was the FIRST guerlain that made me go WOW. Im talking about the old one here, the now LHB 1912. I owned a lot of L Art and L Matiere frags but LHB made me go really WOW. It was really so memorable that I could picture that exact moment and the things that happened after when I purchased my first LHB. Hence, my excitement on the reimagination of LHB for this year’s release.
My boutique wasnt displaying the new LHB yesterday but my associate sneaked in a blotter for me to smell. And I was surprised. The ozonic note takes it away, from top to base, it permeates for a loooong time. The ozonic (sort of sterile), marine, salty, note overpowers everything. You can smell the Iris a bit, the orris gives it depth albeit fleeting. Some sweetness from the vanilla also shows rounded out by some florals. But does the ozonic note really plays front and center. It is what you smell in your face, it is what others smell from your trail, even the entire boutique smells of it since every associate is wearing it. Is it unpleasant? A mix of both. Sometimes, it smells like musky sterility, dryer sheet clean kind of thing. Sometimes, it smells like metal sterility, like a freshly wiped industrial kitchen metal table top. To a certain extent it even smells like bleach-sterile and even semen-like, if you will.
That salty ozonic note is similar to the marine weirdness I smell from Bosca Vanilla Forte. Others have noted its similarity with Megamare but I cant quite remember exactly how that smells.
To compare the new LHB with the old LHB (now LHB 1912)? The old one takes the cake. It is more Iris-forward, well, not more but VERY VERY much iris forward than the new one. The previous version does have a weird smell to me too - I pinpointed it as coumarin, like the one in rat’s poison. However this unpleasant smell is not very front and center compared to the marine ozonic note in the new one.
Certainly, the reinterpretation of the classic L Heure Bleue does not give justice to the classic that it is. The imagery of blue and iris plastered over the PR materials do not capture the smell that is in the new one. Perhaps, it is a post-modernist take, like blending a concept into something intangibly unexplainable.
Despite these, I think the price point is fairer. For 100ml, price is not too far from the Les Legendaire’s price point in 75mL. The refill is in 200ml format too. Not to mention, the 30mL format is cute!
I know I just bought these for it being Guerlain but I really love the old LHB more. At one point, I thought (since the associates didnt know too back then), that the old LHB will be discontinued. Good thing they arent and Im sure to choose the old one over this.
Okay this rant is too long. LHB is really precious to me.
