This Is Not A Blue Bottle 1.3

All patchouli lovers NEED this! Yes, we all have our favorite fragrances, but if we're being honest, amongst them there are truly just a few that totally captivated us at first sniff. TINABB1.3 is one of those few that popped my eyes wide open as I first inhaled and then closed them in pure, sublime pleasure as I slowly inhaled again. Ah... a brief jolt of sweet, juicy blood orange leading the way to a fresh, snappy & airy green patchouli that's simultaneously deep and stunningly bright, as if suffused with aldehydes. Leather isn't a note I'd have guessed but I suspect it's what gives patchouli its depth here, so there's that. On my skin saffron and red roses become apparent only after 15 minutes or so but they are members of the choir, not soloists. TINABB1.3 is all about patchouli but I'm stunned not to see aldehydes in the pyramid. I get about 4-6 hours from a spray beneath each ear and one on each wrist. Can't speak for sillage in this masked world but I do pick up my own scent trail as I walk through my house. Lovely, lovely, truly lovely. I fell in love with a sample a few years ago and only recently treated myself to a full bottle, a bottle that's blue while being not blue. My Schrodinger's cat perfume! Note: this is usually expensive but fragnet had 60ml testers (with cap) for about $32 USD

I like the blend of blood orange, saffron and rose here. No leather imo, but I'm used to wearing powerful leather frags. This fragrance isn't a slouch, it's strong in its own right but longevity is average. Has a really interesting and enjoyable airy metallic vibe. Perhaps this one has aldehydes. To me, this is rose dominant, followed by saffron , blood orange and patchouli. It smells very deep and sophisticated. I won't pretend to be a rose expert, so I don't know if this is best in it's class. So far, Rose Jamal by Les Indemodables is the best I've tried. Kilian Rose Oud is one of my all time favorites but it's not rose dominant. Portrait of a Lady was also excellent. But this one is right up there with what I know about rose and was interesting enough for me to buy a bottle after testing and sample. Scent 8.6/10 Performance 7/10

This 1.3 version is a beautiful scent! It’s like a ring of Fire, being that it smells fiery without smelling spicy. It has a very energizing aspect to it. I think it can be worn year round but is perfect in the spring or fall when there’s a day where the sun provides warmth but there’s still a bit of coolness in the breeze, and that mix of warm and cool play so well with this scent!

I did not get any leather at all. For me this is a soapy scent with hints of Lavender. It smells like my skin just out of shower. Performance is moderate longevity 6/7 hours with below average projection from the beginning. Everyday scent if I want something light & casual but still has quality.

I think this is just lovely. Maybe a little more feminine than I’m used to, but it keeps pulling me in. I would absolutely melt if I were to smell this on a lady. I don’t care if it smells synthetic or natural. I care that it smells good or bad. This is good.

I am very surprised by the rating on this. I personally love it, its not a strong leather IMO, I get very lovely citrusy/patchouli/woodsy opening notes, and a hint of leather. Ultimately the woody patchouli takes over and lingers. It's fantastic IMO.

Sexy, sexy, sexy! To me and on me this smells like roses and leather! It's a very Morticia Adams fragrance.

I can't help myself with this one, I appreciate why it might be considered scratchy & screechy and send folks running for the hills, with it's plastoc vibes and 'in your face' volume. I kinda like that about 1.3. It smells like excitement and nervous anticipation to me, it's alive, sharp and no nonsense. It reminds me of the smell approaching selfridges perfume counter, a brutal mixture of all the various smells and molecules mixing in the air. It's a hardcore sweet, jammy, metallic rose opening then immediately a nose tingling saffron note which pairs perfectly. I mean lets face it 1.3 isn't breaking any new ground but it's retreading some likeable ground very proficiently. The saffron in this kind of fragrance does smell leathery (kind faux, patent leather too) but also more like real saffron fronds than a saffron tincture does. I'm assuming this is an accord made from synthetics? but doesn't smell like the signature saffraleine either. Then there's the oud like element which is definitely apparent both real and synthetic with a kind of harsh, resinous, plastic feel. I kinda love this because as familiar as it feels and as much like an oud/rose/saffron that it is.... I can't actually site any reference to what it smells similar to? I'm genuinely tempted as I've seen this for a cheap price but I know I'd get sick of it after a few hours, and I'd have to wear it as a show piece for going out or something...it's too loud for casual wear I feel.

This Is Not a Blue Bottle 1.3 is a rose, saffron, and leather composition lifted by tart citrus and anchored by dry patchouli. It opens with tangy blood orange that feels more metallic than juicy, moves into a spice edged rose, then settles into clean leather over earthy woods, with a faint animalic tone that stays polished rather than rough. The mood is contemplative rather than cheerful, and it wears with quiet authority, offering moderate projection and steady longevity. It lives in the same after hours lane as Gucci A Gloaming Night, which is woodier and less floral, and it brushes the leather patchouli attitude of Guerlain Bois Mystérieux without the same resin weight. Best in cool weather or evening settings when you want something composed and intimate, this is a refined, story driven take on rose and leather that is well worth sampling if you like spiced woods and darker florals.

I've smelled Oud Silk Mood, which I hated and found absolutely synthetic and repulsive, but the strangest thing for me is that on paper, this smells like Lazy Sunday Morning by Maison Margiela. Exactly like it. Very aldehylic, bubbly, soapy, rosy scent. Scent: Surprisingly nice. Longevity: Not the best on my skin, but better on clothes. Projection: Strong Polarity: Unisex

Summers in Copenhagen, grey and gloomy. Can it be this again? Rain and petrichor linger since last Winter. You seek warmth. In Summer. There is none to find except for at home with you. Decaying roses by the window, a stew cooking to last us another Summer. The rain subsides, a saffron sunset.

It’s closer to oriental fragrances I liked it more than most of the scents in the line Now that I almost tried all the blue bottle fragrances I can easily say it’s not for me I know the house has some fascinating scents But the blue bottles are not for me

Soft rose/saffron accord freshened by a metallic (a drop of ambroxan maybe?) red orange. Nice noticeable leather/patchouli combo in the base. Average/good projection. Unisex, possibly leaning a bit masculine. A solid fragrance.

Very modern rose-leathery fragrance. Totally unisex. I enjoyed this perfume throughout the summer. Was almost everyday go to scent. If you like modern,long lasting fragrances-you will not be disappointed.

Wow, now this is good! I was getting disappointed with the TINBB line, but then I tried this one. It looks like a fresher an more unisex version of Oud Silk Mood. Very good!

Somehow, this one manages to convey a very chic aldehydic vibe. I really enjoy it. I think it's unisex with a hair towards femme.

This is very sharp and strong in its projection, but with the rose and leather staying very close to the skin (and with the latter not showing up for a surprisingly long time on my skin). As a result, the sillage leans decidedly feminine to my nose. This is too strong on me to wear in indoor spaces, but this feels like an ideal choice for a day spent outdoors. I'm not feeling the sexy edge that some people pick up—I get much more of a respectable, maybe even thin and dowdy rose once the shock of application wears off. It's quite nice and simple, uncharacteristically so from Histoires, so I think a sample is enough for me. Editing this review a year later to add: It took me a year to get through my sample, because this fragrance has some ingredient that can very easily give me a headache (it's not the only one—Parfums de Marly's Herod is the worst offender in this category). As a result, I could only ever pull this off when I'm spending the day outside, especially on cold days. If I wear this on days when I'm indoors at home or in the office, taking public transit, trains, airplanes, etc., I'm going to be overwhelmed and possible end up with a throbbing head. In those settings, I had to wash it off my arms on more than one occasion. It's a shame, really, because it's a nice enough fragrance. Even if the headache aspect wasn't there, the dryness, almost talc-like and powdery, is a quality that would keep me from coming back to it. It's such a dominant note (is it Iso E) that it seems to drown out the other notes (I have a difficult time detecting much blood orange at all, for instance).

This one came off as initially rose and aromatic with an undercurrent of pachouli, with some hard to place bass tones. I didn't find this one as charismatic as the first two, and after initial dry down it left a generic fresh clean and slightly green feel. This was a surprise when looking at the notes as I got no leather at all, and wouldn't call it warm and spicy in any sense of the word. It is more clean, fresh, and a bit of a hard to describe chemical bent, negating any strong ties to it's same fragrances in this series. Looking at the notes now, besides the rose, maybe hints of saffron, and sure hints of blood orange, and while pachouli is clear, the leather feels distant. After going through the series this is the least interesting.

Don’t get too much leather in this myself, a bit perhaps in the Ombre Leather “black leather” style. What I get mostly is an oily oud rose combo (or at least what most brands say is oud), quite strong with a bit of a metallic orange component that gives a somewhat fresher breeze to that dark oilyness. It’s a statement fragrance I’d say, punchy but with rounded edges.

This one is somewhat pleasant - more a minimalistic take. I would compare it a bit to Imaginary Author's Slow Explosions, though that one drops the citrus and has more spicy pizzazz to it. This is not bad all things considered, but a bit of weird divergence at play between synthetic aldehydic backbone, jammy rose, and metallic orange. 6.5/10