Histoire d'Eau

I bought this blind, based on reviews here. It just got delivered from Amazon, about $15 for 2.5 oz. As people commented on Amazon, it leaked in transit, but only a tiny bit. The container is very... hmmm... 1960s i guess, reflecting the 60s fascination with plastics which were new and amazing then, especially acrylics, and the clean futuristic look of fashion and furnishings in the mid 60s. It is a bit tricky to spray. The spray head has to be rotated (it has on and off positions). And pushing in the middle didn't work. Eventually, while carefully aimed away from me, i got it to work. However, the scent is not plastic modern. I haven't given it time to develop fully, but, wow! It is a rich, deep, heady oriental like i haven't smelled in ages... because i love orientals, but i've been trying to get into lighter and more contemporary scents lately. Today Histoire d'Eau is giving me a load of warm spices, ylang2, and sweet amber. I don't smell the citrus, just as i never do in Shalimar perfume (S's EdTs & outliers don't count, as far as i am concerned :-p) I'm not a musk fan, so I was surprised that i kind of liked the musk in Hermes Un Jardin... series. I'll see if it turns up with the leather in HdE's dry down and how i feel about it. = Edit = The musk didnt show up until *many* hours later. It wasnt a horrible musk, but not special like Hermes. I never smelled the leather :( = End Edit = To comment on what 'awesomness' said, i am finding that many fragrances are quite unpredictable on me lately, too! One day Narcisco Rodriguez for Her smells like old foam rubber and another like roses; one day Bvlgari Omnia smells like nasty RiteGuard deodorant and another like Indian spices. I'll see how HdE and i get along. But i can say that HdE is feminine, adult, and *potent*. So don't spray this on and immediately walk into an elevator or climb into an automobile with others :-) = Edit = I have worn this several times now. So far it always smells as wonderful as it did the first time, richly spicey, heavy ylang2, warm and enveloping. Definitely a success, and a special occasion scent. = End Edit =

I am slowly making my way through Sebastian and his Roumanian friend's list of 19 awesome cheapies. This arrived today all the way from Israel and it is an instant love! I am running a bath to wash off the Only One Intense I am wearing so I can fully rock this. I can't believe the last review before mine was in August of 2020! So this is a rare treasure. It is ambery and mysterious and was reminding me of something which I have now identified: Elixir Des Merveilles- another beloved fragrance of mine. This one is a bit more animalic and I can't wait to experience the drydown. I personally think the bottle is cool as well- reminds me of the 80's. I wish fragrantica still let us edit our reviews so I could write about that later- I really hate the massive overhaul they did on their site. Editing is the absolute KEY for all artistic endeavors. What idiot would have disabled the editing function available to users? It's as bad as Facebook which used to be fun back in 2009-15, and it got steadily worse over each of those years as well. Here is a fun fact from my own experience: someone at Facebook came to dislike my best friend and I supporting each other's posts on difficult posts that might, say, discuss topics which no one wants to hear about although they should. Well, they made my friend unsearchable to me and me to her. We simply do not exist for each other on FB any longer. If I find a post with her in it, her name is black instead of blue. For a time, she thought I had deleted her! Now I detect a fear factor in this censorship committed by the overlords. The PTB at FB just do not want certain things discussed. And, imagine, we have a 1st Amendment here in the US protecting free speech! Not sure why this fragrance site is now censoring our ability to edit..

I just got my 40 ml bottle and I’m sooooo stoked! First off the bottle looks awesome! Yeah it’s plastic, but so cool! To me it looks like a citrus press with a juice reservoir in the shape of an orange. Then the scent! It is addictive! So so so yummy! I’m testing this against Godet Mondanité (which sadly isn’t on Fragantica yet) and I keep going back to this one, even though Mondanité is absolutely delicious and has more silage. I think I too got a bottle of a weaker batch, because the scent fades to somewhat of a skin scent fairly quickly, but what is there is pure awesomejuice! It opens with zesty orange.. it’s syrupy rather than juicy.. more specifically it smells like a somewhat medicinal orange juice and zest syrup that has dried up and gone somewhat bad, cause it has this somewhat yeasty booziness to it. I can’t explain, and it probably sounds horrible, but it’s so so good! At the same time there’s something animalic from the leather, something reminiscent of aniseed, which is probably a mix between the cardamom and mandarin orange.. beeswax is there too.. it’s warm and fresh and spicy all at the same time and I can’t stop sniffing!! I’m obsessed and rambling! This may replace Shalimar as my signature scent. I’m in love! I need another bottle 😂 It somehow reminds me of SJP Stash even though the two fragrances are very very different 🤔

Sweet amber and wood shavings, the cedar plays out here but resembles sandalwood b/c of the beautiful mix with the sweetness of the amber. Very woody. I'd say orange blossom over orange citrus b/c again the sweetness of the wood/amber combo. Sure the ylang ylang can add to that. Not a ylang ylang fan but it is not a bother here. Well blended into the other beautiful notes to evolve as something completely different. I keep mentioning sweet but this is not the cloying candy sweet but rather the lumber store after a rain sweet. Cardamom is present but do not dismiss if you don't like it b/c i promise it's only there if you know to look for it. This one makes me happy. As soon as i opened the box, i got a whiff of something that made me instantly smile. Very close to what Tam Dao does for me but a bit sweeter and less straight up wood, again given by the Amber. So i think i may have found a favorite amber perfume after a very long search. Always loved the note but it's never been done quite so perfectly with my next favorite note, WOOOOOOOOD. Im a nutmeg/pepper girl, wish i got more with this one but i think for layering with another heavily spiced beauty this could be a winner. My only regret is i got the small bottle. Going back for a bigger one. :)

Sweet amber and wood shavings, the cedar plays out here but resembles sandalwood b/c of the beautiful mix with the sweetness of the amber. Very woody. I'd say orange blossom over orange citrus b/c again the sweetness of the wood/amber combo. Sure the ylang ylang can add to that. Not a ylang ylang fan but it is not a bother here. Well blended into the other beautiful notes to evolve as something completely different. I keep mentioning sweet but this is not the cloying candy sweet but rather the lumber store after a rain sweet. Cardamom is present but do not dismiss if you don't like it b/c i promise it's only there if you know to look for it. This one makes me happy. As soon as i opened the box, i got a whiff of something that made me instantly smile. Very close to what Tam Dao does for me but a bit sweeter and less straight up wood, again given by the Amber. So i think i may have found a favorite amber perfume after a very long search. Always loved the note but it's never been done quite so perfectly with my next favorite note, WOOOOOOOOD. Im a nutmeg/pepper girl, wish i got more with this one but i think for layering with another heavily spiced beauty this could be a winner. My only regret is i got the small bottle. Going back for a bigger one. :)

At first spray, I get a deep, rich, thick, sweet juicy mandarin. The soft spices unfold , wrapping around beautiful ylang ylang . Pepper and nutmeg are very soft and the cardamom is uplifting. Then the rich leather and sweet amber unfold together, adding more depth, increasing longevity, embracing the ever present delicious sweet mandarin. Myrte is as gentle as the wisps of white musk. Extremely well blended, this is the highest quality perfume, thankfully still at a reasonable price. I always enjoy this perfume in autumn, since it seems to blend so well with turning leaves and deep red sunsets. It 's especially perfect for the holiday season. This perfume lasts easily more than 12 hours on my skin, with moderate projection. Histoire d'Eau Mouboussin is a true beauty made in historically vintage fashion, using the best, richest, most natural smelling ingredients. I LOVE it !

Beeswax, honey, smoke and aged wood. My grandfather was a beekeeper. He processed the honey himself in a small wooden cabin near the beehives. Over the years, the walls became permeated with the scent of wax and honey. In the cabin was an old wood range inherited from our farmhouse kitchen. On it, my grandfather melted down the honeycombs after the honey had been extracted so that the wax could be reused. The smoke from the stove hovered in the air, adding to the ambience of the cabin. When I first tried Histoire d'Eau I was overcome with a feeling of contentment and happiness. It was only days later that I realized that it was the smell of my grandfather's little house. The scent of the perfume is very strong at first, and I like it better when it moderates, It lingers forever, especially on clothing.

Wonderful! A restrained leather like a kid glove on Easter; at times the ylang-nutmeg-pepper gives me a sense of carnations although I wouldn't consider this in the least floral. As it has developed over the past hours I get occasional whiffs of orange blossom and incense but the constant lovely note is a refined soft leather. Perhaps a bit of Nuit de Noel dabbed on a wrist and smelled through a thin white kid glove: a throwback to days when scents were elegant. I bought this blind based on Sherapop's review and am glad I did--I expect this will become the first scent I pick up every morning (until my next crush arrives). Sillage: relatively close Duration: very good so far Fabulosity: high Price to value ratio: Excellent 10/10

I have worn and tested this for a couple of months now - and have to stop now or risk suffocating other people with my fume ;) this fragrance is cardamon-incense (don't see it listed but nevertheless) goodness and I love it. the flowers are just a delightul shy lot and just add a twist to the oriental scent. The leather I didn't smell so far, but as I'm bad at distinginuishing - it might be there. Love it, feel like a VIP for finding it, and though I love the summer in Germany right now (I escaped Italy-too hot) I can't wait for autumn to wear it again. As I can't describe scents - this smells on me with the same cardamon as in Costume National-21. Love both, though this is a tad more gorgeous... Shame it's discontinued.

Vintage Gorgeousness. Truly a gift for leather lovers. Uniquely itself, rather than a repetition of other leathers I've met before. At first I smelled only musk and animalic notes, unaware that leather COULD smell like this.... Not the pungent, lemony leather of Azuree or Cabochard, but a Warm, Amber leather, tinged with spices. Great longevity, the only con is that you must be a real fan of musk to thoroughly appreciate Histoire d'Eau. In other words, Musk haters need not apply! Even a leather lover might be cautious about when to apply this classic Mauboussin. Dark, old fashioned musk is hardly my fragrance of choice in summer, even with glorious leather overtones. Autumn leather, if you will? Five Stars

That might sound weird, but for me HdE is a perfect spring scent: When I received it, it was autumn and I was already craving winter sweetness. HdE didn't serve; this strange smell, very spicy, yet not really sweet-warm, but very rough and different, was not what I had expected after reading those notes. I tested it today and in spring I love it: Those un-sweet orange peel spiced with nutmeg is pure heaven! It is mouthwatering in it's own unique way. It is still very strange, so try before you buy, if possible. --- EDIT: I sample Egoiste today and I find Histoire d'Eau and Egoiste to be butchy sisters at heart - they are very close together. Anybody agree? I need to to do a side by side comparison soon.

very unique, peculiar and comforting! with histoire d'eau i always have the same textural feeling wearing it, but fortunately it is a very interesting and pleasant one... it's as if there is a close range net of spice-rays projecting from my neck which is coated in inedible fruity juice. the image of this wonderful spices that i invariably have is beautiful dandelion seeds growing out of that juice...^^ also i think the weather can have some enhancing influence on it, particularly the humidity (maybe thus the name?). i found it crazy beautiful after rain in half closed spaces (=metro)! but, in my experience, it is always wearable.

It is a cooler late August morning, and Histoire d'Eau is a perfect accompaniment. It is sheer, luminous, but foreshadows the autumn with its resins and warm, smoky cedar. Waning summer solarity. It opens with citrus and spice with a suede sheen but an understated animalic musk peers in and eventually eclipses the top notes. The citrus segues into a cozy amber. This is a certain unisex fragrance and is a pleasure to wear. Far more complex and interesting than the price would suggest, and can still be purchased for a decent price even though it has been discontinued.

Zesty orange at the first spray, then (without any warnings) it turned quickly into animalic scent. So animalic that made me think it's a completely different fragrance! Thankfully around 10 minutes later, the orange came back but not alone, it brought with it the leather, nutmeg, cardamom, and a bit of pepper. In this phase, Histoire d'Eau is a cheerful lady with opulences, fortunes, and experiences. The dry down is warm, sweet, spicy, still orangish, and a bit leathery. The flacon is so unique, although it's a bit awkward to hold.

Christmas in a bottle! This is what this perfume is for me. A delicious concoction of candied orange and all-spice, wonderfully blended, just like in a perfect British Christmas pudding. I can detect orange, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, which smell warm and comforting... when I close my eyes and smell it, it makes me think of sitting in a warm, cosy room on Christmas eve, sipping some tea in the trembling light from the fireplace, when all is snowy and silent outside, In a few words, it is perfect "to drive the cold winter away".

I agree with 'perfumeaddict' that the name may be an allusion to "Histoire d'O", a story about more than bondage, altho it is prominently featured. But it was a novel long before a film (of which there've been a number). It was published in French in 1955 (!), and in English in 1965. Even with the leather, this is not a fragrance that makes me think of BDSM. And with the ambiguous name, those unfamiliar with the story can wear it safely as a warm feminine scent :)

I just received my Histoire d'Eau in the post. Love at first sniff! I smelled the myrtle in the base immediately, backed up by the spices and a little ylang-ylang. Lovely; like a little olifactory walk in the woods. I pronounce it a good scent for either fall or winter. Which is why I will be wearing it for the rest of this month. This is a perfect fragrance for Chypre lovers, those who love herbal scent and anyone who likes the smell of greenery.

Pure pencil shavings and flowers - it's a complete delight and a HUGE perfume. It is just a bit over to the feminine side, but guys can wear it, especially with the heavy dose of cedar. I really adore this scent - it's so unapologetically bold, and linear in two distinct paths - the wood and the florals. Definitely a late summer/fall kind of scent, something in it makes me think of transitions from one season to the next.

This was my end of year blind buy that I purchased based on all of the wonderful comments here on Fragrantica. All I can say here is "wow" Histoire d'eau Mauboussin is fantastic. It's unique, confident and energetic, and it smells like velvety suede with the creaminess of nuts, orange and spice. Such a stunning perfume.

Animalic, spicy, leather and musk! Quite a feeling of cumin and for that reason it feels like a more unisex take on Rochas Femme. In fact, recommended for lovers of Rochas Femme. Those who comment on the fragrance being light must have a different batch than mine. This is powerful and potentially even offensive!

This one made my top ten of all times from first sniff. Its so loud, confident, happy sweet-and-sour leather juicy, like absolutely nothing nor among vintages, neither from the niche. Super spicy, almost oily aromatic myrtly leather sings here for Christine Nagel. And bravo to her!

prime note di agrumi, prugna e cardamomo che virano verso un'ottima ambra mista a cuoio. non troppo caldo, adattissimo invece ad una fredda primavera. molto buono

Just beautiful! The review below is for the original Histoire d'Eau, not the Amethyst version.

So, here is what is confusing me. First, Yes, I like this. I was driving in my car with this on, and trying to figure out what it reminded me of. It has that mentholated patchouli punch to it. But now I'm back home and reading the notes and no where do I see patchouli which really surprises me. Nothing to indicate any menthol anything. This is not toothpaste mint... this spicy kicking patchouli menthol. And I remembered just now what it reminds me of in the opening: It is VERY similar to Sensuous Noir. VERY. Anyways, as always, Mauboussin is VERY well priced, and very enjoyable. The bottle looks like it belongs on Jane Jetson's dresser. COOL! Paying $25.00 for the 2.5oz was a great deal. Would I pay $65 for it? mmm, probably not. notes... mentholated something or other and that synthetic leather. Not bad. There is orange sneaking around in there. The nutmeg and cardamom really do steal the show. Interesting. yes.

Histoire d’Epice or Histoire d’Oriente would have been more appropriate names, but d’Eau? Where? But again everything about this perfume is extraordinary, from the juice to the bottle. The flacon recollects a spaceship hovering over Earth. (But beware it leaks easily if you forget to twist the sprayer to the locked position and for some reason store it on its side). It feels like the inside of a home during autumn and winter festivities. Something is baking/ brewing with orange peels and spices. I get the cardamom and nutmeg but more cinnamon than pepper. All are enveloped in a small dose of sweet amber. It’s very warming and cozy. In the late dry down I get a soft suede note, thankfully not a harsh or animalic leather. HdE was a truly unexpected gem hidden among the cheaper designer scents. That’s where I prefer to dig. Not in Niche land.

I got this as a blind buy, because I heard it was like my dear discontinued Theorema, and because it's wonderfully affordable in any case. I do get the Theorema resemblance (spice, woods, sweet-smoke, orange), though there’s more generic drugstore white musk (almost white floral?) on top in this one. With its sweet, dry smokiness, it reminds me slightly more of Black Cashmere than Theorema, but softer and not as crazy-bold, so that’s good. Doesn’t overpower. Even that drugstore white musk sweetness is rather fun, and is quite mellow and doesn’t screech at all. And the part that smells like Theorema, the orange and spice and hint of woods, is quite nice. Wish it had stronger cedar on me like Theorema did, but it’s still pretty and is worth keeping!

I am undecided about this fragrance. I did not get any of the sweet or leathery notes I had hoped for. On my skin, it turned to smokey amber and dried leaves. It very much reminded me of Autumn. I think I will have to try it again when the warmer weather arrives. I thought the bottle was very unique. I love the "suspended sphere" of liquid. I also love that the design of the bottle prevents it from tipping over. WARM WEATHER UPDATE: This fragrance has improved markedly in the warmer weather. It is much sweeter and wetter, and the myrtle tames the amber. It also smells a little sticky and resinous, and there is a wet-incense quality to it, which I like very much. Thumbs up!!

This reminds me of Opium, but light and airy. It's in that style. Deep, dark, spicy, but it's so transparent I can wear it in warmer weather when I can't wear heavy hitters and miss them. It's so hard to find, but one day there it was for really cheap. I actually looked around my physical space for people looking over my shoulder while I snagged it. On my skin it's smokey leather. It reminds me of matches or wood smoke with hints of spice and sweetness. And I loveee the bottle. It looks impossible and makes me wonder HOW and WHY! It dries to a very gentle amber. That's the word! Gentle. It feels gentle and soft and calm, yet deep and dark in its lightness.

A slightly spicier Fendi Theorema (also composed by Christine Nagel), just as warm with the golden orange peel top note, but not as sweet. The sillage is gorgeous. To all of you for whom the discontinued Theorema is out of reach because of the ridiculous price point on online discounters and auctions, Histoire d'Eau is extremely similar, and I would even venture to say, slightly more grown up. I am so happy with my blind buy, I did not expect to find a replacement for my beloved Theorema! I am stocking up! PS. The dry-down is to die-for. A very soft, drowsy, tender animalic, it is heaven!

Very unisex. Tarry leather, sharp citrus, lots of spice and a strong note of myrtle. Nothing about this fragrance is shy. It is a bit odd, to be quite honest.. and it is very strong. It radiates off of the body in bright orange waves. It makes me feel like I'm walking down a dusty, sunbaked road in Lebanon. It is very Mediterranean, but not in that easy, breezy, fresh & citrusy way. It's very "old world". A Story of Water, Histoire d'eau. I wonder if the name was inspired by the short film (1958).

Recently got this vintage from the US Ebay for a song. Smells of warm wood polished with natural scented waxes, leather, spices and amber. A bit smoky and sweet-and-sour. Quite bold and full bodied but still smooth, comforting and satisfying. Well blended. Should be great for autumn and winter if you are a cosy oriental scents lover. Perfectly unisex. Longevity is more than 8 hours with moderate projection

forêt - we can still go back and edit reviews after they have been posted. Lower right corner - dots. Click there. This perfume is quite unusual and completely unisex. It smells like drinking a citrus soda in, or near, a fragrant souk. Or a witch's potion room with a caldron over a fire and brown bottles of potion ingredients.

Thanks to orange and a solar quality it strongly reminds me of Attraction de Lancome. It has a strong and herbal opening, with the orange waiting in the backgroud. The solar quality lifts the floral notes and the drydown is pale and orangey-warm

A warm, interesting scent...tried it blindly as the notes persuade me to. I'm all about spicy blends these days...Spice, leather, sweetness...all mixed in a powerful punch. It's a different scent that is casual and feminine. I like it!

This was a blind buy for me and a very successful one at that! It opens with a sweet Amber, woody smell and smells strangely Moreish! It's spicy, anamalic and a lovely autumn/winter scent for me.

Forgotten fragrance but worth a try if it crosses your path. Like Davidoff Zino shot through with rays of sunlight, honey and beeswax.

121 Blind buy...Interesting bottle! DALEKS "EXTERMINATE"! Yes, a whisper of Theorema, but not the strength nor complexity! I don't know where reviewers are getting that this is strong, but it disappears within 10 minutes and the ending smells like faint pencil shavings. I really feel disappointed as the notes and the reviews were contrary to my experience. I wish it was more based on the notes! It's WEAK, pleasant, with orange-citrus notes on opening. Then pencil shavings. Not much in-between. Tested on skin, fabric, and as air freshener-all were weak! I'll try it in hot weather... For now, this is going in my bathroom spray collection. Save your money! Would not repurchase. 2/10-pleasant sweet orange-citrus aroma, a little musty. Edit: Tried this on a warm day and sprayed heavily, I mean my shirt was damp, and it was still mildly weak and didn't project much. Meh :P Nothing special!

I think PepeSilvia might've been confused with associating this scent with Chanel Egoiste Cologne Concentree because Egoiste is all about rose, spices, sandalwood and tonka. Perhaps it's the Topaze version? As for this original version, one person on another website associated it with Serge Lutens Daim Blond--this description I can relate to...to a certain extent. Histoire d'Eau is much like a suede (daim) perfume, but the way this scent executes is awfully harsh with this underlying bitter medicinal undertone. Histoire's lofty notes are very much like Daim Blond, probably because it does smell like the apricot pits of Daim Blond, but pondering on this further, I think an aldehyde note is used rather than a true leather note that's putting this scent into wack and preventing it from giving forth clarity.

I blind bought this after watching Dana from "A Nose Knows" wonderful review. It's my bad for not checking more throughly but ylang ylang is one of those notes that never agrees with me so this perfume was unfortunately a fail for me. I can't tell you much more than it has an interesting spicy/warm but not overly heavy feel as the ylang ylang meant I could only stand it for half an hour before I had to wash it off. I get some lovely ambers sniffing the bottle itself without spraying. It smells more oriental than floral to me. The bottle is super cool. If you live in Australia and would like to try this please send me a message and I would be happy to send it to you rather than see it go to waste x

Someone here mentioned, it smells like old, tar, wooden boat. I was so curious, because of this originally written rewiew (which unfortunately disappeared) - yes. It smells like old, tar, wooden boat.

I have been curious about Mauboussin HISTOIRE D'EAU for quite some time, always tempted to buy blind since it's being nearly given away for free, but I'm trying to curb my bad habits from the past and avoid accumulating bottles that I'll never use. Happily, awesomeness came to the rescue with a sample. Now, what do I think? First impression: what a surprise! I had no idea what this was about: spices and leather. I, like others, was persuaded by the name that HISTOIRE D'EAU was going to be an aquatic fragrance, when nothing could be further from the truth. I am intrigued by one reviewer's interpretation, according to which 'eau' is homonymic for 'O' and this perfume is about leather and bondage! Hmmm... The scent is quite likeable and of much higher quality than I had been expecting, to be honest, at this price point. (I was in fact fearing a scrubber...) Of course it's also true that I have found that many of these sorts of apparently cheap fragrances were composed by big noses and often these sorts of houses do not make the tragic mistake of reformulation, thus what survive are quite decent perfumes at incredible prices. HISTOIRE D'EAU features cardmamom, nutmeg, and pepper all light enough to form a pleasing melange along with the equally light leather note. This is a nice, eminently wearable, all-occasion oriental perfume. My perceptions of this creation vary a lot depending upon whether I dab or spray. The leather becomes much more prominent when I spray, but either way, I like this a lot!

I think the dried fruit and spices are what makes me think of ketchup when I first spray this on. I really don't like it, but I can bear it. As time goes on, though, I begin to like it more and more. I'm not sure if I get used to it, or if the top notes have subsided enough and then blend nicely with the rest of the notes. I don't find this to be "synthetic," nor can I think of anything else "wrong" with this fragrance. I have a large rotation, and sometimes a fragrance gets passed over because I just find myself reaching for something else, but this one I do keep coming back to, usually about once a month at this point. For me, this is a bit more "masculine" and interesting than Cuir de Lancome, though the leather there is more obvious (not a "good" or "bad" thing). This is my soft leather whereas The Knize Ten is my harsh leather fragrance. It lasts a long time, but my guess is that the top notes create olfactory fatigue issues for a lot of people, so you might want to try avoiding the top notes as much as possible if you want to smell this several hours after application. If price is taken into account, I'd rate this 9 out of 10 (if you like the notes, of course). I don't get any wood notes at all, so if you are like me and are tired of the common chemicals used to create a cedar effect these days, don't worry about finding it in here.

Historie, has just arrived in the post, as I found a 40ml bottle on Ebay for a steal. So I opened it straight away and have had one spray for testing. 2 mins in, my initial thoughts are: wow, what a strange scent. Then 10 minutes later its, ok, this is definitely different. At this point,I can't make out any particular notes and until its settled from travel fatigue, I won't try to. As I've learnt that letting a scent settle, is very important and most recently I've done this and gone back to a fragrance after 2 weeks and immediately found that the scent was completely different from how I first experienced it. So whilst I'm not immediately in love with it. I don't dislike it and haven't concluded anything concrete about it. I will admit though, that I dont understand it and it reminds me of a strange wild child..And I would even say that its quite niche leaning. As its not a generic kind of scent, which is intriguing. I would even go as far to say that its a much more likable relative of Kenzo le Elephant. As its warm, spicy, ambery but its much, more smoother, boozer and rounded and less aggressive. So I would say that this is a scent that is for someone who is completely comfortable in their own skin, and isn't afraid to be different, but in a quiet unassuming way. But slightly jumbled.

I've been sampling amber scents for a while to find my favorite, and Histoire d'Eau is the one for me. It combines a sweet resinous amber base with lively herbal and peppery top notes and longer lasting orange and spice notes, and it just ticks all of the boxes on my amber perfume want list. it much more intriguing to wear than some of the simpler ambers I've tried. I love its soft leatheriness. It omits the vanilla found in many ambers, which makes me very happy since I am not a lover of vanilla. I don't find HdE heavy and suffocating, which is how Prada Amber feels on me. Like Hermes' Elixir des Merveilles, HdE invigorates amber with some juicy orange, but Histoire d'Eau, in the EDT format, lasts longer on me and feels more luxurious than EdM, and at a much more affordable price. Histoire d'Eau has warmed and renewed my spirits during this long, snowy winter, and I'm so glad I ordered it as a blind buy, based on all the great reviews here.

Today it smells like autumn where I live, so I decided to unpack my recently acquired Histoire d’Eau and give it a try. Judging by the notes (pepper and other spices), I assumed it should be good for autumn. And it proved to be so – autumn and Histoire d’Eau are meant for each other. Histoire d’Eau is a stunning oriental spicy. Edgy and peppery in the beginning; opulent, warm and comforting with dry spiciness and woodiness in the heart; and ambery sweet with musk and leather tones at the base. I am at work now, keeping my nose to my wrist and unable to concentrate on my tasks. This fragrance creates a pensive mood and makes me long for solitude, a lonesome walk in the woods, inhaling the smell of dry leaves and pine needles, wood resins and my precious Histoire d’Eau, looking back on what is gone and reconciling myself with the past. History... It’s a good name for this fragrance.

Is this the intermediate species between the classic amber oriental and the Lutens cedar oriental? Its 2002 birth date tells me no, but my nose says it could be. Histoire d’Eau is a smoky, spicy cedar/amber. There is just enough sweet amber to fall into the Shalimar camp, and enough cedar and fruit to be an SL Bois. It also has an opacity that sits right between Shalimar’s richness and SL’s transparency. Unfortunately, the middle ground is not necessarily the ripest locale for inspiration. I can’t help but feel with a few tweaks, this could have been spectacular. I’ve only smelled SL’s Daim Blond once, and while Hd’E does smell like it a bit at the outset, it doesn’t hang together like Daim Blond. It doesn’t so much fall apart as become flatter over the course of the heart. It rallies a bit in the drydown, leaving a pleasant but unexciting spicy cedar.

My mom fell in love with this perfume, and I ordered her one of the last bottles in an online perfume shop. It just arrived today, and I must say, I don't understand why they must discontinue such a unique scent! This isn't like anything I have ever smelled before! The only fragrance which distantly reminded me of it was Montana (which my mom also loved and used to wear in the 90s). Of course, I had to test this! It's not the kind of perfume I would wear, because I find it too strong... Yet, on my skin it settled into a very tame oriental floral, and I can swear I smell rose petals! On my mom's wrist, however, the cardamom and pepper are very present, and I agree with everything said previously about Autumn - this smells like burning autumn leaves. A dry, smokey, spicy but not too peppery, still very feminine scent. Truly one of a kind!

An inexpensive blind buy that I don't regret. This is a unisex scent in my opinion, with a strong middle eastern vibe. Took about 15 minutes for it to calm down and transition into a spicy suede accord. When the amber and ylang make an entrance around the 2 hour mark they mingle together with other notes I can't really distinguish and stay to the end. Picked mine up for a bargain and it smells much more expensive than the $27 I spent. Great sillage and longevity, about 5 hours on me before it turns into a skin scent. Shout out to the bottle designer: wow, such a strange but cool design with a plastic cylinder suspending the perfume inside (Instagram worthy!) Hubs likes it too.

I love the bottle of this fragrance and the rich color, but that is the limit of my affection, here. The massive Mauboussin was such a successful blind buy for me that I thought Histoire would be a repeat. Indeed, these accords look right up my color wheel, but this fragrance doesn't work for me on any level, I'm sorry to say. I got a greater sense of powdery musk than others seem to mention here. I passed this fragrance along to a person who was pleased to receive it. As with the other Mauboussin, I'm impressed by the locking mechanism on the sprayer-- it's great to know you can travel with a perfume and not worry about accidentally soaking all your things!

Smell it side by side with Chanel's Coco and tell me what you think. They are sisters. H d'E reminds me of what Coco smelled like in the early to mid 90's, when it still had some civet, before new IFRA regulations started slashing their way through the Achilles' tendons of so many wonderful perfumes. Histoire opens with a keen spicy orange juice smell, and the animal note is taken care of by the smell of honey and beeswax. You can smell white flower, but it isn't overwhelmingly sweet. As perfumes go it's rich and heady, with more of a perfume smell than I usually like, but before it was hamstrung I adored Coco, and this is a lovely jolt to my memory.