Bleu de Prusse (Rouhanne Perfumes, 2024)

Bleu de Prusse (2024) by Rouhanne Perfumes begins with a zesty orange peel with a lemon note. The reduced intensity of orange peel offers a subtle incense note with some expected astringency. It then reminds me of crushed blood orange leaves, chenpi (aged mandarin orange peel – an oft-used materials in Chinese medicines and incenses). I also get cut-grass, sweet chamomile tea, marigold, hibawood, kunzea, and angelical root type bitter herbaceous smell. The camphoraceous quality also reminds me of the top notes of lavender absolute, and lavandin e/o. There is an almost stylised minty (i.e., cooling) smell and sensation from the start. These are surrounded by a dark blue slightly inky cloud (that later morphs into a fog). However, these are less noticeable on drier skin.

After 2-3 mins, the smell reminds me of a dark green and blue oud oils (due to azulene usually found in some A. malaccensis that later becomes green to yellowish through oxidation) from Indo-Malay regions that later becomes fruity (various berries), slightly sweet, balsamic and incensy. BdP’s initial astringencies reminds me of the almost blueish green, astringent, spicy and slightly aquatic sea breeze inflected gentle fruity qualities of Caliph (HabzOud), Ibn Zamrak (Al Hashimi), Brunei Kinam (Ensar Oud, especially ‘blue’ part), top notes of green kinam slivers on a Subitism heater at very low temperature, and similar top-grade agarwood chips and oils with medicinal and balsamic nuances. Some of these facets are found in some (red, purple and black) berries, blue cypress, star anise, cinnamon, camphor, mint, fig leaf, liquorish, vanilla, styrax, benzoin and myrrh and possibly protium too. I am oud guy, so this is good for me.

Bleu de Prusse (2024) by Rouhanne Perfumes

BdP has fresh, dark, astringent and incensy green facets - all elegantly balanced to evoke with a slightly blueish bent. So, in that sense, it has quite a lot of similarities with Chypre de Coty (Coty) in terms of its dark to pastel green transitions (over many hours), sans the blue. On the other hand, it does not have the prominent peach inflection (β-Undecalactone) or the similar transition of Mitsuoko. To me it is all about playing with various shades of blue with supports from many green and camphoraceous elements.

Around 15 minutes, geranium/fresh rose otto type bright, fizzy, and citrusy sweetness are now clearly noticeable. They were buried under the verdant, astringent and camphoraceous notes. The subdued greens, and blue gives me a fig leaf type bitter smell with a subtle sweetness.

Spices: The spicy notes are beautifully integrated here. So far, I noticed a buddha wood e/o (head-mid spicy nuances), star anise and zanthoxylum.  Zanthoxylum smells like a combination of SL cinnamon, clove, stock flower (eugenol), and star anise with some kunzea, and smoke tree type aquas astringencies. There is a touch spicy/musky rose facets (adjacent to rose's sweetness) in the background too. They are so well-fused that it is not easy to identify them unless one is ‘looking’ for them. So far, BdP is about astringent green and citruses smells with some balsams and raisins, woody green and subtle leathers. It's almost as if the spices are working amongst them as a balancing act.

Slowly a sappy, greenish, and astringent galbanum becoming prominent as the top notes (of the lemon, orange peel, camphoraceous, mentholic and herbaceous smells) as they are slowly moving to the background. Similarly, oakmoss getting more prominent - specifically, its foresty dark green smell, and dark woody smell that we get from oakmoss absolute – always pulsating in the background. I wish the orange peel lasted few hours like in some rare Hainanese ouds oil.

On my dry skin, I noticed a soft leathery quality. It is also slightly vanillic and balsamic - possibly due to labdanum, vanilla, benzoin, styrax, Spanish hay and tonka bean. Note that the hay smell (coumarin) is quite common in other materials.

Florals: A sweet rose with hints of honey and slightly muted (read ‘leafy’) rose geranium are quite on me. I am referring to rose absolute, or some of the common molecules that found in rose absolutes (which tend to last a lot longer on skin than rose otto), rose geranium (aka, geranium bourbon) (=> rhodinol, citronellol, geraniol, etc) and some floral (violet), and fruits (sable grapes, raspberry, & possibly blackberry) molecules/isolates – alpha and beta ionones and others.

The sweetness of rose, geranium and aquas, mineralic, and blueish green smells similar to hyacinth, blue/pink lotus imparts ephemeral and alluring qualities. It feels like a combination of something sweet, alpha pinene, cis-3-hexanol, flinty notes of angelical root, luban, styrax, and opoponax and some fruity floral isolates and molecules. I’m partial to florals. So, I wish the florals were a bit more prominent.

On my well moisturised skin (upper arm), I get a green, tea-, and chamomile-like smell with some raw resins’ facets - more specifically, the smell I get from my hand after handling frankincense, myrrh and opoponax resins. I am still unsure how to define this ‘koshti’ smell.

Around 40 mins, the blue inky ‘winter fog’ is now almost in the background. A restrained sweetness is getting more prominent. A composite fruity sweetness, light aquas sweetness of sappy galbanum, earthy, and green leather of oakmoss[1] and some other green facets along with rose and the aforementioned subtly sweet and warm spicy accord becomes more prominent.

After an hour, I noticed a pleasant wormwood and clary sage like smell for the first time on my upper arm. And occasionally like elemi. All the while, a foggy backdrop of dark blue inky smell still persists.

The slowly subsiding minty/cooling effect is still detectable. Now, if I inhale longer, I get this cooling sensation of menthol, xylitol, peppermint type chewing gums - but not spearmint ones.

Now a slowly emerging tea/chamomile, and subtle and flinty sweet notes of tonka, some dry stone-fruits and muted green leather combination reminds me of similar smells in Vol de Nuit (extrait), Dryad (Papillon), and especially, Hera (Papillon). This greenish leathery facet with an earthy whisper remains until the oud, resin and balsams take over in the deep trail. The bitter sweet and camphoraceous smells now reminds me of the fig leaf and balsamic notes in 20edp (Bogue Profumo). In warmer weather, this perfume evocations will appear earlier.

Overtime, the less pronounced green facets becomes more discernible. Now the overall composition’s bluish green smell reminds me of Nebula 1: Orion (2017 EdP version, Oliver & Co.). But in Orion, the smell is almost icy, aloof and its sombreness is more austere, with some bright sparkles in the dark sky, so to speak. It also has the scratchy thin plastic smell. In BdP, we do not have any of that plastic or overtly sombre smells. But it has some dark nuances that appear less sparingly and are directed towards a balsamic trail with a gentle sweetness and leather.

Slowly, a balsamic sweet accord adds a calming counterbalance to the overall scent profile. The oudy incense facets here have a distant humming quality. But the balsamic hum is quite clear – similar to labdanum, opoponax (hint of its heart once the flinty top disappears), possibly myrrh, and protium resins (when you heat them up). Still unsure, but I think that the blue thing throughout the transition has some similarities with green-blue Omani frankincense tears’ top notes on Subitism heater.

The slightly sweet woody notes, bittersweet, gently camphoric and the fig leaf like notes remind me of blue cypress, and perhaps a touch of jade wood and blue hemlock. Though softened, galbanum’s green astringent smells are still prominent. In some instances, I noticed gentle whiffs of Virginian cedar (or, could be from hibawood) and something piney. Other astringent greenish, spicy, rooty smells I'm getting are the top notes of angelica root, (nose tingling, cooling, slightly greenish or in bitters smell), ambrette seed absolute, ambrettolide, and marigold essential oils.

Two hours in, I really like how the overall very smooth vernal smell is - nodding towards vintage perfumes or classic perfumes, like Coty Chypre, Channel No 19 (extrait) and vintage Von Vert (Bal Balmain) and a few more – but with added hints of dark bluish and incensy astringent sappiness. So far, this composition has been quite aloof, but not as aloof as, say, Channel No 19. Both No 19 and BdP are formal in different ways. BdP’s greenness has this bluish tonality (unlike in no 19), whereas No 19 is more fizzy, brighter green.

Around 3.5 hours later, I get this fougere-like greenish aromatic note. If you recall, the aforementioned bitter sweetness now has a slightly violet candy smell, followed by a vanillic castoreum type leather with a creamy note. I can now smell the woody and slightly sweetish qualities (with greenish territory) of oakmoss. So is the galbanum in the presence of that slight candy sweetness, which gives a slightly chalky smell – possibly due to its dusty, bitter-sweet candy evocation. That bitterness reminds me of heart and trail of wormwood and myrrh, styrax and opoponax.

Around 4 hours, the deep heart and early trail is loaded with a subtly greenish chypre with touches of tonka bean and various balsamic inflections. Now the humming quality of Isobutyl Quinoline (IBQ) is quite evident. Usually, oakmoss is easily discernible for its dark green and woody smells in the trail – both as neat and in many old school compositions. In BdP, those are tempered more prudently with modern sensibility. Through careful dosing, IBQ modified and extended the overall greenish leather accord. Consequently, oakmoss is brighter and less leathery and woody in the heart and trail. It assists finer nuances of tonka, some balsams and resins to shine better. Thus, it contributes to render some ‘fougere sprinkles’ to the classical chypre structure.

The trail is in a balsamic leather territory. There is a touch of oakmoss is still present – a green hue inflected leather and subtly woody. That sweet bitterness now evokes an odd smell of stone fruits. In some stone fruits, you’ll taste and smell a slight bitterness when you accidentally bite the stone – for e.g., plum, apricot, etc. I get that kind of smell, albeit at a low dose. This bittersweetness is more noticeable when I inhale BdP longer.

Now the sweetness has similarities with tonka bean, vanilla, hay absolute and some Cambodian and Trat ouds (dry fruit and hay inflected, slightly boozy balsamic notes) - also common in some Burmese ouds. The raspberry types leather reminds me of some raspberry ketones and sweet castoreum. And by implication, similar raspberries facets are also common in some rose absolutes, but I don't think it is detectable during in the dry down. Maybe the musky facet of rose is doing something in the background. But one thing for sure, the castoreum or similar aromatics are playing an important role here.

Despite various bitter and somewhat esoteric notes (modern perfume market-wise) being persistent until the deep heart, this composition is quite smooth throughout. They come across like a very smooth ‘seesawing’ accord with other elements. They also play an important role in its evocation of reminiscing a distant sombre mood.

Around 7 hours, the blue fog dissipates entirely. Now it is balsamic (tonka, hay, various balsams, incenses and ouds) with subtle fruity notes and a wispy astringent leather. If you like classic chypres and want something blue, aloof and sombre, Bleu de Prusse is worth sampling.

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[1] Oakmoss’s woody and slightly sweetish qualities (within green territory) become prominent later – in deep heart and early trail.