Delphine Jelk knows heat. Literally and figuratively. It’s high summer when I hop on a video call with the Guerlain perfumer, and Paris is deep in a historical heatwave. “Air conditioning in Europe… we are not very good at it” she says. “We can’t sleep without it, it’s crazy… so we definitely need ice everywhere!”
The wall behind the desk in Jelk’s office is covered in imagery and ephemera in ice blue; a vision board that seems to speak to the moment. But it has less to do with feeling cool than conjuring heat — the heat of the moment, to be exact, when day turns to night and that feeling of limitless possibility takes hold.
The legendary perfumer — one of just a few female creators in the fragrance world — has been working on a new interpretation of Guerlain’s L’Heure Bleue for the past three years. The fruit of her labors lands on counters today, along with a collection of Rouge G lipstick cases inspired by the blue hour, that elusive transition just after sunset and before the magic of the darkness ensues.
The original L’Heure Bleue, one of Guerlain’s most iconic perfumes, was first created over a century ago by Jacques Guerlain himself as a tribute to his wife and great love, Andrée “Lili” Bouffet. To recreate the scent for a modern wearer, Jelk leaned in to new synthetic fragrance molecules that were not available at the time of the original, such as Cascalone, “to express the scent of the sky,” but “kept the soul” of the fragrance by combining notes of orange flower, vanilla and two types of iris — a tincture distilled from roots and a unique iris butter — for a powdery softness “that almost smells like marshmallow” and stays on skin. “For me, it was the way Jacques Guerlain translated the idea of the blue hour in a poetic way,” she says.
Guerlain would no doubt approve of the all new L’Heure Bleue, and how it profoundly brings to life the vision of this serene, yet wildly optimistic time of day for a new generation. “I translated this idea as romantic, blurred shades of blue — there are no straight lines,” Jelk says. “The day is ending, night is coming, everything is possible.” In French, there is a saying to capture the feeling, which translates loosely to ‘between dogs and the wolf,’ she says. “I know there is nothing like this in English,” Jelk laughs.
While the aroma conjures romance, it is decidedly not stereotypical. “In the perfume shop, it’s usually pink for girls and blue for boys, but I really like this idea of blue for girls,” Jelk admits. “It’s like a boyfriend shirt that you wear a bit oversized, it’s a very authentic and true femininity, you don’t have to scream that you exist, you just live your life.” A romantic notion, indeed.
Guerlain L’Heure Bleue costs $180 for 100ml. Scoop it up here.
