Yesterday 2 little words, with a good helping hand from Google
led me down a twisty-turny path...
Those 2 words:"Paris Blue"
are something I've been around for 6+ years, two days a week
and never given much thought.
But when seen out of context I had to find out more...
But when seen out of context I had to find out more...
Paris Blue is really the French version of Prussian Blue,
also known as Iron Blue, Berlin Blue, Antwerp Blue, Chinese Blue, Steel Blue.
It was first made by colormaker Diesbach in Berlin around 1704.
Searching for PARIS BLUE I came up with Soir de Paris, a perfume made by BOURJOIS in 1928.
Hmmm...not what I expected at all.
Look at these beautiful "Paris Blue" glass bottles!!
Instant love...
Look at these beautiful "Paris Blue" glass bottles!!
Instant love...
And look at this glam poster - so evocative of the 50'sThere are many more of these and you can own them!
Quite a few online sites are selling empty vintage perfume bottles..Isn't this tasseled purse flacon dreamy?
A bit of history on BOURJOIS...In 1863, Monsieur Alexandre Napoleon Bourjois was busy concocting
superior makeup for actresses. He came up with the first powder blush,
Pastel Joues. The fashion spread from the theatre to the masses.
You can still find these little round pots of blush in Monoprix.
The perfumes came later...
I love this bit of BOURJOIS vintage advertising.Just 2 weeks...14 days till I am there
in PARIS!
So yesterday while searching for the color Paris Blue, on an impulse I bought the vintage perfume bottle I painted above..
The description reads:
A small amount of eau de cologne is left in this vintage Evening in Paris cobalt blue perfume bottle. Original silver cap. Original silver paper label must have been made for consumption in France as it reads: Soir de Paris which means Evening in Paris in French.
This is where impulse control comes in or the lack there of.
Impulse control disorder is a set of psychiatric disorders including intermittent explosive disorder (hot-headedness), kleptomania (stealing [shots?]), pathological gambling, pyromania (fire-starting) and trichotillomania (pulling one's hair out) says Wikipedia.
Uh OH!
Well...I did control my impulses at the CHANEL parfum counter...
And this little bottle only cost $12... Google is a dangerous place to set foot in if you lack impulse control.
Learn from my bad example and stay clear :)
Love your little watercolored bottles. I think I had some of that perfume once. (or I had some in a tiny blue bottle that color, anyway. I forget the name of it.) Beautiful colors. Fun post--you must be getting really psyched to head back to see your muse. ;))
ReplyDeleteMy mother had that bottle on her dressing table...
ReplyDeleteWho even has a dressing table any more?
You brought back lots of nice memories today :)
x Annie
Beautiful blues.
ReplyDeleteI see we are giddy with excitement for the Paris take off date. I think the impusle buy was a good one.. I can see many paintings coming with that it them.. a very good investment. ;-) I also remember a small bottle similar to that, that my Grandmother and Mother had and used, simply called 'Evening in Paris'. Probably was cologne but it was bottled in blue, and I loved it. Paris meant Romance to me even then.
ReplyDeleteI posted an old tea cup on my post last night that was my Aunts Grandmother's, who was born in 1880, so it's really old & was broken in an earthquake in CA, but has that intense blue in the design.
Cool post today.
Looks like we share another love besides watercolor!
ReplyDeleteThe color BLUE!
YUM
Really nice.....love that bleu!!! I think the genie is in these bottles, conjuring up a little anticipation along with memories....Soir de Paris...coming up! You lucky duck!
ReplyDeleteOOPS..I really need to wake up more in the mornings before writing.. My Aunts MOTHER was born in 1880 and the tea cup was HER mothers.
ReplyDeleteJ'adore les bleus!
ReplyDeleteEt les bleus marine c'est le meilleure!
We Brits also have Bristol Blue glass (made in the city of Bristol), the recipe for which was brought to us I think by the Romans.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_blue_glass
PS: your blog gives me a daily 'fix' of nice things to look at.
Gorgeous painting. I love those bottles. I had a look at the posters too I think I NEED some of these. As always happens when you do all your colour posts the colour blue (Paris Blue no less)caught my eye this morning... my cat's food bowl, my exercise ball and the lid of my daughter's formula tin. Hopefully when I leave the house I will see more interesting blue things. Looking forward to your blog when you return to Paris. Leanne
ReplyDeleteA very beautiful post! Look, what 12 Dollars can do for one's imagination: Priceless!
ReplyDeleteI googled for Preußischblau and found this website, which gives you the different color names, also in languages other than German.
A very beautiful post! Look, what 12 Dollars can do for one's imagination: Priceless!
ReplyDeleteI googled for Preußischblau and found this website, which gives you the different color names, also in languages other than German.
I remember scraping my pennies together so I could buy my mother a 50 cent bottle (about as big as your little finger) of Evening in Paris for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI loved to look at the bottle and I liked the way it smelled, too.
BTW, Mom was a Chanel #5 girl, a scent I will forever associate with her. I'm all for CoCo, myself.
BECS
ReplyDeleteYou will be pleased to know that the same perfumer,Ernest Beaux created Soir de Paris AND Chanel No.5!
love all these shades of blue! I have a problem with impulse when it comes to food, cookbooks and bags!
ReplyDeletesuch beautiful blues arriving in my inbox... they remind me of our Bristol Blue glassware, but with more romance :-)
ReplyDeleteFrom one person with poor impulse control to another, I'd say that was $12 well spent :-)
P.S. The banner looks great!
ReplyDeleteGood purchase, if you ask me! I love these old bottles, and the little old pots de rouge, too.
ReplyDeleteAh, my innocent one, you are so very, very limited in your view: The ENTIRE WORLD is a very dangerous place if you lack impuse control! Believe me, I speak from sad, but thrilling, experience.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of things Parisian from our mothers, my mother had a notepad of paper called "Evening in Paris". It was about 5 x 8 inches and the sheet was ombre - blue to pink, like the Parisian sky - or even the Kansas sky on a winter evening. I coveted that paper so! I retain a paper obsession to this day.
Love the blue bottles, you have captured their beauty and color to perfection!
ReplyDeleteI love all the wonderful things you have on your blog and I love to just look at each wonderful little morsel of goodness...
ReplyDeleteTres Magnifique!
My mother had a bottle of that scent and I used to love sniffing the few drops left in it. Your post brought back many memories... Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHere is a book for you, Carol:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.fr/G%C3%A9n%C3%A9rations-Bourjois-Genevi%C3%A8ve-Fontan/dp/2911955226/ref=sr_1_1/402-2950071-0705717?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190100321&sr=1-1
Paris blue ... blue Paris ...
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/99/316714942_2b6dcf01ed_m.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/119/316714941_9aa1d82422_m.jpg
http://paris16info.blogspirit.com/images/medium_img_17435.jpg
http://www.m6info.fr/cms/upload/docs/image/jpeg/nuit_blanche_paris28.jpg
http://blabla.blog.lemonde.fr/files/concorde1.jpg
NOW I will never look at my "bleu-de-Prusse" car in the same way... I will drive it as a jewel case !!!
Impulse control? What's that?...
ReplyDeleteBlue bottles are the best. My latest fav' blue watercolor color is Indanthrone blue (similar to Prussian, but non-staining). I seem to be using it in everything.
Dear Jeanette, Mistress of Longears
ReplyDeleteDon't you know you can NEVER warn someone off Impulse Control???
It helps if you can spell it too. Which shows a certain lack of I.C. to me.. Don't worry, I mispelled it too when I wrote this post-
"Implus" sounds better IMO.
I have been led by I.C. so much it's downright ridiculous!
Would PARIS BREAKFASTS be here if I had plenty of I.C.?
I think not...
MERCI Marie-Noëlle!
Ever the research queen you have opened new doors for me. Now I MUST go to GRASSE or else! TANKS :)
TLB I have always avoided Indenthrone like the plague. Don't know why but now I WILL try it!
I am glad all your memory bottles were uncapped..mine too :)
How very lovely is everything you post.............Those bottles are fabulous and so are you!
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
Gave you a shout-out here:
ReplyDeletehttp://wbjewelry.blogspot.com/2007/09/soon-blogs-
will-be-considered-old-media.html
Let me know how the Indanthrone experiement works out for you. I use Daniel Smith's version. It is creamy and luscious and completely scrub-outable (an important attribute in my painting!), and 'plays well with others'. Truely my current new favorite on my palette.
ReplyDelete"Midnight Poison" by Dior would love to join that Paris/Prussian-blue party...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sephora.fr/browse/product.jhtml?id=P50124&shouldPaginate=true&categoryId=DIOR
Hi , I found your blog when i Gooogled 'Soir de Paris' perfume bottle. My grandmother had a small bottle which came in a little blue box shaped like a door with two tiny pairs of shoes outside ,(a mans and a womans ). I loved looking at it and i always hope to come across one in online auctions.Your painting of the bottles is lovely . What an interesting site !
ReplyDeleteReally nice.....love that bleu!!! I think the genie is in these bottles, conjuring up a little anticipation along with memories....Soir de Paris...coming up!
ReplyDeleteLucky duck