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arefjew.sergey – :
Based on my small sample of Jicky, I far prefer Eau D’Hermes. I am addicted to it. It smells so much like amazing man parts I can’t believe it doesn’t include musk. Yes, spicy citrus, but I think what smooths the whole thing out to me into a completely soft, drinkable yum that is not angular or sharp anywhere is the combination of lavender, cardamom and clove. I don’t get too much vanilla in it, just enough, which makes me happy. Jicky dries down a bit more powdery to me, though I’ve not tried it enough yet to be certain, and the Hermes has better projection for me without being too brash, which I’m often in the mood for. It smells fresh and beautiful but somehow also makes my mind wander and yes, I’d call it dirty. I’m working on a 7,5 ml sample, copper top, and will get a full bottle soon.
I like to wear this with other florals or tropicals when I want to add a little more “musky” spice. I’m looking forward to trying several of the other mentions on this page, including a sample of Habit Rouge in the coming months.
gev80 – :
I loooooove old fashioned scents for wearing at home and I stumbled upon this. I love leather, skank/animal, powdery, soapy, green vintage scents.
I have the current available version, and it just came. I snuck a quick tissue test. Citrus skank (clean sweat) in a non-offensive way. A very simple version of Jicky. I have the current EDP of Jicky- and it’s very herbal/lavender in addition to the citrus/skank/vanilla. This Hermes is just a simple citrus-light leather (sweat) to me. I don’t find Hermes or Jicky to be “dirty”. I don’t get anything like sex or balls. (lol)
Both ED’H and Jicky have a certain “vomit” like feeling, but ED’H is quite less/toned down compared to Jicky. When I wore Jicky and worked up a sweat cleaning– I could actually taste the vomit in the back of my throat. Jicky is for LAZY days. Do not work out. I’m not sure about ED’H yet. 😉
This does remind me of my Grandpa tho– who always wore a wool sweater vest- even in summer, and always smelled of organic actual perspiration (not B.O. as in body odor) which is why I call it clean sweat.
Overall, my quick test is like an old fashioned barber shop. Shaving cream and bit of sweat/leather/skin. This is another scent I call “dandy” because it’s like a 1800s-1950s man in a suit– undoubtedly sweating under all those layers: undershirt, vest, suit jacket, etc… But he’s still sophisticated and dapper.
I think I will put this on when I get home and update soon!
I have an orange box/orange label, black cap, and batch code 4DAAM- April 2014.
newshareman – :
Review on vintage formula from 7-80s
It reminds me of several strands of vintage feminines. For the works of Edmond Roudnitska himself I get some comparisons with Miss Dior, Diorella and Eau Sauvage, much of the base notes of Eau d’Hermes. And there are surely some other layers, mainly of the floriental part, resemblence to several works of Guy Robert, including Madame Rochas, Calache Hermes.
I must admit that I didn’t get too much impressed at first, because it’s more or less a simple one-to-one combination of Madame Rochas and Habit Rouge EDT (current formula, mostly wherein the combo of lemon, leather and civet), or more simply Guerlain Jicky EDT without vanilla… But as minutes pass, it reveals itself something different: soft, gentle and maturely feminine floral notes with a restrained leathery touch that commonly seen in many vintage Hermes fragrances. Besides there is some accord that smells like realistic osmanthus more than any other alleged osmanthus fragrances in recent years. All these notes are perfectly blended with Eau Sauvage (maybe I should say the blueprint of Eau Sauvage given it releases 15 years later). Really a crafted feminine scent and not so hard to get a vintage bottle yet.
Note: Any one without current label in bracket means vintage formula.
Rating: 7.5-8/10
lihachev – :
Eau d’Hermes is a glorious blend of hesperidic and animalic accords that surprises and delights in its contrasts. It’s essentially a leathery take on a traditional citrus aromatic cologne, with a generous dose of spices, florals and funk.
Master perfumer Edmond Roudnitska’s trademark touch is apparent right from the citrusy herbal opening, which hints at what was to come with his later Eau Sauvage for Dior. Lavender and geranium add a floral tenderness to the opening salvo of bergamot, but there’s no heidone to elevate and freshen the floral-citrus medley, as in Eau Sauvage. Instead, Eau d’Hermes pulls in the other direction, towards an animalic-spicy heart that hints at warm skin. A pop of cardamom, which is often unfavorably but somewhat accurately compared with sweat, is bolstered by birch-heavy leather. It’s remarkably intimate without veering towards the lewd or skanky. The tonka and sandalwood notes add a creaminess that gives Eau d’Hermes a Jicky-like warmth in its animalic base.
This is wonderful stuff. If I didn’t already own Jicky, Eau Sauvage and Bel Ami – Hermes’ next leather masterpiece, released more than three decades later – I would be hunting down a bottle of this immediately.
Strogg13 – :
Madame et Monsieur, imagine if you will—the gifted perfumier Edmond Roudnitska crafting the premier fragrance for luxury brand Hermès, in mid-century Paris. Voilà! What we have here is nothing less than what you might reasonably expect—and hope for. Eau d’ Hermes is exquisite, elegant and nostalgic, although the civet appears to be completely gone. Nothing at all dirty, here. As for those lurid aspects of Eau d’ Hermès—yes, that will only be a matter of concern for uncultivated tastes. I couldn’t possibly think of you that way; you’re much too fine a person. Are you not?
zxcasd – :
It is so fresh and beautiful, it has just arrived and since then I can´t stop smelling it. Simply gorgeous. I was really looking forward to try it and it is a great experience. I got it for a reasonable price but if I knew it is so perfect, I would pay much more. I fell in love, this will be my summer love. Leather is quite strong but for me it isn´t smell of sweat but a new quality handbag, citrus, spices and dried flowers and a bit of diorella. Love it.
vmlarda8 – :
Citrus + leather + sex.
Got a light?
Ridata50 – :
I am absolutely obsessed with Eau D’Hermès. It has been my single most important scent for years, but I’m not ready to write about it. I’ve only just joined Fragrantica, and feel that to write about Eau D’Hermès would be to display way too soon what a dirty animal I am. So let’s all come back to this one when we’re a bit older, shall we?
lion1630 – :
*sniff*…..SILENCE……”oh my”….*covers the eyes of any nearby child.*
Definitely not for the kiddies. Polished, yet dirty. Skank at its very finest. This juice would instantly transform Ward Cleaver into Hugh Hefner. This is a sly playboy who plays the role of the conservative suburban man until night falls. I never knew wild could be so reserved at the same time. This opens shyly with lemon and spices with cumin peeping through though it isn’t listed here in the note pyramid. It is soft in its presentation, but longevity is pretty good at roughly six hours per application. Reminds me of Lauren Bacall’s deep, smoky voice. A classic 1950’s skin scent that quietly envelops the wearer in a veil of lemon, leather, warm spices, and the subtle smell of the sweaty insides of a woman’s thighs after some strenuous activity. S’Wonderful.
Suesoumma – :
I’m often looking for easy to wear fragrances that tell something, describe an emotion, but still easy to wear. Once I wore oriental and sometimes sweet ones. Nowadays I cannot stand gourmand and too feminine fragrances. Last Friday I tested a few Hermes: Jour, L’Eau de Pamplemousse Rosé, L’Eau de Neroli Doré, and so on. I saw a bottle near those one and I was attracted by it. I remembered I read L’Eau d’Hermes was something complex. Tried it on my skin, at first I smelled fresh spices, and I tought that it was a sort of cologne.
I said to myself “ok pleasant, easy to wear and to understand”. After a while things changed and an odd smell was present on my skin. That was the moment when I realized It is a Mr. Roudnitska’s masterpiece.
Leather, a warm leather, something human but at the same time feline, polite and sauvage. Never met a fragrance that goes on and come back with different whispers. It seams a ghost, a presence that sometimes is near you, with you, on your skin and sometimes flies away coming back with a touch of fresh spice and then with leather and then with warm spice. This fragrance is alive. I’m astonished.
I don’t think anyone around me, in my life, will make compliments about L’Eau d’Hermes, it’s not the modern, plain and conservative fragrance you can smell everywhere. I think it’s an intimate one. There is a touch of l’Eau Sauvage and of Diorella in it. Actually I still don’t know if it’s love or hate. For sure it deserves respect and it’s absolutely a fragrance for adults, it’s a really complex perfume. I’m a woman and I think it could be unisex. It takes time to learn to understand its soul, for sure.
ryh849intitytek – :
i am determined to like this because it’s a roudnitska, i paid full price, and it’s a Hermes. but it is an intellectual perfume, and it dares you not to like it. this is a Hermes leather, and it does not back off from the ‘folds of damp skin’ leather smell. i also get cumin and nutmeg which are not listed. i am making this sound gross, but it is a sublime push and pull between cardamom, sweat, & leather. nothing ever ‘jumps out’, and it is obviously of an expensive high-quality origin because it is round, full-throated, rich and verrrry longlasting. with a scent like this, i have already smelled it like 40 times, gone away, and thought about it–because first impressions–training your nose–are often wrong. perfumes, and the best most complex rich ones, are perhaps the only luxury good we have to train ourselves to like. except maybe oysters. like kouros [ysl] it has a repulsive edge kept in check by a gorgeous panoply of complex, zesty rich things. seconding what someone said about do not buy blind. i have no regrets, but it is complex and not love at first sniff. having said that, they also do not make scents like this anymore–this one would have been focus-grouped to water. for a whiff of a vintage past when perfumers had more free rein, and customers were ready to buy scents that weren’t ‘pleasant’ in the banal way–this is your candidate.
qwertys – :
I bought this as a substitute for l’Autre by Diptyque. This is a fairly different composition but they belong to the same league. Actually Eau d’Hermès could easily be in Diptyque catalogue. Think Eau Lente, l’Eau Diptyque…
What they all have in common is the heavy use of spices. Beware, this is not an “easy” fragrance. Do not blind buy. Reading the list of ingredients below will tell you all you need to know about it. I personally think it might be quite sensual but only when worn by a man.
I had already tried it twice and I could already tell it had very mild sillage and longevity. I saw it as a bad thing and that’s why I did not buy it before today. Now, as I think about it, I realize that if it was very potent it would not be wearable because of its composition. It’s definitely something you wear for yourself and not for the others. To make it short: I’ll stick to Bleu de Chanel in the office.
leu736Bessinepome – :
Long long time ago colognes were made with loads of spices. I remember reading an article on 18th century cologne recipe here on Fragrantica News; it calls for cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg and rosemary. So why is it surprising that Eau d’Hermes has spices? Perhaps nowadays people can’t tolerate spices in a citrus scent anymore?
Anyhow, this one is my favourite out of some of the most iconic colleges: Annick Goutal Eau d’Hadrien, the entire range of Guerlain Les Eaux (Eau de Guerlain, du Coq and Imperiale), Roger & Gallet, and of course 4711. The citrus, cloves and spices balance each other nicely, and the leather undertone gives it a more substantial presence. The birch makes this smokey and classy. Eau d’Hermes really projects; my entire handbag smelled like it for an evening just from a small spray on the paper strip.
Hermes is one of the few houses nowadays that don’t mess with their original formulas (such as this one) and always pay homage to their heritage. That along deserves great respect in today’s fragrance world. Hats off, Hermes!
nait – :
CUMIN
achieraAmarne – :
I live in Florida, and when i first got this it was summer. And blakkk…. It was awful. Just lemon-spice, but gross. Then it got cold, and WOW! I smell so many more notes. Vanilla, spice, oh yes and that lovely armpit.
nomad – :
I know l ‘Eau D’ Hermes for many years and although it has been reformulated continues to be a good eau de toilette of great class and elegance thanks to the cinnamon and cardamom in top notes, with geranium with tonka bean in the notes of a half to finish notes of leather with wood notes, a combination of pure sensuality.
More suitable to the afternoon evening for longer life.
Hopefully the maison d’Hermes does not kill this masterpiece of engineering perfect thanks to the genius of Edmond Roudnitska, as happened to Doblis to promote perfumes without history. let’s learn!
alf405 – :
I stumbled upon Eau d’Hermes in my search for the perfect leather perfume and after reading magnificent reviews.
They were true. This is MAGIC in a bottle.
BUT… it wouldn’t be easy, I knew it.
The opening is horrid, what is that note that makes this smells like a worn tshirt? The clover? What? I cannot figure it out since all the listed notes sound lovely. Additionally I am not talking about a ten minutes opening but two hours without a doubt.
After that nightmare you are left with a buttered but still animalic leather fragrance (sur)rounded by an evocative and multifaceted greenness (British countryside? Versallesque gardens? Amazonian rainforest? anyway, IMPRESSIVE!)
Unquestionably this is a piece of ART, utterly avantgarde to be created in 1951.
Personally I would find difficulties to put it daily on my neck, it is not approachable nor close, it is quite the opposite, distant and high-class, and I am not thus.
12/10
88Ser – :
I deliberately didn’t look up the notes in this before I tried it, as I wanted to see what I could pick out. Straight up I got the leather, the sandalwood, the lavender and the cardamom – sharp and smoky and spicy. Then once it warmed up, I got a beautiful tang from the bergamot. This seems very cool initially, but after an hour or two, the vanilla and sandalwood start to show through, which warms it and gives it a lovely creamy note. I also got a slight BO smell from this – not an offensive BO, but more a clean sweat, like you’ve showered and put on deodorant and then gotten really sweaty. It’s weird, our last cat HATED perfume – he’d duck his head away and glare at me every time I went to pat him after I put some on. The cat we have now seems to like them, as he spent a good ten seconds giving this one a damn good sniffing after I put it on, then gave me the lovey eyes. He is a weirdo though and he loves human smells (especially BO), so maybe it was that note that caught his attention. Me, I really love the lavender and leather in this – it’s a beautiful combination and the slightly animalic, dirty edge to this just makes it even more intriguing. I only put a dab of this on my arm initially, then after a couple of hours, I put a dab on my neck and between the girls. Aaaaaaand now I get why people are saying sweaty sex – holy heck, it’s gotten rather smutty here all of a sudden! I totally get why people are calling this a classic, so purecaramel, thanks very much for the sample. It’s a beaut!
dimitryi16 – :
Well… here’s my on the spot review of Eau d’Hermes.
You will be greeted with a delicious, citrusy opening, very reminiscent to Eau de Orange Vert… Of course Eau d’Hermes was first and then… WHAM!!! The lavender, jasmine, cardamom make themselves felt. So I am sorry, but this is no armpit. Not at all. I think this is what men’s colognes used to smell before… and I will even say women’s too. Why?? Because I was, for a brief moment, reminded of Zizanie by Fragonard, and by Bal de Versailles by Desprez (yes, I know, I am deranged). There is, and I think is mainly through the middle phase, a very indolic presence courtesy of the jasmine. The drydown is as carnal as it can get. Someone in this site (and I am not sure if they were referring to this cologne) spoke about the smell of your loved ones after a night of passion or something of the sort. I totally agree. In short: this is a gorgeous smell of a by gone era. If you dig that, go for it. If not, better stay away. I dig it, and I dig it a lot.
Smell great my friends.
c2202 – :
What a scent. The first time I smell it nearly I would faint right there. It is so classy and noble. The users that I know closely are elite gentlemen. Even one of them is a surgeon orthopedia professor who is graduated from number one medicine faculty with degree and he uses this scent all the time even when he is in surgecal operation. He says it inspires him during operation. Despite that all money he uses a korean car and I suppose he is a little penny pincher. Back to the scent it lasts for hours and keep the day and definitely deserves its money it s wonderful scent. Recommend
HoroAcereeFef – :
This is armpit in a bottle.
Even better it’s an Hermes. Good quality, well rounded, rich, intense armpit. If you like Kouros, you should probably know how to appreciate Eau d’Hermes. If you like men’s natural smell, this should be it.
Two possibilities: It either attracts like an aphrodisiac or attacks like a garbage truck.
-AB-
GLeshiKG – :
Should have known the play of scents of lavender and bergamot produces an intense and sharp citrus bomb. I hate powerful citrus. I chose this sample because I thought it would be a clean scent without strong citruses. Very nice masculine leather opening notes that are immediately accompanied by an enormous bomb of citrus (lavender and bergamot) that is intensified by aromatic spices. Dries down to expensive old-fashioned laundry boxed laundry soap smell. Like CLEAN Fresh Laundry. Nonetheless, too powerful for me.
galoba – :
Copper Top.
This is quite literally the natural fragrance of the girl that lured me to all things carnal. Her Mediterranean olive skinned body, spicy, animalic, exotic, intoxicating. She wore a light, breezy,citrus, Italian cologne that rounded out the beauty. As a dancer she perspired heavily and carried a musk almost overwhelming.
After a while she took to wearing Rive Gauche,so our lovemaking is associated with that (Sandalwood)
However, when I first whiffed this copper top, about 2002, I was right back to the time in the 70’s, when she introduced me to what it’s all about.
VeEAL – :
Very strange perfume, I detect no leather note at all. It actually reminds me of Pour Monsieur by Chanel but on steroids, like nuclear strength! Definitely spray with the utmost care. Test before buying!
Snake1980 – :
I am a BIG fan of traditional masculine scents, such as Leather, so after reading the reviews, I had to give this one a try. And I am glad I did.
Eau D’Hermes is a very complex scent to my nose. At it’s core it is a warm, spicy and slightly sweet leather scent with a touch of citrus and floral. I do not find this one groundbreaking, but I do find it to be beautiful. It is a very well balanced fragrance.
Eau D’Hermes is an interesting blend of clean and dirty. I get mostly clean, a soapy type of clean, but I do get hints of the dirty sex and animalistic notes others have referenced. They are there, but not overwhelming so. This make D’Hermes perfect for most occasions. It gives off a “I am a good guy with a bit of bad boy inside him” vibe.
This one reminds me of something that I have tried before, but I cannot place what exactly. It is like a cross between a shampoo I tried years ago and the vintage version of Chanel Egoiste.
I get moderate projection but excellent longevity on my skin. I put this on yesterday morning and can still smell it on my skin this morning, so over 24 hours and it is still there. Impressive.
Bottom line: If you like complex leather scents you should try a sample of this one.
Hycleslashy – :
For the record, this review concerns the copper top bottles, not the clear top bottles. I am not familiar with the clear top ones. With that clarification in mind, here goes!
I stumbled on Eau D’Hermes by accident rather than design but I gave it several run outs and asked for people’s opinions. It was very long lasting on me and seemed to be discernible within arm’s length during most of that time. I felt that it was a very masculine scent and was really surprised to find it had been categorised as a unisex fragrance.
I find it rather difficult to describe. It is of a different place and a different time and I don’t mean that judgementally. There were things I liked about it and things that I didn’t. As is always the way, leather notes do not get on with my body one tiny bit and in the end, that tipped the balance for me and I gave away the rest of the perfume to a friend who, in turn, had it appropriated by his younger brother! So I’m pleased to report it went to an appreciative home in the end!
The bit that I liked was the point where there’s a feel of incense in a proper church. There’s a point where the cedar and the sandalwood combine with the birch, cinnamon, lavendar, clover and geranium to produce something really intriguing and it’s nice. But those leather notes ruined it for me. If you’re happy with leather notes and the possibility of what else occurs, then I think you would love this perfume.
3,80507E+11 – :
I was hoping I will only like it, not love it. But, Edmond Roudnitska is God and I am the worshiper, so naturally I had no chance resisting this.
Eau d’Hermes – plain and simple – smells like sex with your loved one. Nothing dirty, just specific. The odor palette; the kisses, skin, intimate parts, sweat, bed linen, his cologne, your perfume, maybe a martini you both had earlier… Sexual, natural, human, but also refreshing, relaxed, refined, cultivated.
If familiar with: Femme Rochas, Diorella, Eau Sauvage, Diorama, Feminite du Bois, Jicky, sex … Well, I just don’t see how anyone could be surprised or shocked by this.
(copper cap)
grin631 – :
hello to all,
please as a new in the world of fragrantica
can anyone tell me if there are differences between
eau d’hermes with the copper cap and this at the clear cap?
please if anyone knows sent an information.
thanks..
Nertone – :
This was a fearful fragrance for me. Imagine a guy with no prior knowledge of perfumes getting his nose on a test strip with Eau d’Hermes. Well…it assaulted me. The smell was extremely familiar and although I couldn’t put my finger on it, it instantly took me many years back, when I was a kid. Sometimes we don’t realize how years have passed until we recognize a smell that is familiar to us but absent for so long. When smelled, it creates a melancholic feeling of profound impact, like actually seeing someone intact as he/she was back then.
After the initial shock, I didn’t do anything and left myself in the fragrance’s possession. When I revisited it my mind was clearer. It is an animalic tour de force, an “attraction of repulsion” cologne with a very pronounced leather note, a bold citrus-wood presence and a disturbingly heavyweight civet dose. Cumin, cinnamon and florals fill the rest of the picture. The fragrance has a sour, sweaty and uber-retro vibe with a spicy sweet overtone that will shock most people, especially the uninitiated. It mellows with time but if you are of the Acqua di Gio, Allure thing you will probably experience such a nightmare on those first moments that you will find it difficult to stay for the rest of the ride.
As with all Roudnitska’s creations the fragrance isn’t easily approachable or instantly understandable. These days we are accustomed to smell in different frequencies and this is very much retro. So it takes time to adjust oneself and hear its voice. The same has happened here and now Eau d’Hermes gives to me the sensual impression of fresh spicy sweat and skin smell with some added citrus oils. Heavily classy, distinctive and magnetic. Be careful with dosage though as others may not be so well acquainted with its vibe.
e703 – :
“You don’t get anything clean without getting something else dirty.” (Cecil Baxter)
The concept of cleanliness rings very true to the concept of perfumery. Smell is arresting and surrendering, openly intimate without a strong sense of control. One smells often simply because they breathe, and because of this, perfume has become such an inmost exercise. Eau D’Hermès presents itself as a perfume rooted immensely firm in the idea of sensuality because it smells bodily, warm, and sweaty. Perhaps not intentionally, but what is smelled in Eau D’Hermès is a skin-like quality, not rough or callous, but worn and unwashed – loved too, perhaps.
Hermès called upon Edmond Roudnitska in 1951 to create a scent much like the wafting aroma of the interior of their bags: leather lined, resultantly becoming an emotionally personal fragrance for both the house originally known for making leather saddles, and for the wearer, who experiences multitudes of complexity; a calm eventually met with intimate obtrusion; and serenity lost in the fray of animality.
Eau D’Hermès is best summed up as suggestive, and put by Luca Turin: “The Devil’s cologne”. We get a fresh hesperidic top note structure, and then we add the suggestion of dirtiness immediately following. Eau D’Hermès covers the olfactory spectrum, in which it takes matching elements of the olfactory palette. Woods, florals, spices, citruses, and skank – then pairing them up. What the fragrance approaches at, is a quasi-military-esque style of regiment and order, forced uptight with a piercing cut (akin to a whistle blow), then made mature with a loading of bodily suggestions.
At one angle, juicy citruses play with a chesty lavender accord, whilst cinnamon acts as a bridge to the other angle, in which spices, cumin especially, mixes with cardamom, trace-elements of something like civet, and leather. One would expect the clean angle to clash with this dirty one, but instead they pass like something of a near miss, at one juncture aligning themselves like a complete jigsaw. Off the cuff, I humorously have passed around the whisper that Eau D’Hermès smells of sweaty young men slammed with oranges. Virile, granted, Edmond Roudnitska has a knack for capturing robust masculinity and elegant testosterone (Eau Sauvage by Dior, and Eau D’Hermès).
Considering the artistic nature of the top structure of Eau D’Hermès, it presents an abstracted meditation on human condition, verging a perfected style of hyperrealism. Eau D’Hermès’ focal contradiction is clear: Is this ‘clean made dirty’ or ‘dirty made clean’? This fragrance symbolises the denude; the stripping bare done elegantly and perfectly. Perhaps then, this is romanticism work? And despite that term being ‘practically undefinable’, I am forced to contemplate the nature of perfume on a functional level: “What does it mean to wear perfume if it smells of something we avoid?”.
Digressing, what leaves me wondering endlessly is the stark nature of the animalic notes, done well enough that at times the whole notion of dirtiness escapes. Perhaps because in the back, forming the base notes are classic wood notes of cedar, sandalwood, and birch, blurred with the leather and smoothed with vanilla and tonka bean. As Eau D’Hermès packs a punch, it marvellously matures on skin as small facets reveal themselves. Geranium and jasmine adds bitter intrigue dampening the dirtiness, adding on top of the aromatic notes of vanilla and coumarin creating a surprising creaminess. Warm, spicy, and intense, toppled by a milky feature.
Eau D’Hermès ends on a pheromonal ‘high’ as the dirtiness becomes mistaken for sensuousness; obscure yet romantic. I wear this for my hedonistic pleasures, leaving a spicy and smokey trail in my wake.
MORE ON MY BLOG: OLFACTICS
utkinot8 – :
Surprisingly, I like this fragrance a lot, I really do! I recently was gifted a small bottle of Hermes Eau des Merveilles, which I also liked. I do not know much about the Hermes line of fragrances but from the few I have tried, I seem to enjoy wearing them.
I have a hard time agreeing with one other poster on another website who states that Eau d’Hermes is reminiscent of Jicky. That comparison I do not get at all ’cause I found Jicky to be downright offensive…too fecal, too animalic…too harsh & dark for my tastes.
I find EdH a smooth, sophisticated and complex perfume all rolled into one. While it is an “older” perfume, EdH lacks that “stuffiness” or overwhelming harsh opening (adelhyde) that is sometimes present with vintage scents (though I like many vintage scents). As another poster stated, EdH feels “refined, rich, classy with a bit of dirt or edginess,” unique for its time, I think!
EdH combines animal, spices, some floral and a bit of tobacco into a fragrance that seems wearable day or night. I find this fragrance to be more of a feminine scent than a masculine one but I imagine it can work on some guys. EdH has staying power and nice silage but is not over-bearing or offensive in any way.
I did not find the dry down to be leathery as others have noted. Thankfully, EdH did not turn powdery on me-smile! However, leather is one note I did not catch. While EdH may not appeal to a mass market, it is a pleasant enough fragrance that I think might grow on people over time!
Definitely a fragrance I would wear…not sure if I am ready to purchase a full bottle!
benicon12 – :
Warm and refreshing, sexy but unaffected. A rare scent that suits warm weather without smelling sanitized and astringent. Well-bred, jovial, and unique.
johny_valentine – :
I’m told there are differences in formulations, and the version that I’m writing about here is from the “Copper Top EdT” (whatever that means). From what I can gather, that’s the vintage and the version to go after.
It stinks; like seriously stinks. Extremely dated and intensely sweaty. Lime and leather in a predictable old-school kind of way with some soapy lavender and tonka bean floating around. Very textbook retro creeper-mustache type stuff, only it comes with bonus filth—and that’s its saving grace, really. I try to avoid the “old man” descriptor, but sometimes it’s necessary as the sweatier parts of this fragrance remind me quite literally of the scent of my grandfather—a man who never actually wore fragrance. The best way I could describe this would be a not-unpleasant BO note followed by a supple leather, some backgrounded woods, and an herbal-citric infusion. It smells impressive, but utterly anachronistic. This is the kind of thing a perfume fan should at least have a decant of, but it’s reference material only—not because of the stinky aspects per se (there are more gnarly scents than this knocking about), but because it’s like something lifted from a post-war museum and so wearing it would be akin to wearing a costume.
Buchmax – :
A clean scent that makes you smell dirty? Fuck yeah! I love contradictions. Makes me feel like a rebel in a world where everyone either smells like the ocean or Lysol.
levifan – :
Opens with lemon and then cumin, first a human-secretion scented cumin and then a cumin more recognizable from a spice bottle. A trace of something like civet, quickly gone. I notice that none of these notes are listed, but I cannot lie, Gentle Readers: that’s what I smelled.
Clover is listed, which was helpful because I couldn’t decide what the sweet little flower I smelled was. Clover! Girlhood summers lying on my stomach in the grass, carefully pulling the florets free so I could suck the tiny bit of sweet nectar out of them.
Indian restaurant with a hint of fresh animal fodder. I like it a lot b