hermes – This Side of Perfume

What I Wore This Week

January 6, 2019

I’m back with another round-up of what I wore this past week. I came down with a 24-hour stomach bug from Wednesday to Thursday, so you’ll see that Wednesday was the rare day that I did not wear any fragrance. But I’ve recovered well!

Sunday: Twilly d’Hermès
Monday: Plum Japonais by Tom Ford (Plum Japonais)
Tuesday: Paris – Deauville by Chanel
Wednesday: nothing
Thursday: Tendre Madeleine by Laurence Dumont
Friday: Honeysuckle & Davana by Jo Malone
Saturday: Narciso For Her L’Absolu by Narciso Rodriguez

What did you all wear this first week of the new year? Do you wear anything scented when you’re feeling under the weather?

Twilly d’Hermès

November 19, 2017

Notes: Ginger, tuberose, and sandalwood.

Twilly is yet another new launch from a storied fragrance house aimed at capturing a young audience. Compared with Chanel Gabrielle and Dior’s Poison Girl, I think Twilly is the most successful of this group. Twilly was of course composed by Hermès in-house perfumer, Christine Nagel, and it truly does smell like the younger sister counterpart to 2016’s Galop d’Hermès. The rose and leather of Galop were elegant and refined, whereas Twilly is just that little bit more approachable, both in terms of the notes and the price point.

Hermès officially lists only three notes for Twilly, although it is worth noting that Fragrantica adds bergamot, bitter orange, jasmine, and orange blossom to the Twilly pyramid. The ginger is definitely present as the main player in Twilly’s opening. I can sense a sparkling bergamot as well, but I really don’t get orange or other citrus notes here. Ginger really is the star. It’s spicy and effervescent, almost like a fizzy ginger ale. It’s a unique opening that definitely gets your attention.

The tuberose here is appropriate for a young wearer, so no weird facets here. It’s definitely a recognizable white floral, but the ginger lifts it. Tuberose can sometimes become overbearing as it develops on my skin, but it never does here. My nose can’t pick out jasmine on its own in this composition, but I can sense a touch of orange blossom. This is because Twilly takes on a soapy feel, but it’s soapy in a French way. That is, it doesn’t smell “clean” like so many American brands would try to project. Rather, it reminds me of the type of decorative soap you might come across in someone’s very fancy powder room. I have the impression of going to touch up my makeup in the ladies room at a very upscale hotel.

The tuberose blends seamlessly with the creamy sandalwood base note, and makes for a gorgeously smooth dry down. This is what I wanted from the Gabrielle dry down. This sandalwood has quite a bit of heft and depth to it. I have worn Twilly to work and while the ginger and tuberose wear off, I can still smell the sandalwood at the end of the work day. It’s definitely more of a skin scent, but it’s noticeably there.

I visited my old Sephora store during the recent sale and bought a 50 ml bottle of Twilly. Of my recent fragrance purchases, I am happiest with this one. I think Twilly is successful because, even though it’s aimed at a young audience, it doesn’t feel condescending or juvenile. The packaging is adorable and perfectly symbolizes the Hermès twilly scarves. I think the only criticism is that true perfume addicts may be looking for a more complex pyramid of notes. Personally, I think Twilly’s simplicity works because the ginger adds a touch of uniqueness. Overall, it’s a really lovely effort from Hermès.

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Photo taken by me of my 50 ml bottle of Twilly.

Info on notes from Hermès.

Epice Marine by Hermès

May 25, 2017

Notes: cumin, hazelnut, sesame, cinnamon, cardamom, bergamot, sea notes, whiskey, vetiver, and oakmoss.

The Hermessence line is the Hermès equivalent of Les Exclusifs from Chanel and the Christian Dior Privée line. (Which I believe is now being called La Collection Couturier Parfumer Christian Dior. Really succinct and abbreviated!) It seems that the most exclusive luxury houses feel the need to produce ever more exclusive fragrances. I really enjoy a few of Chanel’s Exclusifs. Epice Marine is my first foray into the Hermessence line. I’m glad I started with this one because it’s really interesting and surprisingly wearable for a fragrance containing a hefty dose of cumin.

Epice Marine was launched in 2013 and was composed by the Hermès in-house perfumer at the time, Jean-Claude Ellena. This is a classic Ellena composition in that it’s rendered in his typical sheer, transparent style. It’s best to go in knowing this, and not setting your expectations for a powerhouse that lasts on the skin for 12+ hours. Ellena composed this one in collaboration with a Breton chef, Olivier Roellinger. You can see or smell the influence, since Epice Marine has a salty sea air tinge to it as well as a very unique gourmand aspect. The cumin is strong right off the bat. In terms of épice or spice, I sense the cinnamon, and a touch of whiskey. This composition is definitely influenced by food, but it’s not foodie in a typical boozy/vanilla/chocolate way.

More than any specific kind of food, Epice Marine gives off the impression of a restaurant. This is a restaurant along the coastline with an outdoor terrace. But it’s not a pristine oceanfront view in the south of France. This is a northern Breton beach. The sea still offers a beautiful view, but the water is cold and forbidding. This is not a seaside for sunbathing. The whiskey note here is slightly smokey. Combined with the cinnamon it adds some warmth, or as much warmth as you’re likely to get from this scent. Epice Marine is otherwise firmly on the cool spice side of things. The cumin here is not sweaty. It’s green, and a little bit fizzy. It adds some liveliness. It’s the buzz of the diners chatting out on the terrace.

As the dry down comes on, Epice Marine takes on a baking bread type of smell. I have only encountered this type of note in Olivia Giacobetti’s En Passant before. It’s subtle but it’s a doughy bread smell. I’m not sure where the bread note is coming from but it helps flesh out the whole restaurant impression. And I appreciate that this composition is almost a savory/salty gourmand rather than sweet, which is very unusual. It’s also not your typical calone marine/aquatic scent either.

It’s worth saying that Hermès offers sets where you can choose four of the Hermessence fragrances in a 15 ml travel spray. (You can choose to do four of the same one if you’re really attached to one in particular.) This is what I may end up doing once I try a few more of the Hermessence line. The price point for a full bottle is an Hermès price point, let’s be honest. But Epice Marine is worth it. For a fragrance that is so unusual, it’s also highly wearable. More than that, I love the restaurant dinner scene it evokes. It’s both inviting and a little bit strange. Simply put, it’s haunting.

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The Hermessence line is available exclusively from Hermès boutiques and the Hermès website. I purchased a small decant from Surrender to Chance.

The image is from Hermès and the info on notes is from Fragrantica.

Galop d’Hermès

February 10, 2017

Notes: saffron, quince, osmanthus, rose, leather, and white musk.

Galop was released in 2016, and it marks Christine Nagel’s first pillar fragrance for Hermès after Jean-Claude Ellena’s departure. (She did create Eau de Rhubarbe Ecalarte while Ellena was still with Hermès.) I’ve been so interested to try this release but, as with most things Hermès and considering that it’s a parfum concentration, it’s rather pricey. I finally got a small decant for myself, and I’ve been testing it for the past few weeks.

On my skin, Galop actually opens right away with the leather note. There’s no leading up to it, the leather immediately takes center stage. This leather is definitely elegant, but it has a strength to it at this opening stage. I see people commenting on Fragrantica saying that this is a “masculine” leather and perhaps that’s what they mean. To me, it’s the leather of a saddlery here. You can clearly see the Hermès heritage but it’s not quite the refined leather of a Birkin. Not yet. This leather has a peppery bite to it, and just a tiny bit of a wild edge.

Of course this is Hermès, so Galop is going to be about sophistication above all. That opening leather note never turns too harsh, and the rose and the fruit notes quickly come into play to balance it out. I get a jammy vibe from the quince. It’s almost like a blackcurrant jam. It adds some texture to this composition without becoming foody or gourmand. The jammy fruit texture makes the rose comes across as both rich but also delicate by contrast.

In fact, Galop is all about contrast. The leather and the rose are both equally the stars of the show here. As I wear Galop, the rose and leather intertwine with one another, both coming across as strong and delicate in different moments. As mentioned, Galop is a parfum concentration. It has excellent sillage and projection during the first few hours of wear time before noticeably drying down to a skin scent. Some people may want a little more projection out of this one, but I don’t mind because the leather is beautiful in the skin scent stage. The dry down has a refined yet alluring sensuality to it that is both very Hermès and very Christine Nagel.

I love Galop d’Hermès and I’ve gone through my decant alarmingly quickly. I’m still not sure about a full-sized bottle. Again, Hermès is always an investment and, I have to admit, I find the stirrup bottle a bit gimmicky. But, if anything, Galop makes me more excited for future Hermès releases from Christine Nagel. She nailed it in this case.

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Galop d’Hermès is available directly from Hermès and in person at boutiques and counters. It’s a parfum extrait concentration, and is available in the stirrup bottle and a refill bottle. I purchased my small decant from The Perfumed Court.

Image and the info on notes are both from Fragrantica.