Category: Hermès
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Un Jardin à Cythère by Hermès (2023)
In this gardenscape, the leaves on these trees and plants and these grasses and grains neither flutter nor rustle, whilst cooling contrasting shadows are absent, and the sea is without its coastal waves. There is neglect for the wilderness that capably coexists within the Edenic. It is a scent without…
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Six Years In: Thoughts Stemming From an Empty Bottle of Brin de Réglisse
My bottle of Brin de Réglisse (Hermès 2004) is by and large, empty. I’m saving those final squirts – but I do spritz it every so often. It is at once my reference for good perfume, and a key to my personal history, down the sentimental tunnel of time past.…
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Return to Form? Agar Ebene (Hermès) and Other Scents
I left the fragrance writing scene in January this year, my last post – but if I’m being genuine – I left that scene much earlier. I open Olfactics and look at all the posts with a strange feeling. It was always a springboard for some deeper conversation, really. I…
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Rereviews: Musc Ravageur, Héritage, Cuir d’Ange, Dia Man, and Italian Cypress
“Perfume [reviews] should not remain static!” I expressed similar words in my first rereview for the perfume 31 Rue Cambon. A function of a good blogger, an excellent reviewer, and a seasoned thinker is to constantly revisit entities that they have discussed and have scored critically. Sense perception is a…
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Unexpected Iris: Paprika Brasil by Hermès
In my adventures of the note, a majority of iris and orris notes in perfumery appear on the cooler end of the olfactory thermometer. For instance, Iris Silver Mist is a glacial work, where cool earth and sheets of metal move around a tightly rooted and prominent iris. Infusion d’Iris…
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Eau de Néroli Doré by Hermes
When I approach perfumery, I beg of people to go beyond literal descriptors. What I mean by this is that the process of taking in a scented artwork should transcend into new realms of texture, emotion, and senses beyond the nose. I not only want to describe a scent in…
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Plushness and The Synthetic Construction: Cuir Velours by Naomi Goodsir, Cuir Pleine Fleur by Heeley, and Cuir d’Ange by Hermes.
In Cuir Velours, a scent is constructed in a manner of sculpture. It demonstrates a process: from material, construction through manipulation, and then finally, a completed ready-to-sell perfume. Cuir Velours bothers me more than it should. For instance, it’s an easy perfume. It takes a synthetic material chunk and carves it down…
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Santal Massoïa by Hermès
Originally on APJ There is no secret that I dislike gourmand perfumes: I can’t stand them! But, there’s another side of myself that secretly adores the sort of gourmand that doesn’t make itself out to be one. Shalimar and L’Heure Bleue are considered gourmands to an extent, but perhaps because…
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Poivre Samarcande by Hermes
Put simply, Poivre Samarcande takes an age old feature of mellow woods and tickles it in a way that bends it in a playful direction. Take the typical masculine wood note, energise it with spice, and then round it with an aromatic pungency. Poivre Samarcande curves around itself closely, wafting…
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Eau D’Hermès by Hermès
“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…
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