Hermes

Santal Massoïa by Jean Claude Ellena for Hermès 2011

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Hey Hey APJ,

While out in London with the mad London Frag Crew a bunch of us that just couldn’t let the day finish went to Selfridges in the evening and ran amok. It was bittersweet fun because we all knew the day was coming to a close and it felt that we’d made some really great new friends who GOT us. Know what I mean? Anyway, I think it was the beautiful Tara of Olfactoria’s Travels who came to Hermès with me because I wanted to try Epice Marine (FABULOUS BTW) but annoyingly they had no samples left for me to take and review. The SA was so embarrassed at their lack that she gave me two samples of other things and today we’ll look at the first. I have decanted to a spritz so I get the same ride as you would from a bottle. Just for fun today I thought I’d let you travel through my mind on a first wearing of a fragrance…….

Santal Massoïa by Jean Claude Ellena for Hermès 2011

Santal Massoïa Hermes FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Massoïa wood resin from New Guinea, coconut, peach, butterscotch, sandalwood, sugar, milk, dried fruits, floral notes

Well, Santal Massoia is a bit of a surprise. Now that I look at the notes it makes sense but I was not expecting a tropical alcoholic drink out of a coconut, with a paper umbrella, in a freshly made wood and thatch bar by the pool. Honestly I am smiling broadly and feel as if the holiday is at day 5 when you just realise you are away and can relax for another 5 glorious days.

Santal Massoia Hermes Evening Beach Matt Rudge FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Something that I often feel about Jean Claude Ellena’s work and here in Santal Massoia especially is that the notes are part of a chorus, though there is a buttery, waxy, fatty wood at the centre it is not really about that so much as it’s about a feeling of quietly luxuriating in the sun, having a silly drink for the hell of it and either reading a trashy novel or playing meaningless games on your phone. It has been a long time since I’ve had a holiday like that, I don’t think in the last 25 years, but my childhood and early adulthood was full of exactly those kind of holidays, it was ONLY trashy novels then as the internet was still being used only for governmental/war games. We did used to get those great puzzle books though like find trhe word, crosswords or other game type books. There were also cards, canasta was the family game of choice and it was used as a tool to show good game play behaviours and how life was often ready to throw a curve ball. OH MY GOD! I am lost in a complete memory cycle and all through two spritzes of a fragrance.

 _MG_6220rPhoto Stolen Flickr

Yes, I can pick the woods, fruits, coconut, mmmm sort of get the butterscotch but in a Schnappsy kind of way and if you asked me to pick some flowers I would say a fruity/boozy rose and the buttery fat of ylang, is there fig? Maybe the milk and fruit are giving me a fig reference? I could understand if you were to complain that Santal Massoia is linear, the story is more a rotating of notes that become more pronounced than a change in fragrance per se. After the first hour to two hours Santal Massoia softens to a nimbus of soft focus fragrance, very close to the skin and you really need to be hugging someone for them to notice how lovely you smell, that is no bad thing especially at work or in confined spaces. By the 3 hour mark I’m finding it difficult to smell anything but I think anosmia has set in because Jin still smells something nutty.

Santal Massoïa HermesPhoto Stolen Hermès

 

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Perfume Shrine
Hermessence are only available at Hermès stores or very rarely they come up at auction sites
You can buy in Australia from the Hermès site $665/100ml with leather cover
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/.5ml

Which of the Hermessence range have you tried? Do you like Jean Claude Ellena’s style?

Portia xx

24 Faubourg by Maurice Roucel for Hermès 1995

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 25 Comments

Hi to you Lovers of Fine Fragrance,

My mate Birgit (Olfactoria’s Travels) sometimes has amazing clearances from her Frag Wardrobe and last year I snaffled this little beauty from her. I think she grabbed the Limited edition bottle and knew two was more than she’d ever use. COOL! I have often nearly bought 24 Faubourg but there seemed to be something more pressing at each near buy and it was deferred, now it’s mine (Cue evil laugh and gratuitous hand wringing Mwa HA haaaaa HAAAAAAAaaaa)

24 Faubourg by Maurice Roucel for Hermès 1995

24 Faubourg HermesPhoto Stolen Hermès

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Orange, peach, bergamot, yalan ylang, hyacinth
Heart: Black elder, iris, jasmine, gardenia, orange blossom
Base: Sandalwood, amber, patchouli, vanilla

What I get in the opening is ylang, peach and sweat, like a beautifully perfumed person has gone a little bit long without a shower and they’ve added more fragrance instead of a bath. Maybe 24 Faubourg even smells like the smell of perfume on a scarf the next morning, beautiful, elegant, memorable and a little tired. It is so good, without being totally in your face, that tiny hint of bed head, that après un rapport sexuel (probably a terrible translation by google).

Hermes 24 Faubourg Hermes Lautrec_in_bed WikiPediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

The berries/citrus doesn’t really appear on me till well into the heart and seems woven through the white floral accord so beautifully that it’s hard to separate anything. Currently I am sitting in 31C (88F) inside the house! The fan is doing a lovely job and 24 Faubourg is sublime. I sit in a fragrant cloud of what feels like big money, old money. There’s a dry rustle of patchouli and amber towards the end that I feel is missing some of its buttery goodness from a cool temp wearing.

In this heat I’m lucky to get two hours of fragrant wear before 24 Faubourg becomes a sheer patina of woodsy vanilla that will then stay around another two to three hours and slowly fade away to nothing.

Hermes 24 Faubourg Hermes Versailles snow WikiMediaPhoto Stolen Wikimedia

By the time you read this I will be in frozen Europe, Paris by now and I have lunch at Guerlain, 68 Champs Elysees booked with Neela, a catch up with Denyse Beaulieu, off to do a private English class at the Osmotheque and stomp around Versailles and hopefully two full mornings in the Louvre. YAY! Sometimes I can’t believe my good fortune.

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and The Perfume Magazine
You can buy 24 Faubourg online at Hermès Hermès World Site Page<<<JUMP
Surrender To Chance starts at $3/ml

Is 24 Fauberg in your collection? When do you wear it? What magical fantasies does it give you?

Portia xx

I know this is late but I love it. Hermès shoes! YES PLEASE!!!

Hermès Women’s 2013 Fall/Winter Shoe Collection

Eau des Merveilles by Ralf Schwieger and Nathalie Feisthauer for Hermès 2004

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

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Post by ElizaD

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Holiday Greetings from the Emerald Valley! Here in Eugene, Oregon we have had the most extraordinary weather: it was sunny and bracingly cold, and then it started to snow. Snow in this valley is rare. When the weather gets like this, I always turn to one perfume, which I am wearing today. In fact, it will probably remain my scent of choice through Christmas. And here’s why.

Eau des Merveilles by Hermès 2004

Ralf Schwieger and Nathalie Feisthauer

Eau des Merveilles Hermes FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Orange, lemon, elemi
Heart: Amber, pink pepper, violet, pepper
Base: Fir, oakmoss, cedar, vetiver

Eau des Merveilles reminds me of fir trees, rum toddies and those chocolate oranges you can only find around here during the holidays. You know the kind–their yumminess is enjoyed by smacking the foil package against a table and eating the “sections”. The tradition in our family is to receive one in our stocking from “Santa”, and to enjoy it a bit at a time.

 SONY DSCPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Eau des Merveilles opens with that amazing squirt of orange, which never fades throughout the wearing, it just gets warmer and saltier, like the smell of someone who has just come inside after playing outside in the cold. After a half hour or so, the wood notes start to appear, and while I often find wood notes to be screeching, they are again softened, this time by the oakmoss. To me the vetiver and violet are barely detectable, but perhaps they are what also give Eau des Merveilles its saltiness. I am just beginning to learn how different notes play off each other to make another completely different smell. There has been some discussion about whether this fragrance contains ambergris, a waxy substance produced inside of sperm whales as a response to irritants in their digestive tract, and as precious as pearls, but since I have never smelled ambergris, I couldn’t say. With or without it, I love this perfume for its veritable lack of flowers: the salt highlights the sweetness of the other notes the way a few grains sprinkled on an orange bring out its juicy sparkle.

Eau des Merveilles Hermes Snowy_Mountains WikiMediaPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

The whole package conspires to transport me into the snowy mountains, where I have spent many happy hours cross country skiing through the glistening snow amongst the same evergreens that are used in this perfume.

Eau des Merveilles has decent sillage and longevity and fades away to soft woods and amber after a few hours. I find that this scent is best enjoyed when I wear it on the back of my neck or behind my knees–I am able to wear many fragrances this way, even though I work in a public office where strong fragrances are not always welcomed. And until the weather warms and it starts to rain and the holiday festivities are over, I’ll be sprinkled with drops of marvelous water.

 

Eau des Merveilles Hermes Alex FlickrPhoto Stolen Alex  Flickr

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and The Non-Blonde
Beauty Encounter has $20/15ml
My Perfume Samples start at $3/ml

Have you tried and did you like Eau des Merveilles or is it something that doesn’t interest you?

ElizaD xx

Inside Hermès petit h – Episode n°3 + n°4 + n°5 – Mini Movies

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Hey APJ Crew,

I have a whole bunch of the Hermès fragrances and adore their whole aesthetic, I only own one scarf but I love it and plan to own another soon enough.

Here is the second in a fun series from Hermès. Here’s the link if you would like to see the first Inside Hermès petit h – Episode n°1 & n°2.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I have,

Love,
Portia xx

Hermes-Logo Hermès MadisonMusePhoto Stolen MadisonMuse

Inside Hermès petit h – Episode n°3 – Mini Movie

Inside Hermès petit h – Episode n°4 – Mini Movie

Inside Hermès petit h – Episode n°5 – Mini Movie

Hermes Box FlickrPhoto Stolen Maegan Tintari Flickr

Inside Hermès petit h – Episode n°1 + n°2 – Mini Movie

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Hey APJ Crew,

You all probably know how much I love Hermès, everything about the brand speaks to me and aqlso I have a lovely friend/SA who works in the Sydney store. Jean is the most elegant, friendly and knowledgeable of the SAs in Sydney, always smiling and can’t wait to show us the newest in everything.

Here is the first in a fun series from Hermès that I’ll be showing over the next few weeks. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have,

Love,
Portia xx

Hermes-Logo Hermès MadisonMusePhoto Stolen MadisonMuse

Inside Hermès petit h – Trailer – Mini Movie

Inside Hermès petit h – Episode n°1 – Mini Movie

Inside Hermès petit h – Episode n°2 – Mini Movie

Hermes Box FlickrPhoto Stolen Maegan Tintari  Flickr

Hermès Maxi-Twilly Mini Movie

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Heya Hermès fans,

As we have discussed before, I love Hermès! It is a brand that I have always followed since Mum had some Caleche in her fragrant armory at some point in our childhood. Many of her friends had scarves and bags but for some reason Mum wasn’t interested in their other offerings, though both Dad and I were given Hermès ties. My memory tells me she did have an Hermès scarf ring but I could be making that up.

Maxi-Twilly #1

If Mum were alive today I would be banging down the door of Hermès THIS MORNING after seeing this video. I think this is the PERFECT Hermès idea, so versatile, wearable, fun and elegant. This is definitely what the cool kids will be wearing this year.

In Australia a printed silk Hermès Maxi-Twilly, 220x20cm will set you back AU$395.00.
In the UK a printed silk Hermès Maxi-Twilly, 220x20cm is £205.
In the USA a printed silk Hermès Maxi-Twilly, 87” x 8” is $290.

Maxi-Twilly #2

I hope you like this super fun ad/movie. I think Hermès has hit the nqail on the head again,
Loads of love,
Portia xx

Photos Stolen from the Hermès Australia site

Vetiver Tonka by Jean Claude Ellena for Hermès 2004

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 26 Comments

Hello Fellow Fumies,

I don’t know what’s going on lately but it looks like vetiver has overtaken my big white flowers as favourite note. This was unintentional, surprising and I hope it doesn’t mean my love for the BWF is dying. Also, I’ve been doing some reading, always a dangerous course for the half educated like myself, and it turns out that vetiver is becoming the plant de jour around the world for a number of things other than perfume. There are 2 types of non invasive, clumping vetiver that are being used world wide for their ability to leech the toxins from soil and water, they are also excellent for stabilising erosion, holding banks/mountains in place and creating sea walls. This is only the tip of the iceberg I feel and will be interested to see it used in the future for self-sufficient-household sanitation and water cleansing.

Hermessence Vetiver Tonka by Hermès 2004

Vetiver Tonka Hermes FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Vetiver, tonka bean, lily of the valley, tobacco, caramel, praline, sandalwood, hazelnut

The caramel/resinous/LOTV open is joyous all by itself. So full throated and filled with call, like a siren or water bird floating across the brackish water of river and sea land junction. The foody stuff all combines with the tonka to create a wonderful sweet amber or crispy toffee scent that makes me want some salted caramel ice cream and honeycomb. YUMMY stuff indeed.

Vetiver Tonka Hermes Roots vetiver.orgPhoto Stolen vetiver.org

The fragrance then takes a decidedly vetiver turn on my skin, giving me a gorgeous earthy, salty, green smell like sitting on a dock above or the verandah near mudflats at low tide, it must be cooler months because there is a smoky waft carrying across to you from someones fireplace, or maybe it’s a summer Bar B Q and the sweetness still lurking is caramelising onions and sausages.

The feeling I get from Vetiver Tonka is a sense of space and freedom. It’s like a holiday, there is time to smell the unfolding of the story, the sweet warmth and earthy dankness combine to form a welcoming and pretty adventure that is both warm and very, very cool. Though it is not a sillage monster Vetiver Tonka does waft a trail and if you spray a card and leave the room, when you return it has tinted the air with a very slightly foody sweetness underlaid with a wetland breeze.

Heftier than many of the more recent J C E offerings and lasting power is decidedly longer, around 4-5 hours before I lose it, or the ability to notice it. Lately I have been using the Olympic Orchids Patchouli Lovers Soap and it is adding a very green baseline to Vetiver Tonka that darkens it and adds a couple of hours life to the whole also. The tobacco and LOTV seem to completely bypass my skin, with or without the soap, but I probably just miss them in the seamless mix that is a J C Ellena trademark: a scent story that has the most beautifully gradated transitions.

Vetiver Tonka HermesPhoto Stolen Hermès

Further reading: What Men Should Smell Like and Bois de Jasmin
Hermès does a great set of 4 x 15ml Hermessence of your choice $180
Surrender To Chance has Vetiver Tonka on sale for $4/.5ml

Are you a J C Ellena fan? Have you tried Hermessence Vetiver Tonka or are there favourite Vetiver or Tonka frags that you’s like to share with us? We’d love to read your thoughts.

See you tomorrow
Portia xx