Hermes

Hermes, Hermes, Hermes Reviews

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Hey Hey Junkies,

Hermes, Hermes, Hermes; even the name sounds exquisite. Doesn’t it. Images of saddlery, silk, leather, shoes, clothing, bags.

Logo Stolen from madisonmuse

I had an Hermes tie once. It was lovely. Pale blue background, horses (not the proud stallions, no, these were the 14 hand 8 year old gelds of domestic pony clubbers) being ridden by very ordinary young men dressed in cream shirts and beige or fawn moleskins, some daringly sporting braces in red. this is my memory of the tie and if I could remember who I lent it to they could probably vouch for it’s accuracy, these ties were made to last. A friend also gifted me the Hermes box that a queen sized cashmere rug had traveled home in. It was placed around the apartment, and then house, like a piece of art, till it was destroyed in a minor domestic accident that had me hyperventilating and palpitating and everyone else trying not to laugh.

A couple of weeks ago I wandered into Sydney’s Hermes store to grab a squirt of their fragrances. I looked like a complete bogan, worn out jeans, holy jumper, thongs. Every piece that was visible had once been a designer piece that has lasted me years and though I look like a tramp, these clothes are so part of me I am finding it hard to let them go. there was a blond, buff, sparkly toothed vision smiling at me as the door was opened, looking for all the world like Hermes the messenger of the Gods had had his golden locks shorn and coiffed. It was astounding. His welcome was as warm as if I’d walked in wearing an Hermes suit he had personally sold to me.

Photo Stolen from giantbomb

I asked to see the fragrances. “Mens or womens?” he asked casually.
“Do you think they care who wears them?” me. There was no wide eyed surprise just a moment to distill and a bigger smile, “What would you like to try?”
“Herm Essence,” I reply in Australian. He touches my arm to get my attention and says softly in the correct tones, “Our Hermessence range is great, you’ll love it,” and opens a drawer with testers. It was done so nicely and without fanfare. I am grateful to him and will purchase on Saturday, as a Thank You.

Recent arrivals in my Mail Box included 3 Hermes 15ml mini bottles from Olfactoria’s Travels wardrobe cleanout. They are all so different and wearable. I am enjoying them all.

Kelly Caleche EdT 2007 Jean-Claude Ellena. This is a surprising leather that smells on my skin like the leather, glue, colours and stitchery inside the back of brand new high heels, never worn, straight from box and tissue paper. The flowers and fruits big moment are all over for me so quickly, around 15 minutes, and then play such a light backing track to this almost patent leather smell. Kelly Caleche has been worn on my chest for the last 2 days and I have enjoyed it immensely.


Hermessence Vanille Galante EdT 2009 Jean-Claude Ellena. Vanille Galante has a sharp, dark, almost camphorous, awkward and riveting scorched pot-pouri beginning that burns the hairs out of my nostrils. As it mellows down to a softer tone the vanilla peeks out, then hides, then peeks out again in an interesting waltz with the flowers and woods. Maybe I smell cognac wafting from somewhere, like I’ve left a balloon on a table near the fire, or maybe the perfumers notes mislead me but now it’s in my head I can almost taste it. Sadly, while I have enjoyed wearing Hermessence Vanille Galante, this will probably never reach any kind of high rotation because other Vanillas in my library live better for me.

Les Colognes Hermes Eau de Gentiane Blanche EdC 2009 Jean-Claude Ellena. This smells of ivy, fresh cut hedges on gardener days and humus, the flowers and incense are cool and stark the most bare, green, haughty and aloof you can imagine. This is a bracing spring splash in a salt water pool, that OOH as you go in but as your body adjusts and acclimatises to the water it becomes comfortable, deliciously refreshing. There is a warmth in this fragrance that filters in as your skin mellows and softens it. Les Colognes Hermes Eau de Gentiane Blanche is my favourite of the 3, I will wear this frequently.

Here is Hermes World Home Page that can direct you to any of their country websites. FragranceShop has some great deals on Hermes fragrances.

Do you have a favourite Hermes fragrance or a story of your introduction to the Hermes brand? Please share with us, often the comments are more interesting than my posts and I love reading your fragrant thoughts. Currently I am torn between Santal Massoïa or Jardin en Méditerranée as my Thank You buy for that sweet Hermes God working in the Sydney Store. HELP!

Much love,

Portia xx

Figs! Olfactory Journey To Greece

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 21 Comments

Hiya gang,

Figs are everywhere in perfume.

Photo Stolen from 123rf.com

The scentbloggosphere is also full of the fig journey. The Olfactoria’s Travels, Undina’s Looking Glass, and Now Smell This crews, among others, have all done splendid fig reviews. Recently I  looked at Aftelier Perfumes AH-MAY-ZING Fig and all this fig chat has had me intrigued. There are so many choices the mind boggles. What to do?

I went to The Posh Peasant and looked up figs. What caught my eye was a five pack of famous figs called Figs! Olfactory Journey to Greece. This way I could try the generally accepted best reasonably and if I LOVED some then I could think about a purchase. Genius! Here’s what The Posh Peasant says in their spiel;

Fig scented fragrances have been all the rage the past decade and for good reason. Some fig scents have a wonderful complexity of being both green/woodsy and slightly fruity. A good fig scent transports you to a fig grove in Greece (if you’ve ever smelled a fig grove you’ll know it’s one of nature’s most gorgeous scent creations).

Photo Stolen from PoshPeasant
What I’ve done below is give my initial thought words during top notes then gone on to discuss progressions.

Diptyque, Philosykos; Sharp, Twig, Torn bark, Earth, Leaves. This is a sparse and spare smell on me. Right from the moment I first wear it there is fig tree but not fig jam, and so much space between the scent that it is like you are dozing down the hill, in the shade, while up the hill the workers are picking the fruit, occasionally tearing leaves and maybe someone mowed the grass this morning and there has been a light sunshower after tilling some nearby earth. 6 hours later it is still there, linear and quite noticeable, which is surprising on my skin.

Hermes, Un Jardin en Mediterranee; Fresh, Sweet, Air, Sharp, Expensive wood, Roast chicken glaze. At first glance/sniff this feels like a fragrance I’d reach for regularly if it were in my collection. Bright, warm and inviting like toast and fig jam with a hearty meat smell like roast chicken fresh from the oven with a fruit glaze. As it warms up this is spicy fig jam. Of the 5 this is the best fit with our cool wet Autumn day in Sydney and my personal favourite.

Miller Harris, Figue Amère; Nutty, Citrus, Salty Fruit, Wood, Tangy Sweet & Sour. This is YUMMY! My nose is reading almost a Chinese banquet here. The fruit and leaves in Figue Amere are dried, salted, fried and flavoured, there is warm depth and it feels so extravagant and opulent. Like fig is not the main course here and is joined by the rest of the dishes. There is a note during the middle, unfortunately I can’t identify what, that smells like after salt water swimming shower sex.

Parfumerie Generale, Jardins de Kerylos; Warm, Fresh, Ozonic,, Fruit, Light but penetrating. It’s most fig smell during drydown, but a very dry fig, austere and cool. 1-6 hours later Jardins de Kerylos becomes a barely there hum on my skin, nicer smelling than me.

Jo Malone, Wild Fig & Cassis; Roots, Sap, Bitter, Leaves, Chewed grasses. This is a breath taking look at a pine logging camp of the unmechanised variety. I smell torn trees, earth, compost, grass and cowpats. A challenging, astringent, glorious riot of bitter green herbaceous life. This is what a Triffid would smell like.

Thanks for reading. Do you have a favourite fig? We’d like to know.

Portia xx

Perfume for the musk-averse?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Hello – I’m the laggardly half of Australianperfumejunkies.  I’m the yin to Portia’s gorgeously positive and vivacious yang.  Where Portia describes herself as a perfume ‘slut’, I’m determined to find ‘the one’.  I’ll fill my cupboards with a million decants before I invest in a full bottle that doesn’t speak to me fully and completely.  I’m not a perfumista.  I’m just a somewhat anally-retentive civilian who wants to find a great scent, is overwhelmed by the sheer volume of possibilities out there and needs a systematic way to reach the holy grail of a signature scent.  And I don’t like musk.

This caveat would seem to narrow the field substantially as musk is apparently found in 90% of fine fragrances (according to perfumes-world.com).  I don’t think I’m alone in this aversion, however.  My hypothesis is that all those people who claim to wretch when they pass a perfume counter are musk-averse.  There’s even a celebrated perfumer (Christopher Brosius) who claims to hate musk and leaves it out of most of his perfumes.  You might say I’m in search of a signature scent for people who claim not to like perfume.  I’m convinced it can be found.   I hope there’ll be more than one but I’ll be happy with one.

Adventure One – The Quiet Perfumes

Lists, lists, lists – perfumistas love lists. What better place to start than with a pre-culled selection from those who know better.  Portia popped my perfume-cherry with Luca and Tania’s Little Book of Perfumes so I’m going to start with one of their lists.   Since musk is typically a bold, animalistic scent, I thought Luca and Tania’s favourite ‘quiet’ perfumes would be the place to start.  Surely ‘quiet’ is something of an antonym to ‘musk’ in the perfume world?

A pre-screening of the candidates for evidence of musk on Fragrantica.com proved this to be not necessarily the case and I have had to reject half of the original ten for offences against the musk-averse.

Here are the remainders – Turin and Sanchez’s favourite ‘quiet’ perfumes sans musk:

  • Bois d’Encens (Armani Prive)
  • Commes des Garcons 3 (Commes des Garcons)
  • Lime, Basil & Mandarin (Jo Malone)
  • Hermessence Osmanthe Yunnan (Hermes)
  • Timbuktu (L’Artisan Parfumeur)

I’m going to wallow in these perfumes for the next two weeks and my favourite amongst them will be the beginning of my next adventure.  If there’s anyone out there who thinks they’re musk averse and has found a favourite I would love to hear from you.  Evie C.