Heya Perfume Posse Perfumistas,

Portia from Australian Perfume Junkies with an admission: Hermès is one of my favourite brands, of all the designer fragrances I think they have created their own niche with Jean Claude Ellena at the helm. Their bottles are so gorgeous to hold and so super shiny and slippery that they don’t even feel like glass anymore. Whenever I spritz a Hermès perfume it feels extremely luxe. You get to do it quite regularly too because many of the frags don’t last more than a couple of hours, which is great for perfumistas who like to change their scent with their mood but I imagine quite annoying if you want to smell beautiful all evening and sexy late at night with a partner and not have to lug around your perfume bottle. Today I am going to take you pre JCE at Hermès. Back to 1984 and Akiko Kamei created Parfum d’Hermes, since then it was reinterpreted in 2000 and retitled Rouge Hermès (you can still buy PdH but I think Rouge Hermès more current).

Hermès: Rouge Hermès 2000

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Iris, rose, ylang ylang
Heart: Sandalwood, vanilla, cedar, amber
Base: Myrtle, spices

Until today I’d not looked at the notes for Rouge Hermès and they come as a bit of a surprise. I did know that I was wearing an Hermès oriental so I was expecting sandalwood, vanilla and amber but not through the heart, the powdery iris is gorgeous but I also was expecting some heliotrope, aldehydes and jasmine, then the myrtle in the base makes sense but I would NEVER in a million years have picked it out. It’s funny reading notes lists of a fragrance you’ve worn on and off for a few weeks, though I prefer not to parse all my true loves because it dispels some of the magic, your/my brain is doing the detective work subconsciously. I was unprepared to read rose and myrtle, that’s kind of fun.

How does Rouge Hermès make me feel? Rich, elegant and lavish. The first wet whiff is both sharp and butter smooth, and as that rush burns down the ylang and rose (now that I realise it’s rose) pair beautifully and there is a fruity hint too but I can’t name it. Sweet and spicy rose with vegetative, luscious ylang and powdery soft earthy iris are all so beautifully matched and blended in Rouge Hermès that, when you are not reviewing, create a cloud, a waft and a train of glamour.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Rouge Hermès is very modern with its sheer lightness but is fragrantly old fashioned too, a crossover perfume that is intricate enough for the most discerning perfumista yet light and floaty enough not to skunk younger or less jaded wearers of perfume. On a man it is intriguing, the masculine traits of wood, spice and green come to the fore and the floral powdery-ness becomes almost barbershop. Well into my first hour of wear we are still getting mainly the top notes with only a underpinning of the woodsy notes and vanilla has not even raised its head which is most unusual on my sweet skewing skin. Maybe it’s the myrtle that keeps Rouge Hermès green and fresh and lively. There’s no bakery or cakery, this is a pure modern green fl-Oriental that wraps me up like an Hermès cashmere rug, in my Rouge Hermès dream I am a billionairess with magic in my fingers and the world in the palm of my hands.

I get 4-6 hours of fully fragrant life before Rouge Hermès becomes a still slightly green and woody wash. What I love about Rouge Hermès is its absolute wearability in most situations, sillage is only very noticeable in the first hour but though it stays close after that I can still smell wafts intermittently throughout the day and those that hug you will be pleasantly surprised, and probably snuggle in.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Further reading: Perfume Smellin’ Things have a very different take on Rouge Hermès to mine and The Non-Blonde
I bought my bottle of Rouge Hermès at the Sydney Hermès store from my favourite SA there Jean.
Surrender To Chance starts at $3/ml

If you thought this was fun and interesting then pop on over to Australian Perfume Junkies, we love visitors.

It’s not too often that something as lovely as the below mini movie is produced in the name of advertising. Hermès seems to stand apart with beautiful and innovative work. Here, with The Sound Of Hermès Silver,  we are taken into a dream vision and the music is wonderful.
I hope you enjoy The Sound Of Hermès Silver
Portia xx

Top Hermès Box Photo Stolen Maegan Tintari Flickr