Thursday, May 18, 2006

REVIEW: Terre d'Hermes (2006)

Notes: Cedar, Grapefruit, Orange, Gunflint, Silex, Pepper, Baies Roses, Geranium Leaves, Patchouli, Vetiver, Benzoin.

Pros: Light, fresh earthy aroma. Classy bottle.

Cons: A little too heavy on the dry notes.

Reminds me of: Cartier Declaration (Birch wood, Bergamot, Bitter orange, Juniperwood, Artemisia, Cardamom, Cold spices, Oak, Cedar wood, Vetiver)

Development: The entire aroma relaxes and softens after application. From there, I can detect the citrus fruit and pepper, and a heavy vetiver note. There is a transparency about the composition aided by the citrus and geranium notes.

Longevity & Sillage: Quiet and close to the skin within an hour of application.

Where can I buy it? $43.99 for a 50ml edt spray at ImaginationPerfumery.com.

Bottleworthy? Wait a few months until the price drops - this could make a great Xmas gift for Dad!

The Bottom Line: It leaves me a little cold, though there are times when the almost peanut buttery benzoin melds with the vetiver to create a unique earthy accord. But it fades rather quickly, revealing shimmering grapefruit and orange notes. Others have compared this to to the two Jardin fragrances by Hermes, concluding that they all share a similar transparency and simplicity and I'd agree. This scent reminds me of the dryness in Boucheron pour Homme and Krizia Time Uomo. I kept wanting slightly sweet and aromatic notes to open up from the background of the composition and relax it, but to no avail. Though it was an interesting experience, Hermes' Terre is not one I'd quickly return to.

Rating (out of 10): 6

What's your favorite of the men's Hermes scents?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Marlen,
Thanks for letting me know your thoughts. I actually went ahead and picked this up while in Dallas. It cost me a pretty penny ($95 from Sephora).

My thoughts here, I dont like light citrus (aka the normal summer scents like acqua de anything or L'eau par) so for me, the vetiver is what convinced me to buy this transparent scent. Does it wow me? No. But it is subtle enough to work for summer and i have recieved comments so I just need to say try it see what happens for you.

P.s. for me, Terre has very good sillage. I had walked out of a room and then had people comment on how good it was.

Mark said...

Hi Marlen!! Did you miss me? I'm wearing my Modigliani today!

My favorite Hermes scent, and quite possibly my favorite scent ever is the Eau d'Orange Verte.

I can't live without it. I now wear the Concentre, after years of praying they'd release a new version that lasted. Mmmmm!

I like the Sur le Nil and a long time ago, I had a bottle of Equipage which I wore a lot in the fall. It was comforting.

Anonymous said...

I am pleased someone else noticed a relation of Hermes Terre de Hermes to Cartier's Declaration. I think it's a good scent, with a nice 'Cointreau' note of bitter orange. I'm not quite sure what they mean by a 'gunflint' note, but you might well imagine it's there, and also oakmoss in the drydown which is not menioned but I'm sure it's present.