24, Faubourg (1995)
by Hermès

I'd wear this if I was having an interview to be the Queen. Sophisticated (which is a faux-naive word I hate but fits the bill). Smells like you're wearing an evening dress costing more than the GNP of a small European country. Amber, fruit, and a hint of neroli/orange blossom that lifts the richness. Gorgeous.

Not a bad scent, but not one of my favorites from Hermes, nor from nose Maurice Roucel, who composed it. 24, Faubourg registers for me as a spicy floral-oriental with an intensely soapy “perfumey” character. The basic structure recalls some of the classic French scents of the early 20th century, (L'Heure Bleue, Narcisse Noir, etc.) but without displacing any of its great predecessors.

My favorite part of this scent is the drydown, which reveals rich spicy woods, vanilla, and the faintest animalic element deep in the background. 24, Faubourg is a potent scent with plenty of sillage and tenacity, so I advise sparing application. For a more interesting Roucel venture in this vein, try Guerlain's Insolence instead.

Style-in a bottle for fans of floral orientals. Very wearable, feminine without being overtly sexual, neck-nuzzling without being too "boudoir". The only problem with this is that it may not suit those under 20, but that's just a hunch. Depends on the person!

This is my first purchase because of basenote reviews. I love it...and I thought I didn't like strong florals. Borrowing prose from castorpollux, "Huge, big florals, creamy, thick and very caramel-like middle notes, and amber/woods heaven at the basenotes..." I could not say it better.

This floral is not just a walk in the park, unless you are walking through Jardin du Luxembourg in your evening gown! This is ultra-elegant, grand dame, cultivated and sophisticated lady fragrance. It is my top fragrance for great nights out, or just because I want to feel special.

This is is classified as a floral but registers as an Oriental, too. And it smells convincingly like a vintage perfume. It is so richly colored, so concentrated, so old-fashioned and heady, it hardly seems that it could have been launched in 1995. Many of my favorite notes are here--orange blossom, gardenia (tiare flower), sambac jasmine, amber, oakmoss, sandalwood, ambergris--but the sum is greater than its parts. 24, Faubourg produces a rich, deep, orangey fragrance that is neither citrusy nor candylike but elegantly floral, even woody. Smells like the "big" fragrances of the old days, unabashed and sensual. I tried it along with many other samples, and it stood above them, in a league of its own. Highly memorable, nostalgic, and evocative of wealth and taste. My only complaint is that the opening salvo of sillage is too great. I believe it was engineered to behave this way, but I wish it would moderate itself and let its scent waft gently from the wearer over the course of hours, not blast off so conspicuoulsy all at once.