Bel Ami (1986)
by Hermès

Has Hermes ever produced anything better than this in the last 25 years -- a moot point imo. There are no shocks for me here -- a lovely rich leather mixed with spices ending in a glorious vetiver mix. Hermes have now packaged all their perfumes in rather clunky and ugly bottles -- the only individuality left is in the scents themselves.

This review is for the vintage Bel Ami in the 'cocktail shaker' bottle.

If I could give it 6 stars I would, and it's really my pleasure to be writing what I can as a testament to this beautiful fragrance. Bel Ami is the epitome of elegance, highlighting 3 of my favorite accords (leather, sandalwood and vetiver).

When I first got a sample from a good friend of mine I fell in love almost instantly. I was able to detect those 3 beautiful notes almost right away, though this isn't to say Bel Ami isn't well-blended. There was a major surprise for me in that with its incredible longevity it morphed into this gorgeous vetiver akin to MPG Route de Vetiver (vintage) on my skin - though softer, warmer.

Longevity is superb - sillage is just about perfect with a few sprays to key areas. It has been said that Bel Ami doesn't take many risks... it doesn't need to. I think it works best for formal/semi-formal but I've worn it with a t-shirt and jeans and loved it just the same. This will be a "holy grail" fragrance for many people. I put it right next to L'Instant PH, Creed BdP and Vetiver Extraordinaire for "versatile elegance with tolerable opulence". 5/5

Bel Ami is a big, spicy leather scent with a heaping dose of dark woods in its base. It’s neither so lithe nor so risqué as its lascivious oldest brother Eau d’Hermès, and it doesn’t share middle brother Equipage’s taste for tobacco. This leaves it the most staid – stolid, even – of the Hermès leather brethren. Bel Ami is a guy you can depend on, even he’s not the most charismatic one in the room. When I'm looking for a leather scent in this general style, I'm more apt to reach for the more challenging Knize Ten or Parfum d'Habit, but Bel Ami works just fine if you're after something more congenial.

An intense and pungent woody fragrance that made me jerk back my head in initial disgust. However, it does settle down to something warm and spicy. Although this would have been nice to wear in the ‘80s, I definitely can’t see myself wearing it now (and this is its main downfall).

I still love the re-vamped bottle, though.

[Original submission date: 29 December 2007]

I started wearing this powerhouse from 1988. I was completely in love with it and many many older women (and some men) during that time would sidle up to me and say... "That is an incredibly masculine scent you're wearing it's so sexy!"
I just last year broke open the first and then the second (and last) of my old style, round bottles from the 90's that I'd been saving and revisited and fell in love with it all over again.
It IS a strong, powerful, reasurring scent and initially can come across as having no subtlety.
BUT, allow it to work it's magic over a few hours, over a week or two's usage and you'll find that its incredibly resinous, woody, smokey, leathery, castoreum and beeswax heart and base do NOT add up to brash but actually ...
religious, archaic, literary as well as powerful, manly, bold....
it's hard to explain... u need to firstly not be someone who only loves ozonic or marine scents but other than that... its also a pretty serious scent. Seriously sexy, seriously into books (the name is also a direct homage and reference to Guy de Maupassant's novel) and seriously unafraid to be smelled wherever you go.
I have always preferred it to that other 80s powerhouse comparison Antaeus. It is the drier, more disciplined of the two and, (sic) unlike Antaeus, has a rigorous tight poetry to its power.

Today I just got a bottle of the new reformulated Bel Ami from the Hermes Boutique.
It IS different, but it's somehow still Bel Ami.... there are definitely certain things I love about it MORE and some things I MISS....
There is less of a lemon blast at the top (that I might miss) but that nice resinous Bel Ami quality emerges more quickly and more beautifully to my nose.
Definitely on the whole... it has managed to keep its personality strong and powerful. And yet, it feels like its moved quite well into the 21st century.
Only time and use will tell if I am as much or less or more in love with the new touchup but so far SO GOOD.
A heavenly scent still....

The Eighties are over ! Move over for Moss Breches!