Eau d'Hermès (1951)
by Hermès

I must applaud the effort put into this early Hermes cologne. The opening is similar to Caron pour un Homme with creamy lavender and fresh citrus, but soon after the cumin and light woods (possibly pine) creep in and darken the waters. It does smell strongly animal for a few minutes, but this dries down to a light orange and civet, which is bearable and decent.

This review is under revision...

animal notes combined with a cologne style head and some white flowers
the animal notes have been tempered down but it remains elegant and very unusual mix

Hermes have some of the most interesting Eaux around, and this one ranks top in my list. I cannot wait to get hold of a bottle and try it on my man's skin too...

Aye. 'Tis a beauty of a beastie.
It may not be advisable to wear it over the moors at night when the forces of evil are exulted, lest you start howling like a wolf.
On the other hand, if you're over 40 going about your mundane business, do not be surprised if you order a cup of coffee and the lovely waitress half your age approaches you cautiously, like a slow caress.
This is leather for the full moon.

Hermes Eau D'Hermes

When it comes to Eaus I'm beginning to think that Hermes just knows how to do them. Starting in 1951 when Edmond Roudnitska created Eau D'Hermes. I love when a perfumer takes a very known entity and turns it into something that feels their own. Hermes seems to make a cottage industry out of it especially with eau de colognes. Francoise Caron did it with Eau D'Orange Vert and Jean-Claude Ellena did it most recently with Eau de Pamplemousse Rose. Roudnitska did it first, however, and Eau D'Hermes is a testament to his ability. The top of this starts off with the classic Eau de Cologne mix of citrus and lavender, the twist Roudnitska added was cumin. This takes the sparkling usual top off into a much more earthy, grounded direction. This same kind of top would be repeated very similarly in Cartier Declaration with less lavender. The cumin is also less than in Declaration which might make it easier on the cumin averse among you out there. For me the cumin makes the top very special and different. Eau D'Hermes comes to end on a slightly leathery note mixed with a little moss to give this a fougere feel at the end. This is a true Eau de Cologne and therefore will not have a lot of longevity on most people. It fares about the same on my skin as most of them and lasts for a decent period of time. It is always a pleasure to see an artist re-interpret something and Eau D'Hermes shows Roudnitska's skills in top form.