Terre d'Hermès (2006)
by Hermès

I did sorta like this one at first, especially the first few moments of citric/orange pithy tartness wrapped amongst woody, musky notes; however, over time, I began to really resent the unusual wet cement aroma that emerged in the basenotes. I did own this fragrance for a long time, but eventually never made it past using 80% of the bottle before I got rid of it. I think it is definitely an interesting fragrance, but I've learned quickly that I do not like Jean-Claude Ellena's compositions.

I really don't get the fascination with Terre d'Hermès. Granted, it's a unique composition but definitely nothing to get overly excited about. The whole rotten oranges and mineral combo is far too anaemic for my tastes, and just leaves me wanting something more substantial.

This is yet another minimalist creation by Jean-Claude Ellena – a release that's deliberately aimed at tapping into the psyche of those who are gradually being brainwashed, by the mass media, into believing that smelling faintly like fabric softener is the way to go.

A neutral rating only due to its ground-breaking composition.

[Original submission date: 25 May 2008]

The first things I notice in Terre d'Hermès are vetiver and a very tart grapefruit. Dry woody notes soon follow, and I think that these, in combination with the vetiver, create the "earthy" or "soil" accord so often noted in this scent.

The woods and vetiver stay very much front and center, rounded out by some highly discreet floral notes. I get an occasional whiff of spice and incense, especially in the remarkably pronounced sillage. There is also an unusual note that suggests ash. Not tobacco ash, and not smoke, but old, cold ash, as from a long abandoned fireplace. The drydown reveals quite a bit of conifer, which melds with the vetiver in a lingering "forest" accord that I find quite pleasant.

I place Terre d'Hermès as a cumin-free, vetiver-seasoned derivative of Elléna’s earlier Déclaration. Terre d’Hermès is every bit as dry as Déclaration, but it’s also a cleaner, colder, and less suggestive scent, which may account for its great popularity. While it’s a somewhat austere fragrance, it’s still very easy to wear and very unlikely to offend. For this reason I could see it as a really fine business or office scent. A perfectly good, if not a terribly exciting fragrance, and certainly nothing that I have to own.

I was always whining and complaining about men's fragrances being shortlived. Well, Hermes finally shot my mouth. Terre d'Hermes is SO wonderful and strong and sumptuous and enthralling. Ooooh...

update Dec 06 2009:
did anyone notice the vast majority of negative reviews were given in 2008/09? did TdH go through a reformuation? what happened to the tree moss? I really used to like this frag...

There are a number of simple adjectives I like to be associated to the fragrances that I wear; sexy, masculine, fresh, clean, fruity, dirty, gourmand, or just plain old nice. None of these could be said of Terre D'Hermes, except perhaps, dirty - and not in a good way. To me it starts off smelling slightly orangey - one of my least favourite citrus notes and then settles down to a dirty, dusty fragrance. It reminds me of the smell of a dusty old road. I have sampled it numerous times and simply do not understand why this is so popular. Why would someone want to smell like this?! It simply fails all criteria by which I would judge a great smelling scent. My minimum expectation is to smell nice. Terre D'Hermes does not.

Hearing all the great reviews on this one I really wanted to give it a try. So i wore it a few times and came to a conclusion. This frag is very earthy, unique and is a good smell. I just don't know a proper time to wear this one though. maybe earth day. But it is a good fragrance, But not one for me right now.

I'm not going to give it a thumbs down because i can not wear it, nor give it neutral. It is a great frag so thumbs up.