Concentré d'Orange Verte
Hermès Concentré d'Orange Verte Eau de Toilette is the longer lasting reading of a cologne idea, made in 2004 for people who liked the style but wanted it to survive past lunchtime.
Orange is the subject, handled green and bitter rather than sweet. This is the smell of the peel and the leaf, zesty and slightly sappy, with none of the sugary quality of orange juice or confectionery. It is bracing in the way a cold tap is bracing, and it is why the fragrance is reached for in the morning.
What stops it evaporating is underneath. Patchouli brings earth and a cool, dark damp that gives the citrus somewhere to land, and cedarwood adds a dry, pencil-shaving crispness that holds the structure upright without adding weight. Three materials in total, and the concentration is what distinguishes it: more oil than a cologne, so the brightness lasts rather than flashing and vanishing.
It is unisex by any reasonable reading and is worn by men and women in roughly equal numbers. Warm weather is its element, as is daytime, travel and any situation where you want to smell clean and alert rather than seductive. It is also one of the easier fragrances to wear in an office, since nobody has ever objected to a clean peel scent across a desk. There is a practical argument as well. Scents of this type tend to be bought in quantity and used without ceremony, and this one invites exactly that: after a shower, before going out, and again in the afternoon when the day runs long.
Its founder made harness for carriages in Paris from 1837. Six generations on, the family remains in charge, and perfumery has been part of the house since 1951 without ever becoming the whole of it.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
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