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Terre d'Hermès
Terre d'Hermès Eau de Parfum Gift Set is one of the few boxed presents that can be given to a man who already owns fragrance without the slightest awkwardness, because this is the scent a great many of them already wear.
The structure is clear and worth knowing. Orange and grapefruit open it, both handled dry rather than sweet, with the bitterness of peel rather than the sugar of juice, and the effect is bright but never cheerful in the way citrus can be. Black pepper arrives next with a dry, rasping heat, and geranium runs alongside it, green and slightly metallic with a cool edge that keeps the spice in order.
The base is what people remember. Vetiver is the central material, earthy and dry with a smoky, rooty bitterness that reads as mineral, almost like warm stone and dust. Cedarwood sharpens it with a clean, pencil-like dryness. Patchouli adds damp earth underneath and benzoin, the one sweet thing in the composition, smooths the edges with a soft balsamic warmth that keeps the whole from becoming austere.
Eight materials, and the arrangement is the reason for the fragrance's reputation: bright above, dry and mineral below, with nothing in the middle wasted. At eau de parfum strength it is noticeably richer and longer lasting than the lighter versions of the same scent, holding a full day and leaving a trace on clothing. It suits autumn and winter, evenings and working days alike, and it is firmly a men's fragrance in the way it is sold, though plenty of women have quietly adopted it.
Started in 1837 by a harness maker working in Paris, the house has remained in his family through six generations of ownership, and it has been making perfume, among much else, since 1951.
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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