I recently received two samples, one of which I have been waiting on for 2 months, the other was a surprise. They are from the famed house of Hermes (makers of my favorite, Terre d'Hermes) and a part of a non-designer line called Hermessence. From my understanding, Jean-Claude Ellena, who is the in-house perfumer for Hermes, wanted to create a line of fragrance that dared to set a new bar in design-house fragrances. The entire line is marketed as completely unisex and dares to be different in the light of crowd pleasers. Instead he boldly takes his creations into translations of pure essences of plants and memories of places traveled. He combines memories from his own life and weaves them together, essentially taking one part of the world and harmoniously connecting it with another...just as our world should be anyway.
Upon smelling these two fragrances (I have not finished the samples as they are generously sized) I was instantly transported. Poivre Samarcande connects me with memories of my own life whereas Vetiver Tonka takes me to a place I've never been with elements from different parts of my youth. Both of these fragrances achieve a standard that I believe has not yet been set in the world of designer fragrance and I absolutely must commend Hermes for allowing Jean-Claude Ellena to create these fragrances under their name. These are marketing changers in the long run and testaments to what an imagination can do when given the appropriate resources combined with a mind and talent completely unique. I will do further in depth reviews of both Vetiver Tonka and Poivre Samracande in the days to come.
If interested, here is a link to my youtube channel in which I also review fragrance...though it seems I have a knack for getting lost in my adventurous spirit. https://www.youtube.com/user/gallataki16/videos
Thank you for reading!
