The very concept of Jour d’Hermès is that each wearer will read different flowers in it.
So when I first published my impressions on Jour
d’Hermès (to read them, click here), I did a draw for 4 samples so that other perfume lovers could
tell us which flowers they perceived.
I intended to post on February 15th; the day Jour went into worldwide distribution outside of Hermès boutiques,
then life intervened in the form of an unexpectedly heavy workload. So here
are, belatedly, the impressions of Victor, Phanie, Hélène and Anne-Marie. I’ve
translated the contributions of Victor and Hélène from French.
“On my skin Jour d’Hermès smells soapy. The initial
sparkle after spraying mixes timid echoes: carnation, barely open rosebuds,
freesia… and a presence that first makes me think of a crisp, sliced pear. But
the soap I was speaking of dominates: by borrowing the features of the almost
virginal flower of Vanille Galante
and the anesthetized zests of Iris Ukiyoé,
what remains is a slightly fatty paste, tame and tenacious (what splendid
long-lastingness while remaining discreet!).”
Victor is the Venetian author of a lovely French-language fragrance blog, Le Pavillon des Élégances. You
can read his complete post on Jour d'Hermès by clicking here.
Phanie: "Chic and ingenuous"
“Although I
am rather new in the " perfumistas' " blogosphere, I will try my best
to describe my impressions of Jour d’Hermès.
From the top notes I get grapefruit and maybe rhubarb. It's sparkling and joyful
Then the heart notes more floral, maybe lush white flowers like gardenia and orange blossom I also get a sweeter note like mango that lasts even at the drydown. The base is like honey and woods but also a bit sultry, which reminds me of Eau de Merveilles.
From the top notes I get grapefruit and maybe rhubarb. It's sparkling and joyful
Then the heart notes more floral, maybe lush white flowers like gardenia and orange blossom I also get a sweeter note like mango that lasts even at the drydown. The base is like honey and woods but also a bit sultry, which reminds me of Eau de Merveilles.
I think Jour
d' Hermès is a fragrance for the summer, uplifting orange blossom and
grapefruit + sultry drydown. However, I enjoyed it very much during the last
icy cold days, with snow all around. Its warm white flower notes and
mango/honey are welcome in the heart of the winter too.
On my skin, I
find it very tenacious and its sillage is very elegant. Fresh and warm. Chic
and ingenuous (true, unaffected). That is why, to me, it is a very good example
of a bridal perfume. I have probably missed many more nuances and delicate
shades of this wonderful fragrance. As I
explained to you earlier,I n the perfumistas' world , I am only an
"amatrice".”
Hélène: "Fresh, spring-like, delicate"
“I had a lot of trouble – I am only an unenlightened
perfume lover – discerning the components of this new scent. The bouquet blends
floral fragrances and the fusion is almost perfect. This is fresh, spring-like,
delicate. Which spring flowers have this non-honeyed freshness? Then, further
upstream, almost hesperidic freshness. A hint of citrus in the top notes
perhaps? Mandarin? Grapefruit? Or a lemony flower like magnolia, which
resembles no other? (That fresh, transparent aspect that’s a bit soapy).
Apart from that… it’s a mystery. Proceeding by
elimination (not rose, not tuberose, etc…), since we’re in a floral bouquet, I’m
left with osmanthus or jasmine. But frankly, I’m not sure at all.
Despite your praise, I don’t have the impression this
is extremely new.”
Anne-Marie: "I'm in that interesting state between loving and hating"
“I did find it hard to pick out notes in Jour d'Hermès. Certainly I detect sharp
citrus notes - grapefruit or lemon - in the opening. After that I'll hazard
stemmy green hyacinth, tempered with something warmer: rose and jasmine
perhaps. But to me the fragrance remains so green that fleetingly it reminds me
of taloned old suspects like Vent Vert,
Chanel N° 19 and Private Collection. Jour
d'Hermès is more relaxed though. As it progresses, Le Temps d'une Fête comes to mind. Sillage and tenacity are good.
I'm poised in that interesting state between loving and hating this fragrance:
could go either way!”
Have you had a chance by now to sample Jour d’Hermès? What’s your take on it? Does it click with one
of the above?
L'actu 
Articles
I wore Jour d’Hermes almost daily for the few weeks that I was in southern Florida over the New Year. Its citrusy, green, vaguely floral notes blended seamlessly with that environment, the grapefruit and rhubarb adding just enough edge to keep my nose interested. It’s breezy and unobtrusive, a nice complement to the other things I smelled while walking through tropical gardens and watching the parade of fashion in sidewalk cafes. However, whenever I caught the scent of a serious, old school, fully saturated perfume, usually wafting from an older Cuban woman, I felt a bit bereft. I like Jour d’Hermes quite a lot, but it does not inspire grand passion.
RépondreSupprimerKathryn, thank you for your impressions. I can certainly imagine Jour d'Hermès would be a perfect travelling companion in Florida.
RépondreSupprimerAlthough it is certainly very different from old-school fragrances, it does have enough character to be memorable. My house currently smells like an accident in a perfume factory since I soaked dozens of blotters of old classics for a perfume history course, but I could still picture Jour d'Hermès perfectly in my mind's nose as I prepared this post.
Sometimes we don't need passion, just a lovely, pleasant tryst, don't we?
As I commented on Now Smell This, throughout its composition, Jour d'Hermès has a bitter, oily green scent. I guess my findings are like Anne-Marie's then, though my comparison is Parfums de Nicolai's Odalisque. My sample is long gone, and I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't buy I bottle. I do love the sunrise peachiness of the dry down, though. Money saved-I still need Iris Ukiyoé.
RépondreSupprimerEric, thanks for chiming in. I think the bitterness may come from the rhubarb-grapefruit-lemon effects -- JCE did state that he wanted to avoid sweetness, going for tartness instead. I do see what you mean about Odalisque -- I think the combination of white floral and a slight, salicylic saltiness?
RépondreSupprimeroh phooey, Denyse, I was supposed to give you my comments as well. I stink! I'll go ahead and give them now.
RépondreSupprimerI was very excited to try Jour d'Hermès, and exceedingly pleased that I won your draw, as I would have not otherwise had a chance to try the fragrance for some time. I appreciate Jean-Claude Ellena's perfumes generally, but I haven't really found one of his works that I'm enraptured with, except perhaps Van Cleef & Arpels First. Well, sorry to say, Jour d'Hermès is not MY Ellena scent, as I was hoping.
It starts with lemon and grapefruit, very bright, intense lemon and grapefruit that smell like the real thing only brighter and more intense and lovely. I love the opening. Then, I waited for the florals. And waited. There are some green stems and then... clean musk. I kept waiting for the promised rich yet abstract floral bouquet and wasn't finding it. This may be in part that I am a floral lover and wear floral bouquets and indoles and all those things on the regular. But this scent just didn't connect with me. I found the drydown, in particular, to be borderline boring, with the clean musks. I think the opening is truly lovely... I just wish there was more in the middle, more floralcy. I'm sad I didn't connect with this one.
Susan, not sure whether I prodded you for that... Thanks for catching up! Sorry you didn't connect with the scent. It *is* fairly indolic, but I guess it doesn't click with what you were expecting of a floral. I agree the drydown is a bit of another story. I get more balsamic notes out of it than you apparently did, but it almost feels like the kick-off for another story to me...
RépondreSupprimerAfter giving Jour d'Hermes a rest, I've worn it a couple of times in the last week and finally those sharp opening notes are relaxing a bit. Until now, the very tart opening of Jd'H had, for me, lingered for hours and started to nag, like a loud-voiced person at a party. Finally the sun seems to be coming out and I am getting much more warmth and radiance, perhaps even a hint of the mango and honey that Phanie mentions. There is something 'dappled' about this perfume; it keeps revealing new facets all the time. Earlier today I even thought I got a whisper of a dry vanilla that reminded me of the Bulgari Black that my teenage son wore yesterday. But that is a bit crazy, probably just a lingering scent memory.
RépondreSupprimerAnyway, I'm definitely tipping towards love on this one now. I was day dreaming this morning, thinking that if I was a signature-scent person, and someone inclined towards brand loyalty, I would have just two perfumes: 24 Faubourg for winter and Jour d'Hermes for summer. More crazy talk that, but it's nice to dream.
Annemarie, interesting how Jour d'Hermès can either be easy to love, or take a while to grow on you and show its complexity, isn't it? It's a stealthy one, for sure. But I think the vanilla isn't just a scent-ghost: it's there in the base notes. Having signature scents is really a crazy dream for perfume lovers, though! But having a fall-back option, for day when we need familiarity and not too much drama, is a great thing.
RépondreSupprimerMy husband gave this to me for Christmas, and I love it. At first, I thought it was a bit too pretty for me to carry off, but now I think it works. I don't find the drydown boring at all; I get warm honey after the flowers.
RépondreSupprimerOcchireni, it does give that impression, doesn't it? Of being just very pretty. Then it kind of insinuates itself!
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