H24 Herbes Vives

EN. H24 Herbes Vives is one of those rare modern fragrances that do not try to appear deeper, heavier, or more “niche” than they truly are. And that is precisely where its strength lies. It is not a perfume for an appearance in high society, not oriental opulence, not a dense trail of resins, leather, and oud. It is the scent of a fresh morning, wet grass, crisp air, and green light filtering through the leaves. In it, one perceives the aristocratic character of Hermès: restraint, precision, purity of line, and no vulgar desire to please at any cost. H24 Herbes Vives feels modern, but not superficial; clean, but without banality; green, but free from the intense notes of freshly cut grass. It is built around a very simple, almost minimalist idea — herbs, pear, and the refreshing effect of Physcool® — yet here this simplicity does not appear as simplification: it appears as an elegant intuition by the perfumer. The opening of the fragrance recalls the moment when, after a warm summer rain, the sun comes out again from behind the clouds. The grass is still wet, the air is transparent, the leaves are shining, and on a plate on the veranda there is a freshly sliced green pear — beautifully juicy. The pear is not there to turn the fragrance into a fruity cocktail, as often happens with this note. It gives softness, roundness, and a light natural sweetness that discreetly balances the green, almost crisp freshness of the herbs. The most attractive aspect of H24 Herbes Vives is its sensation of freshness. But this is not mint, not menthol, not the banal “icy breeze” of men’s sport fragrances. The freshness here is more abstract, clean, almost tactile. It is perceived not so much as a smell, but as a caressing movement of air on the skin. Thanks to this, the fragrance feels alive, breathing, very modern, yet at the same time absolutely noble. On the skin, H24 Herbes Vives first opens in a very luminous, green, and fresh way, then becomes softer, more transparent, more airy. It does not suffocate, it does not weigh down, it does not require a special occasion. It is a perfume to wear in the morning, on a warm day, while travelling, during a walk, after a shower, whenever one wants to look and smell clean, fresh, expensive, but without ostentation. In a collection like mine, made up of 300 niche perfumes, it occupies an important place precisely because it does not compete with heavy, dark, and charismatic fragrances. It does not aspire to be Amouage, Nasomatto, or Orto Parisi. Its task is different: to give a sensation of air, greenery, freshness, and calm elegance. In this sense, H24 Herbes Vives is not the “main protagonist of a tragedy”, but a perfectly filmed scene of a summer morning, where everything is simple, beautiful, and very precise. Perhaps it is not the greatest masterpiece by Hermès, and not the most important perfume in my collection. But it is frankly attractive, modern, and surprisingly wearable. Above all, it has an atmosphere. It conveys that living sensation of cleanliness: a mixture of grass, a sun-kissed meadow, damp earth after the rain, green pear on a garden table, and a fresh breath of wind through the treetops. Final verdict: H24 Herbes Vives Hermès is a very successful, elegant, and intelligent interpretation of modern green freshness. It is a perfume for those who are not looking for a banal “freshie”, but for a clean, luminous, noble, and unusual fragrance with the character of Hermès. There is no hysteria in it, but a clean and noble style. There is no ostentatious niche complexity, but the true perfumery tradition of Hermès. ________ IT. H24 Herbes Vives è uno di quei rari profumi moderni che non cercano di sembrare più profondi, più pesanti o più “di nicchia” di quanto siano davvero. Ed è proprio qui che sta la sua forza. Non è un profumo per un’uscita nell’alta società, non è una ricchezza orientale, non è una scia densa di resine, cuoio e oud. È il profumo di una mattina fresca, dell’erba bagnata, dell’aria frizzante e della luce verde che passa attraverso le foglie. In esso si percepisce il carattere aristocratico di Hermès: misura, precisione, purezza delle linee e nessun desiderio volgare di piacere a tutti i costi. H24 Herbes Vives suona moderno, ma non superficiale; pulito, ma senza banalità; verde, ma privo delle note intense di erba appena tagliata. È costruito attorno a un’idea molto semplice, quasi minimalista — erbe, pera e l’effetto rinfrescante del Physcool® — ma qui questa semplicità non appare come semplificazione: appare come un’elegante intuizione del profumiere. L’apertura del profumo ricorda il momento in cui, dopo una calda pioggia estiva, il sole torna a uscire da dietro le nuvole. L’erba è ancora bagnata, l’aria è trasparente, le foglie brillano, e su un piatto in veranda c’è una pera verde appena tagliata — bella succosa. La pera qui non serve a trasformare il profumo in un cocktail fruttato, come spesso accade con questa nota. Dona morbidezza, rotondità e una leggera dolcezza naturale, che bilancia con discrezione la freschezza verde, quasi croccante, delle erbe. L’aspetto più attraente di H24 Herbes Vives è la sensazione di freschezza. Ma non è menta, non è mentolo, non è la banale “brezza ghiacciata” dei profumi sportivi maschili. Il fresco qui è più astratto, pulito, quasi tattile. Non si percepisce tanto come odore, quanto come un movimento accarezzante dell’aria sulla pelle. Grazie a questo, il profumo sembra vivo, respirante, molto moderno, ma allo stesso tempo assolutamente nobile. Sulla pelle H24 Herbes Vives si apre dapprima in modo molto luminoso, verde e fresco, poi diventa più morbido, più trasparente, più arioso. Non soffoca, non pesa, non richiede un’occasione speciale. È un profumo da indossare al mattino, in una giornata calda, in viaggio, durante una passeggiata, dopo la doccia, quando si desidera apparire e profumare in modo pulito, fresco, costoso, ma senza ostentazione. In una collezione come la mia, composta da 300 profumi di nicchia, occupa un posto importante proprio perché non compete con i profumi pesanti, scuri e carismatici. Non aspira a essere Amouage, Nasomatto o Orto Parisi. Il suo compito è diverso: dare una sensazione di aria, verde, freschezza ed eleganza calma. In questo senso, H24 Herbes Vives non è il “protagonista principale di una tragedia”, ma una scena di mattina estiva girata alla perfezione, dove tutto è semplice, bello e molto preciso. Forse non è il più grande capolavoro di Hermès e non è il profumo più importante della mia collezione. Ma è francamente attraente, moderno e sorprendentemente portabile. E soprattutto ha un’atmosfera. Trasmette quella sensazione viva di pulito: una miscela di erba, prato baciato dal sole, terra umida dopo la pioggia, pera verde su un tavolo in giardino e un soffio fresco di vento tra le chiome degli alberi. Giudizio finale: H24 Herbes Vives Hermès è un’interpretazione molto riuscita, elegante e intelligente della freschezza verde moderna. È un profumo per chi non cerca un banale “fresco”, ma un profumo pulito, luminoso, nobile e insolito, con il carattere di Hermès. Non c’è isteria, ma uno stile pulito e nobile. Non c’è una complessità di nicchia ostentata, ma la vera tradizione profumiera di Hermès.

(Comparison of the EdT, EdP, and Herbes Vives) Hermes has a bit of an ego when it comes to their flagship masculine perfumes. They style themselves as trendsetters for the market, and have done going all the way back to Eau de Hermes and Equipage, of which there was nearly two decades between them. That’s another mark of Hermes’ approach to their flagship masculines: they take their sweet time. They blew the masculine perfume world apart at the start of this century with Terre d’Hermes, and in general because of JCE’s other achievements with the Hermessence and Jardin lines, and now they feel bold and it high time to have another go. Did they disrupt the masculine perfume world yet again with H24? Well the feedback certainly seems to suggest so, mostly in how divisive and confused many seem to be. So let’s try to clear some of that up at least. The EdT has a hesperidic and floral opening that is completely translucent, as if you are smelling fruits and flowers that are crystal clear. It’s lemony, green herbal, noticeably ozonic, and those greens you pull are no less what is aiming to be narcissus, which is made evident via the heady and honeyed aromas. Into the heart, thanks to the “narcissus”, the sage-not-quite-sage note comes across as sweetened, but this is all likely an effect of this touted sci fi material the brand is certainly not shy of mentioning, sclarene. It is herbal, it is wet, it is sweet, but it has this “incomplete” feeling that makes you think that, again like I mentioned a second ago, that the sage is nearly crystal clear. Glassy with a green tint. The EdP opens with the same cast of characters but is more fruity, more floral, and noticeably but not terribly sweeter as a result. Everything in the EdP is just more, and definitely denser - particularly the narcissus/sclarene material(s) with its heady honey doing a large amount of the lifting for the sweet quality. Of the three, Herbes Vives has more on offer with an opening of watery but rather photorealistic pear, ozonics, and the same cool herbs but made greener, more vegetal, and sharper thanks to a galbanum edge. Needle sharp aldehydes also briefly present themselves here. The heady and honey characteristics of the narcissus are placed a good distance in the background. The heart of the Herbes Vives is drier, somewhere between the EdT and the EdP but more towards the EdT. It will seem drier than this because of the sharper green edges. The narcissus is still there, as is the sclarene, but now we have the addition of Physcool used to provide a cooling effect without clobbering you with a mint note, and it works: the tactile sensation of the perfume on my skin is not “cooling”, but it does have the effect of smelling cool while it works its way through my nose and palate. Neat trick. The EdT ends with a big slug of evernyl that has a damp, only slightly woody, moss-not-moss aroma. The EdP goes heavily dark woody thanks to a dense and slightly sweet rosewood. This is significantly drier than the opening and heart layers. The evernyl is still present but put much further backstage. Herbes Vives errs towards the EdT with a focus on the green mossy qualities but the brighter greens of earlier layers continue to hold on until the end, having this effect of removing all woody aspects before shifting to a green-only piquant and salty vetiver. Note descriptions of all three H24s are necessary and helpful, sure, but this line is equally about texture as they are aroma, to my nose. Particularly in the EdT, there is quite a bit of “Jean Claude Ellena” in its transparency, and light weight lucidity - perhaps a Hermes mandate given how much his signature style drove sales at Hermes counters - but Nagel still sneaks her unmistakable signature on the bottom line. She has this remarkable stylistic ability to texturally evoke glass or cling film - transparent, light, and undistorted but nonetheless impenetrable, like you are kept from truly “getting your nose” into the material and you must observe from a distance. It greatly helps to execute the mandate of a composition meant to blend the natural and the technological very well. The EdP makes it more obvious how Hermes intended to push the boundaries of mainstream masculine perfumes with H24, as this is likely going to be quite challenging for the general consumer. JCE’s stylistic legacy is less apparent in the EdP, and Nagel’s signature is bolder. If the EdT has a glass-like/cling-film-like impenetrability, the EdP is bullet proof glass. It is thick. With Herbes Vives it is more like the EdT, but it’s also with Herbes Vives where the overlap between the three H24s and some of the Jardin line is more obvious and noticeable. Some of the same materials from the Jardin line are used across the H24 line, and, again it wouldn’t surprise me if part of the creative mandate for H24 was to take what made the JCE-era popular - many of those materials and JCE’s easy to wear, light weight, luminous, and transparent perfumes - and just... make them edgy. Push the envelope a bit. They certainly do. I find it unfortunate and unfair how much flack H24 has received. Maybe they pushed the envelope a bit too much too soon or too late. It’s one of Hermes’ best this century, only after Terre and Paddock in my opinion (I can feel the glare of eyes and the raised eyebrows from you Cuir d’Ange devotees, and I might acquiesce on that). Perhaps with more time H24 will find its large deserved devoted following when minds and tastes are better able to wrap around it. I own all three of these in full bottles due to lucking into them, but that is mostly redundant and not recommended for your wallet unless you are the rare bird that find themselves loving all three equally. To my nose Herbes Vives stands out the most by combining the best parts of the EdT and the EdP, giving them a big glinting green edge and adding the interesting pear opening and the Physcool. It seems it has more it wants to say, but that might not mean you want to hear it. So, trying all three before buying is highly advisable because all three are different from each other in polarizing ways, and just plain different and polarizing in general if that is not already obvious. Hermes achieved what they set out to do, and, at least, I’m thrilled to see they are recognizing and standing behind Nagel and H24 for the achievement, and willing to wait it out (thus far). Bravo. P.S. My partner cannot help but think of scorching-summer-hot seat belts from a vintage car when smelling H24, so even our mostly-unified household is divided.

The opening to this is a genuine 11/10. Tropical, fresh, luxurious and has incredible depth. Its opening is worlds apart from almost all other perfumes. But the dry down. The dry down can be fuzzy like tv static and can it can sometimes feel like the scent is gone after a few hours or even less. After my initial heartbreak/disappointment I began experimenting and found some ways to enjoy the scent more and make it last longer: you have to avoid nose-blindness like hell. - Don't sniff up close too much, let it come through the air to you - Spray away from the nose, on the wrists not the neck - The atomiser is super strong, genuinely try 1 spray on each wrist - Try spraying on skin under shirts When I started doing this Herbes Vives truly bloomed. You won't be smelling it 24/7 but every 5/10mins you'll get a heavenly waft of that opening, still gorgeous, 4 even 6 hours later in the right weather. This isn't a super performer but if you sniff it every minute I guarantee you'll miss what this perfume has to offer. I've ended up writing a rant, but I wanted to defend what I see as such a beautiful creation, I must smell the cap several times a day even after owning for a year, it's just that good. This is such a breeze of fresh air from the normal fresh scents, it's not blue, there's no lemon in sight, it's not screechy, & it doesn't smell like shower gel. I bought this after adoring Terre D'Hermes and wanting something more unique. This is tropical luxury, like a holiday you thought only James Bond would have. I would be happy gatekeeping this for all time, but for all of you who've bought this and feel disappointed, humour me and try the tips! I hope they give you the joy they gave me!

A very good herbal aromatic that swings into the 21st century while flipping the middle finger to rest of the bland sweet, syrupy, cinnamon iced roll & cheesecake smelling fragrance wankers in the world today. Hermes actually has a pair and can care less what self proclaimed "fragrance experts" or what the rest of the mindless fragrance horde believe this creation should or should've been nor are they catering to the eclectic androgynous masses who want to tell the rest of the fragrance community how, what and why you should smell one way or the other. Blah, blah, blah. All worthless rhetoric. H24 Herbes Vibes smells green, almost stem like with a clean aspect to it that also has the slightest shaving foam effect & allure. If you have the EDP, this one is very similar just slightly greener while incorporating the DNA from the previous two creations. It smells slightly more mature but, in a modern way that will fit in the office, lunch or dinner date, cool evenings at the shoreline or just anything else in between. It's a nice all rounder that has a unique spin on fresh sromatics from yesteryear but, brought to modern standards that can be appreciated by both those that relished the green scents of a bygone era and are still searching for something that catches glimpses of that time in today's contemporary fragrance landscape. It smells different from the rest and gives a positive and reassuring effect of clean, confident energy/vibes. And in this Godforsaken world that we are living in, we all could use some positive vibes. Well done Hermes, well done...

As a fan of the OG and EDP, I had to check this one out. I have a bottle of EDP, so I will draw comparisons between the two (EDT was too rough around the edges and had performance issues on me). While the DNA is still there, there are bigger difference between this and EDP as opposed to EDT v EDP. Herbes Vives opens much more mainstream, less bitter green (more like fresh green instead) and less sweet. TBH, I would not guess this is H24 flanker just from the opening. Throughout the mid, the OG DNA comes around a little and the metallic overtone becomes more apparent, like in OG. However, the drydown moves away from the OG DNA by brining Armani's ADG Profondo dry down almost overshadowing the OG DNA. Overall, nice scent, less sweet, more rounded, fresher and lighter, best for summer. Probably less unique out of three of them, a little more generic, so if you like the OG, you might not like this one. For an average Joe, however, this is probably the best of all H24 due to its versatility and more crowd-pleasing scent profile. If you don't like green, sweet, zingy and metalic fragrances, stay away from all H24 but otherwise, give this one a try. My ranking currently is 1. EDP 2. Herbes Vives (very close second) 3. EDT OG