Hermessence Violette Volynka

Got myself a sample, wore it two days and then put down the big bucks for the 2.5 fl.oz. bottle - it's on the way to my mail box! This says a lot in today's economy! This is a beauty I simply cannot live without. I've been a Hermes fan for most of my perfumed life, and violets I've loved even longer. Thanks to the elegant wife of one of my uncles, early on I dabbled in fragrances at her dressing table. Powdery violet notes must have been featured there. But also a love of design, the heavy, faceted bottles. What we now call vintage was fresh and new to me then! This Hermes takes me back there, but is so unique to my nose today. In my violet collection is also Molinard Violette and Guerlain Meteorites. Fast forward to today, 1/21/2024 and I have applied the frag to one arm. Wow! An overpowering scent of something like honey and an unidentifiable note, almost gourmand. Not to my liking at all. This is so different from the sample I bought for $25 a few weeks ago. The sample is violet, violet, violet and leather. A creamy leather. But this costly full-size bottle? Very different. And now later: the honey note has faded and finally 6 hours later, the violet emerges softly. So softly. And the leather is now creamy and soft also. So, what? I have to endure something I do not care for (scrub worthy!) for 5 or 6 hours to get to violet and leather?? And yes, the drydown is so lovely...I would bet the longevity will be around 12 hours.

I received a couple of samples of Violette Volynka with another purchase, and spoiler alert, I ended up buying a full-size bottle. I would rank this as my second favorite Hermessence, after Agar Ebene. It has a delicate, powdery, ozonic (I didn't really know what that meant until smelling this one), semi-candy-sweet smell with a quiet, rich leather background - a very intriguing, harmonic balance. It feels like the perfect early spring fragrance, reminding me of when flowers start to appear, but most trees are still bare of leaves. As is the case with most of the Hermessences, it's a skin scent (at least for me), and the longevity is fleeting. I find it to be perfectly unisex (male here); there are floral scents, but in equilibrium with the "tougher" leather. This is a somewhat unusual scent, so I would recommend trying before buying to see if works for you. It's working on the same principles as Cuir d'Ange, but I find them to be very different. I've found all the accords listed on this page to be accurate with this scent on me.

Violette Volynka is another simple but high-quality composition from the Hermessence line. I am partial to a violet note, and here it is beautifully rendered - initially green and dewy, becoming increasingly powdery. Smooth throughout, it is quite light and airy, as Hermessence scents tend to be. VV opens with the aforementioned violet, becoming increasingly powdery as it develops. The leather accord develops steadily in the background, smooth and shiny like a worn leather couch. In conjunction with the violet, it smells (aptly) like a high-quality leather handbag with powdery makeup inside. It remains like so, becoming a tiny bit musky as it fades. Sillage and longevity are moderate. Simple and beautifully formed, this is like the modern successor to Germaine Cellier's sublime Jolie Madame for Robert Piguet, albeit simpler and lighter. Easy transeasonal elegance that is feminine-leaning in my opinion. Violet-leather done right. 4/5.

My second time testing it. It is absolutely beautiful, very classy, violet more on the mature versus dainty, fairy side. Simple, but stunning and great longevity. Already made a purchase. It is somewhat similar to Putain des Palaces, at least that violet and leather combination, but Violette Volynka is more sheer, luminous, less powdery, more dewy, aquatic violet. Putain des Palaces is opaque in comparison, it's buttery-powdery. Virgin Violet is not comparable, it's more dainty and shy than Volynka, as the leather note is not there, which makes a vast difference. I thought, I like Putain des Palaces more, as I usually lean towards the powdery types, but as I have a satisfying amount of such perfumes already, PdP would be redundant, whereas the beautiful, crisp, transparent violet note in Volynka is something I can admire more for a change.

The moment I sprayed my sample onto a paper strip, I said, OH NO! to myself out loud, because I knew I'd definitely be buying a full bottle. This stuff is not cheap, but practical considerations aside, this violet-leather combination literally makes me swoon. After a sweet apricot-violet opening, the soft leather comes to the forefront. Little outrageously gorgeous floral moments come back here and there as the scent dissipates. It is unisex and very sexy. As another review mentioned, it has a surprising cool aquatic note that comes through a few hours in. I could bathe in this stuff. My only criticism is that it's an eau de toilette rather than a parfum–this is a scent I wish would stick around all day. This beauty is fleeting but–maybe as a result of high quality ingredients–much less so than any other toilette I've tried.