Parfum des Merveilles

Merveilles collection is a masterpiece for me. Each of the fragrances depict a different forest. Parfum des Merveilles is a mountain forest that you encounter in Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic. Beside it, normal life goes on. People ski, relax and have fun. But try to make a few steps behind the line of the forest and you will find yourself in a different world. The silence is dense, overwhelming. The snowflakes fall noiselessly. The trees are very straight and tall like pillars, stern, and at the same time - safe. You touch the bark with your cheek, you feel so alive and peaceful. A moment later you feel oddly. Is someone watching you? You make a few steps back, back to life. Parfum des Merveilles is more similar to Elixir than Elixir to Eau. Oriental, oriental-wwody. I smell loads of patchouli and amber. I don't know how should peru balsam smell ... but I guess this is the ingredient that makes the scent rounded, warm and ... vanillic? The composition is woody and a bit sweet. Very deep, rich, luxurious, you just dive into it. Lacks citrus notes, but I don't miss them here. It's more bitter and dusty than Elixir. Transports me to a different dimension. Definitely not an everyday scent. I actually prefer to smell it from the vial then to smell of it ... Really difficult to describe, it gives me so many emotions! But I did my best. The staying power is of course amazing. One member wrote in the review of Elixir that Hermes chooses its mistresses. Am I conceited to say that I feel one of them? Big thanks to a lovely member who send me a sample of this perfume ...

For me this ethereal parfum is utterly divine evoking/dreaming of lazy summer days lying on a salty windswept alien beach with a red sky & constructed of desiccated citrus peel interspersed with hidden pieces of dark prehistoric amber & whale ambergris, this is soooo very Hermes, I use the elixir liberally followed by a couple of generous sprays of the parfum, a rich salty jaffa cake if you please that is almost edible, I am a devotee/aficionado of patchouli and the classic chypre accords so I totally revel in this hedonistic offering from Msr's Ellena et Schwieger, I feel most fortunate to have found a 50 ml natural spray bottle of this in parfum concentration, it is highly unlikely to have another drop into my lap in the foreseeable future so it's kept in temp controlled storage along with my other noteworthy extraits/parfums, if you enjoy this fragrance I urge you to hunt it down as it will never pass this way again, a coveted treasure to be sure!!! This is indeed Marvelous, it is my ~elixir vitae~

I just added this to my wardrobe and I am loving it already. If you love the dark chypre nature of Elixir des Merveilles, you're going to love this even more. Of the line, this is the most straight forward. It is certainly a chypre: it opens with the Merveilles orange-ozonic accord then transitions quickly to an orange-amber-patchouli heart. To my nose the dry down is absolutely laden with smooth, clean, well blended patchouli, oakmoss and peru balsam. IMO this is absolutely gorgeous! Sillage: 9 feet Longevity: 8 hours 100% Unisex/Genderless Overall rating and feel: 10/10 but patchouli and oakmoss haters beware: this is not for you. If you don't love either Eau des Merveilles or Elixir des Merveilles don't bother with this. If you love both, get yourself a sample and try it out because I'm officially going into hoarding mode....NOW! :p

"...Fly me to the moon and pour me Eau des Merveilles..." This feels like holding colorful balloons and floating into the night clouds. Dreamy nighty nite, all.. Off to a magical wonderland for 10 hours. -AB-

Perfection! I wish the bottle was larger! Just divine - the original elevated!! Update: wore this on a recent trip to DC and got compliments with every step - everyone wanted to know what I was wearing!

It is so serious. Opens with a big oak note together with oakmoss, with amber in the background and the aromatic balsam to finish it off. Yet it reminds me of oranges. With cloves. It is very unisex. It is nearly uncomfortably masculine on me, yet not without fireworks that make me reach for it. Bitter oranges, cloves, on a fresh wooden table. The amber and peru balsam further the forest connotations. The longer on my skin the more orange it feels. It lasts very well as one can expect from parfum concentration. Does not project much on my cold skin. It is rich, complex, vibrant.

This doesn't wow me, but I do like it a lot. A unique sparkling clean inoffensive scent. Maybe it's the balsalm and oak but something about this makes its more special than the basic Hermes scents I have smelled this far. I think it's a skin scent, and it lasts only a few hours, tops.

Despite different notes, to my nose Parfum smells identical to Eau. The only difference is longevity which is quite impressive.

This is a parfum concentration to match the profile of the original Eau des Merveilles and not the Elixir. Those two are quite different and it's a distinction to be made. Although I view the whole line as unisex, this is probably the most neutral in its complete lack of sweetness. Peru balsam is the strongest note, but I also think oakmoss is way underreported and I would actually say it's more prominent to me than either amber or patchouli. This is a much simpler composition than the Elixir, but it doesn't mean it lacks depth because of it. It's just very true to the character of the original Eau des Merveilles. I rarely attach such notions to fragrance, but this is simply elegance in a bottle. PS: not sure why Fragrantica uses the image of that mini pendant for this concentration. It's been released in full size bottles.

This is hands down amazing. It is of course similar to the original Eau des Merveilles, but so much better! The hesperidic accord is subdued in the extrait version, I can sense it but less. Amber and balsams are the main accords here, together with woods and vetiver in the base. It smells deep, emotional, very complex and multifaceted. Equally appropriate for men and women. Very pricey but absolutely worths it, one only needs a drop.

@duzmantic Parfum Des Merveilles is an extrait/pure perfume. I can confirm - I own a bottle and it's written on the label. Noting that there's no actual set-in-stone industry definitions for specific oil concentrations - an extrait is just whatever is labelled an extrait, it doesn't "have to" be a specific oil concentration.

The original is EDT. The flankers of Elixir and Parfum are still EDP concentration (between 10-20% perfume oils). It's only an Extrait concentration (+20%), which would take it a notch higher and that does not exist for the fragrance. So don't be fooled by the brands using fancy words.

I checked the Hermes hompage and i found this specific bottle listed as pure perfume pendant with refill, but still named as Eau des, not Parfum des - hm, so, which is it, i'm somewhat perplexed, can sombody help ? Thanx !

More manly than edt version, but very expensive, but the the patchouli with oakmoss is great, it has a salty vibe. Very nice and unissex.

Best perfume ever. seriously. This edition is wonderful, love you JCE!!!