Hermetic

What a lovely, strange blend. I'm going to try and give my honest unbiased review here just because I want to help people decide on whether they want to make the journey to Harrod's for this fragrance, even though I'd strongly recommend it for just a sample of it. To start, you get a strong hit of lemon and black pepper and you think to yourself "why's the attendant telling me this is an autumn and winter scent?". The lemon note is what hit me first and from a smell of the inside of the cap, all you can smell is the fresh, citrus note. After a few minutes on your skin, the scent does a rather quick, but a shockingly graceful change. You'll find that lemon note has taken a backseat, and the wood and incense notes burst out, releasing the scent of cinnamon cookies at your grandma's house on a cold winters day. In all it's complexity, the lemon and florals can be smelled, but the wood and incense really come out, with a bit of the pepper from the opening. It's sweet, it's spicy, it's warm, and it's.. fresh? Very contradictory, I know. I can see this fragrance being lost on anyone who isn't a scenthead. In the drydown it starts smelling quite vintage, perhaps due to the wood and incense, which a friend of mine said gave off a "smoky soap" kind of scent. I don't really smell that though. Honestly, I'd recommend giving it a try. It's sophisticated, it's mysterious, it's different. It's not a scent I think I could ever understand without smelling it as it has a lot going on, but it's definitely grown to be one of my favourites.