It would appear that Hermès is doing a flanker to 2004’s Eau des Merveilles every so often, but waiting at least two years, sometimes more, between iterations. In addition to the original, we’ve now got Elixir des Merveilles (candied orange peel + vanilla biscuit) from 2006, Eau Claire des Merveilles (citrus soda + cosmetic powder) from 2010, and L’Ambre des Merveilles (amber + more amber) from 2012. Eau des Merveilles Bleue is the latest, and the first from house perfumer Christine Nagel. I was only middling excited about it, because it’s blue. I like the color, but in fragrance, blue implies a particular smell-meaning, and in this case the description followed the color-coding: “the magic of the ocean and the colour of the sky”, plus “washed in sea spray” and “the taste of water on pebbles”. That sounds suspiciously like many other blue fresh, sporty, aquatic / ozonic fragrances, which are not generally my cup of tea.

And so it turns out…

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