To be precise, this Etat Libre d’Orange fragrance isn’t just called Hermann. It’s Hermann à mes côtés me paraissait une ombre, a line from a poem by Victor Hugo. Translated, that means “by my side, Hermann seemed to me like a shadow.” Here, we’ll stick simply to Hermann.1
“Perfume as shadow” is a beautiful way to describe the feel of a dark, cool, sheer fragrance. To me, Hermann fills the bill. It also leans masculine and is almost infuriatingly persistent…
Use your mouse to move around the 360º view in these two spots (one is below the jump) for Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male Essence de Parfum and Classique Essence de Parfum. Below, two more films (both in French with English subtitles) with the fragrances’ perfumers, Quentin Bisch and Daphné Bugey.
French niche line Etat Libre d’Orange has launched Attaquer Le Soleil Marquis de Sade, a new fragrance…
Jean Paul Gaultier will launch Le Male Essence de Parfum and Classique Essence de Parfum, new flankers to to 1995’s Le Mâle and 1993’s Classique respectively…
Perfumanity would seem to generally agree that Thierry Mugler does better than most when it comes to flankers. The A*Men flankers, especially the “materials” series (A*Men Pure Havane, A*Men Pure Malt, A*Men Pure Coffee, A*Men Pure Wood and the latest, A*Men Pure Tonka) have plenty of avid fans. On the women’s side, I still find myself wavering, years later, over a purchase of the best-Angel-yet, Angel Liqueur de Parfum. Meanwhile, Angel Eau Sucrée, released as a limited edition again this spring (for the third year running), makes a decent young-slash-fun variation on Angel now that Angel Innocent and its various flankers-of-flankers are no longer with us.1
Angel Muse is the newest in the collection. It comes with a splashy ad campaign and hashtag (#HateToLove), and the perfumer, Quentin Bisch, talks about his passion for video games, so you know it’s geared towards youth. They are calling Angel Muse a ‘gourmand vetiver’, and I suppose maybe it is, but I’d call it a ‘gourmand vetiver Angel’…