( vast array of harmonious and yet contrasting notes courtesy of Fragrantica)
(excuse the ugly photo, it is now nighttime)
An oddball of a ‘floral aldehyde’ ( is it? Where Caleche makes perfect sense to me, this hairflowing, maney outlier will always remain at my arm’s length (just like horses : creatures I have never particularly taken to). having completed the Amazone set today with a bargain rare vintage parfum, I thought I would take you on a jaunt across the Hermesian tundra.
At times alarmingly sweet (a throbbing heart of narcissus and hay like warmth), strangely adorable (you could easily fall in love with her), yet offputtingly uncategorizable – and with on the spectrum levels of unheldback honesty, there is an integrity and coherence to the range as a whole which means that if you like one iteration of this complicated, and in some ways quite beautiful, scent, you will probably require it in every format.
Expecting – and perhaps hoping for – added earthiness, I was shocked an hour or so ago by the intense mid-pitched sweetness of the Amazone extrait (no lower chords, just force on the keys and a sustain pedal); like a posy of narcissus sewn inside a moss velvet cushion; unstitched.
The Eau de parfum /- pictured at top and in my view the one you need – has a calm pulsion and the best balance -respiring confidently from within – the edt more hyacinth and galbanum, but also an aspect of wan; the edf ( eau de fraicheur ) a somewhat different beast: a different scent, even, with added mandarin and bergamot and raspberry/cassis but for the era slightly awkwardly passé ( I like it though, and there’s still the heart of the Amazone at the core). You could, and should, in fact, probably, wear all four of these Amazones on the same day and night in different combinations and proportions if you can personally gel with the peculiarity of this semi-androgynous composition (not quite a chypre: insufficient basenotes – vetiver, patchouli, – to ground the hunter, who just wants to roam free) ; not pretty enough, despite the flowers, to constitute any ‘classical’ floral aldehyde ; yet warmly appeasing; sincere, unbroken
Interesting to see what Hermes was doing in the 70s. That Amazone font seems to clash with the fragrance and the bottles.
Some of the earlier Hermes scents were played either sharp or flat. I remember Amazone as flat, the narcissus not fitting in the rest of the composition. It was the EdT I was familiar with & much preferred Cristalle EdT.