Eau des Merveilles (for women)

mypersonalharmonics

This is a well deserved triumphant review.I think that Eau de Merveilles is by far the best launch of recent perfumemaking times.
It feels like a collective memory trip around our planet.Indonesian pepper,Peruvian balsam,Italian lemon,the wonderful oceanic grey amber lift you up above to see the Earth's Truth.

Round,euphoric,balanced,perfect.

This is not a perfume of the senses but an illusive concept that is mastefully captured and materialised for us to experience.

BethAshley

I was lucky enough to win this fragrance about a month or two ago (thank you fragrantica!).

The bottle for EDM fits the juice perfectly. It looks like a little sun that fits in the palm of your hand. This is a happy, uncomplicated but unusual scent. For me it has a laid-back chic quality to it that is casual but effortlessly stylish.

On me the most dominant notes are the the wood, musk and salt.

allexa27

It is very interesting frag.The fir an the citruses dominate on my skin,.Very well done,it changes all the time.I dont find it masculine at all.

ktv0926

My preferences seem to change a lot lately - i used to "not understand" this kind of fragrances, and now - i love them!

I find Eau des Merveilles very masculine, peppery and woody. It is strong and confident, but somehow its masculine nature only emphasizes femininity. It's like wearing loose clothes if you are very thin, will only point out how thin you are. I hope this comparison explains my point.

Anyway, i love it! It is not for any occasion, any mood or any outfit. It is something special that you treat yourself rarely.

verity

I ignored this scent in the fragrance halls forever as it never appealed to me. The tester strips put me off, however I smelled this on a colleague and couldnt believe it when she said it was EDM. It smelled completely different on the skin when I eventually tried it. I fell in love. I like Amber very much, and I really get the Ambergris from this. I dont know what salt smells of personally so I dont get that comparison, nor does it smell masculine to me either, yet it does have peppery spicyness which maybe pertains to a less feminine edge than say a fruity floral. A mixture of sultry, warm and sparkly, yet fresh and sexy with a hint of sweet woodyness. I don't much like strong orange notes, but here, this is blended so well, it is in perfect harmony so I dont feel like an orange soda pop. All in all this is a classy, sexy and sophisticated scent, perfect for day, but doesn't last as long as I would like. The elixir is better for that. The bottle is very pretty too and I like that the cap is secure.

trueperfumelover

i tested today on a paper and seems a very interesting perfume,just my type,strong and oriental as i like but i will have to try it on my skin to have a clear opinion over it.it s very woody too which is nice and i like it.i will update later.
UPDATE: it s very masculine on my skin,i smell a lot of pine ,i wouldn t buy it coz i don t like to smell like a man who got out of the shower and used his favourite refreshing scent! too bad that is so masculine coz has a nice bottle and has good staying power.

cocomademoisellerie

A teacher of mine wore this in summer heat and I liked it very much on her. So I bought it. What a mistake!
I just get the oranges and, strangeways, some flowers. No earth, no wood. Maybe a bit of herbs but they fade away quickly.
What stays is an orange blast, which will not go away for hours. But I still have the hope that other people get a bit more of it's decribed complexity when I wear this.

Ninulia

I tried it on today, and it is kind of heavy and at the same time very fresh... but can anyone tell me is it long lastiing...?? Cause it seemed to me it isn't and BTW it is EDT..

tommy_girl

I want to like this one.the first time that I smelled it and I found it almost masculine,I thought maybe I was wrong.so I gave it a second try.
unfortunately the same result came to my nose.it's full of citrus scent,but not a fresh citrus I've seen in so many fragrances.it's a warm citrus scent with strong backups of spices.
it's very masculine,specially the dry down is a pure masculine fragrance.bitter,woody and pine scent...I believe it should consider unisex.

Zocha

It is funny how true all the reviews here are, the positive and negative. I adore its every stage, so beautiful. It's warm and sweet of orange blossom, gorgeous and feminine scent - my best Hermes and one of the best fragrances I have.
I don't have enough of it and will be buying the Intense version for sure.
On my girlfriend though it's nothing even close to the beauty I get, she gets bold masculine version, but not in a good way :(
We both have learned that Hermes fragrances have to be tested before buying, they are so different on each person.

veuve

Eau des Merveilles is a bit of a mystery to me. I admit this is a scent I keep trying simply because it gets such rave reviews all over the internet, and I don't *get* it. I've drained two 1,5 ml samples now, and still feel like it escapes me.

Anyway. The given notes are irrelevant to me - it doesn't smell like any of those. The overall impression I get is of an un-feminine, slightly salty woody aura (the saltiness only comes out on heavier application). By un-feminine I don't mean testosterone-laden, but definitely out of the realm of pink flowers and fairy princesses - a category I like above all. The opening notes are somewhat reminiscent of a traditional cologne (must be the citrus + a woody base), so if you're very gender conscious: ok, not for you. I don't really get progression beyond the top notes; no separate heart and base notes as such. The heart/base is not masculine or feminine, not floral, not musky, not overtly woody. I can only describe it in negatives.
A collegue of mine happily contributed that it smelled "like sex, like that smell when you wake up after a wild night" - I'll leave it up to you if that's a positive or a negative attribute.

Longevity is amazing, easily 8-10h, and projection seems rather strong too.
I have little in the way of concrete advice other than to just try it. It is a very decent scent, and if it matches your chemistry it has the potential to be amazing, I think. For me, I think it's simply not wearable.

FANNY

Beautiful!! well balanced! one of the best peppery female fragrances! Maybe the best!! Smells gorgeous on my skin, the development of this perfume is really interesting dont hurry judge by the outside!! It also lasts 1 or maybe 2 days!! and althought I am not that into peppery fragrances I take serious consider of this remarkable piece!

susieqrj

The smell is fabulous, but between Eau and Elixir, I prefer the second.
Delicious orange pepper, it could be easily nominated as unissex. I don´t feel it as a male fragrance but it is obvious far from the traditional female notes on a perfume.
This perfume gives me a good sensation, it´s smell is perfect, keeps me smelling myself al the time.
As an EDT, the lasting is ok (after 9hrs it disappeared).
The bottle is gorgeous.

mellybee

It reminds me of the moment when you're diving into a luxurious bubble bath, which gives off a herbal fresh scent, the bathroom is full of steam and you can smell your clean wet skin. Wonderful!

wallflower

for me it was love at first sniff. it's such a unique, individual and sophisticated smell! when you wear it, you feel like a classy, chic and intelligent french lady!:)
i love this perfume not only coz orange and amber are one of my favourite notes but because the scent is so interesting and controversial: warm, but cool, strong, but subtle, sparkling, but calm, ethereal, yet down-to-earth. i could go on raving, go smell it yourself and you will know what i'm talking about.

alicektn

This fragrance is beautiful! It reminds me of the end of summer...Sunny and bright, but also has something nostalgic in it.

When I wore it , I sensed an interesting mix of orange, mountain trees and flowery notes. There is also a hint of "sunscreen" indeed, which appeals a lot to me, and makes me consider the perfume quite sexy!Perfect for every occassion,especially for every day.

I wonder how it would smell on a man....

Auguszta

I love this to bits! Urban Skies described it so well. All I can add is that it has so much character, one unlike anything else... It's instantly recognisable. The reversed development is also very interesting - the notes listed above appear in reversed order, the orange appears in the final stage. Personally, I don't find it aggressive at all, unless someone applies too much, in which case it really can have a killer sillage. I honestly think this is a modern classic. Water of Miracles indeed!

da_markos

wow!

it smells like: sun+beach+sea+sunscreen on beautiful girl skin. i really enjoy this scent.

by the way for me it should be unisex

rebella

This isn´t really a positive rewiev. Having some expectations on it, since I love Ambre Narguillé and also Kelly Caleshe from Hermés. But this one is nothing like them.

I suspect my skinchemistry dosn´t match this perfume at all. On me it is first of all very masculine and that is OK, but after a while it start getting dusty and kind of old smelling. I imagine some kind of forgotten and dusty old bottle of perfume found at the attic of an old and deceased relative. A bottle you only keep of nostalgic reason...

oakmoss

I'm so sorry that I've posted that this scent was so terrible. Today I went to Hermes counter and sniffed it again. I founded it was nice. But nothing feminine. I think it is a unisex scent. And I must did some mistake when I sniffed it at duty free.

oakmoss

At first, I read this perfume review and thought it will be nice. But when I smelled it at duty free yesterday I felt really disappoint to it. I think it has soap - like and medicinal notes more than resin-y, woody note.

alina terec

it's a strong rather masculine scent that lasts quite a long time. good for elegant bussines women. fit for day and evening wear. should be applied directly on the skin for a sensual touch, it developes a very unusual blend. good quality and original fragrance.

veruska

i love scents with a salty quality, and i already own and love The Different Company's Vetiver dd Sel, so i'm afraid i won't need this. I love the lively orange start but after that i can hardly smell anything. Probably i'm just anosmic to it. i only detect something faintly sweet and powdery, likie violet and a very generic vetiver drydown. Urban Skies called this aggressive and i have hard time even smelling it.Mmmmm?

pimentosugars

Seduced by the pretty bottle! And the pretty name! I can't help being shallow, plus I do love orange fragrances, they make me smile. This perfume started a little sharp (*pouf!* like one of those tiny rocket fireworks in the ads) Then became quickly lovely... within the opening seconds, my partner detected a note in it 'Like the sea.' I found myself sniffing and re-sniffing my wrist on the way home as the scent metamorphosed from a genial holiday perfume into some magical spell, feminine and very delicate. The amber and woods are well combined here.

Less than half an hour later my partner was distinctly unimpressed; he found it a bit ordinary whilst I was dismayed at the lack of hold. An hour and a half and it was gone. Maybe it's got no staying power or maybe I didn't put enough on in the first place. It's the first Hermes perfume to interest me. I will have to try it again!

PR

Though it is not that much different from Elixir, I find the feel of perfume to change much more.. more airy, orange less pronounced, overall very classy feel to it..though it comes close to Elixir, but it is not the same

OH, NO... I'm gonna have a Merveilles Little Warehouse on my dressing table! :-)

elgab89

For me this is not an orange scent, although everybody mentions it, the orange is definitely in the background more than the primadonna, here.
It reminds me surprisingly of eucalyptus, although I am not sure if it contains any. It must be the combination of fir, pepper and citruses that altogether bring a medicinal note, that, unexpectedly, is pleasant.
I am sure this could be worn successfully by a man as well, so I could categorize it as universal.
The woods are also noticeable.
I would also classify it as a summer scent. If I had to make a picture of it, it would probably be of a lake in the middle of a fir forest with lots of tree trunks in the water.

LiLascents

This scent had to grow on me, but now I love it as a summer scent!! I kept going back to test it because of the nice reviews I kept finding on this fragance. Now me like!!

Mitsouko

I feel in it far growing orange garden - juicy and sweet, but first of all, salty and woody, subtle scent. In integrity this is very delicate smell, but strange and very intriguing.

Boggi

I agree with Urban Skies description, minus the aggresive. Very pleasant wood with comfortable pepper. I think it would work great as a daytime fragrance, but also at night if you like too. It's a bit on the masculine side and that's what I like.

SandraS

Love it. The kind of smeel that you always love to feel, at all times of day and night. Could wear it everyday without a problem.

I associate this scent with hollidays, happy times and celebration feel. The orange is strong on me, spiced up by the peper. It reminds me of wine and fruit (Sangria or tropical punch) and orange cake. Not exactly gourmand but toying with the idea.

solocha

It is a very pleasant perfume, sweet with orange notes.

matteomac

The first time I smelt this I asked the girl who was wearing it which perfume it was (I never asked it before), and from that moment Eau des Merveilles has became my favourite fragrance for women.

Eau des Merveilles is truly a dream: it leads you to an enchanted land and it shakes your feelings, making you think 'This is Heaven'.

indigo.smile

this is misterious fragance..it makes me feel different, i feel more sensual. The pepper says it all, i must say

cocomademoisellerie

To me, it doesn´t smell peppery or even agressice at all, but like a flower garden.
Funnily enough, because it is described to have no flower notes in it. Strange...

takemyhusbandplz

Eau des Merveilles on me is faint peppery orange and an overload on the vetiver! To me I think the vetiver and citrus mixes to become a bit sour and very manly. VERY MASCULINE is how I'd describe Eau des Merveilles. I love the pretty & unique bottle tho! I swapped this one away! Not my cup of tea.

Urban Skies

Woody and peppery, almost dusty (but in a good way). Dark, mysterious, elegant, and somewhat aggressive.