Hermessence Osmanthe Yunnan Hermes for women and men

This is one of my all time favorites. Somebody started a post about scents for the Year of the Dragon and the dragon is in fact my year and I bought this a few days ago for a Dragon Feeling. And I got it. I'm getting into the moment and I'm working with it. What a beautiful smell.

I have this one since last year. I was enjoying the fragrance... but just this last November, after being at Mariage Fréres - Maison de Thé in Paris, I understood the complexity of this smell...it's totally inspired by that place. I bought a few teas there and my luggage was smelling like Osmanthe Yunnan when I arrived home in São Paulo (green tea, red tea, white tea, citrus essential oils, creamy, fresh, flowers...).
After that I read in Chandler Burr's book that Ellena likes to visit this store.
I love the Hermessence line. I believe that everyone can find at least one favorite in this line...

Another fine tea scent in the Hermessence line, OSMANTHE YUNNAN is practically a yunnan tea facsimile. Unlike POIVRE SAMARCANDE, which gives off wafts of the effect of an Assam black tea (though the composition contains no tea, and I may in fact be in the minority in interpreting it in that way...), OSMANTHE YUNNAN explicitly claims to feature and does in fact, as advertised, convey the literal scent of yunnan tea.

To wear yunnan tea as a fragrance or not to wear yunnan tea as a fragrance? That is the question. Yunnan is not my favorite tea. I prefer darjeeling or assam or sencha or... Although I do appreciate yunnan more than either jasmine tea or oolong (both of which induce a gag reflex in me), I'm not sure that I am all that interested in smelling like yunnan. It's a slightly smokey smell, but, in the end, it's yunnan tea.

Wearing this fragrance makes me feel as though I just took a soak in a bathtub filled with yunnan tea. True, osmanthus is also a featured component of this composition, but to my nose osmanthus is the tofu of perfumery, absorbing any stronger neighbor notes and usually ending up totally masked by them, which is the case here. Although OSMANTHE YUNNAN is certainly wearable, I find it considerably less compelling than most of the other Hermessence perfumes...

I'm editing my original review of this "This is my least favorite of the Hermessence line." Not so anymore!! I gave this another try and whereas before it seemed sharp and citrus, now I am smelling the creamy tea, and leather and I think it's fabulous. This would be sooooo nice on a man.
As I stated before it's very close to the skin, and still doesn't last more than a couple hours on me.

Osmanthe Yunnan is one of my favorite scents ever. The tea-apricot-cream blend is beautiful. It's not strong, doesn't have much sillage after the first half-hour, and the earthy-leather note is blended in very well, so you can hardly detect it. It does last some hours, only it's very close to the skin, which is the way fragrances are meant to be worn.

I absolutely love tea in fragrances because it lends both depth and softness, perhaps it's the clean earthiness I'm drawn to.

Yunnan certainly adds this, while osmanthus is gentle and velvety. Freesia adds a very coy and playful dimension without being frivolous.

However, you need to apply quite a bit to really get the tea vibe. Then pretty quickly, it dissipates into a warm, soapy, light freesia perfume =(

If you like the opening and heart vibe of this perfume I recommend trying Guerlain's Tokyo which is part of their Les Voyages Olfactis range--better sillage and very beautiful and delicately Asian without being 'Oriental' as far as perfume classification goes. Unfortunately, it too is rather expensive but IMO you definitely get a better experience for the money. Also try Bvlgari au The Rouge for the ultimate yunnan experience (without any flowers) and way better psssshhht for the buck!

I tried four fragrances from the Hermessence range and the feeling I had after smelling them itìs that they would probably be more appropriated for the Hermes department store line (i.e. the Jardins serie, the Eaux serie and the Hermessence serie). Depending on your taste, they all smell good but in my opinion they don't fit the idea I have about an "exclusive and axpensive line to be sold only in selected boutiques". They're light, understated, sometimes even inconsistent, basically there's an huge difference between Hermessence and Chanel's Les Exclusives.

Said that Osmanthe Yunnan comfortably moves in this territory, made of hints, barely perceptible notes and short lasting power. An evanescent and efemeral milky tea composition with a fruity-apricot hint. It disappears form your body in two hours. Nice and refined but way too understated and absolutely overpriced.

Rating: 7/10

Yunnan :A province in Southwest China,the ''Kingdom of plants''.A region where Yunnan Imperial tea is produced.Osmanthus is a bush bearing small flowers with an unforgettable scent (apricot scent).Tea,flowers and fruits...seductive!

Hi, I am from Yunnan.
And I just found this perfume today.
I can't wait to have a test.

Es exquisito pero tiene baja intensidad =(

Osmanthe Yunnan seems to bloom delicately on the skin, as a delicate infusion of flowers, tea and fruits. At first, you have a bright, green slightly bitter citrus aroma, that fades fast and leave space for the osmanthus flowers and the tea note. Both smell chic and simple, undemanding, easy to wear. There`s a springish aroma on the combination, with the tea bringing a subtle hot-smoky aroma to the flowers. There`s also something milky and fruity that permeates the scent on skin throught the composition. What`s very interesting is that, although delicate and soft, it leaves a gentle but delicious trail as you passes by. It`s one of the best of this Hermés line, a fragrance that i`d recommend for someone that wants something more exclusive, but that doesn`t want something hard to wear.

This is clever and I appreciate it as a concept. It really does smell like aromatic Yunnan served "Easy Way" milk tea-style. I also get the cool-warm juxtaposition. Every now and then I will break out my sample and remind myself of this cosy, delicious scent. Having said all that, this is something I would like my immediate environment to smell of, moreso than my skin. I would love this as a scented candle or something.

Oh, mmmmmmm......

Such a sophisticated skin scent (no sillage). It opens with some very sharp citrus (smells like bergamot on my skin). It softens considerably although the fruitiness remains, with the apricot mixing with osmanthus. The osmanthus is quite subtle in this one.

I'm shocked that the leather note is so beautiful. It's very, very subtle but definitely adds some warmth and a bit of zing. It completely eliminates the sweetness from the fruit notes, making this a warm yet 'sparkling' scent.

Overall, it's gorgeous! However this is quite subtle and 'sheer'. Is it worth the price? If you love fruity floral skin scents, and if you like exclusive scents, then yes - but beware that the lasting power isn't great, and as noted by Mals86 you need to use a fair amount to really smell it.

I ordered four samples of Hermes perfumes about a week ago: Osmanthe Yunnan, Brin de Reglisse, Un Jardin Sur le Nil, and Kelly Caleche. I received them in the mail today, and I must say Osmanthe Yunnan was my favorite. It is absolutely beautiful. It smells like dried black tea leaves, apricot, and flowers. I would buy a full bottle of this right away if it weren't for the jaw-dropping price. But I would definitely recommend this to anyone. :)

I sampled two bottle of it from the Hermes stores, the saleslady is very nice~

I absolutely love this perfume! The sweetness of it is very special, guess that's the apricot? it's not sweet in the sense of sugar-coated fruity banality!

However, the price is a tad bit too expensive for me to spray guilt-free lol

This is gorgeous. Light citrus, black tea, and osmanthus - which smells quite a bit like dried apricots. I'm trailing faint whispers of apricot-tea everywhere I go. Ethereal.

However, Hermessences are way way too expensive for me to be able to buy a big bottle and spritz with abandon, the way one needs to spritz in order to trail even faint whispers. (I used nearly all of a 1 ml dabber vial, and I NEVER do that.) So, as lovely as this is, I won't be purchasing.

Although the opening of Osmanthe Yunnan is a bit sharp -- a sort of apricot scalpel -- the scent soon morphs into warmer, more comforting territory, with an overall effect of water dappled with sunlight. Wear this fragrance when you want something to hug close to your skin and shield you from the cruel, cruel world.

Smells like Tangerine tea with apricot jam. Delicious and light.