Robin Here at NST® has a PhD in Hermès Eau de Merveilles and its spawn: she's reviewed all seven perfumes. I have an easier assignment; Hermès has launched just three Terre d'Hermès flankers: Terre d'Hermès Eau Très Fraîche, Terre d'Hermès Parfum and the new Terre d'Hermès Eau Intense Vétiver.
Hermès in-house perfumer Christine Nagel developed Terre d'Hermès Eau Intense Vétiver, and its description is pretty straightforward:
The strength of vetiver mixed with the vitality of the Sichuan pepper and green bergamot. On the horizon, another Terre. Vetiver, inherent to Terre since its origins, is the culmination of this new composition. The initial woody and mineral balance of Terre becomes woody and vegetal.
Terre d'Hermès Eau Intense Vétiver begins with a bitter orange/bergamot blast, with a dash of 'sweat'. Fast on citrus' heels comes pepper, and lots of it. This peppery, tangy/sour citrus opening appealed to me in a big way, and I was about to buy Terre d'Hermès Eau Intense Vétiver just minutes after I sniffed it at Nordstrom. But I held back on an immediate purchase as smart perfume shoppers should always do: those fun opening notes can be deceiving.
As I left Nordstrom and went shopping around town, I noticed a rose geranium note emerge in Terre d'Hermès Eau Intense Vétiver's mid-development, and it was joined by rich (but still citrus-y) vetiver. At the end of hour No. 1 of wear, I was still itching for a bottle of Terre d'Hermès Eau Intense Vétiver. Then — Iso E Super barged into the proceedings. Iso E Super is augmented with vetiver, talc-y citrus and something woody-musky (its own cedar-y reflection?) For those of you wondering, the Hermès PR is accurate; the "mineral"/flint note of original Terre d'Hermès (to me, its most interesting aspect) is missing in Terre d'Hermès Eau Intense Vétiver.
I tested Terre d'Hermès Eau Intense Vétiver for three days. On the first two days of wear, I used half a sample each day (about 1 ml of scent); on day three I wore an entire vial (2 ml). Though Terre d'Hermès Eau Intense Vétiver certainly smelled stronger with a larger dosage, it had almost no sillage and stayed so close to my body after the first few hours I had to put nose to skin (or shirt) to smell it. There's nothing truly "intense" about this perfume after its first few minutes of development.
Terre d'Hermès Eau Intense Vétiver is a nice scent, but is like a person you meet for the first time who comes out swinging with witty remarks, easy laughter, sparkly eyes and smiles, but whose energy quickly wanes. The banter, laughs, engaging glances and grins dim, and your interest falters. My perfume cabinet will remain a Terre-Free Zone.
Hermès Terre d'Hermès Eau Intense Vétiver is available in 50 ($95) and 100 ml ($132) Eau de Parfum.
Thanks for the review Kevin, as always. I was curious about this one as I am loving vetiver lately and I keep hoping under Nagel more Hermès will appeal to me. Most of the JCEs give me what I think is an iso e super induced headache and slight nausea; it kicks in after the first half hour or so, a half hour I often enjoy and so am bummed at the result. Oh well. There are many other nice toys to play with.
Amy, true…the possibilities are almost endless.
Very interesting review! thank you Kevin!
Does the fragrance bear any resemblance to the original TDH? I mean besides the missing flint/mineral note..
Or is it completely different?
Thanks!
Kg, the mineral is missing…and the original smelled richer to me; otherwise I think you’ll know this is in the Terre family.
Thanks!
Really enjoyed this review! I was similarly excited to try it—- and then disappointed.
gville: thanks! I’m sure there’ll be more Terres to come….
Interesting review, as always, Kevin. I tried a (very small, compared with yours) sample of this about a month ago, and I wasn’t bowled over, but I definitely thought there was less of a mineral aspect in this version. I’m curious to try it again, just to see how my impressions line up with yours.
The reduced prominence of vetiver here isn’t, I’ll admit, necessarily a deal-breaker for me — but the parfum is the winner in the bunch for me. (Is that my contrarian streak?)
Sandman: nope, it’s just your taste! I’d wear any of the three if given a bottle…but the original I like best, due to that mineral/flint note.
What a well-balanced review, Kevin. I think I’ll pass, Terre is quite perfect as it is, I admire it, and especially the mineral note, although the one is Eau de Rochas is the best imho. Do you know Bel Ami Vetiver? I always mean to try it and wonder whether you would find it more to your taste, of course Bel Ami is a wonderful classic but if anyone could improve it had to be JCE.
Aurora: Really enjoy Eau de Rochas, too; have a HUGE bottle.
I did review Bel Ami Vetiver and liked it very much: https://goo.gl/9A5oo7.
Thank you, Kevin, I’ve now read your beautiful review and so evocative, it’s made me want to try BAV even more. And we both agree on EDR: one of the best.
Hi Kevin!
I took my teen godsons to check this out; they prefer the original for everyday wear- they like that clean ‘stone’ note that is missing.
Ede: I think we’re all in agreement then about the missing “mineral” note!
I was excited to smell this, not that I need any more Terre d’Hermes in my collection (125 ml of parfum and 50 ml of EdT, I’ll surely never use it all). My reaction was similar to yours – it’s a *nice* fragrance, a well-done vetiver. But it’s a pretty standard vetiver, and to my nose, it only ever resembles the original in the far drydown, when that signature flint accord starts to maybe consider possibly poking its head out. Before that point, I might as well be wearing Guerlain Vetiver, which costs less and has a more compelling reason for existing.
Kevin, I love reading your reviews they are always so insightful. I was wondering if you could suggest an Acqua Di Parma Colonia fragrance for Me? My go-to’s are Chanel Antaeus , Chanel egoiste platinum, terre d’hermes and Tom Ford oud Wood. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Keep writing the wonderful reviews, they are such a joy to read.
-cheers
I’m not sure if I like this or not. It smells familiar but doesn’t remind me of Terre d’Hermes at all. It’s certainly not an intense vetiver. It’s possible that it has the far base notes of TdH, but mainly it’s one of those cloudy musk/Iso E Super fragrances. Also, it’s one of those sneaky fragrances that doesn’t smell strong if you’re wearing it but projects quite far.