Eau des Merveilles, enchantment in a bottle Hermès is a French house whose name alone is enough to spark the imagination of many. The house's creations are always charged with profound audacity, and Eau des Merveilles is no exception to this rule. Moreover, this fragrance is among the most original creations of recent years.
When Eau des Merveilles was created in 2004, everyone thought of it as a dream perfume, a perfume that had been slumbering within us all along, one that no one had dared to bring to life, as it may not have suited the fashion of the time. Indeed, Hermès is known as a house that often goes against the grain, and one might think that this is precisely what gives it so much success. The originality of Eau des Merveilles lies in the fact that it was built without any floral tonality whatsoever, which is extremely rare, even more so for a feminine perfume.
The two perfumers who inverted the olfactory pyramid
Eau des Merveilles was created by two noses, namely Ralph Schwieger and Nathalie Feisthauer. Both had fun, if one can put it that way, inverting the classic olfactory pyramid. The press stated that Eau des Merveilles is like a multifaceted novel built on an amber-woody accord that resonates all the way into the top notes, the fragrance, created in 2004 by Ralph Schwieger and Nathalie Feisthauer, succeeds in the wager of a sparkling femininity without any apparent flowers. As a child, Nathalie Feisthauer's world was nonetheless far removed from the concerns of perfumers. It was thanks to Opium by Yves Saint Laurent that Nathalie Feisthauer decided to become a nose and managed to enter the famous Roure school of perfumery in Grasse. Today, Nathalie Feisthauer is an independent perfumer, and to her we owe beautiful fragrances such as Eau Belle by Azzaro or Legend pour Femme by Montblanc. Ralph Schwieger is a German chemist. His calling came to him later in life, as he joined the Roure school at the age of 30. He was then hired by Givaudan. Ralph Schwieger is regarded as a perfumer full of talent and audacity. Besides Eau des Merveilles, we owe him Lipstick Rose by Frédéric Malle.
The perfect woody-amber accord of Eau des Merveilles
Eau des Merveilles is therefore a flowerless feminine fragrance with an animalic scent. Eau des Merveilles is a striking composition, built around a wonderful woody-amber accord. It is a scent that seems to have captured the stars in order to bottle them. Eau des Merveilles opens with the sensuality of Peru balsam, paired with vetiver, oak, and Atlas cedar, ingredients that are usually found in base notes. The heart of Eau des Merveilles is equally disconcerting, as it consists solely of ambergris, sweeping the wearer into a whirlwind that is both intensely sensual and masculine. Finally, the base notes feature notes that are typically found in top notes. Here, one discovers citrus notes such as Calabrian lemon and bitter orange, paired with elemi and pink pepper. Although the composition is decidedly unconventional, it remains no less brilliantly magical.
Eau des Merveilles is a fragrance unlike any other. Unconventional, Eau des Merveilles is a rare composition, unprecedented and particularly dazzling.