8 thoughts on “Persolaise Review: Épice Marine from Hermès (Jean-Claude Ellena; 2013)

  1. Based on a blotter testing, I quite agree with you about the marine note, to every detail. However I find the "Epice" aspect overpowering. In particular the cardamom "blast," as you say, is untethered to any olfactory ground I know. Its radiance, persistence, and impact are so extreme that all I can think of is a lab. So I'm in the lab, trying not to think too hard about that crazy cardamom business, and this is not the best venue for an attempt to rehabilitate the marine note. I quite like marine notes in the scents you mention as well as a few others, e.g. Sel Marin. Unfortunately, Epice Marine makes me like marine notes less than I did before. Surely that was not its intent.

    1. Leathermountain, thanks for your comment. Did you get a chance to try the scent on skin? It does change the balance between the spices and the marine note to some extent.

      That said, I can understand why you may have found Ellena's sea-scape tough to take. Sel Marin is definitely gentler… but arguably less marine-like?

  2. Interesting. I admit, I do tend do pass preliminary judgment on a blotter before I even make the decision to test something on skin. Recently I have begun to seriously reconsider this procedure. I don't know if I can bring myself to give this one another try, though, so overpowering was that cardamom blast. And I love actual cardamom!

    Interesting that you describe Sel Marin as being gentler. I suppose the radiance is less, although I find the percept itself to be much cooler and sharper. I must revisit Sel Marin as well — a prospect I find much more enticing.

    As for less marine…. I get a lot of dried seaweed smell from Sel Marin, which for me is the strongest smell I associate with the ocean. I'm not sure what is marine about Epice Marine, although I do think it explores some olfactory overlap between the ocean and cardamom, which I had not noticed before, and which is always interesting. Maybe you can help me understand what else is going on?

    1. Leathermountain, it seems to me that you don't need my help to understand what's going on 🙂

      Firstly, I'd say that I ought to revisit Sel Marin too. But anyway, I don't have a sample to hand right now.

      To me, the marine aspect of EP comes from the calone-like note (which comes from the algenone, I guess) which conjures oysters, ozone and the wateriness of melons. All of these possess a sharp, biting freshness, which is probably what connects them to the equally sharp, aqueous facets of cardamom.

  3. After fragrances like Vanille Galante that smelled nothing like their names, they're back to a more straightforward naming scheme just when the marine aspect would have been better played down.

    Oh well. I don't understand Hermès anymore.

    1. CdP, wouldn't it be fair to assert that Epice Marine fits in with the other Hermessences in the sense that it's a hyper-translucent, limpid poem of a perfume?

      I'm curious: at what point would you say you stopped 'understanding' Hermes?

    2. Vanille Galante was the point of no return. This particular juice could have been one of the Jardins, or one of the Colognes, or any Hermès by JCE.

      Basically any new fragrance from them has the same tone. This is probably why Jour d'Hermès bombed.

      So glad Christine (Nagel) is in.

    3. CdP, that's interesting. A good topic for a perfumed debate, I think! 🙂

      The arrival of Nagel will be fascinating to watch. I wonder if it will result in Ellena being Nagelised or Nagel being Ellenicated. Or maybe we'll have an entirely new beast: Ellenagel??!

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