Hermann à mes Côtés me Paraissait une Ombre 2015

Hermann à mes Côtés me Paraissait une Ombre by Etat Libre d'Orange
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7.4 / 10 285 Ratings
A perfume by Etat Libre d'Orange for women and men, released in 2015. The scent is spicy-synthetic. It is still in production.
Pronunciation
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Main accords

Spicy
Synthetic
Fresh
Woody
Smoky

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes Top Notes
Black pepperBlack pepper BlackcurrantBlackcurrant GalbanumGalbanum
Heart Notes Heart Notes
FrankincenseFrankincense GeosminGeosmin Rose absoluteRose absolute
Base Notes Base Notes
VetiverVetiver AmbroxanAmbroxan PatchouliPatchouli

Perfumers

Videos
Ratings
Scent
7.4285 Ratings
Longevity
7.8223 Ratings
Sillage
7.1227 Ratings
Bottle
7.5212 Ratings
Value for money
7.1100 Ratings
Submitted by Michael, last update on 04.04.2024.

Reviews

6 in-depth fragrance descriptions
8
Bottle
8
Sillage
8
Longevity
8
Scent
Annarosa

93 Reviews
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Annarosa
Annarosa
Top Review 13  
The shady existence of Hermann:)
This Hermann is a little fruit!
He hates everything vulgar and loves the opposite of it: instead of bright skies and sunny nights and cool shadows; instead of exuberant laughter-silent mourning, instead of flower meadows-moist, black earth covered with ivy... He is just an original, a romantic of the old school.
And he also smells to match his macabre disposition: I notice a load of cool mint, gothic medical patchouli and incense again and again when I stroll with him in the shady avenues of an old Gothic complex. Yes, he himself, with his pale complexion, his sunken eyes, his thin stature and dark clothes seems to me like a shadow among many other shadows in this eerie avenue : like a shadow from the underworld, like a ghost.
Its dark, cool, fresh presence is constant and long-lasting. I smell its macabre scent for hours until the evening falls. It hangs on my clothes, shines like a dark, mysterious aura around me.
Its scent is macabre and beautiful at the same time: a cool, lonely, meditative shadow in the flickering heat of summer.
1 Comment
5
Sillage
6
Longevity
7.5
Scent
Silverfire

130 Reviews
Silverfire
Silverfire
Very helpful Review 6  
Aphasia With My Alternate Self
The notes listed for Hermann a mes Cotes me Paraissait une Ombre are not what show up on my skin; I don't get a synthetic vibe at all. For me, it begins as a sweetened guiac wood mingled with frankincense and a faint fruity aroma. The sweetened guiac note recedes, swapping places with pepper. The silage starts at and remains at 6" through the life of the fragrance. Aside from the quick change to a fruit-laden incense, the scent is linear. I enjoy the aroma and it garners compliments from the opposite sex, but the four synthetic notes give me pause. I'm not against synthetics per se, but I am aware that they are being created and launched into a void created by the IFRA and other busybodies.

The Lynchian product video suggests a multiplicity of spiritual tensions in its stark blacks and whites. The fragrance name translates as "Hermann to my sides / Seemed to me a Shadow", which is from Victor Hugo's Poem "What Two Horsemen Were Thinking in the Forest". Apparently I was supposed to get a brooding, dangerous, and yet charming vibe, but I did not.

I am left with a faint sense of loss, a missing the mark, perhaps on the part of Libre Etat D'Orange, but perhaps on my part. I am unable to detect the notes listed and I cannot participate in the effect this was designed to create. I find it appealing nevertheless, but question the need for synthetic elements.

Perhaps I am experiencing aphasia with my alternate self?
0 Comments
8
Pricing
5
Bottle
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
8.5
Scent
Lolalola257

3 Reviews
Translated Show original Show translation
Lolalola257
Lolalola257
Helpful Review 6  
No Hermann
Hermann? Shadow? I think it's a completely inappropriate name for this perfume.
I associate Hermann with an old man's stubbly bearded chin, the leather strap of his old motorcycle helmet stretched across it as he zooms through the village on an equally old scooter.
For me, shadows bring night, bring darkness, perhaps disaster, decay.

This perfume, on the other hand, throws me into the following association:
Coming out of the scorching summer heat into an ancient, forgotten vaulted cellar. Cool - fresh - wet air, no mustiness. A slight draught can be heard. Silence, the distant murmur of a spring. A crystal-clear, sparkling drop of water slowly detaches itself from a stone, the beam of light from the distant skylight refracts in it. The coolness flows through me, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief; a person slowly forms again from a sticky body and dull head. Clear thoughts return, I breathe a sigh of relief.

Second association, a memory:
Social internship in hospital, a woman's bandage from a huge surgical suture on her thigh is removed. The smell of the skin sealed off from the air takes my breath away. Heart racing, dizziness, heat. Next memory, I find myself on the next bed, legs elevated. I can clearly feel the blood flowing back into my body. It feels ice-cold, I can feel it in my veins as it flows towards my head, bringing it back, an enchanting feeling. The fragrance brings exactly this feeling with it.

About the fragrance itself:
The top note is clearly dominated by pepper. Smell it immediately after grinding it in the pepper mill, that's exactly what it smells like.
It disappears quite quickly and blackcurrant and incense remain for a long time. Not a sweet blackcurrant nectar, but rather the tart part of the fruit. The incense is in the foreground. Cool, sacred, like in a high church with lots of stone and little wood, where incense has been used for centuries. Not the freshly burnt incense, but the remaining smell of it.
For me, the other notes blend imperceptibly into a background noise, diffuse, framing.

This perfume conveys an uncanny freshness, clarity and breadth without being aquatic. Great!
Always wearable, perhaps a little too cool for winter.
0 Comments
Theo1995

4 Reviews
Theo1995
Theo1995
2  
The Green Patchouli of all green patchoulis

Hey, patchouli can also have a green take-on, foresty, fresh, or maybe like a shadow. Victor Hygo's poetry fits this sent incredibly well. Not offensive at all, reminds me a bit of Perles de Lalique because of the rose-patchouli combo, but way more masculine. I would disagree with it sillage rating here: it has an above rating sillage for a spring-summer scent that it really is. This and portrait of a lady would be my ideal late-spring & summer scents. They smell like freedom, class, modern, chicness, coolness, and inviting.
0 Comments
8
Pricing
8
Bottle
8
Sillage
8
Longevity
8.5
Scent
TonkaTommy

51 Reviews
TonkaTommy
TonkaTommy
4  
Floaters.
Anybody else have little floaters in the bottle? I'm guessing it's the incense, or synthetics clumping up. Still smells great, and has borderline beast mode performance for me. Easy go to on a fall, casual day. Great walking around scent! The incense really shines, small rose hints, and almost dryer sheet like smell. It's a... dirty cleany??? Lol good stuff.
0 Comments
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Statements

9 short views on the fragrance
ZleoZleo 2 years ago
9
Bottle
8
Sillage
8
Longevity
8.5
Scent
Great petrichor scent. It brings the feeling after the rain well.
Like a coldish foggy rose garden after rain at dawn.
0 Comments
ToniocTonioc 7 months ago
6
Bottle
7
Sillage
7
Longevity
7.5
Scent
Nice wet spicy rose scent, with earthy accords that make it more masculin. After some time, a beautiful airy incense comes in.
0 Comments
AndreiRECAndreiREC 2 months ago
7
Bottle
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
7
Scent
Cold & humid. Incense with hints of rose strong in the opening and fading towards the drydown. Like a shadow - interesting analogy.
0 Comments
HugoMontezHugoMontez 8 months ago
7
Sillage
7
Longevity
7.5
Scent
A spicy rose scent with a strong galbanum note in the opening. Love the opening but it dries down a bit flat and without muche presence.
0 Comments
GeorgeReidGeorgeReid 1 year ago
8
Bottle
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
7.5
Scent
The smoke and freshness evoke a resemblance to marijuana rolling papers before someone lights up. Not terrible, but not my cup of tea.
0 Comments
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