Bottle Design:
Serge Mansau

L'Ambre des Merveilles Hermès 2012

8.0 / 10 472 Ratings

A popular perfume by Hermès for women, released in 2012. The scent is sweet-spicy. It is still in production.
Pronunciation Compare

Main accords

Sweet

Spicy

Gourmand

Oriental

Resinous

Fragrance Notes

Amber

Peru balsam Vanilla

Vanilla

Patchouli

Perfumer

Jean-Claude Ellena

Ratings

Scent

8.0472 Ratings

Longevity

7.2370 Ratings

Sillage

6.3372 Ratings

Bottle

8.5366 Ratings

Value for money

7.3125 Ratings

Submitted by Kankuro, last update on 11/12/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Ambre Impérial

Eau des Merveilles Eau de Toilette

Seta

Elixir des Merveilles

Oud Ambre

L'Eau d'Ambre Extrême

Reviews

33 in-depth fragrance descriptions

09/20/2012

7Scent 8Longevity 9Sillage

Gold
726 Reviews

Gold

Very helpful Review 8

It's all about harmony and moderation

"L'Ambre des Merveilles" is a great scent, a flanker which only faintly resembles the original EdM (which has an orange topnote and a salty dry-down). "L'Ambre des Merveilles" is also far more transparent than its grown-up sister, "Elixir des Merveilles", which is a chypre with a drydown I never liked, since it seems muddled and too chocolate-like to me.
Elléna has written a lot about clear notes, his reductionist approach to creating perfumes and his will to compose fragrances which are not complicated: "Je m'oppose aux formules compliquées ou les répétitions, les empilements donne une lecture brouillonne, inintelligible, bien que séduisant". (Journal d'un parfumeur, page 118). He continues by saying: "I love simplicity".
Smelling "L'AdM", I must say that Elléna wonderfully managed to achieve the simplicity he is after by giving his new scent a transparent, yet profound enough structure to please the senses of any demanding perfume-lover. This scent is not cramped with loads of common or even novel ingredients. Nevertheless it comes across fresh, new and spicy in the topnotes. "L'AdM" develops into a warm and envelopping skin-scent after about one hour, keeping the spicy parts and not focussing on the patchouli managed in the pyramide too much. You can clearly feel Elléna's predeliction for peppery- spicy notes as in "Voyages d'Hermes" in this new composition, too. The whole thing manages to retain a pleasantly warm aura which is neither too sweet nor too much of a vanilla-gourmand fragrance until the very end. Everything seems to be at its right place, nothing is used in overdose or seems out of proportion, it's all about balance and equilibrium. I recommend this scent to women and men who want a warm ambery scent for the colder season, a fragrance which is lovely in its moderation, not loud, never over-powering.
"L'Ambre des Merveilles" is my personal favourite among "Les Merveilles". I'm glad I can finally wear an HERMES-scent in fall/winter, too.

10/29/2012

10Scent

ArkangeL
156 Reviews

ArkangeL

Helpful Review 6

A Different Kind of Amber

What we're dealing with here is a friendly giant. Remarkable projection, sillage and irrefutable longevity... yet, it remains smooth and pleasant throughout the L'Ambre des Merveilles experience. This is a different kind of amber. No spicy, resinous tones or faint body odor effect. Only a thick haze of warm amber, delicate vanilla and suave labdanum. In the shadow of this fragrance lies the Hermes Merveilles signature vetiver. Although patchouli is listed in it's place, it is quite noticeable. This is not only my favorite Merveilles, but now one out of many scents in my collection I favor most, as I find it addictive and very calming.

03/27/2014

8Scent 7.5Longevity 7.5Sillage

ScentFan
336 Reviews

ScentFan

Very helpful Review 4

Less is More

Can four common, simple notes create a memorable perfume? Apparently so, if L'Ambres des Merveilles contains only amber, labdanum, pathcouli and vanilla, as reported. I sniffed for hidden ingredients to account for its appeal, but all I can smell throughout is those four, which luckily are among my favorites. The result is an ambery/vanilla so warm and smooth it almost smells like caramel -- labdanum and patchouli lending interest and sophistication. During my latest perfume counter sojourn I kept returning to it, captivated by its simple beauty. I can't see wearing it if dressed to the nines, but this comfy scent is fine for the office, for a night in, for a sporting event, for roasting marshmallows around a campfire. I can picture a favorite wool sweater smelling of it. Here minimalism works. In L'Ambre des Merveilles, less is more.

10/02/2023

10Scent 8Longevity 4Sillage

Munkeynugget
6 Reviews

Munkeynugget

8

Lesbians love this one!

My mother got me as a random present (and basically a blind buy) and I liked it at first, but I wasn't in love with it until a couple sprays later. It's a warm, intimate fragrance with unexpected an aphrodisiac quality. It's a very amber-forward fragrance that reminded me of ginger when I first smelled it. It's biggest weakness is its performance; I had a date that adored this on me but she could only smell it when she was sitting on my lap. Highly recommend if you're looking for a lowkey fall scent (and if you want to seduce a bottom).

09/23/2018

7Scent 7Longevity 6Sillage

Darkbeat
386 Reviews

Darkbeat

Helpful Review 3

A cool, warm and ethereal amber

I love amber and, how could it be otherwise, I like L'Ambre des Merveilles. A vanilla oriental perfume, warm and extremely light, for what is amber commonly, if you like this note and normally it seems too dense, opulent or too sweet, this is your perfume, I had never tasted such a fresh and pleasant amber, and I like it, but, for my taste, I would prefer something more powerful, although I do not take away any merits and it shows that it is focused on an audience that enjoys the ethereal, fresh and translucent aromas.

It is a perfume of little evolution. At the start it is a slightly cooler amber, and even something citric, giving me the feeling of including some orange or elemi resin, with its characteristic orange touch. Then, this amber, is the absolute protagonist, warm, sweet and resinous, but in a very delicate and ethereal form, it is not a dense amber, nor powerful, it is rather, a sweet caress on the skin, caramel and delicate, a comforting hug, which envelops you in a translucent aura of peace and harmony. This delicate fragrance is sweetened little by little, until it ends in a vanilla almost gourmand, not cloying, thin, elegant, vaporous and beautifully set with the last residual nuances of the primal amber. An authentic beauty.

The perfume I liked, I did not love it, because for my taste it lacks body and presence, but, in general, a beautiful perfume, a tad more feminine than masculine, but nothing remarkable.

A versatile and easy to dress aroma, appropriate, daytime, for autumn and winter, and night, during spring and summer, with a moderate performance in both cases.

Sorry for my bad english.

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