Rouge Hermès Eau Delicate Hermès 2002

7.6 / 10 56 Ratings

A popular perfume by Hermès for women, released in 2002. The scent is oriental-floral. It is still in production.
Pronunciation Compare

Main accords

Oriental

Floral

Woody

Powdery

Spicy

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Aldehydes

Ylang-ylang

Heart Notes

Rose

Vanilla

Maté

Base Notes

Labdanum

Amber

Cedarwood

Frankincense

Perfumer

Akiko Kamei

Ratings

Scent

7.656 Ratings

Longevity

7.742 Ratings

Sillage

6.541 Ratings

Bottle

7.549 Ratings

Submitted by Kittycat, last update on 08/29/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Rouge Hermès Eau de Toilette

Reviews

7 in-depth fragrance descriptions

11/29/2013

8Scent

Drigsby
5 Reviews

Drigsby

Helpful Review 6

Reminds me of China

My mother, a lady who grew up in China, can't handle eating a Krispy Kreme donut because to her the donut is too sweet. She's grown up on Chinese deserts that are typically more oily in flavor with just a touch of sugar. I suppose after a life of adjusting to the sense of sweetness, her tastebuds have been toggled to prefer a modest amount.

I only the other hand, will happily nom all of the Krispy Kreme donuts (ohh especially the ones with the creme filling) and have trouble believing that anything could stimulate my sweet tooth too much. I sort of apply this philosophy to the sweet fragrances on the modern market... with Pink Sugar and La Vie Est Belle being two of the the hottest sellers (both that I love), sweet is obviously in-fashion right? I've never seen a Chinese pastry (oiley with a touch of sweet) in an American supermarket and I doubt I'll see a fragrance like it as a top seller today.

But there is a certain attraction to oily flavors with a dab of sugar. Like a Chinese desert I think Hermes Rouge smells incredibly oily and just a little sweet. The oilyness of the sandalwood deepens the savoryness of the scent, and the spices add an undeniable warmth. Also, something about the spices (which are quite foody) reminds me of walking through the nightmarket on the streets of Beijing during the summer, with merchants selling sandalwood fans and the street food stands selling spicy lamb kabobs. Snag it up before it becomes too hard to get, as I don't see anything like it being in fashion in the near future.

07/24/2016

8Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

Rickbr
190 Reviews

Rickbr

Helpful Review

Warm powdery aura

I remember meeting Rouge Hermès in the early years of my journey as a perfume lover. The advertisement caught my attention with a model in a dance position on fire, as if the perfume did get metaphorically like that. To my surprise, the perfume itself was just nothing sexy or carnal, with a worthy composition of a lady of their 60-70 years with elegance, something powdery, floral and contained.

The Eau Delicate version, however, was a surprise and became what I personally call protective perfume, those who seem to form a serious, sober and compelling aura that help you face very cold days. It is interesting that a gentler version could do this, but the original was powerful enough to allow a change a little more delicate without losing its strength.

Rouge Eau Delicate still has a very prominent talc aura of a powder passing a warm, sweet impression. The rose seems more evident in this composition, a rose with a drier side, rough, slightly metallic, blended with ylang that helps give a more sweet floral side and strengthens the resinous powdery feel of the base. At the opening you can see, paying attention, a touch of berries that helps bring more lightness in the opening compared with the original version. The basis of Eau Delicate is similar to the traditional, an aroma of hot resins, a slight hint of iris that only becomes apparent at this moment and a hint of soft musks finish this hot powdery composition.

When the Eau delicate version was discontinued Hermès relaunched the first incarnation of Rouge Hermès, known as Parfum d'Hermès, and transformed the Eau Delicate version in the Rouge one. The Délicate one despite not being more modern is fashioned from a more affordable and yet elegant way. It is likely that the most current version is still close to Eau Delicate, which I still need to check as soon as possible.

03/09/2023

BrianBuchanan
363 Reviews

BrianBuchanan

5

Eau Deliberate

This was a strange venture for Hermès. They were straying away from leather scents and casting around for a new style, which Ellena would supply with his water colours.

This was 2002, a year before he was appointed, and Akiko Kamei was the creator, a perfumeuse with a typically Japanese signature; smelling this blind you could imagine it was done by Shiseido, not Hermès.

The odour is present but elusive, something like dried cherry blossom, and salt plums in oil that have sat in the tin for too long.

It has the same kind of watery penetration as l'Eau d'Issey (1992) but here it's much more restrained (thankfully) and the theme vaguely recalls the red pepper fruitiness of Xeryus Rouge (1995).

Stylistically unsuited to Hermès, I guess they were glad to drop this sword slash of a scent once Ellena got going with Méditerranée, and the Hermèssences.

10/26/2011

8Scent 7.5Longevity 5Sillage

Esther19
151 Reviews

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Esther19

Top Review

The Subtly Memorable with a Misleading "Subtitle"

Rouge - naturally the color of the bottle, but also that of the fragrance: The dark red is reflected in its expression, Rouge is a decidedly warm, but not overtly warm-hearted scent, a fragrance to get to know, but not love at second sight, I mean one that does not turn bright red at the first flirt, but a scent love that reveals itself only through careful observation of its character.
The finely used aldehydes give the Ylang Ylang an almost serious elegance, allowing it to resonate softly without softness, a nuance I have never observed in this bloom before. Thus, it does not blossom as aromatic and radiant, almost dramatically like in some orientals or florientals, but appears more exalted. Like an inscrutable weave, the trio of mate, a velvety, dark rosebud, and sparingly used vanilla without any sweetness. As with mate tea, there is a more bitter tone present, which, unlike the use of other tea varieties, does not stand out with such a pronounced scent but rather enters into compliant alliances with the other ingredients. In some tea-themed fragrances, I found it a bit overemphasized.
Gradually then, the underpinning by amber, a hint of incense, and some resin crumbs creates a velvety, quiet overall picture.
Rouge is indeed like a very well-matched blush for the complexion. Not bright, awkwardly applied rosy cheeks, but it merges in a sophisticated way with the complexion and can be the highlight of an appearance.
I think that Rouge will appeal more to women of middle age. Its composition reminds me of "Matabar" by Crown Perfumerie, thus belonging to the noble, understated fragrances without pretentiousness, suitable for official occasions or theater visits, where restraint in dosage is called for, without having to forgo individuality and style.
Eau delicate - the "subtitle" of the fragrance can be misleading. Lovers of very heavy, sweet orientals will not find their salvation here, and those who avoid such scents will not test it! Perhaps that is also why
it is not as well-known as it deserves to be. Conclusion: Subtlety with strength - this has succeeded.

09/29/2012

10Scent

Christel59
9 Reviews

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Christel59

Helpful Review 9

The name suggests dessert and candies, but that's completely off the mark

Through a sample, I stumbled upon the fragrance Rouge eau delicat.
I would never have thought to test it in the store.
The red color, the eau delicat, I think of currants,
dessert, candies, something gourmand sweet.

Then after the first drops, what is this?
Berries and candies are nowhere to be found, a wonderfully subtle vanilla
warm scent that is very rare to find.
With each testing, I like it more, even though almost all
fragrances with vanilla are too sweet for me.
This one has only a very light, completely unobtrusive sweetness,
totally pleasant.

This will be a permanent part of my collection.

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