L'Ombre des Merveilles by Hermès
Bottle Design:
Serge Mansau

L'Ombre des Merveilles 2020

7.9 / 10 354 Ratings
A popular perfume by Hermès for women and men, released in 2020. The scent is spicy-woody. It is still in production.
Pronunciation Compare
Similar fragrances

Main accords

Spicy
Woody
Fresh
Sweet
Smoky

Fragrance Notes

Black teaBlack tea FrankincenseFrankincense Tonka beanTonka bean

Perfumer

Ratings
Scent
7.9354 Ratings
Longevity
7.3294 Ratings
Sillage
6.7292 Ratings
Bottle
8.5287 Ratings
Value for money
7.2183 Ratings
Submitted by OPomone, last update on 11/01/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to
Elixir des Merveilles by Hermès
Elixir des Merveilles
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Izia La Nuit
Vibrant Cities in Fiji by Zara
Vibrant Cities in Fiji
Gris Charnel (Eau de Parfum) by bdk Parfums
Gris Charnel Eau de Parfum
Royal Princess Oud by Creed
Royal Princess Oud
Eau de Memo by Memo Paris
Eau de Memo

Reviews

18 in-depth fragrance descriptions
KathrynA66

46 Reviews
KathrynA66
KathrynA66
Very helpful Review 9  
Beautiful, Modern, Evocative
I love this soooo much! For me, it is so evocative of the early 1970s, not the perfumes of the 70s but the early 70s themselves. It makes me feel happy and carefree.

The tea note is gorgeous and realistic, like a cup of freshly brewed tea. I tend to love tea notes for their calming effect, and this fragrance is no exception. Ombre des Merveilles opens with this sense of peace and relaxation, which is wonderful. The tea also brings a hint of smokiness, which enhances the incense vibe of this fragrance.

I think it's the incense vibe from the frankincense which makes this fragrance so reminiscent of the early 70s. This is not a church-y incense, as the tonka takes it out of that territory. It reminds me of the many variations of incense used in shops and salons whose proprietors wanted to be perceived as "hip," and the kind my teenage cousins, who I thought were SO cool and grown-up, burned in their rooms, which smelled very good- spicy, smoky and slightly sweet.

To be clear, Ombre des Merveilles doesn't smell like incense so much as it creates an incense-like accord, but the tea keeps it fresh and light.

Ombre is definitely not a retro kind of scent. It's minimalist but not simple, modern, unisex and versatile. IMO, Ombre has the same sophisticated quality as the rest of the line and retains the same warmth, although there is a definite freshness to this fragrance.

Regardless of whether folks remember the early 1970s or associate with them the same things as I, many would probably find this fragrance very beautiful, relaxed and easy to wear.

For me, wearing this takes my own, personal past into the present, bringing with it many beloved ghosts and the sense of the kind of freedom we only experience in childhood, while still being a "grown-up" fragrance. Ombre des Merveilles is just the best!
6 Comments
Musicandarts

227 Reviews
Musicandarts
Musicandarts
4  
No wonders behind this shadow!
This review is based on a full bottle of L’Ombre des Merveilles that I bought from Aura Fragrance recently. Though I had tested this previously in a Hermes boutique, I would still call it a blind buy as I had not formed a definite opinion about it before.

L’Ombre des Merveilles opens with a strong incense blast, coming from frankincense and tonka according to perfumer. But this is not the deep frankincense that we are familiar from good incense perfumes like Garcon Manque from Givenchy. Here it smells very light, airy and artificial. Same story with the tonka. I miss the sweet syrupy tonka note that I know from some of my gourmands. Most surprisingly, the black tea note is not discernible to me anywhere in this perfume. I confess that black tea is not a strong note for me as I don’t get a strong aroma when I smell black tea as dry leaf or in hot water. I wonder people here are parroting out what every other reviewer said. Some may be perceiving aromas that don’t exist in this perfume, such as Earl Grey (primarily bergamot essence) and Jasmine tea. I know that L’Ombre des Merveilles does not project black tea anywhere close to Gris Charnel. It appears that many reviewers have simply copied the marketing language directly from Hermes website.

I don’t see a whole lot of development in L’Ombre des Merveilles. The generic incense continue through the heart notes into the base notes. The base notes on my skin are softer, still mostly incense but now with a slight nuance of woody notes.

The performance of L’Ombre des Merveilles is excellent. I can smell it clearly on my skin even after ten hours. As typical of most scents, my clothes retain the heart notes much longer. The soft base note last for a few more hours. The sillage is good up to a few feet during first 3-4 hours.

All this leaves me a bit conflicted about L’Ombre des Merveilles. Is it a top tier perfume, or is this a cheap scent hiding behind the Hermes label? After my initial use, I cannot recommend this perfume. It is too linear and too simple to be an attractive investment. If my opinion changes with successive uses, I will update my review accordingly. Hermes has been a difficult house for me as I don’t have any favorites from them. For my nose, both Jean Claude Ellena and Christine Nagel are very ordinary perfumers. Ellena is a great writer, whose books I recommend. I have Terre D’Hermes, Twilly and now L’Ombre des Merveilles from Hermes. But I am not likely to reach out for these perfumes, when I have BDK, Givenchy, Guerlain, Frederic Malle, Xerjoff and many other great houses available to me.
0 Comments
6.5Scent
ScentStudio

156 Reviews
ScentStudio
ScentStudio
3  
Coca-Cola in a bottle!
I will pre-preface that I wrote the entire review and it got deleted, so this one isn't as good as the original and I was just not having it before I even started.

I will also preface by saying that this might not be the best season to review L'Ombre Des Merveilles. When I first heard of it, Monika Cioch talked about it around autumn or winter. As far as I recall, she also prefers this scent during the colder months. However, you know my spiel of being behind on reviews and I actually did receive this during winter, but alas, a summertime review it is!

Luckily, after weeks of sun and high temperatures, today is colder and rainy. So L'Ombre Des Merveilles might get a fairer chance.

I remember when I first swatched this on paper that it smelled like Coca-Cola. Sweet, fizzy and caramelly.
On skin, however, there is the reminiscent note of Cola, but it is mostly the tea note that I get. L'Ombre Des Merveilles is very surprising. It is simple, but it doesn't remind me of anything that I have smelled before. And is perfectly unisex. Nothing is too feminine, nor is it rough around the edges to become masculine. It is somehow delicate even though I doused myself in it. Because my review got deleted, I mostly remember it being stronger with tea and with a note of incense. Now, completely dried off, I get mostly incense with a tea note in the background. The incense is very mild. Its smoothness reminds me of Santal Austral from Matiere Premiere (if I recall correctly), but the tea note just gives it that sourness, that ompf, that compliments the scent perfectly and makes it stand out.

I keep reaching back to my memory of my prior review, but I cannot recall what I wrote and I am losing momentum reviewing L'Ombre Des Merveilles. This bothers me a lot, because I had only good things to say and I had written how the scent evolves during dry down.
What I can add is that even though I thought this would be an autumn and winter fragrance, I can see myself wearing it all year round!
0 Comments
Rasiaunggol

1 Review
Rasiaunggol
Rasiaunggol
3  
Lovely FRAGRANCE OF NIGHT-FALL
Even though it is a unisex fragrance, however, the fragrance is charming and SEXY for Men NIGHT Occasion and FALL Season.

Night Occasion: you will feel calm, relaxed, and elegant. May give bright confidence.
Fall Season: you will feel breezy, calm, and relaxed, and enjoy the fall season. Not too much if I say that the fragrance is suitable also during the WINTER season.

Quite an Underrated fragrance of all time.

Just see my rateS for this charming FRAGRANCE OF NIGHT-FALL...

with love,
rasia unggol
0 Comments
Salva

77 Reviews
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Salva
Salva
Top Review 63  
At home with Dad at the breakfast table...
My favorite meal has always been breakfast. I love taking my time in the morning to prepare something nice and set the table with plenty of treats.

When my dad used to come home from the night shift, he prepared a lavish breakfast for me and my three siblings every day for years.
He was regularly home by 6:30 AM, and everything was ready and set by exactly 7 AM.
There were fresh rolls with croissants, sweet rolls, Berliners, or other slightly sweeter baked goods from the bakery. Cream cheese, sheep cheese, Gouda cheese in slices, various cold cuts, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, and red peppers were always included. Eggs, of course; sometimes boiled, sometimes scrambled in the pan. And alongside freshly squeezed orange juice, he always made us black tea.
[...]
There are several types of tea, and in total, one distinguishes between six different varieties derived from the tea plant: black tea, white tea, green tea, yellow tea, Pu Erh tea, and Oolong tea.

In addition to these six traditional types of tea, there are of course many other tea-like varieties that do not contain any real components of the tea plant and therefore should not be listed alongside the aforementioned six. Examples of this include herbal or fruit teas.

Personally, I love to drink black tea the most (I don’t drink coffee at all, for example), and I still do so every day, preferably in the morning with breakfast. And this scent, L'ombre des Merveilles, immediately reminded me of my childhood when I tested it, as it brought back memories of the morning ritual of having breakfast together.
[...]
So far, I have been able to test several fragrances that contain a tea note, but I have never smelled such an expressive and authentic tea scent as L'Ombre des Merveilles before.

The opening is very fresh and slightly spicy or herbal, where you can clearly perceive the typical Merveilles DNA. Here, you can smell an orange-like "earthy" note, which is characteristic of Terre d'Hermès, for example. In other words, if you know TdH and are confronted with the Merveilles DNA for the first time, you will notice slight similarities - at least in the opening, in my opinion.

This initial freshness is maintained by the fragrance until the base, where it becomes spicier in between, and then the black tea note comes to the forefront and takes on the main role, so to speak. For me personally, it smells incredibly fine and real, as if you were pouring freshly brewed black tea and inhaling the smoke.

The sweet tonka bean, which lightly resonates in the background, adds an additional minimal sensual nuance to the base, but it is clearly held back, which I personally find very good, as a more intense expression would, in my opinion, detract from the character of the fragrance.
[...]
I tested the fragrance in the late afternoon or early evening on my wrist and could still perceive it slightly the next morning. Therefore, I can speak of exceptionally good longevity.
Due to its composition, I think the fragrance is easily wearable all year round, except for high summer, and for all occasions. However, I personally find spring and autumn to be the most suitable seasons.

It is declared as unisex, but personally, I would categorize it a bit more on the masculine side, as I think it might come across as a little too spicy and somewhat woody for some ladies. But of course, everyone has to find that out for themselves when testing.
Conclusion:

L'ombre des Merveilles comes from French and translates to "Shadow of Wonders" (it would also make a nice title for a captivating novel).
When testing, the fragrance evoked memories of my dad and our shared breakfasts and made me feel emotional. That’s why I appreciate this hobby so much...

I would like to sincerely thank the lovely Knopfnase for the sample and the opportunity to discover this wonderful fragrance.

For all black tea lovers, I can recommend it unconditionally. It radiates a fine elegance that is infused with both cool and warm aspects.
[...]

Thank you for reading!
34 Comments
More reviews

Statements

100 short views on the fragrance
6
Amazing and delightful composition - Earl Gray on a noble base - Thé des Merveilles
0 Comments
5
Gentle scent, fresh and cold with a relaxing black tea and a hint of incense. Slightly tart and sweet. In the drydown, a soft woody tonka.
0 Comments
4
Spicy black tea enveloped in woody tonka. But it's hard to pinpoint specific note as it's such a harmonious blend. Cosy & meditative
0 Comments
2
A true black tea scent with woods(?) and a tiny bit of incense, finally found something that smells JUST like tea. I'm in love.
0 Comments
1
Slightly spicy, warm tea based scent with a tea note that remained strong all throughout the fragrance. Tonka shows up much later.
0 Comments
32
25
Frankincense steams from the cup
Rising to blue stars
Gentle notes
Enjoy the black tea
Brewed in the old kettle
Sweetened with tonka
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25 Comments
30
25
A rather simple black tea scent with pleasant freshness, a sensual aura of incense, and moderate sweetness of tonka - including Hermes' elegance.
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25 Comments
27
15
The base note of Merveilles
is clearly recognizable to me ...
rounded off with tonka, incense & tea!
Subtle but more for men :)
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15 Comments
4 years ago
20
14
Softest of all wonders
Its warming glow
swirls
smoke & shadows
into delicate sweetness.
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14 Comments
19
17
Strong, spicy tea, slightly smoky with sweet tonka bean. Uneven, the ingredients don't quite harmonize for me.
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17 Comments
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