Terre D'Hermes

grapefruit, orange, flint, pepper, pink pepper, geranium, patchouli, cedar, vetiver, benzoin.

The citrus is pretty upfront. There is grapefruit but I actually smell a bit more orange. I can definitely smell a kind of "rock" "mineral" smell that must be the flint and pepper. The cedar is REALLY good on this one and as it dries down the vetiver and patchouli really freshens it up. This for me is a good fall/winter scent but as usual YMMV. I would say 2 to 3 sprays on each arm is good. The longevity on me is at least a few hours. I haven't tried the Parfum but the EdT strength is plenty for me. I get waves of goodness flying towards me with 2 sprays. You could probably wear this at the office but I think it strongly leans towards golfing, special occasions and an evening out. I don't wear scents to the office because I don't want great scents to remind me of the office. I normally don't gravitate towards orange scents but this is up there with the best I've tried including Creed Citrus Bigarrade or Orange Spice. The flint, pepper, and cedar spice it up and the patchouli and vetiver add a freshness to it.

I've owned a bottle of this heavenly stuff since it came out, in June 2006. I got my first bottle on a stop-over in Switzerland. I was quite attracted to the packaging at first (hence top score for that) but after a couple of squirts on me, I thought I was in heaven! The scent mixed very well on my otherwise fussy skin which was helped by the hot and humid weather.

Now, this is no ordinary cologne. I don't usually buy designer fragrances, but I suppose this is my only exception. It's earthy, mineral, green and 'flint' - don't quite know how. I like to think of the first rainfall after a long, hot and dry summer. But it also has notes like rose, orange and grapefruit which come out so warmly on a hot and sticky summer's day. It's complexity is such that it goes well on a rainy day too - the black pepper and vetiver playing an important role there.

My girl loves the scent too (she's often stealing my bottle!) and I find that I'm always buying a spare or two to keep in the car, at work, in the travel bag and so on. For this reason and many others, I call it my signature scent. I wear it almost all the time - at work, night time, when I'm going out and so on.

Price - This is pretty average if you ask me for any high-end designer fragrance. I gave it a 9.

Quality / Scent and Complexity - if this was anything less than a round 10, my comments above would be pointless. Just all-round general class, as you'd expect from Hermès.

I've graded the atomizer a 9, as comparing to say, a Creed fragrance, not a lot comes out per spray. Having said that, you don't need much - less is better for this scent if you ask me. For the quality of the cap though, I'd give it a 10 for that alone. Great way to not lose the top!

All in all, easily my favourite scent but so as to give you an idea of what other scents I also use, (though maybe not as much), here you go: Acqua di Parma Colonia, Creed Original Vetiver and recently Le Labo Rose 31.

Price 8/10 Easily found at online discounters @ $50 USD for a 3.4oz tester.
Quality 9/10 Smells of top-notch, quality ingredients.
Packaging 10/10 Fantastic, heavy glass bottle with innovative twist style cap!
Scent 8/10 Very versatile & distinct scent, with grapefruit, pepper, and minerals. Love it!
Complexity 8/10 Not extremely complex by any means, however much more so than that slew of designer scents out there.
Staying Power 9/10 Extremely good longevity, even on my dry skin.
Quality of Atomizer 8/10 Atomizer is decent, but not as good as Dior's.