Mass-Tige

Paddock by Hermes
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Paddock by Hermes

Hi there ULGers, Quietly and without fanfare Hermes (yes I know it’s Hermès but SEO) released a complete fragrant stunner in 2024. Only available in their stand alone stores. It’s also spendy. Not Roja spendy but still, you’ll have to really NEED IT to fork over that kind of money for something that literally goes up in fragrant smoke. I really, really want Paddock. It plays on my mind in the most inopportune moments. Currently I’m down to my last 2ml of a Surrender To Chance decant. They now seem to be totally out of it!?! GAH! I can’t even scratch the itch now.

Paddock by Hermes 2024

Hermes gives this description of notes:
Honeyed hay, Amber carrot seed

Christine Nagel has received a slew of hate mail through her tenure at Hermes. Following Jean Claude Ellena was never going to be easy. He had redefined the way that Hermes perfume lovers chose to smell. His fragrances seem austere and minimalist, even when they aren’t. His gluggiest (that I love BTW) Ambre Narguile, while being warm, rich and a little over the top gourmand still feels calmly restrained.

This feels like Mz Nagel is arrived. Like Eau de Citron Noir, H24, Cardomusc Terre D’Hermes Eau Intense Vetiver and L’Ombre and Eau des Merveilles Bleue (the ones from her I paid retail for) were just practicing to become this stunningly astounding perfection.

On my first sniff I’d completely dismissed Paddock. Then, this time last year Val the Cookie Queen came to stay with us. When she wore it I suddenly got what was meant to live in someone’s sillage.

This pic makes me so sad, only a few wears away from zero Paddock.

Paddock by Hermes STC Decant Apr26

Paddock is horsey, and yard-ish, and paddock, its feed room and tack room. It’s a whiff of all those things BUT it’s also none of them. Paddock is a surrealists dream of all that, while still being pure fine fragrance.

Please don’t go try it. Don’t fall in love with it. Don’t even go near it. There’s not enough to share and I freaking WANT IT ALL.

Did you try Paddock? Thoughts?
Portia xx

Trajan by Electimuss London
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Trajan by Electimuss London

Hi there ULGers, Hope your fortnight has been a good one. If not then let’s talk perfume and forget the world for a moment. I have an admission to make. Electimuss as a brand has completely passed me by. From the Electimuss site: “Electimuss means “to choose the best” in Latin and that ethos is at the heart of our brand. Exquisite oils and resins in our fragrances are rare and precious and blended with meticulous attention paid to every note and detail… We care passionately about quality. All of our fragrances are 25% or 30% Pure Parfum / Extrait and our blends are unashamedly decadent and daring.” They are inspired by Ancient Rome.

Before we go any further I do not understand why brands are doing extraits and acting as if it’s a better deal. It’s bloody annoying. You could do 50% of cheap as shit ingredients and it is still an extrait. Also, I like the projection of an EdT. Should I wish a stronger % then I’d like to buy a 7.5ml extrait spray like the old Guerlain cigarette lighter case and wear them together. For that extra rich, burnished depth. In my books (clearly I’m a dinosaur) having the extrait should be a glamorous add on.

Sorry, rant over.

Trajan by Electimuss London 2020

Electimuss site gives these featured accords:
Top: Mandarin, lemon, bergamot, blood orange
Heart: Lavender, sage, saffron
Base: Cedarwood, oak moss, ambergris

I’m unsure why I even bought this sample from Surrender To Chance. I was having a little retail therapy late at night. You know how it goes, right?

Trajan is named for a Roman emperor whose claim to fame was the expansion of Roman trade frontiers down the Silk Road. Expanding the empires access to sought after goods from Asia. So I was expecting a heavily spiced incense fragrance with all the dark trademarks of the travel. It was a surprise that citrus came from Southeast Asia, Lavender from mainland Eurasia, Sage is Mediterranean and Asia Minor, Saffron from Central Asia, Cedar is Mediterranean and Himalayas, Oakmoss the Balkans and Far East and Ambergris comes from beaches the world over but the Chinese called it Dragon Spit. After having an early interior sneer yet again I have been brought back to reality. Though these are not the notes I’d have most connected with the Silk Road there is definite relevance. Sorry Electimuss for my judgmental attitude.

Trajan Electimuss

How does it smell? The opening is like a slightly tweaked Baccarat Rouge 540. Much less headache inducing but very reminiscent. The lavender is a very nice touch and it appears magically in the second or third minute and stays for a while. As the initial fury subsides there is a fantastic Play Doh vibe underpinned by bakery or maybe cookie dough and Trajan becomes something much more interesting.

My nose is also telling me there are some flowers hiding within the construct but I can’t pin them down. You know that powdery smoothness of petals, the feeling of peony or crabapple petals without the fragrance of them.

The base smells similar to loads of other mass-tige offerings. Very nice ambery/woodsy/vanilla all smooshed together into that reliably comfortable and wearable melange.

OK, it’s 5.03pm tomorrow now. The base is BR450 and ETERNAL. It will not wash off. 

The bottle looks gorgeous.

Sound good?
Portia xx