Review of Terre d'Hermes Eau Tres Fraiche (2014) from Hermes

The most common theme for a fragrance flanker is the fresh reinterpretation of the original. It'll go by plenty of names; sport, eau, cologne, l'eau, summer, fraiche etc. It's a theme which is meant to take the original concept of the fragrance and lighten it with potent citruses or fresh spices. It's almost guaranteed to be a people pleasing scent, even if fragrance enthusiasts often hate the genre.


Personally, I'm more on the ambivalent side of the spectrum. I can't say I dislike them, but they're rarely anything I would reach for. There are exceptions, of course. Givenchy's Pi Fraiche, for example, is far superior to Pi to my nose. Claiborne Sport, Polo Sport, Roadster Sport, and Encre Noire Sport are fantastic fragrances too. Another one which impressed me is Terre d'Hermes Eau Tres Fraiche, which was released in 2014.

Terre d'Hermes is a fragrance which I enjoy, but not one that I love. It’s elegant and well composed, and I do like its use of vetiver and bitter orange. But there are some similar fragrances which follow similar themes and smell a lot better to me. Terre d'Hermes Eau Tres Fraiche, on the other hand, is a different story. Without exaggerating, this might be one of my favorite citrus fragrances that I have ever tried. It’s up there with Atelier’s Orange Sanguine in terms of how realistic it smells.

Eau Tres Fraiche is clearly related to the original Terre. However, it really amps up the citrus notes. Instead of just getting the bitter orange from the original, it’s like an entire citrus salad. You get a bright, juicy orange note, paired with the dirty bitter orange, along with a tart, barely ripened grapefruit. It’s a mouth-watering melange of freshness. I’ve no idea how, but this citrus accord is very potent for a couple of hours on my skin, and hints of it lasts throughout most of the duration of the scent.

As it dries down, I get the woody – cedar – and vetiver notes from the original. However, it doesn’t smell earthy. It’s a fresher and cleaner rendition of those.

Longevity is good for this genre. I get around 7 or 8 hours out of it. It projects pretty well for around 2 hours. It starts to sit closer to the skin after that. By the 5th hour, and until the fragrance entirely disappears, you would have to get very close to its point of application to detect it.