Hermèssence Myrrhe Églantine
Hermès (2018)

Myrrhe églantine - a simple rose and Myrrhe combo that stands out. But not for the reasons you might think!

Myrrhe églantine was released in 2018 as a part of Christine Nagel's first venture into the Hermessence universe. The previous in-house perfumer at Hermès, Jean Claude Ellena, created the Hermessence collection back in 2004 as a line of fragrances to be sold exclusively in Hermès stores. Elena's previous creations were centered around one or two notes and often described as "watercolor" or "haiku poem" fragrances for the restrained and translucent compositions.

Nagel's first introductions to the Hermessence collection focused on notes more often associated with the oriental style of perfumery: Woods, resins and attars.

Some have contrasted Nagel's first fragrances with the austere and lighter approach taken by Ellena.* But at least in the case of myrrhe églantine, there is a clear sense of restraint, clarity and elegance that fit well with Elena's existing creations. Why does this matter?

Middle Eastern inspired rose combos are a dime a dozen these days. The austere approach that guided Nagel's creations is likely a reason why myrrhe églantine is so successful and still stands out in a forest of sweet balsamic, vanillic and "oudy" rose concoctions.

Nagel described myrrhe églantine like this: '..myrrh, then more precious than gold, reinvented and reworked around eglantine, a wild, fresh and tangy rose that never surrenders.'

This description reflects my own impression of myrrhe églantine. It opens with a citrusy and tangy rose with a whisper of myrrhe in the background. After a few minutes, you are left with an elegant and naturalistic rose that delicately balances between the sweet and the fresh.

Myrrh is a prominent supporting player throughout the weartime. It lends a warm and dry sweetness to the composition. Together with the églantine rose, you are transported to an otherworldly place, like a celebration of the day of roses in the Hagia Sofia in the 7th century.


I have tried a quite a few rose fragrances, but I have yet to find something that is comparable to Nagel's myrrhe eglantine. And that is quite a feat.

Myrrhe élgantine lasts all day with moderate projection. It is office friendly and versatile. So don't expect a sillage monster.

*I'm not sure how much truth there is in the supposed contrasting approaches, as the biggest hit Elena created for the Hermessence collection was ambre narguilé, inspired by amber, honey and shisha fruity tobacco, not to mention the spice caravan inspired poivre samarcande.

Hermèssence Myrrhe Églantine (2018) is from that modern niche/prestige designer train of thought which dictates that people looking for perfumes at ths price point want only the most simple and lucid perfumes with no more than maybe two or three prominent notes proudly delcared in the name, and everything else supporting them being left to mystery. Call these "soliflore plus" if you will, and brands like Jo Malone have made a name for themselves producing them then selling them at a high price in perfect contrast to the more-pedestrian "high street" designers that have no recognizable ingredients anymore and just smell abstractly sweet or fresh. Once upon a time luxury meant blending, opacity, and by way of that, abstraction, while cheaper perfumes were by virtue of cost much simpler. Now it is quite literally the opposite, as if the luxury perfume overton window has been shifted away by high-end designer exclusive lines and some niche competitors from artistry to mimickry of nature. Towards that end, Christine Nagel does a good job with Hermèssence Myrrhe Églantine, as it is rose and myrrh as promised, but it also has a similar "must be transparent and evanescent on the nose" vibe, like the ghost of a retired Jean-Claude Ellena leaves his body at night when he sleeps and haunts the labs at Hermès.

The opening here is a clean and semi-soapy watercolor type of rose, likely synthetic as it rests somewhere between the leathery rose of Nagel's own Galop d'Hermès (2016) and the dry metallic "cybernetic damask" rose of Cartier Déclaration d'un Soir (2012) or Calvin Klein cK2 (2016), which were both also mostly synthetic rose. Take this and add a pinch of sweet rose water, and you'll get the "soapy watercolor" feeling I'm talking about. The other star player is myrrh, which adds a bit of a sandy dusty slight sourness to the rose. Funny that Nagel should know her way around myrrh as she has played with it before in modern orientals like Ambre Soie by Armani Prive (2004), but here it gets buried and forgotten under that reworked rose accord from Galop d'Hermès. To me, this actually feels exceedingly like a revisited primitive from the creation process of Galop d'Hermès, one of the iterations passed up by the creative director when it was on the table, and returned to by Nagel. I also get Iso E Super and some sharp "modern" aldehydes in here, but whatever else supports the rose/myrrh duo is lost to me. Wear time is 8 hours and this is punchy but light, making good spring time casual use for any gender that appreciates the chemistry lab rose experiment found here in this perfume.

I like this, but like most things in the Hermèssence line, Hermèssence Myrrhe Églantine feels like something only for the well-off super-fans of the house that simply must collect everything they make. Since this rides so very close to Galop d'Hermès in style (but is a tad more likeable), I'd rather recommend the Galop on virtue of it being cheaper, refillable, and just in general more memorable. Here you get a weird sharp/sweet/metallic/soapy rose water in a steel pan with some flakes of myrrh dropped in then stirred up, heated to a boil so it rises up into the nostrils as rose myrrh steam. For as interesting as that sounds, and niche by virtue of that it is, the simplicity and overt lack of additional quality or style to justify the $300 price tag makes me a bit flippant on Hermèssence Myrrhe Églantine. Most designer prestige lines trying to compete with niche perfumes are a hard sell to me anyway, because in most cases they don't feel like significant upgrades from the rank and file lines they offer, with this being no exception to that general observation. Spend some time with Hermèssence Myrrhe Églantine and see if you feel differently, but you'll have to find a boutique or dedicated counter if you want to sample without paying for a trial size through the mail. Neutral.

Rose and myrrh - simple in its concept, not unoriginal, and unusual in its execution. The myrrh is not too earthy or spicy, more expressing the herbal side. The rose is not very dark or heavy, and blends well with the myrrh.

I get moderate sillage, good projection and six hours of longevity on my skin.

A pleasant scent for colder spring days, nicely done in all its simplicity and not too overtly synthetic. 3/5.

An beautiful ambery rose mostly from the grounded myrrh.

The rose in Myrrh Eglantine reminds me of that in Galop, but is more restrained.... it is midway between a full blown jammy rose and a dewy fresh rose.

This dries down to a warmer resinous myrrh base but never becomes fully oriental, but keeps in line with the house water colour style. Kudos to Christine Nagel to bringing a new expression in the Hermessence line without violating its style integrity.

Gorgeous top note, very pretty rose. I thought I would like this. The SA said this was the top selling Hermessence of the new Christine Nagel creations. But then this awful sour note starts creeping in. Alarming. It worsens to the point where it reminded me of vomit. Unbearable. An hour in, the myrrh starts to show which reminds me of a junior Portrait of a Lady but cleaner and younger. The mix of sweet jammy rose and incense is interesting. I am shocked how strong this is with one spray for a Hermessence. Giving it a neutral rating because I can see how some would enjoy it if it didn't fall apart and turn sour but that could just be me.

Still waters run deep

Myrrhe Églantine is an unusual rose. A soapy wild dog rose comes to the forefront, but myrrh plays an indispensable role, rounding out the rose with its sweet, resinous qualities. It imparts luminosity, depth and character to the rose. What I like is that Nagel didn't create a more predictable spicy-smoky character to the rose. As such, I find it to be emotional without being dramatic, as the more bombastic, spicy roses can be. Having said that, I don't think I would wear this. I like my roses with a little more drama.