Perseus
Eau de Parfum, Parfums de Marly (2024)

I was pretty hyped to try this one, and while it does have a nice grapefruit opening, the cashmere wood and base don’t feel as natural or as smooth to me as Hermès’ Eau Givrée. In Eau Givrée, the citrus maintains a clean, uplifting, almost mineralic edge, and I still pick up some citron into the drydown. Here in Perseus, the woody backbone comes across a bit more synthetic by comparison. That said, I’d still give it a thumbs up—it avoids the overly sweet direction that this brand often leans into. Performance is also stronger than Eau Givrée, in my experience. They’re different enough that I can appreciate both, even if I slightly prefer the refinement of Eau Givrée.

This is what summer smells to me. Firstly I am not so hyped about Parfums de Marly, it was something I was looking to within the fragrance community in 2018, but since I was in college I would buy fragrances that are within a small price range. This house is hyped but I think they did a lot of justice to this release.

Perseus smells like a summer that is asking for a cocktail of grapefruit and orange. I get that this one gets compared to TDH and I had all flankers from them, but to me is so much more. It's like the Terre D'Hermes we never had, I mean I would definitely combine the opening of Eau Givree and Eau Tres Fraiche and layer with something that would last, but to me this conditions were never met.

I think this can be a spring and summer staple, I always enjoyed the citric smell in summer and the citruses in this one are solid. Lasts a good amount of time, it's what I would ask Hermes to do instead of H24. Perhaps this is so close to what Hermes could do with their aroma chemicals within the 2006-2014 range.

The sunny days will get more memorable with this one. I will give it a 8 since it smells familiar but it has a place on its own.

mindblowingly good right up there with eau tres fraiche as a grapefruit masterpiece 10/10. performance is slightly above average. the drydown smells so fun after the photorealistic top notes are gone. only downside is the price which is obscene as usual from parfums de marly

A strong grapefruit is already a hard sell for me. Except for some rare exceptions, Hermès Un Jardin Sur Le Nil and Terre d'Hermes being two of them, I find most prominent grapefruit accords become so sour on my skin that they almost come off as an off-putting, sweaty B.O. The sulphuric facets, while subtle on most people I imagine, come out full force. Clearly, that is a "me" problem, but I must disclose that truth. Aside from that, the citrus in Perseus is Perseus-TANTLY persistent, and that could only mean one thing: a harshness, a nagging shrillness carries through its development, which beast-mode bros are tickled pink over, but I just find it offensive.

The vetiver and grapefruit together give me immediate impressions of Terre d'Hermes, but this soon gives way to the "dry wood" accord which is pretty much a bulwark of wood ambers that dissolves what little nuance (PdM? Nuance?) into a cotton ball soaked in isopropyl alcohol effect. Henceforth, its an instant scrubber at that point. I am sure this review will result in the resentful Fragrantica "purple balloon" but something this persistent and synthetic just makes me feel nauseous. To each their own, I suppose. 

It opens with a green, slightly sour/unripe, dry citrus. It is clean and refreshing. This is one of those scents that smells like you are slicing sour citrus fruits over freshly cut wood. It’s not overly sweet, so it has a more mature feel. This is not dated at all; it just doesn’t have the usual woody-amber sweetness found in most modern scents. It’s a nice change of pace from most of the new releases. It's more of a day or office scent.

Projection is just on the average side. It's okay, but nothing big. Longevity is a little better; it lasts for most of the workday.

Smells amazing. This is a super realistic red grapefruit on your skin, it has the fresh, zesty, and some sharp aspects to it, but it goes perfectly with the bottle. The woods (mostly vetiver) in background go perfect, and i get a little sweet benjoin along with the vetiver. But if you want a superb grapefruit, please check this out.

Along with Herod, Carlisle and Layton, this is an actual great PDM release. I know that people compare it to TDH line, but i think that is a kneejerk reaction, and people like to just say and throw their hateful comments on anything and everything new these days sadly.