New Fragrance: Hermessence Santal Massoia Jean-Claude Ellena’s “Indonesian Dreams”

 

The tenth fragrance in the Hermessence collection, Santal Massoïa will debut November 2011.

Massoia wood is from a rare, protected species not used in perfumery (Massoia has an odour that is described as sweet, coconut meat).

 

Jean-Claude Ellena imagines an Indonesian forest, and is transported to those rugged, fragrant tree trunks. Intrigued and seduced by the strange, slightly primitive and raw perfume – at once mellow, milky and pungent – coming from these trees that look like great sticks of cinnamon;  in order to produce an olfactive expression of supple and velvet-smooth sandalwood and massoia.This Hermessence combines the suppleness of milky woods, constituted by the enveloping sweetness and skin-like fullness peculiar to sandalwood; and massoia with its unexpected aspect of resin and the delicious element of dulce de leche and dried fruit.

– Michelyn Camen, Editor in Chief

.Editor's note Hermès has recently introduced  a better way  to test  fragrance using a ceramic white jar tester this way you can discover facets that you cannot smell  with the white blotters mouilets (which are really  tools for  perfumers anyway, not  orignially meant for consumers)

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14 comments

  • naheed says:

    The thought of dulce de leche instantly takes me to Argentina where it is adored by sweet tooth lovers. It is my best friend’s favourite dessert and she often talks about how it came into existence and gained popularity. The odor of Massoia sounds so yummy and I am thinking with all those notes, how lovely this new baby of Hermes will smell.

  • Sergey says:

    so Hermes begins to use ceramic instead of paper too? I remember that Chanel made their tables with white ceramic cylinders dipped in tubes filled with perfumes – last year.
    It does make a difference indeed

  • Cynthia says:

    I used to live in Indonesia, so it will be interesting to see how the smell interprets. And I agree about paper. I never use blotters to smell a perfume. All I can smell is the paper. Does anyone else have this problem?

  • harper says:

    this sounds delectable.
    i am not usually a fan of sandalwood — but this i would like to try.
    (still swooning over my small vial of vetiver tonka…)

    hh

  • Haunani says:

    This sounds like a must-try, but I’m worried that it might be too sweet. We shall see. Thanks for the article!

  • Neil says:

    Oh, yeah! This sounds awesome. I looked into the background on massoia wood in connection with another scent, where is was really submerged – I am very intrigued by a scent where it is prominent enough to get into the name. This could be very enjoyable.

  • Michelyn Camen says:

    Santal Massoia sounds perfect for me as I love sticky notes. But I have learned not to get my hopes up until it’s on my skin. Great expectations for this Hermessence

  • Jules says:

    I’ve always loved the pleasant smell of my Massoia Bark essential oil, and always wondered why it has mostly been ignored by perfumers. (Last I heard of it’s use was in Paco’s Black XS for Her). So am certainly glad to hear of it’s use here, especially married to sandalwood, which I think are indeed complimentary.
    However considering that Massoia oil is considered a skin irritant, I wonder if they are using actual authentic massoia oil, or more likely just certain extracted or “constructed” chemical massoia lactones ??
    ~ Still, if it smells anything like the actual wood it will smell lovely !