The New Women’s Fragrance from Hermès Aims for Signature Scent Status

It took Christine Nagel, the in-house perfumer at Hermès, 10 years to create the Barenia eau de parfum natural spray ($170 for 100ml). Between working on other scents such as the floral Twilly d’Hermès and the men’s H24, Nagel toyed with the ingredients needed to make a hit chypre for women, as Terre d’Hermès has been for men.

Woody and balanced in structure, chypres always include certain key elements: a leading citrus note, followed by a floral heart, and then a base combining woody scents (such as patchouli or oakmoss) with musky labdanum (a common incense ingredient).