Out of the many things perfumer Christine Nagel has created for Hermés since joining the brand as in-house Perfumer, I think the Twilly franchise is my favourite. Created as an accessible entry point for younger consumers and inspired by the Hermès scarves of the same name, Twilly is a subversive tuberose zhuzzed up by a zing of ginger. Twilly has obviously been a popular addition for Hermès, because it was quickly followed by the sequel Twilly Eau Poivrée, a red rose electrified by the most photorealistic pink pepper accord known to man, which brought a sense of vibrancy and energy to the franchise. And now we have the third Twilly – Twilly d’Hermès Eau Ginger, which plays on the unusual ginger note of the original and is described by Hermès as “joyful, bright and sparkling”. Are you ready for Twilly 3: The Gingering? OK, fine, that was a bad pun. Moving on…

Let’s sniff!

The Notes

Peony, Candied Ginger and Cedar

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The Perfumer

Christine Nagel (Hermès)

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How Does it Smell?

Twilly d’Hermès Eau Ginger certainly lives up to its name in the opening. Taking the subversive ginger note from the original Twilly (mixing ginger with tuberose was a novel stroke of genius from Nagel, let’s be real), Eau Ginger focuses on presenting a juicier, more candied interpretation of ginger. In the first instances it smells like freshly squeezed lemonade fizzing and bubbling underneath stripes of candied ginger, and it certainly feels as if it has more of a juicy, citrus vibe than the others in the collection. But that ginger, oh that ginger, it’s so darn satisfying.

At the heart of each Twilly there is a flower, each adorned by the zingy, electric notes that give the fragrances their bubbly personalities. For Twilly the flower was tuberose (fresh, fleshy, sweet) and for Eau Poivrée it was rose (warm, spicy, fruity), but in the case of Eau Ginger, the floral accent is peony. It adds a sharp greenery and a touch of sweet, petal-like floralcy but is overall a subtle contrast to the star of the show – that zing-tactic ginger. It works perfectly exactly because it doesn’t take centre stage.

The dry down is where the trio of Twillys (what is the collective noun for a group of Twillys? A flourish? A vibrance? Answers in the comments, please) merge into each other. As with the original, the dry down is vaguely woody and soft, with a white musk vibe. It feels a little bit sharper (and a little bit more solid) here, but the overall impression is a soft breeze of something that could be woods but could also be something else entirely. Like both Twilly and Eau Poivrée, Eau Ginger loses its way a little bit in the base, failing to live up to the energy and intrigue of the notes up top. So, as with the others, I get around this flaw just by reapplying the scent for those fun top notes and I’m happy again.

I’m a sucker for a ginger note so it’s no surprise that I enjoy Twilly Eau Ginger – that super fresh, super sticky twist of candied ginger up top really is delicious. But, and I know you could sense a but coming, Eau Ginger suffers the same fate of the other Twillys in the sense that it can’t quite keep the party going into the base. But honestly, when you have an opening that is so juicy and so ginger (and so fun) it’s easy to forgive somewhat of a meandering base, well, in my opinion anyway. Twilly d’Hermès Eau Ginger is a fun summer pick-me-up that feels vibrant, perky and effervescent. In fact, it’s perfect as a cool refresher on sticky humid days. Plus the bottle is really, really cute…

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Availability

Twilly d’Hermès Eau Ginger is available in 30ml (£50), 50ml (£79) and 85ml (£111) Eau de Parfum.

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Disclaimer

Images are my own. Sample (full bottle) provided by Hermès for review. This is not a sponsored post.