Review of Hermann à mes Côtés me Paraissait une Ombre by Olga Steinfeld

The name, translated from French as “Hermann beside me seemed like a shadow,” is a quote from Victor Hugo’s poem "À quoi songeaient les deux cavaliers dans la forêt" (“What the Two Horsemen Were Thinking About in the Forest”). The poem tells the story of two horsemen - the narrator and Hermann - riding through a dark forest at night. There is an ominous, unsettling atmosphere all around them. The night is black, and it seems as though the fountains are singing and the oaks and bushes are whispering to one another. All of this fills the two men with dark thoughts, and they begin to reflect on death. The narrator is overwhelmed by the loss of his loved ones and suffers deeply, while Hermann takes a more rational view, seeing death as a form of peace and liberation. There is a feeling that Hermann is not a real person, but rather the narrator’s inner voice, or a spirit trying to push him towards a desperate act. To me, the perfume’s name suggests that everyone, as they make their way through life, has their own “Hermann” who follows them like a shadow and draws them into darker, existential thoughts. HERMANN À MES CÔTÉS ME PARAISSAIT UNE OMBRE is a calm, restrained, cold fragrance. Spicy, damp, balsamic and earthy. It opens with black pepper, with a bitter edge of galbanum. The geosmin molecule gives the fragrance a marine saltiness, along with the smell of damp moss and earth. I also perceive airy incense and a barely perceptible rose note - as if somewhere in the shadow of the trees, a rose bush were hiding, its scent occasionally carried by the wind. Vetiver and patchouli emphasize the fragrance’s vegetal, soothing and earthy character. After reading the poem, I began to sense the Gothic-romantic aura of this perfume more intensely. It feels as though you are wandering through a medieval forest where the mind grows quiet. Above the treetops, you can see the roof of an old castle, while the clatter of horses’ hooves can be heard in the distance...