In 2025, Hermès enriches its poetic Hermessence collection with a creation of rare depth and distinction – Oud Esma, Essence de Parfum. Conceived by Christine Nagel, Creative Director of Hermès Perfumes, this limited-edition perfume oil celebrates the majesty of oud, a material long treasured for its richness, sensuality, and profound cultural resonance.
“Over time, through regular visits to the Middle East, I began to explore oud more deeply and truly appreciate its richness,” Christine reflects. “As I worked with it, I grew to love using it, and Oud Esma is my way of presenting it in its full majesty.”
There is an intimacy in the way Christine speaks about oud, as though she is describing a relationship that has evolved over time. “There’s something mysterious, even sacred, about oud,” she says. “It’s like an ancestral secret concealed within the material.”
Her earliest experiments were expressed in Oud Alezan, a past Hermessence composition in which the ingredient played a subtle role. “In Alezan, it was one element in the structure of the perfume – it provoked emotion, but it wasn’t the main character,” she explains. “In Oud Esma, it’s in its full power, its full majesty.”
The decision to elevate oud to centre-stage came naturally. “It was a transformation for me as a perfumer,” Christine reveals. “I wanted to treat it with the respect it deserves – pure, unadulterated, and celebrated for what it is.”
Since its debut in 2004, the Hermessence collection has represented the house’s most personal expression of fragrance – a poetic series where each creation is built around two singular raw materials, interpreted with purity and precision.
In 2018, Christine introduced Musc Pallida and Cardamusc, marking the first time Hermès explored the Essence de Parfum format – highly concentrated perfume oils, designed to be worn close to the skin. “In the beginning, perfumes were pure,” she says. “This format is a return to that intimacy, but it’s also modern, especially for sensual perfumes.”
Oud Esma continues this lineage, joining its predecessors as an objet d’art in scent form.
Like all Essence de Parfum creations, Oud Esma invites a slower, more deliberate way of wearing fragrance. Presented in a refined vessel with a precision applicator, the oil is applied directly to pulse points, wrists, behind the ears, and at the base of the neck, using one or two drops.
“I spent a lot of time in Dubai and Riyadh, speaking with women about fragrance,” Christine recalls. “The culture of pure perfume here is very strong, applying scent directly to the pulse points, the beauty and elegance of that gesture inspired me deeply.”
As the oil melts into the skin, its woody, leathery richness deepens, fusing with the wearer’s own chemistry. “When you put it on, there’s this sensation of it becoming part of you,” she says. “It reveals the person who’s wearing it. There’s an alchemy.”
For Christine, Oud Esma is more than a scent – it is an experience of touch and closeness. She describes it as a “second skin” perfume, one that moves with the wearer and evolves throughout the day. “It’s the person who exudes the fragrance, not the perfume-wearing person,” she explains. “It becomes your skin, your aura.”
This intimacy also makes it ideal for layering scents, which is a practice deeply rooted in Middle Eastern perfumery. “Perfume is emotional,” she says. “With a perfume like this, you can create your own personal signature. It allows for something deeply individual.”
Christine chooses three words to describe Oud Esma – “Majestic, sensual, magnetic.” For her, it is a scent without limitations. “It’s for any moment,” she adds. “When you love something, you shouldn’t limit it.”
She imagines it being worn by true perfume lovers, people who choose fragrance not for trends or advertising, but for the emotional connection it sparks. “The success of a perfume is when you want to return to it again and again, when you never tire of it,” she reflects.
Christine recalls her first visit to Dubai as Hermès’ perfumer. “In the store, people kept asking, ‘Do you have an oud perfume?’ And I would say, ‘I can’t make oud.’ I’d love to find that person again and say, ‘Look, good things come when you wait. Now you have an oud that stands apart.’”
For her, seeing Oud Esma in the hands and on the skin of those who cherish it will be the true reward. “The most beautiful gift is to meet someone and think, ‘I believe she’s wearing my perfume.’ It means the fragrance has found a place in someone’s life, in their story.”
Over the years, the Hermessence collection has been home to compositions that redefined how raw materials could be experienced. Musc Pallida, with its iris-musk softness, and Cardamusc, a warm interplay of cardamom and musk, introduced perfume oils to a modern audience. Oud Alezan blended oud with saffron and rose, allowing the oud to whisper rather than command.
With Oud Esma, the narrative changes – oud now speaks in its own voice, rich and resonant.
Faithful to its artisanal model and humanist values since 1837, Hermès approaches each creation with the same devotion to materials, craftsmanship, and longevity. In fragrance, this means sourcing the finest raw ingredients, developing compositions with patience, and creating objects that embody elegance in both form and function.
“Oud Esma is not just a perfume,” says Christine. “It’s a ritual, a memory, a signature.”
Oud Esma will be available in a limited edition at selected Hermès boutiques worldwide from November 1, 2025, with an exclusive early release at the Hermès Perfume and Beauty store in Dubai Mall from early October.
With this creation, Hermès reaffirms its mastery in transforming noble raw materials into objets d’art, crafting a scent to be worn close, remembered deeply, and treasured always.
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