My bottle of Aedes de Venus's awaited me when I returned, and I am glad to report that I am extremely happy with this purchase. It is much better than I remember it being. People referred to it as Jubilation XXV lite -- I don't quite get that. I have never really been a fan of the Amouage. It's not bad. I just never saw what people were all worked up about. L'Artisan's Aedes de Vensuas, nosed by Bertrand Douchaufour, is really beautiful. It's a shame it is being discontinued. Plus, it was a real steal.
At Narita, I ventured into the Hermès shop. The SAs this trip didn't seem to know much. Much of the stock in the smaller bottles was low or out. I sampled Epice Marine. I liked it, and may have gotten 15 ml as part of the set had it been there. They didn't have the recent Cuir d'Ange, which I was also interested in trying. I ended up getting a 100 ml bottle of Rose Ikebana -- which was kind of what I had been planning all along.
Since it was kind of duty free, and with the stronger dollar to yen lately, it only ran me about $180, where it is normally $240 plus tax at Hermès boutiques, so not a bad deal. This is my second full bottle of one of the Hermessence line, the first being Osmanthe Yunnan.
