I caved and bought Hermès Barénia. It was the end of a long and stressful work week, and Barénia had been on my mental wish list after two separate occasions smelling it at airport stores. The dog-collar–inspired bottle was available in a 30-mL volume and on sale at FragranceNet. Best of all, I was able to convert reward points from work into a gift card for the purchase.
I have yet to smell the fast-following flanker, Barénia Intense, which seems to be getting mixed reviews. If you have made the comparison, I’d love to hear your opinions.
Barénia (2024) by perfumer Christine Nagel opens with tart red fruits, quickly revealing a woody support structure. The fruits become riper and fleshier over time, complemented by creamy white flowers. Per the Hermès website:
True to the structure of a classic chypre perfume, Barénia eau de parfum blends butterfly lily with the delicacy of the miracle berry, enveloping them in oakwood and an intense patchouli.
For much of its largely linear development, Barénia feels like a balancing act between a defined structure and a shapeless form, mostly due to a particular note that imparts a very liquid sweetness. The synthetic base Framboise (dsm-firmenich), designed to mimic the fragrance of ripe raspberries, has a similar effect—it’s very smooth and keeps me wanting to smell it, but in a blend, it can make everything “collapse” into a fruity blob. I have no idea if there’s any Framboise in Barénia, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
Incidentally, one of the usages described for Framboise on the dsm-firmenich website is to “modify fantasy notes (particularly chypres).”
The colors that come into my mind when I smell Barénia are pink, coral, and a dark tan represented in smooth leather. Why is leather not listed as a note? It’s in the name, after all! Surely Barénia has at least one accord in common with Galop d’Hermès by the same perfumer, which is one of my top favorites. In a musical analogy, Barénia is a much higher note than Galop, the fruity rose and soft leather in a stirrup-shaped bottle. They could well be cousins, however.
The patchouli is a note I pick up on much later—not that it isn’t there from the beginning, but my nose is continuously cycling through the fruity-floral top two-thirds. As a whole creation, I find Barénia greatly enjoyable. It’s challenging to parse, and I don’t get some of the impressions that others do, such as a metallic note. It does seem surprisingly polarizing.
Have you smelled it? Do you love it or hate it?
Nose Prose 
Congratulations on your score!
I tried this perfume twice. Because of you. I mean, I would have tried it once anyway (I try all Hermes perfumes), but the second time I decided to try it again because you mentioned again that you liked it. It is not bad, but it’s not for me. I am not surprised since most of the beloved by everyone Hermes perfumes don’t work for me. But I keep trying. Interestingly, Terre d’Hermes is one of my most favorite perfumes on my vSO. And Rocabar as well.
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Thanks, Undina! I’m glad I inspired you to try it a second time, and fair enough that it wasn’t for you. Opinions seem divided over Barénia, so it may not be as beloved as other Hermès fragrances. The two times I smelled it before buying a bottle were at airports, and now I’ve already brought it along on a work trip, so it’ll probably be my new travel fragrance.
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I’ve tried it and love it. I haven’t tried the intense version yet. This fragrance is such a modern chypre, especially with its use of Akigalawood. Great read!
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I’m so glad you love it too! Now I really need to smell Akigalawood on its own.
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However, I was just reminded that as Akigalawood is a captive molecule, I probably won’t get to smell it on its own anytime soon.
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Yip, it’s one of Givaudan’s. Quentin Bisch is fond of it and uses it in a variety of ways.
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clearanceI’ll just start by saying I love fragrancenet.com, and have been a customer since about 2010. I’ve scored some great perfumes, clearance and otherwise, some of which were actually much older bottles. Good for you, Nose Prose!
I haven’t tried Barénia yet, but I’ve noticed that Givaudan’s synthetic molecule Akigalawood® is mentioned in other writings about this perfume’s notes. I’m not sure what’s causing the leathery note you mentioned. Maybe it’s a combination of Akigalawood® with another ingredient that’s not disclosed.
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Ignore the “clearence” at the beginning of my reply. More technilogical issues with WordPress.
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Akigalawood® seems to be getting a lot of press these days! I’ve not smelled this molecule on its own, so am not sure I would recognize its presence. It sounds like it could go in several directions.
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Great review and nice pickup, Nose Prose. I enjoy Barénia also. I haven’t tried the intense version yet, so can’t compare. You’re right about it being difficult to pick apart, but I think there’s some sort of leather impression even though it’s not listed. I like how Hermés and Nagel, for the most part, don’t cave in to trends and mostly try to do their own thing. I find Barénia sufficiently different from the crowd, even though some have labeled it a simple fruitchouli.
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Thanks! I agree, it’s different from the crowd, though somehow familiar at the same time.
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