New Year’s Eve Scent Diary: Hermès Eau de Néroli Doré and a hint of Pantone Cloud Dancer

I woke up to a grey sky that wanted sequins, but my wrist said citrus. I’m wearing Hermès Eau de Néroli Doré, that golden slice of bitter orange peel and petitgrain that makes winter mornings feel less like a countdown and more like a clean slate. I don’t buy the myth that neroli is strictly summer. Tonight deserves clarity over cloying, and this one delivers with a photo-bright sparkle.

It’s the seventh day of Christmas, which in my head is always swans cutting through cold water. There’s a quiet elegance to that image that matches this neroli’s satin sheen. It’s also the sixth day of Kwanzaa, Kuumba - creativity - a reminder to dress the skin with intent. If you’ve been hoarding your crisp citruses for July, consider this your permission to break the rules.

A birthday roll call sets the mood board:

• Henri Matisse – I think of cut-outs in sun-limned colors, a painter’s breeze that Neroli Doré seems to bottle.
• Elizabeth Arden – the original beauty powerhouse, opening that red door to a certain Manhattan confidence. Her name alone shifts posture.
• Simon Wiesenthal – a sober, necessary presence. Fragrance can’t carry history’s weight, but it can keep us present and respectful.
• Odetta – earth and smoke in a voice, the kind of contralto that makes woody facets hum lower on the skin.
• Donna Summer – glitter under a mirrorball. If you crave a bigger entrance later, layer a soft white musk over neroli and let it catch the beat.

A quick peek ahead. On 1/2, I’m matching Cloud Dancer, Pantone’s color of the year for 2026. That pale, milky white calls for textures, not noise. Think airy musks, tea-light translucence, maybe a whisper of aldehydes. Neroli water over clean skin is an easy way to get that lifted, cloud-soft aura without blinding anyone with sugar.

So yes, it’s New Year’s Eve, and yes, I’m in Hermès Eau de Néroli Doré. It smells like resolve without the lecture. Like the first clean page. If your plans are quiet, let the citrus do the talking. If they’re loud, let neroli be the cool head in the room. Either way, here’s to perfume with a pulse.