Hermes Un Jardin sur le Nil Eau de toilette ($90-$125)
Created by the legendary Jean Claude Ellena for Hermes, Un Jardin Sur Le Nil is a very strange and controversial type of fragrance. It falls into what I call it “cilantro syndrome” category, meaning that you either hate its guts or love it more than anything. Hermes described their perfume as a scent of a garden on the banks of Nile river. My take – if I had a zen garden in the beautiful hills overlooking the Malibu Pier, that’s what it would smell like in the morning. I’m head over heels for this fragrance.
Notes: lotus, green mango, grapefruit, calamus, sycamore, incense.
Here’s what you get by throwing together the above mentioned notes: unusual, quirky, crispy, straightforward grassy-green floral, a distinct standout in the sea of numerous warm weather scents. It hits your nose with a splash of grapefruit and green mango, then sycamore and lotus join in, and it closes up with an incense. The interesting thing is that none of those notes fade by the dry down phase, they all stay with you throughout the day. And after a few hours of wearing the scent, I can swear I even feel notes of pine tree and lime joining the party, even though they were not used in the concoction. The perfume seems crunchy, fresh, and outdoorsy, appropriate for spring/summer seasons. The heady lotus gives it a good doze of modernity.
It’s long-lasting and never boring, and I just can’t get enough of it. The shape of the bottle is very Hermes – simple and understated, with clean, classic lines. I love everything about it.
