Fragrance Notes
Green Mango
LotusUn Jardin sur le Nil
Twenty years after it appeared, Hermès Un Jardin sur le Nil Eau de Toilette is still the perfume people reach for when they want to explain what the Jardin series is for.
Jean-Claude Ellena composed it in 2005 around three recorded materials. Green mango is the famous one, tart and resinous with the sappy bite of fruit picked far too early, and it was a genuinely new idea at the time. Lotus follows, watery and pale, cooling the mango and giving the perfume its curious weightlessness. Sycamore sits underneath, dry and papery, adding a dusty warmth that keeps the whole thing from floating away entirely. The result smells green, cool and slightly unripe, and nothing else on the market smells quite like it.
Ellena worked by subtraction rather than addition, and this is the clearest example of it in the range. Three materials, nothing hidden, and no attempt at a dramatic finish. Toilette strength is the right choice for a perfume this airy. Expect two or three hours of clear presence and a quiet trace afterwards, and expect to apply it generously, which is how transparent perfumes are meant to be worn. Heat improves it. It reads as unisex and is worn by both in roughly equal measure. Daylight, warm weather and travel suit it best, and it remains one of the few perfumes that will get asked about by people who do not otherwise notice fragrance. Few perfumes of its age need so little explaining to somebody smelling it now.
The house dates from 1837 in Paris, began in harness and saddlery under Thierry Hermès and has been at 24 Faubourg Saint-Honoré since 1880. It has been making perfume since 1951 and remains in family hands.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
Similar Notes
The Scent Vault
Join thousands earning on every order
Earn points as you shop, redeem for money off, and unlock member perks.
Find out more
The Scent Vault Gift Cards
Give the gift of choice
One card, every scent. Let them pick the fragrance that is truly them. Send it instantly by email, or schedule it for a future date with a message of your own.
Shop gift cards
