Hey Posse, Now that JCE has left Hermès and his last jardin scent Monsieur Li is out, and fabulous, I was wondering if it might be nice to look back on Un Jardin Sur Le Nil, one of my favourites from the series. If you are in the northern hemisphere and the snow has started then this could be the perfect antidote.
Un Jardin Sur Le Nil by Jean Claude Ellena for Hermès 2005
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Green mango, tomato, carrot, grapefruit
Heart: Orange, peony, bulrush, hyacinth, lotus
Base: Labdanum, iris, musk, incense, cinnamon
Jean Claude Ellena can make fruity fragrances fancy. He seems to effortlessly give his a feeling of sophistication that many in the genre are lacking, even the opening accords of Un Jardin Sur Le Nil have a warm resinous and furry depth. Sur Le Nil has a really good heft to it initially, good projection and excellent sillage for the first hour and a half before it gets closer to the skin. The fruits and vegetative florals all play together beautifully and though you can pick the notes it is not about them as much as it’s about smelling like a shimmer of spring. Though gripped in the depths of winter you’ll find yourself in a spring market surrounded by fresh mango, cool melon and lush tropical flowers.
Ellena’s style is not for everyone and if you don’t like his cool, oily, watery washes then Un Jardin Sur Le Nil will not change your mind. For me the beautiful way he flows from fresh cut fruit to flowers in their cool metal cans and the water they sit in to a still cool but more living, human or animal, warmth as it dries down, cut through by wet carroty iris and a very soft incense that becomes closer and less intrusive and then finally at around 3-4 hours fades away.
Chandler Burr wrote a book that covered the creation of Un Jardin Sur Le Nil called The Perfect Scent and it’s a fabulous read. It also follows Sarah Jessica Parker’s creation of Lovely. It gives excellent insight into the world of fragrance creation and also shows how different companies go about making the magic we all love so much.
Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Bois de Jasmin
Fragrance Shop has $58/50ml before Coupon
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3.ml
If you liked this, pop over and continue the fragrant conversation at Australian Perfume Junkies .
Do you like the Ellena aesthetic? Have you tried Un Jardin Sur Le Nil? Did you like it?
Portia xx
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