Reviews of Un Jardin sur le Nil (2005)
by Hermès

A refined citrusy-fruity fragrance which smells "expensive". I have troubles finding big differences between this and Terre d'Hermes, as they share the same notes and structure.
A nice, happy, feel-good scent, but not quite an earthshaker.

I like this frag a lot, not because the exotic name, but something I can visualize from the scent. It reminds me a hot summer evening, full moon, sitting next the Lotus Pond at Summer Palace and a fruit vendor is somewhere around peeling off a grapefruit and give you a slice to taste. Yeah, that's not Niles, but oddly enough lotus and fruits in it just keep giving me that visual. The downside is that the lotus dries down too fast, but the grapefruit lingers forever, which it was the other way around.

Fresh floral oriental... you nailed it JaimeB. The drydown gives an illusion of vetiver. Relaxing and uplifting fragrance. Good, casual daily wear. Longevity lacks here on my skin, though.

Super light fresh fragrance. You have to really get your nose into sombody's neck to smell this stuff. It's for those not wishing to make a statment but still wants to smell nice. Too bad it's not stronger though, I really like the mango note.

The openning is very enticing; it drove me crazy. i had to name it was like vetiver and basil and mint and lavander and sweet and sour but none. Was like some iced tea but none of these would be so seducing for me. When the grapefruit note rose and the herbal one began to diminish i got some peace. When i come back to my computer i looked up it and yes the secret is the green mango. What else would be so green and seducing? i put all my thumbs up for a green frag for the first time. (because of the one green in it which would not stay green all its life). any way best green ever for me.

A very fresh floral oriental with hints of grasses, fruits, woods, spices, and oriental notes. Here is the essence of late spring or summer in search of refreshment from the heat and the consequent languid, muggy afternoons of inactivity. The promise is of a soft and cooling breeze scented by a riverside garden retreat. Ellena has here penciled a minimalist sketch of such a garden, matching everyday and exotic elements in an easy balance over a woody-oriental base suggesting ease and luxury. A very fine scent for the seeker of peaceful respite from stress and ennui.

I am not surprised at the love/hate discussions that this perfume brought up. It is a rather unusual perfume and can rise some contradictory opinions. I am on the love this perfume side. Not only because it works on my skin, but also because this represents exactly the smells of the Nile gathered in one fragrance (minus some unpleasant ones I encountered). Mango and lotus, sweet water and pungent citrus - even the heat creeping up on you. I do think is not for everybody, it is for me and I believe it is a brilliant perfume, only if, for the uniqueness of it. The only complain that I would have is the fact that it does not last long, maybe is melting away into my own chemistry.

On a recent stop at Sephora, this was my chosen "sample scent" of the visit. The sister fragrance, Un Jardin en Mediterranee, is one of my favorite summer scents, and thus I had been eager to give this a full wearing. It is refreshing, it is tart; on me the grapefruit accord predominates for a lengthy run. As I walked around the mall (a uniquely American horrifying experience) window shopping, I became entranced with the scent: so crisp, cool and green (which I imagine comes from the mango), and I came very nearly close to returning to buy it. But there was a nagging at the back of my brain, and something just did not seem right. "Shut it," I told myself, "I'm buying it." As I hid myself behind a palm frond display, wrists pressed to my nose trying to sort this out, I came close to the realization that while I did like the scent, there was a distinct similarity to a cleaning product I've used. Hermes, Hermes.... I know it can't be easy, existing in such an obfuscatory state of the finest leathers and cashmere, but what you've agreed upon with Mr. Ellena is a very good approximation of a just-scrubbed American bathroom.

This sent travels the sences through the mystical lands of North Africa where the sand meets the water. Egypt is this magnificent country, and the Nile taking the same path for centuries is the river of life. This is a fragrance full of life, and contrasts. It is an extremely elegant fragrance. It is a clean sent, but at the same time it is extremely sassy. It is not overwhelming, yet it always seems to make a lasting impression. It is crisp and fun. It is an excellent choice for the summer.

wish i could drink this juice...its so juicy and real, think sour mangoes, sour lime..citrus peel...squeezed fresh in front of you...wow! a nice summer wear. a kinda scent which will grow on you and every one around you with every wear. love it for its uniqueness and its blending.

I received this as an early birthday present with some trepidation. I had read all the raves elsewhere, and it sounded like the perfect summer scent, and perfect for a green/citrus fanatic. But I had never had the opportunity to actually smell it, or to find out whether it would work on my skin.

Wonder of wonders - it did. It starts out with just enough grapefruit and mango to satisfy my citrus craving, before the calamus and lotus kick in, adding a dry, desert-y tone that takes this fragrance far out of the mainstream into "classic scent" category. Where I end up with the sycamore and incense is - transported. I'm sailing down the Nile from Alexandria en route to Arabia Felix and India, and the year is 212 AD...

It's very long-lasting, it's utterly gorgeous, highly elegant and it was created by Jean-Claude Ellena, who also created another summer staple of mine, Bulgari's The Verte Extreme.

My husband adores it on me, and so do my colleagues at work. It might not be to everyone's taste, buit on some of us, it's heaven AND the Nile in a bottle.

This is very good for many reasons, and here is an important one: it is distinctive! If the character was obnoxious or problematic that wouldn’t be a good thing, but that is certainly not the case here. Jardin is very attractive. The opening is freshly-tart, with citrus and green fruit. This moves into an interesting floral heart that is aromatic, green, with a green-straw quality. I attribute that to the calamus, a reedy plant : this is what papyrus might smell like in a perfume. Then – very cleverly – the scent develops its sycamore note. This compliments the calamus so well! Sycamore seems birch-like to me, with a clean woodsy aspect. Together the calamus and sycamore give a quiet, haunting aspect to the green tones. This combination is striking and so might seem ‘synthetic’ to some, but I find it utterly natural and quite appealing. A minor quibble: the frankincense is very light, not a distinct element at all though perhaps a supporting one. But perhaps the strongly green and resinous notes of too much frankincense would overpower the excellent notes above. Jardin is interesting! It is not an oriental at all, as one might assume from its Egyptian connotation. It is a lovely fresh chypre, an airy green scent. Great stuff! Quite suitable for a man to wear.

After all of Ellena's journeying through Egypt for lotuses and green mangoes, I was anxious to try this scent. It was a disappointment, then, to discover that, on me, it smelled like the urine of someone who has eaten a large quantity of grapefruit--rind and all. I waited, and a half-hour or so later, a marshmallowy note (the lotus, maybe?) replaced the stinky grapefruit--and promptly disappeared.

This is the perfect exotic summer fragrance. This is a glass a very dry, very expensive Champagne with a dash of Midori and a squeeze of fresh lime. It does remind me of Egypt but not literally. It's the nostalgic feeling I get when I think of Egypt. The green mango stays green all the way through so it never gets sweet. It stays fruity in a fresh, crisp way. There's herbs which are light and aromatic and there is something delicately woodsy. I can't really smell the lotus flower but it's very well balanced by a subtle floral. Keep it in the fridge and spray it on during very hot days or better still, hot nights - it's not hard to imagine you're cruising the Nile (and sipping Champagne).

I have a difficult time believing that Hermès would put out a scent like this. I think it’s gaudy and cheap smelling right from the start, and waiting for the mid and base notes to replace the top notes doesn’t pay because it gets no better. Un Jardin Sur Le Nil opens with a citrus (grapefruit) and fruit (green mango) accord that, to be honest, surprised me with its sharpness, syntheticness, and thinness. It’s the kind of accord I would expect from a drug store fragrance for a preteen girl. I find the scent rather linear — that fruity note hangs around well into the heart notes where it joins with the middle florals and green to keep the cheapness going. The floral is nondescript as far as I am concerned, and here and there I get another whiff of artificiality. A subtle wood note creeps into the dry down but the initial sweet note is still part of the accord. After that I wait patiently for the frankincense. And wait and wait… It never introduces itself to my nose. No. I don’t like this one at all — about the only positive thing that I can say about it is that it has good longevity.

Longlasting on me, without a doubt. I preferred it to Un Jardin en Mediterranee, whose fig note had a cat-urine undertone I disliked. However, I'll need to try this one again. I loved Un Jardin sur le Nil in the Summer, my best friend wears it very well. To me, a feminine fragrance.

A ripe and fresh burst of mango greets your nose as a lovely, tangy accord of grapefruit accentuates the top notes of Un Jardin sur le Nil as one of the most prominent fruity openings. The fruits settle into a wonderfully fizzy accord as a heart of incense carries the sweetness into a lightly-wafted note of sycamore. Once faded, the fruits are replaced by a sweet and extremely green note of lotus, which sits quite nicely with the incense. There is no synthetic-marine, or ozonic, airy accord which makes it feel like you are wearing copious amounts of air freshener... instead, the primary focus is on the green and fruity notes, which sit on a spiced base of sweet incense and nearly transparent woods. An extremely well choice of sycamore is our woody note here, which plants the fragrance solidly on your skin and prevents it from fading away. Incense-stamped and mango-sweetened, the sycamore is soft yet solid. The fragrance would not be so well-lived without this particular choice.

I firmly believe the sole purpose of this scent was to produce a story that could be told in the air; everything is experienced in fresh wafts. There are no mango or grapefruit trees; the woods sit comfortably on the outskirts of the river, and the lotus and incense are remnants of distant lands that the air has swooped by. There is always that extremely light feel to the scent, but it remains powerful in the nose. Somehow, the "fresh air" note that was included does not cut into the scent, or reduce the longevity, sillage, or overall tone of the scent; rather, it blankets the fragrance, and allows a soft and gentle stream of notes to flow through. Stunning in both its execution and in its raw beauty, I find that Un Jardin sur le Nil really is a garden on the nile; one that whispers of potent and succulent greens, mixed with dreamy, richly spiced incense, and a soft breath of sycamore... a whisper that flirts with your nose, and begs your senses to come and experience the reality.

This is great. It is Terre Hermes with no chest hair in the drydown. My wife likes it as well, and she tells me it is made for women. It is the longest lasting green fragrance since Green Jeans, but no pine sol here.

Delicious, without smelling like candy.
No obnoxiously loud flowers either, just very delicate & clean florals.

Grapefruit is a little sour before the drydown, but other than that, very good.
I like this alot, a whole lot.

Both thumbs way way up.

Not bad, but not great. IMO it is a lighter greener version of Terre D'Hermes, which is a good thing if you think the latter is too strong. I am not so sure about the unisex aspect of this as it seems for fitting for a masculine summer fragrance. All in all very well done, as is the tradition with Hermes.

Amazing. I bought this unsmelled based on recommendation and I do not regret it! It's so soft and beautiful that it's just intoxicating. It's youthful without being "too young". It's ideal for work/day wear, but it's so versatile.

This stuff is mind boggling. Discreet, but mind boggling. Don't expect any compliments (nobody is gonna be able to notice it), but do buy it and enjoy those first two minutes of its life.

i love both of the "jardins"; "mediterranee" is my "mitsouko", and "sur le nil" is my "joy".

Tangy-sweet grapefruit and mango on an airy base, with a breath of dry frankincense, which I almost mistook for carnation. This is more sophisticated but less sweet than the playful Dolce & Gabana Light Blue and Moschino I Love Love, both of which are among my favorites in the fruity genre. Un Jardin Sur Le Nil is enjoyable and appropriate for either gender.

A very clean scent, with a dry green (somewhat synthetic to my nose) undertone. It's okay, I wear it when I want to smell clean, not part of my daily rotation.

Yet another beautiful, natural contribution to the Hermes line by Jean Claude Ellena. In few words, here I smell salty slightly sour mango. The frangrance didn't change much from start to finish on my skin, save for the citrus starting quite strong and fading only slightly after an hour, where I really get the scent of MANGO.. big ripe totally natural non-artificial mango... It's beautiful and it dries down hours and hours later to an insanely clean, soft finish.

It must be noted that this is a natural, green, mature fruit fragrance that, miraculously, has incredible staying power. As noted by Chandler Burr in his article about the creative process behind Le Nil, Ellena worked hard to achieve this longevity and his work payed off. Wonderful!

Another winner from Hermes and Ellena! If you like dry, green, yet natural-smelling scents (no artificial ozone or aquatic notes), do try this. It's a vibrant green, yet earthy and even a little incense-y, though it's solidly in the green, not incense category. Just beautiful and extremely refreshing on a hot, muggy day.

I bought it randomly a few days ago and have been very pleased with it. It isn't anything too unusual,(reminds me of O'de Lancome) but when you are living in a tropical environment, spraying a green citrusy fragrance like this is refreshing. It isn't the best bottle Hermes has ever sent out, but I still enjoy it. Growing up in Europe, this reminds me of the summery unisex colognes women splash on when getting ready during the warmer months. Yes, I realize Un Jardin sur le Nil isn't a splash, but the aesthetic is the same.

Extremely sharp lemon and tart green notes introduce Un Jardin sur le Nil, as if it might be some sort of steroid-boosted Eau de Cologne. There is a very harsh chemical note that is both bitter and sour underneath that I find outright repellent. This note becomes progressively more strident as the citrus top notes mellow.

After roughly a half an hour the unique and mysterious floral note of lotus rises up out of the heart, but it seems entirely at odds with the shrill, sour accord that dominates the scent’s middle. Utterly horrible, but I force myself to wait out the development and see if anything remotely pleasant will emerge.

Nothing does, but the whole nasty experience is over in little more than an hour, so I don’t have to scrub myself down to get rid of it. Not, I think, one of Mr. Ellena's more succussful outings.

I have always gone against the grain and I seem to like things others don't. This fragrance does start off smelling like you rubbed orange zest all over while, but I promise when it wears down it is fabulous. Before purcasing it I got a sample and wore it everyday for 3-5 days just to make sure I could live with the $125 purchase. As it wears down the other notes that are exposed gives the fragrance a whole other dimension. It winds down to a very low scent which to me makes it an all day everyday scent.

I received a sample of this and I decided to give it a test run today. Bad idea. This fragrance is terrible! It is so citrus-heavy that I not only reeked of Lemon Pledge or Orange Glo, but it left me feeling uncomfortable (which has never happened to me before)... Never again...

HUGE disappointment. Too fruity to be appreciated outside a fruit salad. Something sickly lurking among the fruity notes, possibly the lotus? very nauseating and headach inducing, and smells like a cheap supermarket toilet cleaner. YUCK.

Another ‘predictable’ and ‘clean’ Hermès fragrance, which lacks decent longevity. This one also turned on my skin.

I wouldn’t even buy it for a quarter of its retail price.

There an interesting and in depth article on this at http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/050314fa_fact?050314fa_fact

Although I do agree with the reviews below that it's quite green and fresh, contrary to what everyone seems to say about it being sweet I find there is a predominant and strong note or combination of notes which make brings to mind bitter citronella.

It's interesting, and for some reason since I tried layering it with Body Kouros a couple of times as an experiment, I've come to enjoy it more on it's own and I'm beginning to apreciate it more and more.

Although I like to wear it to bed sometimes, I as of yet don't feel comfortable in it, and when I do wear it out, it has yet to evoke any compliments. Most comments are negative or neutral.

I much prefer Un Jardin en Méditerranée, which I find to be heavenly.

similar to un jardin en mediterranee but not so nerving and exhausting.It is a fresh and clean scent-herbal,spicy and some fruits....definitely a feminine scent!Not my cup of tea-would never give it as apresent to a woman-again quite boring,stining edt!

Opened up with a blast of citrus and...???...lead pencils? Settled quickly into the Arabian-nightsy frankincensey/wooden whatever. In the EDT didn't last at all well. After the hype, a bit of a disappointment.

A radiant, unisex and unique fragrance.
It's my fave perfume.

This is a frangrance that has a great deal in common with its progeny Terre d'Hermes due to prominent grapfruit note in the beginning of both scents, but the similarities stop there. Whereas Terre d'Hermes is a vision of the earth in its infancy, barren, arid and without life, Un Jardin Sur le Nil is a vision of verdant earth teeming with trees, fruit, water, ready to be inhabited. This scent is not without its flaws. It is listed as unisex, but it is often sold for women and this is for good reason, it definitely leans toward the feminine. But it's feminine aspect is what makes it wonderful and due to the fact that it leans heavily on the grapfruit note a man can get away with a light application, especially during summer. This one is a winner for everyone!

Not my cup of tea. Too fresh and aquatic for me. Almost melon-y, although it is lotus and mango. It might be well done in it's genre, it just doesn't do anything for me. Too perfumey. I don't want my scents to smell "clean".

The top notes last forever and produce a sweet, refreshing scent (albeit over sweet at tiems) that is great for late nights. The Lotus really does produce a tranquiling effect and the Frankencense and Sycamore leave a subtle sweet wood to enjoy. I applied mine at 7:00 last night, it is no 8:45 in the morning and can still smell the residue on my t shirt. The fragrance lasted at least 4 good hours on my skin and was still going strong when I went to sleep. It will probably go for 6-7 total on my skin which isn't bad.

the longevity needs to be improved, sure, but i think this is a wonderful fragrance nonetheless. fresh and clean, it transports me to a calm place, an improved state of mind. definitely worthy of a place in my wardrobe.

I love mangoes. I purchase fresh ripe mangoes only when there is a slight 'perfume' to their smell. So, it only makes sense to include sweet mango in this unique summer scent! The topnote doesn't last long though, so enjoy it while you can...drydown brings a more spiced wood aire...making me think this juice is a relative of Eau D'Hadrien! Tropical summer refreshment, well done.

i picked up a sample from Hermes and wore it a couple of times before realising that i couldn't live with the mango. however, if you're someone (male or female) who likes fresh and fruity scents then you'll have fun wearing this cheery scent over the summer. ideal for beachwear or when lounging on the sunbed in the back garden.

I fell in love with this but made myself test it a half dozen times before breaking down and purchasing it in a duty-free shop. I can't say I know what a green mango smells like, but this seems like a not-overly-sweet mango mixed with lemon tea. Every so often I get a flash of reeds along a river--I am a sucker for advertising copy, so I distrust myself just a little on that note. But maybe a little fresh, green wood? It may be the perfect fragrance for summer but I am using it to get through a godawful Northwest winter.

I love this one big time. The stylish hit of the mango, the refreshing quality... and the bitter, almost dirty (in a very good way) drydown is amazing. I feel very elegant wearing this.

I did not like this at all. It was sickly sweet. I am not a mango fan in fragrances. There was no need in this creation. Even worse, I hate papaya in fragrances as well.

I smell the fresh, intoxicating smell of green mango skin, and citrus, citrus, and CITRUS!!! Seems the signature of Hermes lately, and no objections there. It is the most lasting citrus scent I own, and combined with its no frills, laidback attitude, it makes it great for the summertime season. I feel 10 degrees cooler with this on.

I recently had this one to test and it's very fresh and very nice, more of a femenine than masculina fragrance, it's masculine stronger on the green brother could be un jardine en mediterranee. The green mango it's not really there but as its author said in an interview: "the idea of a green mango", having lived in a tropical country where there are tons of different mangoes i can't say it smells like one either. It does smell a bit fruity and very clean, and yeah it feels like a sandy shore on a river with watery accords. It's a very well done scent but i wouldn't die for it. I like it enought to get it and wear this on occasions. It definitely smells better on the skin than on a piece of test paper.

no staying power, smells like hairspray or cheap bodyspray, definatley a "green" lollipop note in here somehwere... The scent from my collection which comes closest to this one is Diptyque Oyedo which is FAR better so I am going to sell off my Jardin Du Nil

This smells wonderful on me. Unlike the other reviews, just one spray lasts around 8 hours on me. None of the green notes come out on me- thank God! Just the lotus flowers and mango. Love this!

Was excited about the citrus and green... but is too heady and loud... almost synthetic smelling..... not for me. Swap?

This is incredibly clean, fresh, and uplifting and just radiates intense garden smells. A certain note in this smells quite a bit like lime in the beginning but I definitely notice the fabulous mango notes, too. I know this is supposed to be unisex, but I do describe this fragrance as "pretty." It's very floral on my skin; albeit not sweet. Un Jardin sur le Nil is exotic and refreshing; the perfect fragrance to cheer you up on a rainy day. It makes me want very much to visit a garden overlookikng the Nile.

sorry, no staying power AT ALL, better as a scent to spray your linen with in the summer, i was hoping for something similar to its sister fragrance "jardin mediteranne" but sadly it was not to be

There is quite a hype rolling on with this perfume. Though I found the test probe attractive, I refrained from buying it, when an elderly married couple came into the perfume shop when I was in, and the lady, obviously used to take the more initiative part, asked quite demanding for that smell. Call me an elitarian, but like with Davidoff and Creed smells I prefer to have a smell quite of my own, or at least one who has gone through some seasons.

I was very excited about this scent. Definite mango. Immediately yummy. Unfortunately, on me it began to smell like bug repellant and disappeared within an hour. But I still love the fresh scent, so I spray it on my pillow cases and spreads. It smells incredible on two of my friends.

Definitely a sibling to the previous mediterranean garden. This time without figs but with a fresh mango accent instead. The similarity is huge though, so need to get both.

Like all Elena's scents this is a competent olfatory experience, very zesty and nice. And unfortunately, like all Hermès's scents somewhat poor in the longevity department. Summerwear exclusively for this one.

I think the exact name is 'Un jardin sur le Nil'.
I just tried it: very fresh and remarkably longlasting. Green mango and grapefruit. A touch of woodiness, sycomoretree. Very original. Perfect summertime perfume.