Un Jardin sur le Nil Hermès (2005)

Bottle Design: Illustration: Véronique de Mareuil

7.7 / 10 729 Ratings

Un Jardin sur le Nil is a popular perfume by Hermès for women and men and was released in 2005. The scent is fresh-green. It is still in production.

Perfumer

Jean-Claude Ellena

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes	Grapefruit, Green mango, Carrot, Tomato tendril
Heart Notes	Calamus, Lotus, Hyacinth, Peony
Base Notes	Sycamore maple, Frankincense

Ratings

Scent

7.7 (729 Ratings)

Longevity

6.7 (478 Ratings)

Sillage

5.9 (431 Ratings)

Bottle

7.8 (458 Ratings)

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 23.04.2019

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Reviews

Lola82 7 years ago

„Lotus on the nile”

This smells like a luscious greenhouse garden with blooming flowers and riped and fresh vegetables very different from the usual retinue line up of fragrances...

Isabelle1 4 years ago

„Disappointment ”

A blind buy, supposed Hermes would be good, what a disappointment this was, It really smells like the Nile in certain areas at the hights of summer to my nose, and I don't...

02/10/2019

7.5 5.0 5.0 7.0/10

Sequoia
0 Reviews

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Sequoia

Very helpful Review 8

Yoga for the nose

Somehow the beginning of my year is strange this time: instead of bootees I'm in the mood for pumps; I'm in the mood for music that I usually only like to hear on the balcony in summer; suddenly I start with yoga... and I dig out my summer scents (e.g. Un jardin sur le Nil) at the beginning of february, because I'm totally up for it right now.

Well, that may be because the winter here this year doesn't really get into the hooves. He's more of a... either winter light or autumn intense. But that doesn't explain why I can't wait to get my gym mat out every evening and bend to strange sounds - dear yogis: check me out.

Therefore I blame it also times on the more conscious perception (inhaling... exhaling...) that I like at the moment "Un jardin sur le Nil" very much. I've had him forever, loved him before and couldn't stand him for several years.

I never really found it suitable for a summer scent anyway. Although it's fresh, green and flowery, I always found it very static, not as transparent, fluffy and light as other summer fragrances.

I was never in Egypt, but I find the association dreamlike and somehow fitting: a glowing heat hangs over the land, but the garden on the banks of the Nile is cooled by wells and irrigation. This is what the humid air in it stands for, pressing but filled with the scent of the garden plants: fruits and vegetables, garden flowers and then, from afar, an oriental incense scent. Quiet, static, yet full of life. Well, a little artificial... but I don't care right now.

And then there is the similarity I feel to my current evening ritual: the yoga exercises make me calm, bring me down from everyday life and release new life energies. Yes, I think that sounds rather like an esoteric textbook, but I really feel that way right now.

In fact, the Nile Garden is my feel-good fragrance on the mat in the evening as well. Namaste!

1 Replies

02/08/2019

8.0 8.0 7.0 9.0/10

AnJa
0 Reviews

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AnJa

Helpful Review 9

Summer companion

I love him, and I can't without him. But really only in summer. Then no matter how hot it is, he always leaves. Fresh and fruity.
I also like fresh and uncomplicated fragrances. One of these isser.
He doesn't bother anyone... I think. Does not bite and is well tolerated.

Recently at the cashier asked the nice lady behind it what I would smell so great. Okay... so not such bad silage after all.
If I remember correctly, I am often asked about it. More often than on other heavy scents and silage monsters. Funny!

I cannot sniff out the individual components. The Nile is so complete and round. That's how he stays the whole time

6 Replies

01/10/2019

9.0/10

Spiess
0 Reviews

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Spiess

Very helpful Review 13

Thank you. I'll take care of it

I sat in the duty room with cheerful spirits
When that smell came around the corner.
So wonderful that I asked what kind of perfume that was The person opposite me, do you like your nose or what? Clearly I like it so pleasantly light, mild sweet especially a floral flora I am immediately there. Do you think I'd like to test a sprayer? Now, please! Not 10 minutes later I get to see the bottle. There is a feeling of well-being that I already see on the bottle that it is Hermes, that usually goes well with me. Anticipation and pressing is like in former times surprise opening eggs.
He stays with me for a long time, flowery floral elegance and the sweet one is well dosed. A boon. I thanked you for the sprayer and enjoyed the working day. There are special days, so one came and I got the bottle given by a much appreciated, dearly loved person.

I've learned for myself it doesn't always have to be the mega complex perfume with 3 levels and 4 turns. No simply being is also an art which I appreciate meanwhile very much

5 Replies

08/15/2018

Stran
0 Reviews

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Stran

Less helpful Review 1

Alcohol with a little flowery aroma

Who buys this fragrance? for which occasion and for which season? it's pure alcohol with a bit of an indefinable aroma. you really don't need it

25 Replies

08/13/2018

8.0 5.0 5.0 10.0/10

Pepdal
87 Reviews

Pepdal

Helpful Review 2

Un Jardin Sur Le Nil

Here is my video review of Jean-Claude Ellena's 2005 creation for Hermes. Probably one of the only fragrances i have encountered with a carrot and tomato vine note, this one is very interesting.

07/05/2018

5.0 9.0/10

Marubis
0 Reviews

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Marubis

Very helpful Review 11

A Memory of Ancient Egypt

Oh, how long has it been. Before the Arab spring and the Muslim brothers, I visited Egypt. Even then not everything was vain sunshine, but there were cheerful people and an exuberant mood. Exactly then I was Luxor, visited the Valley of the Kings, the temple of Hatshepsut and made a Nile excursion on the true Nile sailers.

When I spray Un Jardin sur le Nil on my arm and sniff it, I immediately see the pictures in front of me again. He truly captures this aroma so perfectly. This mixture of dusty papyrus, moldy water, humid air, paired with the breath of fresh air when a breeze blows,

Fortunately I can say that it works on my skin, there it truly smells magically like Nile. However, I remember that I bought the scent from the turquoise at the time and the saleswoman panicked and advised me against it stinking. I had tested it before and knew what to expect, sprayed it on and together we smelled and she was really stunned. She sprayed the perfume on herself and I must say he smelled terrible on her skin. I guess Un Jardin sur le Nil really depends on the skin. So test it before testing. With me it works fortunately and I revel in my long gone dreams of the Nile again.

4 Replies

04/07/2018

8.0 7.0 7.0 8.0/10

Jazzy76
316 Reviews

Jazzy76

An oasis... in the city

This is my personal experience:
I was walking in the streets of my city in a very hot morning , while I came in my favourite drugstore and I looked for something particularly fresh to spray. I saw this soft green bottle and i tested what there was inside, after I closed my eyes and I imagined a fresh oasis and fruity scents all arounf me. It was a corner of heaven in that hot day.
On my skin I smelled mainly the lotus notes and the fruity accents. For me it's the best in summer.
Now, everytime I search for freshness and exotic trips, I smell this scent!

09/28/2017

7.0 4.0 5.0 8.0/10

StellaDiverF
209 Reviews

StellaDiverF

Green Mango and Carrot

The opening is a very pleasant citrus, a sort of fresh tartness. I initially perceive it as a mix of grapefruit and orange, but after reading Chandler Burr's article about the creation of this fragrance, with which Jean-Claude Ellena wanted to capture the smell of green mango, one day it just clicked! Now I perceive it as a green, tart-sweet mango (not the ripe, sweet red-yellow type).

It then dries down to a green-woody, even a little bitter scent with a small touch of flower. I get a carrot note all way long, which is a very interesting twist. It's indeed a very fresh fragrance and the subtle bitterness can wake you up in a sleepy summer afternoon. Ieal for daily use in spring and summer. Suitable for men too.

The longevity is about 7h and the sillage is close.

Originally written in 2013

06/08/2017

7.0 6.0 7.0 7.0/10

Bcars10
90 Reviews

Bcars10

Helpful Review 3

Humid, yet airy--It's genius!

I've tested this several times with a little sample I got at Sephora. Each time I spray it, I'm severely taxed by the vegetal tomato, carrot, and bulrush notes, and I vow not to use it again! (Actually, that initial blast reminds me of the first blast of YSL Manifesto!) But then within 5 minutes, it just blooms into this lovely, fresh, tropical mango smell! I don't get too much grapefruit on me; the grapefruit seems to keep the sweet mango in check. This is tangy! It's wafting around me in a lovely sweet-sour melange! Mr. Ellena is a genius. I get a feel for the Nile river with its silt and vegetation and humidity, but also an airy tropical feel afterwards. It's not too heavy, and it's constantly morphing. Sillage is moderate, and longevity is about 6 hours. I seem to be having better luck with it than other reviewers. I do love the drydown, but I wish I didn't have to suffer through the opening to get there. Regardless, I now feel that this is full bottle worthy.

1 Replies

11/07/2015

K1
121 Reviews

Helpful Review 4

Shapeless woody aquatic

I was not a fan of lotus till I discovered this perfume. Lotus reminds me silly sad poetic lovers waiting for a cottony no-shave-November man to return. Éllena has reduced that wet sadness, however, this perfume is a random creation and I expected more.
The opening is so acrid upon grapefruit (which I'm not a fan) and tomato. This bring instant image of green lagoon with frogs and willows and poetic atmosphere. It's green, shapeless, and simple fragrance, then it gradually settles in woody-like fresh dry down that leaves a bitter track on skin with musky aquatic undertone.
6.5/10

08/02/2015

7.5 5.0 5.0 0.5/10

Isabelle1
46 Reviews

Isabelle1

Disappointment

A blind buy, supposed Hermes would be good, what a disappointment this was, It really smells like the Nile in certain areas at the hights of summer to my nose, and I don't mean a good smell, I know I have worked in Egypt for a couple off years, I have faubourg 24 and I do like that. At the same time as this I did another Hermes blind buy which could also not convince me...caleche soie de parfum. Le Nil I have forced it on a male friend and said it is unisex what it is according my nose, but definitely nothing for me... The second blind buy I try to force my brain to like it, by spritsing it once and a while...after all I didn't like Brussels sprouts neither as a kid and love the vegetable now...so worth to try
Update:
This is a fragrance that (for me) it really depends on skin chemistry, it was a blind buy and on my skin first it was fresh for a few minutes but then it changed, a real stinker note came up, I had to scrub it of, and I forced it on my male partner that was a year ago. A few weeks back he used it and I liked the smell, so yesterday we did a test, we used it at the same time, Again on me after 2 minutes a real rotten stinker, on him a very good fresh scent that stayed... It is a unisex scent but on my female skin a bad stinker, on my partners skin a pleasant good scent...so it remains his....

03/25/2015

3.0/10

Silverfire
106 Reviews

Silverfire

Helpful Review 2

The Magic is Absent; Not Even a Trace Remains

Un Jardin sur le Nil starts off as a fragile floral herbal, which grows clearer and sharper as it unfolds. It could work for a guy, but it's feminine-leaning. Then after 30 minutes, it transforms into Modern Muse, with its close, floral-soapy vibe. I had high hopes for this based on other reviews, but once again, there's no fireworks here for me.

03/23/2015

LicoriceRain
57 Reviews

LicoriceRain

Helpful Review 2

Sour flowers.

While searching for something that smells like raw, tart fruit, someone suggested Un Jardin Sur Le Nil. And then I discovered Jardin means garden, so I expected a flowery, feminine fragrance, which I don’t generally care for. And when my sample arrived, I did notice the floral immediately, although it also seems vegetal. Nothing sugary here, and definitely vegetal, but simply too floral for my taste. If Un Jardin Sur Le Nil focused on the grapefruit, mango, carrot, and tomato, I think that would work for me. But I don’t think those fruity/vegetal top notes blend very well with the floral middle ones. And I certainly don’t smell any maple, listed as a base note (along with frankincense), which might have made this more interesting. Overall, to me, Un Jardin Sur Le Nil smells like sour flowers. And since I didn’t care for Un Jardin en Mediterranee either, I don’t think I will spend any more time exploring this Hermes line.

09/10/2014

10.0 5.0 5.0 10.0/10

MasterLi
367 Reviews

MasterLi

Greatly helpful Review 9

The unbearable lightness of being...

Let me first say before I write this that I am part-Egyptian, and I have lived in Egypt, stayed in the countryside, and visited the area near where this perfume was "inspired" by. This is a wonderfully fresh perfume that was inspired by the smell of the banks of the river Nile in Aswan (a city in the south of Egypt). For me, when I smell this I get the impression of reeds and vegetation by the side of a tropical river.

I heard that Jean-Claude Ellena wanted to evoke the smell of green Mangoes here, and I get that. This is not a sweet smell, this is a sweet & sour, very tangy aroma of grapefruit, tomato leaf, and carrots. I also get very distinctly the smell of bulrushes, which are the long plants that grow on the bank of the river. I also get a hint of Lotus flower. Lotus is one of the national flowers of Egypt, I have taken a boat on the Nile and it's very common to see these white flowers floating on the river surface, very green natural, and a very beautiful sight to watch too. The flower was sacred to the ancient Egyptians, who believed that all life was created from this flower at the dawn of time). For me it's very evocative. I also get a little hint of Hyacinth, which adds to the sharp, green and watery vibe here. I notice a hint in the background of Labdanum and Incense, and this also in my opinion gives the fragrance a little character and stops it becoming like any other of the "aquatic fruity-floral" category designer creations. This is a very well-crafted fragrance and one done with a lot of time, effort and care to get perfect.

Wearing Un Jardin Sur le Nil is like being transported to a place. For me, it's the smell of the plants and vegetation by the side of an African river, and I consider myself fortunate to have lived in Egypt and experienced the beauty of the Nile first hand. This is why I appreciate what Ellena has managed to achieve here as something truly special.

That being said, what you will get out of this is a slightly sharp, green, almost aquatic floral... but done in such a tasteful, natural an refreshing way. It's not fair to really call it an aquatic because that word has been overused and produced very boring fragrances over the years. Here you are smelling a work by Jean-Claude Ellena. I get a very naturally fresh experience which always surprises me each time I wear it (I always notice something new about it every time). It's perfect for hot, dry and humid weather, and so fresh you almost want to drink it. Like a bitter lemon and lime tonic water with ice cubes.

For people saying projection is bad, I can only say (after trying), that if you overspray this it will overwhelm you. So it does have a good projection. I would just say reserve it for the warmer months and enjoy it in the heat. Green, sharp, fresh and tropical... Un Jardin sur le Nil is one of my favourites!

2 Replies

05/29/2014

Platinum1
59 Reviews

Platinum1

Very helpful Review 3

~ Exotic Escape in a Bottle ~

~ This evokes in me the scent of a romantic gardener who brings a bouquet and a basket of produce each day to the lady of a lush island estate or a man very much in touch with his feminine side that appreciates the beauty of greenery and florals in his world. Also, the citrus, mango and lime notes of Sur Le Nil are so easily detected and so natural it could easily be served in a tall cool glass to a tourist on a veranda over looking a scenic river. This fresh and tart Hermes definitely carries me away to places I have never been or even pictured in my minds eye, thank-you nose. And thank-you Mister Ellena for the unique olfactory journey in your exotic escape in a bottle!

Kind Regards, Plat ~

02/05/2012

5.0 7.5 7.0/10

Missk
1165 Reviews

Missk

Greatly helpful Review 7

Vegetal bliss

Un Jardin Sur Le Nil, is in one word, odd.

This fragrance is the definition of unique. There really isn't anything remotely like it that I have come across so far.

The opening is very herbaceous and vegetal. No doubt, by looking at the notes, you understand why it smells like this. I come from a home where my mother is a gardening fanatic, and I swear that this fragrance smells very natural, just like a thriving vegetable garden.

Whether or not you want to smell like a garden is up to the individual. I'm not accustomed to these kinds of scents, however I'm not ruling them out altogether. Wearing Un Jardin Sur Le Nil would be both an experience and an honour all at once.

Interestingly enough the heart turns quite floral on the skin. The orange and peony notes tend to battle it out in strength, and the lotus gives a delicate, almost aquatic type feel.

The drydown is almost an oriental. Especially in regards to the incense, cinnamon and powdery iris notes. The base notes finalise this fragrance well, rounding off an almost wild and unique scent with a soothing, church-like atmosphere.

The previous reviews do not lie, Un Jardin Sur Le Nil is a truly amazing scent, a masterpiece in fact. I am not surprised that Jean-Claude Ellena has composed this. With such great lasting power and its ability to work well in almost every climate, there is no excuse why every true perfumista should not try this marvellous scent.

02/02/2012

5.0 5.0 5.0 9.0/10

Lola82
362 Reviews

Lola82

Helpful Review 2

Lotus on the nile

This smells like a luscious greenhouse garden with blooming flowers and riped and fresh vegetables very different from the usual retinue line up of fragrances not alot of perfumes mixes vegetation with floral well or this has to be the first scent to try and succeeded and it's organic and it has no synthetic compounds
it's all natural.

This is an complex and challenging scent to review and that why i admire this it food for the mind' the opening is interesting with plump Tomatoes sweetened with mango spice it up with lemon and make it crisp with orange carrots' as it dries down orange starts to be detected and with the subtle sweet
note of peony dries to an earthy tone of
dry bulrush.

to my senses there is no evidence of cinnamon labdanum or hyacinth but for the drydown i do pick up if distant scent of iris but barely and also i can't pick up the note of incense there
is the smell of musk but it's diluted
by it's watery note of this perfume.

if you want a fragrance that is not the usual rose jasmine patchouli sandalwood
peach lily of the valley and amber roster you come to the right place.

01/02/2012

7.5 5.0 7.5 5.0/10

Asphaltblume
45 Reviews

Asphaltblume

Wet dog and rotting vegetation

Driven by enthusiastic reviews from all directions I went to try Un Jardin Sur Le Nil and regrettably I find it rather disgusting.
That starts with the smell of diesel right when I sprayed it on, then it developed an odd note of fermentation, rotting plants mingled with a boggy aquatical note, then the wet dog came along and the minging beastie just wouldn't leave.
The only reason I did not run to scrub it off and exorcise it with another perfume immediately were the really pretty flower fragrances that hover over this strange garden. Plus my curiosity to see how it continued to evolve and so I could post a fair review.