Laurela Fashion Guide

Hermès has launched a new fragrance – “Un Jardin Après La Mousson” (A Garden after the Monsoon).

This perfume is the third in the Hermes’ Garden series, the first two being “Un Jardin En Méditerranée” (2003) and “Un Jardin Sur Le Nil” (2005). The nose behind this perfume, is a famous Jean-Claude Ellena, the Hermès’ in-house perfumer.

The new scent was inspired by the Kerala region in India in that period which follows the upheaval of the monsoon. Instead of going for a spicy interpretation of India, Jean-Claude Ellena decided to bring out the cooler, quieter facets of this country by using cool vegetable notes in this perfume, such as cardamom, coriander, pepper, ginger and ginger flower, and followed by a vetiver accord.

(Jean Claude Ellena (picture above), a perfume behind the “Un Jardin Après La Mousson” scent)

Ellena travelled to Kerala several weeks after the monsoon season to capture the sense of nature’s renewal. His composition unsurprisingly seems to prolong his reflection on spare, fresh textures.

The scent reminds of that moment after the rain, when thick clouds that have lingered are soon dissipated by the sun shining its way through. The garden smells fresh and green, the impression of cool, wet air comes from the melon note. The cumin and ginger notes are the earth that once was parched is now drenched, giving off it’s spicy earthy smell.

I cannot not to mention that many perfume reviewers and critics, including Chandler Burr – a big admirer of Jean Calude Ellena’s perfumer talent, were quite disappointed in this new scent. But that should not prevent you from discovering it on your own.

I think the scent will be perfect for this transitional time between summer and fall, when the air becomes cool and translucent, when all senses become acute as if in a nostalgic farewell to something dear that is gone and in anticipation of something new that is to come…

Tags: Jean Claude Ellena, Un Jardin Après La Mousson