Hermes Un Jardin Sur Le Toit Review

With un jardin sur le toit, Hermes celebrates it's deep connection with contemporary craftsmanship and invites us to discover its garden, a little slice of nature and poetry, shaped by man's hand. Secret, hidden in the heart of the city, it stands at the top of the historical 24, faubourg building in Paris. A hanging garden, which surprises and fascinates.

Wild grasses, an apple tree, a magnolia... A perfume of light and delight is born and offers a feast for the senses and the mind. 

Hermes launches the new fourth fragrance from the collection of garden-inspired fragrances Un Jardin, named Un Jardin Sur Le Toit or “A Garden on the Roof” in 2011. Un Jardin Sur Le Toit refers to the especially luxurious garden located on the Hermes’ headquarters building roof at 24 Rue Faubourg Saint-Honore in Paris.

 The garden is full of aromatic herbs, flowers and fruits whose flavors vary as they pass through the metamorphosis induced by the seasons. Its fresh and sweet-smelling atmosphere is captured by apple, pear, rose, green grass, basil, magnolia and compost notes.

The composition is designed by Jean-Claude Ellena.

Hermes Un Jardin Sur Le Toit is available in heavy glass bottles of light green shades as 50 and 100 ml Eau de Toilette. (source)

REVIEW

Sur le toit is the last fragrance of the Jardin series (as of 2013)
A lot of reviewers complain that there is no depth to this scent and is deemed not as outstanding as the others in this collection. I like to think otherwise.
I think this is a coming home scent for Ellena. After  his quest to Egypt, India and the med, where he created magic and captured the scents and moods of the landscapes to perfection, he came home and created a carefree scent he could relate to. Use the flora and fauna he grew up with. Nostalgia at its best. So he chose  the rooftop garden of the Paris Hermes boutique as his inspiration and composed this clean uncomplicated fragrance.A simple finale to his exotic travels. 

Moving on to the fragrance, Sur le toit smells like a beautiful bright summers day. Grasses and reeds sway gently in the breeze. And the air is fragranced with roses and magnolias mixed in with the scent of apples and pears from the nearby trees. The basil lends a mild herby kick in the opening. Its a tame fruity floral and has an outdoorsy quality to it. A grassy rosy apple. Sur le toit is an uplifting fragrance with a carefree exuberance.

Notes: Apple, Basil, Grass, Pear, Magnolia, Rose

Good For: Summer/ Spring

Mood: Casual

More fragrances in Hermes Jardin series

Hermes Un Jardin Apres la Mousson

Hermes celebrates India and sees it in an unusual light with the creation of Un Jardin Apres la Mousson ( a garden after the monsoon)
This fragrance carries us to Kerala after the monsoon rains, offering the experience of a singular moment in time, marked by nature's rebirth.
Glowing and serene, invogating and soothing, Un jardin apres ala mousson blends the freshness of ginger and the sweetness of the butterfly-delicate kahili ginger flower with the spontaneity of cold spices and the subtlety of vetiver.

Un Jardin après la Mousson: created in 2008, it explores the facets of an unexpected India, when the monsoon restores to the earth what the sun has taken, chasing away the burning breath of drought. Ginger, cardamom, coriander, pepper and vetiver speak of the rebirth of nature captured in Kerala, a universe engorged with water. The nose behind this fragrance is Jean-Claude Ellena. (source)

The first thing that comes to my mind at the mention of Kerala India, is coconuts.When I first read that Ellena's latest Jardin was inspired by Kerala, I was definitely anticipating a coconut in the composition. But I'm glad Ellena thought otherwise, and concentrated on something else Kerala is famous for. No, not it's delicious coffee this time, but Spices!
Cardamom Mostly.
As opposed to cinnamon,which has a hot and fiery quality to it, and is used mostly in colder months. Here in South East Asia, cardamom is considered a neutral spice, enjoyed in all weathers. It is used in halvas and kehvas in cold winters as well as in thirst quenching chilled sherbets and creamy cold kulfis in summers.
I think Apres ala mousson is as much about cardamom as Un Jardin En Mediterranee  is about the fig.
 Cardamom blooms the most prominant in the opening and lends a cold musky scent. It is all I can smell when sniffed directly from the bottle. It then mellows down to a translucent spicy, citrusy, woody fresh scent which is a signature of all the fragrances in the Jardin series. I think Mousson is a very unconventional scent. Spicy, woody yet watery and fresh. It is inspired by the scent of rich vegetation and aromatic soil. Wet and fragrant after the heavy monsoon rains.  The fresh ginger is zesty and very refreshing and stops the fragrance from being too rich and spicy.
 The image that comes to mind is of sitting in a verandah in the middle of a lush spice plantation in Kerala, enjoying the monsoon rains. The rain is heavy, yet still, without the distraction of thunder.g  

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Amidst the spices mentioned in the notes, Ellena’s minimalistic style makes it delicate, refreshing and a pleasure to wear on a hot humid summers day. An odd yet intriguing fragrance.

Notes: Cardamom, Corriander, Pepper, Ginger, Ginger Flower, Vetiver

Good for: Spring, Summer
Mood: Casual

Other scents in Hermes Jardin series

Hermes Un Jardin En Mediterranee Review

Hermes Parfums are celebrating the Mediterranean, that mosaic of different crafts and cultures, with the creation of an Eau de Toilette: Un Jardin en Mediterranee. This fragrance is an emotional journey, an olfactory progress, an impressionistic evocation of a garden beside the sea. It is a perfume of light and of shade where fig tree, mastic tree and red cedar blend with bergamot, orange blossom and white oleander.

 Un Jardin en Méditerranée: conceived as a watercolor  this perfume, composed in 2003 is inspired by a hint of the poetic in the Tunisian garden of Leïla Menchari (Director of displays for Hermès).  The nose behind this fragrance is Jean-Claude Ellena.

Leila Menchari's garden in Hammamet Tunisia

Review: 

It smells beautiful. Of trees and summers and sea! It's like taking a walk through an aromatic Mediterranean garden right beside the  azure blue waters of the Sea. The garden has some cool shady spots nestled under the ancient fig trees with their deep green fragrant leaves.The air in the garden is still, thick and humid  with the scents synonymous with this region. Cyprus,  red cedar, aromatic herbs, figs,  orange blossoms. Mesmerizing.  

It is more of a mood than a fragrance. Opens up very fresh with hints of citrus  and  figs. You must like figs to truly appreciate this scent as it dominates all the other notes right from the start. The fig note in it is not cloyingly sweet, but has a perfect balance between the sweetness of the big purple fruit, the dry bark and deep, balmy leaves, which makes it a perfect unisex fragrance.  The heart is aromatic, with cedar, figs and orange blossom mixed in with a tinge of salty sea spray.  After 8+ hours I can still smell the end notes of musk and woods. Thank you Mr. Ellena for taking me along on this magical olfactory journey. Loved every minute of it. A poetic sublime scent. 

Top Notes: Bergamot, Lemon, Mandarin Orange

Middle Notes: orange blossom and white nerium oleander

Base Notes: cypress, fig leaf, musk, red cedar, juniper and pistachio

Good For: Spring, Mild summers

Mood: Casual

Other scents in Hermes Jardin series

Hermes Elixer Des Merveilles Perfume Review

I have a magical scent to share with you all today. It is from the house of Hermes, and the creator is the legendary house perfumer at Hermes,  Jean Claude Ellena..

I had an eye on this beauty for quite sometime but, it was out of my league retailing for Rs.12000+. Then one day, I stumbled in a little shop and saw it tucked up on the top shelf. I asked the price and almost choked on my coke when the shopkeeper said, it`s for Rs.4000. I regained my composure, and asked in a bored voice if I could see it. On inspecting it very VERY closely, I knew this was the real deal and and not fake. I asked him if this is his final price, and he said yes that`s what the shop owner has quoted him and further added that the shop owner was given this as a gift from some family member when he went abroad and he hated it and asked the sales man to sell it at whatever price he thinks best. I don`t know whether the owner didn`t care or was too lazy to check it`s price in the market (as its not available widely) or he didnt know just how expensive Hermes is. Whatever the reason, I was overjoyed. The shopkeeper said baji isko choro, ck k achay achay naye perfumes dekhaoon? (forget this crap, let me show you nicer perfumes  from CK) Lol. Imagine Hermes vs CK!"" Well"", I said (in a pretend bored voice)'' I was just looking and will come again''. He then said that  if I buy it today he will sell it to me for Rs.3500. I needed a brown paper bag to breathe I was that excited.
   Well to make a long story short, I bought the gem of a bottle right then and there, and lived happily ever after :) Later I got the bottle checked at a very reputable perfume dealers and they said it`s 100% genuine. I knew it! Yaaaay!

Elixir des Merveilles is the the third release in the Merveilles line. The box is a beautiful greyish silver and orange and is adorned with the classic Hermes logo,

The bottle is enough to lure you in. Beautiful.
The composition only works in cold weather on my skin. Opens up very masculine with notes of  bitter, aromatic orange peel and salty ambergris. Very sharp and dry. It mellows down and becomes sweeter when it has had sometime to warm up on the skin. At this stage, it smells like bitter orange peel dipped in Christmas spices, dark bitter chocolate and biscuits.The biscuit note is the strongest on me and stays till the dry down. The resin in this is  rich and thick and compliments the bitter chocolate. Elixer is quite strong, so very little is needed.The scent I sprayed on my scarf stayed true for a week! The first time I wore this, I went out to dinner and it stayed with me until I took shower the next day. So the staying power is incredible. 
 I find this perfume too spicy to be worn in the summers, but it`s just magical in the winters. It`s very abstract and has a depth to it. It changes a lot on the skin. You can tell how the scent changes from when you first spritz it on. You can smell different notes after a while, Incense is perfectly blended together with all the other notes the patchouli is very subtle. The result is salty/sweet without being too foody or gourmand.

                                         I love how the bottle tilts at an angle  




CATEGORY: Oriental  Fougere
Good for: Winters and colder months and for people who like sweet spicy, woody orangy scents.


Perfume Notes: Peru Balsam, Vanilla sugar, Ambergris, tonka bean, Patchouli, Caramel, Siam resin, Incense, Cedar, Orange peel covered in chocolate, creamy milk, vanilla biscuit, Oak and Sandalwood. 

What is Ambergris that lends a salty notes to most perfumes?
And my answer always is oh it`s whale puke :) here is a more detailed information if you`re interested.
Ambergris (pronounced am-ber-grees) is derived from French ambre gris and literally signifies “gray amber.” Ambergris is a solid, fatty, waxlike substance produced in the intestines of whales. It occurs only in the sperm whale (cachalot) and is believed to be^caused in some way by the beaks of cuttlefish that are often found in it. Cuttlefish and squids .form the chief food of the sperm whale. Although disagreeable to both sight and touch, ambergris even in the crude state exhales a pleasant, earthy fragrance faintly resembling that of sealing wax. .In color it ranges from light to dark gray and is variegated like marble. Next to choice pearls, ambergris is the most valuable product by weight taken from the sea. At present green ambergris is worth from six to twelve dollars an ounce, depending on its quality and the amount of impurities. Dry ambergris has a wholesale value of twelve’to thirty dollars an ounce. Formerly it was widely used as a medicine, but its efficacy was purely imaginary. It was also used in the Orient as an incense. Now the use of ambergris is limited almost entirely to the perfume industry, in which it is employed as a fixative to make odor essences retain their fragrance. No satisfactory substitute has been discovered for this purpose. Although it is a rare substance, occasionally large pieces weighing as much as a hundred pounds are found: There are authentic records of lumps that weighed as much as a hundred and fifty pounds. Sometimes it is taken from whales directly, but more frequently it is found floating on the waters in tropical seas, or cast upon beaches in lumps.( source: www.4information.com)