Food & Fragrance/ Fragrance Review & Recipe:

Hermès Un Jardin Après La Mousson was launched in 2008 and created by Jean-Claude Ellena. This is the third in the “Jardin” series (a collection that I love). I have been wanting this scent since I sniffed it in a Hermès boutique back in 2008. I liked it but not enough to leave with it back then. Not too long ago, my husband purchased this for me as a gift. I’m happy that I have it but it isn’t what I remember it being.

When I first sniffed this one back in 2008, I got lots of cardamom and citrus. It appeared to be the perfect lightweight summer scent. It still is a nice summer scent but since I’ve had time to wear this and analyze it, there is more to it than those two notes. At first you do get that slightly spicy ginger limeade. However, there is something very honeydew melon in these top notes. It’s a gingery, citrus, melon elixir that’s carbonated. Doesn’t sound like a bad summer drink, huh? What I love is that it is a spicy (pepper and ginger) melon with a generous amount of cardamom. I love cardamom and I love it in fragrance! I love the sweet spiciness that the note adds to this fruity summer mix. My husband describes this fragrance as his “dream summer Indian dessert”. I agree. This smells delicious and totally edible. It is slightly fizzy at first but this quickly fades. The fizzy becomes more “spicy” but it still keeps its coolness.The mid gets a bit generic. It’s hard to tell what is going on. It just smells wet and green. It really does smell of tropical plants drenched by water after a storm. If you like aquatic, fresh, green scents then you’ll really like the “middle” of this fragrance. The scent feels so cool for most of the wear. That is another reason it’s great for summer.  The dry-down gets a bit warmer. It’s more of a generic warm woods with grassy, dried vetiver. I like this because it is like the sun and warmth has dried up all of the dampness. It’s really a beautiful interpretation of “after the monsoon”.

I know that many fragrance divas and lovers of niche/luxury fragrances weren’t wild about this fragrance since it does have a fruity melon note to it. I have to confess that if I read that in the note description, I would have never tried this fragrance. I would have been a snob too. However, after wearing this, I really like it. It’s so refreshing, even with the melon. (The melon isn’t played down here, that’s my warning, but it works). It’s the perfect summer “Indian” dessert. I love to wear it on really warm days because it is cool and refreshing. It’s different from the other citrus scents that I reach for during the middle of summer. This really is a fruity, melon fragrance done right. I’m happy this is in my collection. I have nothing like it. Hermes still has a luxury product here.

The fragrance is very short wearing in my opinion. It is tenacious at first but fades after 15-20 minutes. I can smell the scent on my skin at about 2 hours later. It is in the “warmer” fresh woods stage and wears very closely to the skin. I’m not bothered by the wear of this scent. Because I wear it in the summer, I find that I don’t want anything too heavy. I want a classic cologne lifespan. I can reapply if I feel like it. When I reapply, it’s a blast of green, wet lushness. It’s a very refreshing experience. I seriously apply this up to 8 times a day. That being said, I am going through this stuff quickly. This scent is described as being unisex. Because of the melon, I see leaning towards the more feminine end of the spectrum.

Notes listed include: sweet lime, ginger, “green” notes, coriander, pepper, cardamom seed, aquatic notes, vetiver, longose.

Give this scent a try if you like aquatic green fragrances, if you like “refreshing”, cool fragrances or if you like scents such as Missoni Aqua EDT, Parfums delRae Emmotionnelle EDP, Alfred Sung Shi EDP, Annick Goutal Un Matin d’Orage EDT, Editions des Parfums Parfum de Therese EDP, Kenneth Cole Reaction for Men, and/or Hilde Soliani Mangiami Dopo Teatro EDP.

It can be found at discounters like Perfume.com. 

Food:

Here’s a recipe to “fit” this scent. It’s a honeydew in cardamom syrup with lime syrup. I’ve done this without the vanilla cream when it’s really humid and hot. (You can add a little of a lime or lemon vodka too). It’s such a light and zesty dessert with the sweetness of melon. And it is easy to make. *Yesterday, I made a Korean melon and cucumber fro-yo. It was amazing, but next time I may take a hint from Un Apres La Mousson and add a teeny amount of grated raw ginger and cardamom.

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*Product purchased by me. Product pic from Fragrantica. Post contains affiliate link.