Hermes Un Jardin Apres La Mousson Review

Un Jardin Apres La Mousson Eau de Toilette is a unisex fragrance by Hermes that was launched in 2008. You may already know about this French luxury brand which is well known for it’s bags and scarves alongside the perfumes. I know you are not here to read about the brand overview, so let’s move on to the composition.

The notes are quiet intriguing. This has coriander, cardamom, pepper, and ginger. Although it is quite spicy, it does not remind me of curry by any means. It hit me with some unknown floral notes and a delicious burst of freshness. There are also the notes of ginger flower that I don’t know the smell of and vetiver. The smell is addictive and lasts all day on me although it is an eau de toilette. It has a decent sillage, that makes it alright to wear at work or on a day out. The packaging is gorgeous with a beautiful blue-green ombre and the box has a colourful design to exhibit Indian monsoon rain.

I live in the UK, where people complain about rain relentlessly whenever they get a chance. No wonder, rain is not very appealing in the cold weather but it is wonderful somewhere else. This perfume celebrates monsoon rain in Kerala, a southwestern region of India.  I have never been there but I reckon this is the closest I could go to smell the rain in my home country, Bangladesh. Unfortunately, this smell does not take me to my happy place or bring back memories of being drenched with blissful rain. Rain is beautiful in the hot and humid climate. It reaches the climax when the senses of sight, smell, sound of the drips and feeling the drops of rain on the skin come together. The water notes/ aquatic accord and vetiver in it resemblance rain but “the rain” I remember is neither spicy nor citrusy. So this might be rain in Kerala but not in my home. However, this perfume has the right amount of French “Je ne sais quoi” which makes me love it even when it is not what I wanted.

Tropical rain is so beautiful that there are plenty of poems, music and many other forms of expressive creative arts around the theme of it. It is an interesting concept of inspiration for fragrance and I hope it resonates with someone else’s memories of rain. Although it is not what I expected, I am very impressed by it and wearing it more often than I thought I would. If you love subtle spicy and fresh aquatic fragrances, you are going to love it. I have tried other petrichor fragrances like Clean Reserve Rain, Truly Dazzling by Kate Spade and A Walk in the Rain Shine and Fragrance mist by Percy and Reed but so far this one by Hermes is my favourite. Let me know in the comments if you love petrichor and recommend me your favourite one. If you have read until this line, don’t forget to like and follow my blog. Thanks!