Get Back to the Garden!

This spring, nature’s reawakening seems to be inspiring perfume designers, many of whom are depicting gardens they encounter in their travels… One after the other, they tell all, including the sometimes surprising notes they slip into their creations.

report by Nicolas Olczyk

Cacharel invites us to visit ‘Le Jardin Cacharel’. This line of six of the brand’s classic scents has gotten a cheerful new spring-flower look. As for Hermès, they have introduced us to the house’s own garden, which is located… rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré, in Paris. Floral and fruity, Un Jardin sur le Toit (A Rooftop Garden) is the fourth unisex scent in their Les Jardins collection. This one is inspired by the rooftops of Paris. Count on Isabel Derroisné to transport you to more exotic gardens. After Sicily and Bali, she is taking us to Turkey this time. Composed of all-natural ingredients, her latest perfume, Jardin d’Antalya, is a rose scent with accents of Turkish delight. As for Yves Rocher, for their summer 2011 perfume and make-up collection, they have revealed a more acquatic interpretation of a garden… In a green and limpid atmosphere, the company unveils their ‘Jardin des Nymphes’.

Numerous notes that come straight from our own backyards have also been welcomed into fragrances. The new Atelier Cologne company features clover in ‘Trèfle Pur’, a unisex green eau with freshly-mown grass and morning-rain notes. Nicolaï has also gone green with Weekend à Deauville, an escape to the coast of Normandy with waves of mint, tarragon and basil underscored by a floral note of lily-of-the-valley. Mint also crops up in several men’s scents, like l’Eau par Kenzo Wild pour Homme, which pairs it with coriander.
Basil, mint, tarragon, clover, green notes… this spring, it’s time to get back to the garden!