Mantes La Jolie

I love herbs in fragrance, and Mantes La Jolie immediately grew on me, evoking an array of aromatic foliage under the summer sun. Here, perfumer Sylvie Fischer does not shy away from the bite and vigor of these plants, with the tartness of lemon and sparkle of bergamot tempering their sharp tang as it opens. Those who follow me on my various platforms have learned that I love exploring gardens, whether they be botanic or community, and I am endlessly dazzled by the energy of plants. Mantes La Jolie is reminiscent of these visits, particularly in a location where the herb, vegetable, and berry gardens intersect, and this constellation creates the most exhilarating aroma in the hot air. I get the sensation of fresh mint and basil leaves, blackcurrant and blackberry, even impressions of tomato leaf, chervil, and calendula. Further in, a floral feel develops, and I am reminded of the smell of water lilies that I would smell when canoeing, mingling with fig leaves and distant spicebush. I get a similar weeds and wildflowers sensation that I find in my beloved Mal-Aimé, as its soft, watery verdant nature slowly transforms to a sweet woodiness. I detect occasional echoes of the lushness that precedes this woody phase. Its tenacity on my skin also belies its seemingly delicate nature. If you enjoy getting lost in gardens as much as I do, I would say this is a must smell for you.

I couldn't wait to try this one after hearing Steve from Luckyscent's review as I value his opinion and love a great freshie - and this one having a maté note made me extra excited! When I finally had the chance to test this - it was absolute, immediate love - zero disappointment - just: "Yay! I love it as much as I'd hoped to!!" But there was something SO familiar about it - a strong reminder of something I'd worn many years ago, and trying to figure it out was driving me mad! Thankfully, it finally occurred to me after hours of obsessive sniffing: a now discontinued cologne from Korres: Mint Tea, I believe? Or lemon basil?? I have tried and tried to search for what it was but can't quite find the image of the bottle I'd had, but I know it was one of these, both of which share notes with Mantes La Jolie. Mantes La Jolie is SO fresh, green, minty and beautiful. I'll reach for this constantly once the weather heats up - this is as refreshing as a big glass of iced yerba mate with basil on a hot summer day! I may try layering this with Debaser one of these days as they share fig notes- I think that will be a star pairing!

Mantes-la-Jolie is almost shockingly minty at first: it's an ultra-refreshing wintergreen blast of eucalyptus-mint-basil-bergamot that you might expect to come across as artificial or toothpaste-y, but it's amazingly natural. That lovely, invigorating opening quickly develops through the other notes in a tidy sequence, growing sweeter with green currant leaf and warm fig before the cedar wood creeps in and it starts to mellow into mild notes of mate, honeyed jasmine, and faint ginger that somehow combine to create the effect of a complex but subtle woody vanilla. Normally, both mint and vanilla would be a "no" from me but the presentation of every facet of this scent is so original and interesting, it's got me hooked. The initial notes do fade fast, but the delicious drydown sticks around at a low level for a solid 6+ hours, periodically surprising me with how good I smell. I love this one, a truly unique aromatic take on a green fig. Pricey, but I appreciate that Astier de Villatte gives you varied size options at different price points: 100, 30, and 10 ml. I'd like to try more from this house.

What sorcery is this? This is the first fragrance I want to gatekeep. I need to smell like this for the rest of my life and noone else can have it. It's an aromatic aria, elevating, with a fresh, green, clean, grounded, so sexy (sensual, actually) vibe, and I can't for the life of me pinpoint what flower is the opera singer in this. Yes, I can smell all the notes here but it's something from my childhood home's garden. Argh, it's driving me insane. Mint is, of course, there but it's a loving hug not a distant handshake. It's the fig, green notes and jasmine in the heart, along with the mysterious flower mentioned above) that make this soar. It lifts your mood in a second. The ultimate compliment getter, right smack in the middle of unisex. Poor longevity, two hours. I don't care because it's a masterpiece.

When I am empress, I shall invite courtiers to walk ahead of me misting the air with this juicy green brilliance. I could dive into the opening, stay there for days. Swimming in lush bright greenery - mint, basil, bergamot, eucalyptus. A clear pool in a bright green mythic forest. Just the best ever. Though (cue tears) this lasts only about 30 minutes. After this it becomes a simple, generic but gentlemanly cologne. After a few hours some of the citrus brightness returns (lovely suprise!), until it fades entirely a few hours after this. So beautiful. .... Edit... having worn this many many days, I rescind my judgement on the generic gentlemanly cologne. Hours later I still appreciate the freshness. It's quickly becoming a love and one of my most worn fragrances.

Reviewing a bottle from 2025 .Mantes La Jolie was launched in 2023. Transportive fresh aromatic masterpiece. If the garden of Eden had a scent, this would be it. Mantes opens fresh herbal with basil and subtle mint as well as bergamot. Fragrant eucalyptus and fig leaves add dry green notes; slightly floral with natural cedar at the base. This conjures the most beautiful green dewy mediterranean garden on a sunny day. Not bitter or medicinal. Perfectly blended and natural smelling. Sylvie Fischer deserves accolades for this beauty. Quality- excellent Unisex Performance- excellent Mantes de Jolie is definitely worth all the hype. It is one of those rare fragrances that is unique, stunning and has good performance. My favorite discovery this year. 10/10

I’m currently vibing with the heart notes as I write this. The initial blast of mint is intense, but I love how it develops. Dreamy and sweetly herbal for your earth goddess era. Edit: 3 hours later and the tiniest dab is still there! Herbal perfumes usually perform terribly on me, but Mantes La Jolie has had good longevity so far. Edit 2: Okay, this has exceptional longevity for an herbal fragrance, 5-6 hours for me. I’m very surprised at the reviews that say they can’t detect it after an hour. It may be just that it’s sheer the whole time. Edit 3: I discovered that this is absolutely not meant for humid NYC summers. It evaporates immediately. 💔

basil-mint-cucumber gin cocktail with fresh ice in a frozen glass, squeeze of lemon juice. tincture of sinus-clearing, fever-curing medieval herbal medicine. ice water with all the trimmings. a blast of high altitude air. fresh, barefoot, outdoorsy, inexplicably sexy in the way that spoonfeeding a shivering somebody a mouthful of cough syrup would be sexy, or sucking a lemony throat lozenge or drinking crisp cold springwater is sexy. crystalline cold, leafy herbal, sensuous with a bite of ginger. smells like it's good for you. i wish it lasted longer, that's the only downside - fades away in an hour or so like nothing even happened.

This is the green, minty fragrance of my dreams. I don't care one bit about longevity. I want to spray this while I am taking a shower. It definitely gets me in the mood to start some basil and tomato plants. . . It's fantastic. The mint is not the dreaded toothpaste mint - it is fresher and more natural. It smells like the wild mint that won't stop growing in your backyard and may be too tough to use in tea. The fig is there - but barely. Hard to pick other solitary notes - this is well blended to create a lush, verdant (if fleeting) experience.

As someone who typically dislikes the medicinal properties of herbal-adjacent perfumes, this was so beautiful and performed so well on my tricky skin. Burst of minty freshness that settles down into a tomato leaf (?) not nauseating or earthy whatsoever. I detected the dry down notes after about 1 hour of wear and it turned sweet and woodsy out of nowhere and I loved it. I always ask for jasmine green tea with no sugar and extra boba, and it smelled exactly like my order. So comforting, yet bold. I will definitely get a small spray of this.

Love at first sniff. It is uber minty and fresh with the lightest dab of fig to sweeten the blend. Great sillage and longevity 6 + hours. Kooky analogy but track with me on this....You just ate a delicious meal that had loads of garlic and you need something to freshen your breath. One piece of the mintiest gum and you're feeling confidently like yourself again. This is a feel good - much happiness scent. I wore it to a distillery tasting and felt perfectly blended with the best mixed drinks in bar none.

If anyone is familiar with Cire Trudon’s Abd el Kader candle (a really refreshing Moroccan mint tea scent), this has the same vibe. If you ever wished they made a perfume version of the Abd el Kader I think this would be it. It’s herbal and green, sweetened by background florals and quite sophisticated. I was a bit hesitant to try Mantes La Jolie on skin at first since I had a strong association of the scent profile with a candle, but this wears really nicely on skin.

Really great, smells like high quality minted tea or mint infused water. As it dries down some very beautiful green notes emerge. If you’re wondering, the style is much different to Eldos and this probably nails spearmint more realistically. this is just much more delicate and higher quality but with that being said performance is not good :( I still like eldo better and would probably not buy a bottle of this for the price

The first time I smelled this perfume I felt like I needed to be barefoot somewhere immediately. It smells like you’ve been rolling around in an herb garden all day, while making out with your crush. It’s fresh, green, and just the right amount of unruly. Basil and wild mint tangled with soft florals. It also layers nicely - I sometimes spray a little Death of Ladies Man w it (thanks Maddy).

I love this perfume, it's my favorite mint fragrance. Be careful about how you spray, because too little and it won't be enough, too much in the same spot and the mint takes over. So "bathing" in it seems to be the right solution. Would be a 10 if it performed better, but still well worth the purchase of a 100ml bottle. I'm in love.

This is a perfect perfume ... it’s piercing greenery. Photo-real mint and basil crushed with a mortar and pestle. A non alcoholic cocktail. It’s SO good! I like to layer this with Saskia or Madagascan Jasmine from Grandiflora. It’s linear but it’s an essential in my collection.

i adore this and wanna bathe in it but it’s so god damn ephemeral i just can’t justify repurchasing when i eventually run out (which will happen soon because it requires like... 10 sprays to function as a normal perfume) rip

A truly beautiful garden scent. It immediately reminds me of springtime—when I toss fresh herbs into my salads and everything feels light and alive. It captures that exact moment in the most fresh, open-window kind of way.

It’s kinda a crime that this is $300 and only lasts like an hour bc it might be one of my favorite things I’ve ever smelled. Perfectly minty in a real way rather than a toothpaste way. Fresh and sweet and vegetal.

Love it. Most best geeny fragrance ever. It starts with mint and herbal ctirus. Herbal made by basil, eucalyptus. Very fine opening. Very fine aromatic fragrance. Realistic, vary green notes like mint, leaf ....