Wild Fern (1877)
by Geo F Trumper

A very classic fougere. Pen’s English Fern is definitely my favorite from this variety, but comes across pretty sharp and harsh at times. Wild Fern is a much more subdued green scent with oakmoss accords. I didn’t detect any lavender in the opening, which in my opinion a true fougere should have. Overall you can tell this is made from quality ingredients, though it is pretty weak. Longevity on me is in the 4-5 hour range. This one is very close to vintage FR (lucky enough to have a sample of this), though no where like the newly released FG (which I don’t think is a fougere at all). If Pen’s is too strong for you, but you like this type of scent, then Wild Fern will be perfect.

24th September, 2011.

It is Amazon jungle steamy forest, not English countryside with quiet, wild flowers. Not that I hate jungle steamy forest, just different. I like the shower gel too. I believe it as one of best of Trumpers alongside West Indian Extract of Limes. Better than Penhaligon's since Trumper's have less harsh notes.

21st June, 2011.

I'm not big into this type, but here goes: it opens with mostly wintergreen or faux-WG, with a bit of a cooler, more direct green note on top of that. Burns my nostrils unpleasantly (definitely the only Trumpers to do that!). Starts to develop a Blenheim/Wellington style sweaty herb overtone. But then all of a sudden, it smooths out dramatically (did my nose break?). Now it's a lot weaker, and more of a calm green without too much mint or dry herbs. This is acceptable. Why didn't it tell me right from the start that it was going to do this? This is much more relaxed than Pen's English Fern, making it another example, like the aforementioned pair, of Penhaligons using a jackhammer and brute force to create the same scent that Trumpers does with a precise chisel.

13rd April, 2011.

I'm just now starting to get interested in fougeres having concentrated almost exclusively on traditional eau de colognes as floral soliflores. I find this is the better of the fern scents from the Three "T"s. It is drier and more earthy than Penhaligon's and much better parades the fern note. Penhaligons is sweeter and more citric. The base is a nice sandalwood and earthy fern. Not too bad, but not near the quality of Crown Fougere or the rare Fougere Royale.

25th February, 2011.

Based on my Perfume Oil sample of Fougère Royale, which I got from The Perfumed Court, the closest thing to this FR is in fact the humble Fougère soap by Roger & Gallet. It appears to be discontinued, but stashes hither and thither still remains.

That said, Wild Fern is indeed not unrelated at all to FR. In fact, it preceded the damn thing by at least five years! So I guess Fougère Royale was not innovating, but capitalizing on a previous success. It's most likely that over a few years, many people came with "fougère" or "fern" perfumes, most of them failed, and only two or three remain to this day.

So what about WF then? It beats English Fern by being less harsh, more "natural" and really pleasant. When you have smelled aromatic fougère, you will wonder about the connection with this. In my nose's opinion, the link is the core, the trunk of the fragrance, not its aroma: that masculine, strong impression you have is the trunk. The leaves are whatever the thing smells like.

Wild Fern smells green and grassy, whereas other aromatic fougères can smell of flowers, spices, woods, or a combination thereof. Both are fougères by virtue of their common trunk. But spices give me a headache, and greenery uplift me. So I'll go for Wild Fern any day.

4th February, 2011.

If you want to know what a REAL fougere smells like, Wild Fern is it. Supposedly Wild Fern is the closest thing to the original Fougere Royale on the market today.

True to the Trumper brand, Wild Fern smells like it is made with natural, high quality materials, and this gives the scent a wonderfully raw, bracing crispness. This is a cologne that will wake you right up slapping it on after your morning shave. It is bright, shamrock green in overall color and feel, with a dry soapiness in the background that gives it a great barbershop feel. It is a very manly and gentlemanly fragrance. It also helps that the longevity (for me at least) is good too - about 5 hours - for what smells like a scent made purely of natural materials.

This is real quality and real class, and is one of the best fougeres I have ever smelled.

MY RATING: 8.5/10

15th January, 2010. (Last Edited: 11th May, 2010.)