What "real" fragrance resembles fresh dirt?

I've often said that Terre d'Hermes is nothing but lemon and cedar and earth on my skin.

IMO L'artisan's Patchouli Patch has a damp earthy tone to it...

The description of the scent you seek sounds marvelous.
Scents that come to mind that for me, evoke damp earth are
Voleur de Roses
Sienne l'Hiver
Midnight Violet

there may be more, will have to search memory banks and sampling notes.

Sounds like you're a man for MPG's Route du Vetiver.

It doesn't have the apple though.

Check out Hermes un jardin mediterraine and sur le nil. I get damp garden from both.

Dior Homme... very earthy "damp soil after a rainshower" kinda tones on my skin.

MPG Route du Vetiver = DIRT pour homme edp

cb i hate perfume's Black March or the more recent Wild Hunt...definitely. CB was the original creator of Demeter's Dirt, so I think you'll find what you're looking for with his line.
Also, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab had a scent called "Graveyard" that was dirt personified. Beth does the alegorical scents really well. Here's a link & another fragrance called Jazz Funeral http://vanilla.spicybrains.org/searc...itle=0#results

You should try Demeter's Earthworm as well. It smells just like potting soil. Not my thing, but maybe it could be blended with something else to produce something more wearable.

CBI's Memories of Kindness smells like tomatoes on the vine, and that to me is an earthy, dirty, smell. I don't get sun, I get something much closer to the ground.

I'll second the choice of Midnight Violets which was great as a sampler, but the bottle is too dirty for me. It might suit you better.

Jo Malone Cassie and Fig smellls like wet black cold soil

Another endorsement of Route du Vetiver!

Lovers of DIRT unite!

Welcome to BN irrbloss - I love dirt notes too. Read this thread for more suggestions: http://community.basenotes.net/showthread.php?t=196034

I highly recommend Route du Vetiver by Maitre Parfumeur Generale. I asked the same question when I started on Basenotes and everyone directed me to the RdV. Once I tried it, I knew this was something that was very special. Another dirty floral fragrance from MPG is Un Jardin du Nil (not to be confused with the non-dirty Un Jardin Sur le Nil by Hermes...confusing, isn't it?). The MPG's UJN is both highly floral and extremely dirty: I always get the visual image of a bridal bouquet of flowers thrown in a mud puddle, when I smell this.

The CB I Hate Perfume line is a wonderful way to smell DIRT in many, many forms, However the CBIHP line is very similar to the Demeter line (the owner of CBIHP used to be at Demeter) and the difference is the CBIHP scents are in water formulas and oil formulas (not alcohol base, like Demeters). I love Black March by CBIHP. Smells like you scooped your hand in dirt, in your backyard. CBIHP are wonderful little poems of fragrances, but remember they have low longevity (for the high prices they charge). Just be aware of this, before you purchase.

A great dirty Demeter scent not mentioned is Pruning Shears. This also happens to have been done by Francis Kurkdjian, the perfumer behind some great fragrances (Gaulter 2, Narciso Rodrigues for Him, etc.)

Good luck!

I think that Montale patchouli leaves smells like freshly turned black loam.

Might try Bois d' Orage or French Lover from Editions Parfum Frederic Malle. It smells very much like dirt, roots, wet rain and plants pulled up out of the earth to me. Also, Lorenzo Villoresi Vetiver is a very dry and earthy vetiver smells more like earth than dirt - but its close.

New one to add, that I wore today: Dark Earth by Neil Morris. Outstanding dirty woods, moss and a slight dry resin note that is not incense-y (like everything else is these days...) but gives it a nice dark edge.

This is not available on the Neil Morris site, but when I have more buying information I'll post it.

Provence Sante Vetyver has a damp earth feel to it. You can pick it up at Whole Foods for 30 bucks.


oops...Sorry, I didn't see until now that you are not in the US.

Yes - I would agree. Though if you want a Novel Experience try CB I hate Perfumes Wild Hunt.

I got the same impression.

Well, Dior Homme was the only fragrance from this thread which I found in a department store - so I tried it, and all I get is just lipstick. Sweet old-fashioned lipstick, which ends in a warm sweet dry-down. No earth, no dirt.

Is MPG Vetiver any closer to dirt than this? I should test it.

In fact, I have just tried CB Black March - and I loved it! This is the sort of damp earth/dirt smell I want. In the Black March it is mixed with some white flowers which could be replaced with something else, more masculine perhaps. I'm going to try other samples from CB.

Thunderstorm by Demeter is like dirt on steroids, the same thing but much stronger with longer longevity.

Yes, you will smell dirt in Route du Vetiver. Please try it - it is a dirt and vetiver lovers favorite.

I have tried Black March also (i went thru my water decant really quick) and I found it just perfect - more like the smell of mud, a very wet dirt note that took me back to being a kid and playing in the dirt in my backyard.

I also get no dirt from Dior Homme. Just powdery iris.

Vetiver Extraordinaire by frederic Malle reminds me of dug up dirt and grass covered wuth dew on an early november morning.

Guerlain Vetiver- smells like grass and soil, very nice. Vetiver Extraordinaire is also a great suggestion.

I Hate Perfume Wild Hunt...smells like dirt at the zoo.

I seems you're really describing 'forest' rather than 'dirt' scents.

But If I'm mistaken then go to the Yves Rocher site and order " Nature Millanaire PH. "

Notes: Earth Scents, Bergamot, Orange, Cardamom, Coriander, Cinnamon Bark, Cedarwood, Incense, Myrrh, Benzoin.

Not for me, but you might like it. Arid as hell, too.

(If you must have apples you could nuy Homme Nature from the same site and layer it.)

Now, if i'm NOT mistaken and you're really referring to a 'wet forest' scent, you've got a lot more choices.

MPG Route de Vetiver is certainly one, though I can only think of one reason to wear it, and that's to freak out all the Yatagan users.

There are other vetivers which are excellent, two of which already mentioned, Guerlian's and LV's

I'd recommend Jacomo de Jacomo-- and other powerhouse 80's outdoor frags.

Azarro PH (1978) A great fougere, has a 'refined forest' feel to it. ( no apples though)--- For that matter so does BdP
And stay away from Abecrombie and Fitch.

And it might not be too much of a stretch to try Rocabar, either

What a good question. I wish I could have come up with a better answer.
Good luck in your quest,

Mario

Then there's Yatagan.

Oo...ooo..I'm jumping up & down. This one is perfect. A couple more Neil scent suggestions are his Dark Season & Spirit of Earth. I have samples of both & I'm a sharin' sort, especially when it comes to Neils frags.
Or....you could email David & ask him to send you samples. Be sure to tell him where you heard about them. He knows me as rhm/christine from sniffapalooza & bnotes.

The more I think of it, the more Spirit of Earth would be just what you are looking for: rich loamy soil, great lasting power too.

On mine as well. But for me, it is lemon/citrus, CEDAR, and earth.

OK, I've finished trying all my CB samples. And yes, among all of them, these two really stand out:

Wild Hunt - my absolute favourite, delivers exactly what it promises: dry earth of deep forest floor, dirt, mushrooms. Awesome!!!
Black March is the second favourite.

A few other CB fragrances have a dirt note, but there it is subtle and overshadowed by other notes, so no competition to the first two frags.


All the Vetiver samples (MPG, FM and others) should be coming in next week, so we'll see how dirty they really are and what they're good for.

+1 on Buzzlepuff's recommendation of Lorenzo Villoresi's Vetiver. I gave away my little bottles of Demeter's Dirt and Earthworm, but I love the earthiness of LV's Vetiver. It's not a fresh vetiver a la Creed OV; it's in the same ballpark as the oft-recommended MPG Route de Vetiver, but I prefer the LV, having sampled both. I think I'm also one of the few here who doesn't care for the Guerlain Vetiver.

Annick Goutal's Vetiver is an earthy masculine scent. MPG's Route du Vetiver most definitely as well as mentioned above.

another really earthy scent is terre de bois by miller harris. i remember trying it a few years ago and i think it was pretty decent. lots of vetiver, but not a "vetiver" scent, which i think is a rarity.

How about Nasamatto's Absinth? Just like fresh dirt dug up after a rainstorm. It's got that damp sweet earthy pungency you get when planting flowers in spring.

Some intermediate results of my testing the vetiver samples.


First I tried the CB I Hate Perfume vetiver accords, only to discover that all these three vetivers smell distinctly different from each other.
Haitian Vetiver Accord: deep earth/soil dug up after rain, musty, smoky
Indonesian Vetiver Accord: tangy medicinal (sort of spicy dry root/herbs), smoky
Javanese Vetiver Accord: dry dusty earth, smoky, a bit medicinal (dry root)

Perhaps these three accords could provide a common reference frame for comparisons.
Among the three, I definitely like only the CB Haitian Vetiver. It is not exactly the same as CB signature dirt note, but it is an interesting variation of dirt.

So, what can I say. We have a very strong contender here:


Miller Harris - Vetiver Bourbon

Opens with the rich deep soil/dirt, smoky and just a bit musty. (Thus similar to CB Haitian Vetiver.)
Soon it blends with dark green woody mossy notes (dominated by oakmoss, I suppose). In other words, it is "earth + forest". Very nice indeed! Develops smoothly and gradually, lasts very long, and stays close to the skin.
I like the oakmoss note here better than in Creed's BdP. Here it is more dark and velvety.



Other frags I tried and liked:


Frederic Malle - French Lover (Bois d'Orage)
"vegetal/forest" - thick dark green plants. Quite nice, but not much dirt/earth, if any.

Hermès - Un jardin mediterranee
Very nicely done summer garden. Blooming trees with some fruits, a hint of wet earth. Woods + green leaves + a little floral (but not too feminine. I think I could pull it off).

Jo Malone - Black Vetyver Cafe
Nice dark coffee + woods + smoke. No earth. No vetiver either.



Frags I tried and disliked:


Frederic Malle- Vetiver Extraordinaire
No dirt, no earth. I mostly get spicy root (very tangy medicinal), and altogether it smells "refreshing". Disgusting stuff.

Creed - Bois de Portugal
First a blast of spicy lavender, then the "forest" main note, a little too crisp. It is good, but I prefer the darker and more velvety Vetiver Bourbon.

Annick Goutal - Vetiver
No earth/dirt. It has exotic flowers + a lot of harsh marine/oceanic (rotten seaweed). Nasty...

il Profumo - Vetiver de Java
No earth. Opens with lavender, then becomes more woodsy. Boring.



Also ordered MPG RdV, LV Vetiver and Terre de Bois and a few others from Ausliebezumduft, but the package never arrived. 40 Euros worth of samples lost somewhere on the way from Germany to Denmark.
Will have to obtain these samples from some place else.


Cheers!