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Which fragrance best conjures up the idea of "Forest" for you and what type of forest is conjured?

post #1 of 38
Thread Starter 
I'm curious about what the idea means to other members. Outdoorsy scents are often associated with men's fragrances, but I'm not limiting this inquiry to the men's fragrance discussion, as everyone who has ever gone for a walk in the woods has their own memory of it and the feelings it inspires. Each part of the world has it's own distinctive natural environment, and "forest" can mean everything from a lush tropical jungle to an icy boreal spruce grove. I have a personal favorite, but I don't want to tell anyone until I've heard some replies. This is my first thread, and I hope it inspires some replies with room for creativity. Forest... forest... forest.
post #2 of 38
Parfum d'Habit. See my review. Also Chêne. While Chêne is literally "woodsy" Parfum d'Habit conjures up a doused campfire, a moist forest floor, flannel shirts and leather jackets: a walk in the Northwest woods on a foggy morning.
post #3 of 38
Ormonde Woman sincerely conjures a forest to me, like nothing else.
post #4 of 38
Epic Woman. An evergreen forest in the Cascades, in Spring when sun begins to melt the snow.
post #5 of 38
Welcome professor goggles!

Pino Silvestri- the piney woods in New Hampshire or around Banff, Alberta
post #6 of 38
Patou pour Homme
Jules
Sycomore
Vintage Mitsouko
Yatagan
L'Eau Trois
Coriolan
Bois d'Orage
Philosykos
Terre d'Hermes
Nino Cerruti pour Homme (1979)
Parfum d'Habit
Chêne
Virgilio
Leonard pour Homme

Each reminds me of various parts of the rainforest around my house at different times of the day in the less rainy months.
post #7 of 38
French Lover (Editions de Parfum Frederic Malle)- on the edge of, at a certain elevation but sub-alpine, exposed rock-faces and running water nearby. There is definitely damp moss on the rocks in the shade. Makes me think of a trip up Mt. Egmont in Taranaki in winter when I was a kid.

Filles en Aiguilles (Serge Lutens) - sheltered and warm out of the wind in a NZ pine forest on the West Coast with only a thick carpet of pine needles on the ground. I used to live near a huge pine-forest (they shot some of LOTR where I played as a kid).
post #8 of 38
Encre Noire Conjours an image of me

Walking though a Dense forest at night
and smell the pine russles though the air the sweet scent of cypresses the Wet Earth Beneth you.

Victrix Is Burning Cederwood
post #9 of 38
On my skin, Grin (great name!) by Ayala Moriel evokes the deciduous woods of the New Forest, here in the south of England where l grew up, complete with ferns, moss & undergrowth.
l find Ambre Sultan, with it's blast of fresh-cut wood & pine needles, very evocative of the pine plantations where the trees are grown for timber.
Speaking of pines; Ambra Aurea by Profumum & Tom Ford's Amber Absolute are both raw, resinous ambers that smell to me like they just dripped out of a pine tree.

Welcome to basenotes, Prof!
post #10 of 38
Awesome topic! Welcome to Basenotes.
post #11 of 38
Oh how I love this topic! I will make notes of these suggestions.
No list of this sort would be complete without my beloved Knize Forest, a mossy old-school romp through the woods.
A strong contender here is Ayala Moriel's Rainforest -- dark and brooding, Emily Carr painting in a bottle.
For a discussion of many woody scents, I invite everybody over to the Coneheads Social group here on Basenotes. It is an open forum, and we welcome new members!
post #12 of 38
Sycomore conjures up deep forest with plenty of evergreens to me - much like our southern hardwood forests studded with pines,

reine
post #13 of 38
Terre Hermes - unrelenting pine forest. I have to wear it away from the face otherwise I'd never get out of the woods.
post #14 of 38
Sir Irisch Moos- mossy, dark forest with almost a druid association, the almost mineral, slightly moist-watery smells and even hints of wildly growing aromatic herbs are also present
Knize Forest- a very distinguishably familiar forest, tame and carefully tended, almost like a formal garden as part of some sprawling and luxurious private estate/compound, grassy and incense-like notes lurking in the background
post #15 of 38
Those are very poetic and striking descriptions, KR.
post #16 of 38
I must second Ormonde Jayne Woman. Green, citrusy, and spicy; a little pine. Deep, cool forest feel.
post #17 of 38
Another vote for Parfum d'Habit. A very damp and earthy scent.
post #18 of 38
Aoud Forest
post #19 of 38
Guerlain Vertiver: A cedar forest with lots of undergrowth with a deep cool green pond in the middle.
post #20 of 38
Chêne: oak dry forest
Un bois sépia: automnal forest, humidity and rotten woods
post #21 of 38
Why haven't I been reading this forum in the past? Great topic!
I would offer both
Comme des Garcons x Monocle Scent One Hinoki and
Creed Cypres-Musc
I would happily second Knize Forest.
post #22 of 38
Quote:
Originally Posted by mr. reasonable View Post

French Lover (Editions de Parfum Frederic Malle)- on the edge of, at a certain elevation but sub-alpine, exposed rock-faces and running water nearby. There is definitely damp moss on the rocks in the shade.

That, and Yatagan, which reminds me somewhat of meat roasting on a campfire at the edge of a drought-ridden forest.
post #23 of 38
dark, summery fairy forest- Aromatics Elixir by Clinique
wet,fall fresh forest- DSquared-Shewood
dry,succulent, fruity forest- CdG Palisander
strolling through the forest and nibbling on a green plant staple- Chanel 19 (or Diorella/or Y by YSL)
post #24 of 38
I'll add mario valentino's ocean rain.

Depending on the day I wear it it smells either like what a fantasy unicorn grove would smell like or a lush forest with wild animals and waist deep flowering wild greens. in summer.
post #25 of 38
I love this topic so much. I'm going to have to try a few of these recommendations.
post #26 of 38
oh wow.. i just experienced this in a fragrance -- Vision Quest, by For Strange Women. intensely forest. it conjured some very deep memories.

and another, though i'm new to this fragrance -- oud. i wouldn't call it "forest", but it can have a very deep jungle-y forest atmosphere about it that rings with mystery.
post #27 of 38
First of all it's not an easy question, it seems like there are a lof of fragrances that are "forest inspired" but in reality no matter how green, woody, mossy is a fragrance - for some reason a lot of times they just don't smell like real woods.

There was one and only one time when I smelled a fragrance, and thought to myself: "oh my, this doesn't smell like forest inspired perfume, it doesn't smell like any perfume at all, this is the scent of a real forest!". What was the name of it? L'Artisan Fleur de Liane. It smells like a rainy forest, that's right or just about any forest in the rain. I have no idea what was done to it, but it smells like the REAL deal. Somehow green, earthy just no words will describe it exactly the way it smells. I can just GUARANTEE anyone it does smell like a real forest. How beautiful!
post #28 of 38
Agree on Malle's Bois d'Orage (because French Lover is just a terrible name IMO lol)
If you want something like natural wood type of scents.. You might go towards the oud path.. Quality oud oils smell like really earthy wood. Not cheap though..
post #29 of 38
Quote:
Originally Posted by teardrop View Post

Grin (great name!) by Ayala Moriel evokes the deciduous woods of the New Forest, here in the south of England where l grew up, complete with ferns, moss & undergrowth.

She really nails wood scents, and it's interesting to hear that it reminds you of England. I always think of the Pacific Northwest, because her woodiest scent to me is Rainforest. But then she has Rebellius with my favorite Seville lavender, champaca and tabac blond that she classifies as an oriental leather. When I wear it, my husband says it smells exactly like when he was a tree planter in Canada during high school. So, there must be some (former) Commonwealth love there!

Serge Lutens Miel de Bois is a favorite of mine, because my husband has a wood shop. It smells like freshly sawed plywood. I also like Borneo 1834, which really smells like 1969 haha.

THE wood smell that immediately comes to mind is Pino Sylvestri. It's pure Christmas tree farm.

Aromatics Elixir is another I love. Everyone beat me to the obvious ones! This is another patchouli scent, an herbal rosy chypre and less gourmand than Borneo 1834, a totally different scent. It's dramatic and sophisticated, and Estee Lauder pulled it from their perfume counter when I was at Macy's. I better grab a bottle before it's discontinued.
post #30 of 38
+ 1 for Ocean Rain. Also YSL's Y (see review.)
post #31 of 38
These are great recommendations. This thread reminds me of one of my fragrance fantasies: a perfume that evokes the ponderosa pine forests of the southwest where I grew up, which have bark that smells like vanilla. It's so lovely to walk through a vanilla-scented forest.

Miller Harris Vetiver Bourbon smells like a forest floor, very dark and earthy. I think if you combined it with something woody like CDG Hinoki you'd have the whole forest covered!
post #32 of 38
+1 Fleur de Liane
post #33 of 38
Quote:
Originally Posted by odysseusm View Post

Oh how I love this topic! I will make notes of these suggestions.
No list of this sort would be complete without my beloved Knize Forest, a mossy old-school romp through the woods.

+1

Cdg's Zagorsk (a siberian forest in the late fall)
post #34 of 38
Quote:
Originally Posted by pearlfingering View Post

She really nails wood scents, and it's interesting to hear that it reminds you of England. I always think of the Pacific Northwest, because her woodiest scent to me is Rainforest. But then she has Rebellius with my favorite Seville lavender, champaca and tabac blond that she classifies as an oriental leather.

Great topic! And thanks for mentioning Rainforest, it sounds amazing.
post #35 of 38
Oh, I am bumping this thread.

Currently wearing Moss & Ivy by "For Strange Women," an etsy shop. Natural essentials and absolutes in a carrier oil base. The creator describes it as a "forest in a bottle," and I agree. I come from the Northeastern US, and I'd say this is springtime forest, and the trees are oak, maple and the like. I'm getting different notes depending on the day, my body chemistry etc. Sometimes it's lushly round, like earthy ferns and moist moss, and sometimes a bit dryer and smoky woodsier, but not overly sharp and crispy (which has it's own charm). It has basil, which I love, but the basil doesn't come out as summer garden, tomato-stem basil, rather, something deeper.
post #36 of 38
I want to try Ken Russell's recommendations!
post #37 of 38
Hermes Apres La Mousson
Hermes Sur Le Nil
post #38 of 38
Polo Modern Reserve reminds me of walking through a forrest at night and stumbling upon Paul Bunyan's log cabin with a camp fire roasting nearby.
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Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Fragrance Industry and General Fragrance Discussion › Which fragrance best conjures up the idea of "Forest" for you and what type of forest is conjured?