Today we're helping Lindsay, who is looking for a signature scent that smells green and alive and botanical...like a forest or an herb garden with beautiful flowers. It can be feminine, masculine or unisex (and she wouldn't mind hearing about any decadent skin products that fall into this category as well). She is willing to shell out for the right perfume, but she'd like to sample first, and she'll be doing her shopping online. Here is what we know about Lindsay:
She's in her thirties and is a performer. She lives in the deep south.
She describes herself as a very feminine tomboy with a goth streak — she loves vintage dresses, overalls, red lipstick, bare feet and cat's eye glasses.
Lindsay has freckles and wears very little makeup (other than the aforementioned red lipstick).
She loves to be outdoors and is an avid gardener.
She says she tends to be very reserved in non-performing situations...until she is not. Then look out!
Lindsay likes most green herbs, foresty notes, oakmoss, rose, honeysuckle, linden, jasmine, gardenia, orange blossom, tuberose in moderation, lavender, woods, patchouli, stem and sap-ish aspects, grass, vetiver, soil, some citrus, and she is definitely not afraid of musks. She loved Comme des Garçons Nomad Tea and the old Chanel Egoiste (the original, not the new) and she sometimes wears Fresh Cannabis Rose. She also wears essential oils or very linear musks (white, Egyptian, etc.) for work.
Lindsay dislikes sticky vanilla and other overly gourmand scents, violet, tomato leaf, most non-citrus fruit, "marine" notes, leather, licorice, booze.
Here is what Lindsay has tried so far:
Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb: no flowers, all caramel! A no.
Balenciaga Florabotanica: she thought this would be perfect, but it was somehow oddly muddled and ordinary.
Neil Morris Fragrances Rumi: too much amber, not enough rose.
Atelier Cologne Orange Sanguine: not bad, but it faded so quickly.
Pacifica Malibu Lemon Blossom: too bright and screechy.
Strange Invisible Perfumes Prima Ballerina: she likes it but is too delicate.
Patch NYC Swallow solid perfume: a nice, basic neroli. Allegedly it has oak moss? Which is what she was hoping for...but she's not getting any.
What say you?
Note: top image is Postbriefkasten [cropped] by ganesha.isis at flickr; some rights reserved.
Sonoma Scent Studio Jour Ensolleile! It’s a woodsy white floral chypre, I think you will love it.
You also sound like a candidate for Ormonde Jayne Woman.
You’ve sold me on Jour Ensoleillé, now I want to try it too 🙂
Re: OJ Woman, for my two cents, I got a lot of violet from it, but it’s such a nice scent that maybe it’ll be the violet that changes Lindsay’s mind on that note!
Good, it’s gorgeous!
Hi, thank you! A dear friend wears the Ormonde Jayne…I agree it is gorgeous, but I don’t want to steal her scent.
I will look for the Jour Ensolleile…
These ideas are not at all in precisely the same vein, but each meet at least several of the criteria!
Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Mandarine-Basilic
Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Herba Fresca
Atelier Grand Neroli (packs more punch than Orange Sanguine)
Diptyque Philosykos (breaks the non-citrus fruit rule but has the whole-tree-plus-roots-plus-dirt feeling)
Hermes Jardin series
Hi, thanks! Is the Philosykos VERY figgy? I have a sample of L’ombre dans L’eau on order…
So I’m not the BEST judge because I like almost anything fig-related, so take this with a grain of salt–but of the various fig fragrances I can think of off the top of my head (Jo Malone Wild Fig & Cassis; Hermes Jardin en Mediterranee; Pacifica Mediterranean Fig; L’Artisan Premier Figuier), Philosykos is the one I’d describe as least oriented toward the sweet, fruit element of the fig, and most gets the rest of the fig tree, the leaves, the bark, the dirt, the grass around it, etc. Robin’s review captures it beautifully.
Should say, I’m doubly biased though, as it was also one of the first niche fragrances I smelled when I caught the mania. Def among the scents that revised–enlarged–my idea of what perfume could be, so I’m very partial to it!
This one’s all the rage at our place lately. From L’Occitane website: L’Occitan Eau de Toilette
4.50(49 reviews)
Created through the distillation of authentic A.O.C. lavender, blended with the peppery, nutmeg scent of burnt wood. A panoramic and complex fragrance, redolent with the rich scents of Provence, in all their ruggedness and mystery. Intended for men, but women love it, too.
Me, again. Try the soap. $7.00. It was our gateway to the EdT. Heaven.
That sounds gorgeous…I will try the soap!
The most verdant thing I can think of is L’ Heure Vertreuse from Cartier–it’s very herbal and lush. Discontinued but fabulous is Inoui from Shiseido–it’s dark green in feel to me. Also, since you like linden. You should try Pretty Machine from Kerosene–it’s my new favorite and it is just so pretty
I completely agree with the L’Heure Verteuse recommendation, and that was my first thought–lavender and green herb garden, nearly medicinal, but I love it. I hope Lindsay likes it. I find it relaxing and refreshing. I’d add Andy Tauer’s Reverie au Jardin to the list, for nearly the same reasons, but a bit more incense in the end. Be well!
A sample of Reverie is in my cart as I type this… 🙂
Hi, thanks! I will try to find some Cartier to sniff…
Diptyque L’ombre dans l’Eau EDT for tart, green blackcurrant leaves with a hint of rose.
AG Ninfeo Mio for greenery & fig
Chanel Sycomore is a unsex vetiver slightly rooty, slightly smoky, Guerlain Vetiver pour Elle is a more feminine combination vetiver + jasmine.
OJ Tiare, Chanel Cristalle or Diorella for that savoury, mossy, floral, citrus, woody chypre.
Miller Harris Terre de Bois.
Seconding l’Ombre and Sycomore!
Yay, thanks! I have the L’ombre, Ninfeo, and Terre de Bois all in my cart to sample…
Hi Linday!
When I read “green and alive and botanical” I immediately thought of Jardin du Poete by Eau d’Italie. A wonderful perfume with grapefruit in the opening which quickly evolves into herbal smell of basil and angelica.
Another thing that comes to my mind is Jardin d’Ecrivains Wilde, my recent discovery. A lovely green and milky fig perfume. Or maybe Mona di Orio Eau Absolue will do the trick?
I also highly recommend Parfum d’Empire Eau de Gloire. It has a smell of shrubs and herbs combined with lavender and star anise. Very pretty.
We seem to have some similar tastes.
How about:
Tauer Perfumes Zeta (linden!)
Tauer Perfumes Reverie au Jardin (lavender!)
Dior Grand Bal (jasmine + musk)
Pirouette Essentials Jasmine Musk (jasmine + musk + moss, and waaaaaay cheaper than Dior Grand Bal!)
Annick Goutal Chevrefeuille (honeysuckle)
Cartier Baiser Vole Extrait (the extrait is the best version in my opinion, crushed stems + sexy musk)
Love three of those recommendations! Zeta is brilliant (but sometimes to harsh on me). Reverie au Jardin is fabulous, great lavender with iris and fir. Le Chevrefeuille is an ultra happy scent, I wish it lased all day long.
Ah, I love Grand Bal too! Simple but so beautiful.
Hi, thanks! I am going to try both of the Tauers and several Goutals. I will sniff the Cartier next time I am in Sephora. The Jasmine Musk sounds gorgeous…
Sounds like any number of the Jo Malones would work, like Lime Basil Mandarin, Grapefruit, Black Vetyver Cafe, French Lime Blossom. O de Lancome might be nice, too. Leave us not forget Chanel No. 19, too. Seconding Cartie Baiser Vole. My personal preference is for the EDP, but the EDT is very green.
Seconding all, esp the No. 19 and the JMs–on the one hand they’re kind of light but on the other hand, they make lots of good body products that can give them more staying power. Def worth testing.
If you really like green, Papyrus de Ciane by Parfumerie Generale might be worth a look. It’s very green and a little incensy. Vetiver Dance by Andy Tauer might work for you too. And I second Chanel No. 19. Serge Lutens Bas de Soie is another that you might be interested in. It is mostly an iris scent, but it has a very green opening.
I recently bought a bottle of Vent Vert (the Calice Becker, I believe 1990 reformulation) online for a very good price and have been really enjoying it this spring/early summer. Very green, herbal, and fresh, and I can also smell some lily-of-the-valley and maybe other florals.
From what I just read, I think I would love the original Vent Vert…
Thanks for the suggestion!
second Chanel No19 and Sycomore. Add Bel Respiro (also Chanel), and for a green, very alive floral Carnal Flower. Frederic Malle’s French Lover/Bois d’Orage smells like bitter forest tree sap.
For body products try Clarins Baume Hydratant “Tonic”
Miller Harris “La Pluie” is herbal and floral, beautifully so, also the tiniest bit sweet.
The best herbal perfume I’ve smelled that isn’t a killer but still heavily botanical is ElDO’s “Don’t Get Me Wrong Baby, I Don’ t Swallow.”
And for the showstopping greenery, Parfum Del Rae’s beautiful but unrelenting “Debut.” Wow!
Seconding Debut. That’s what I planned on recommending.
Thank you! I am going to try the Debut…
Seconding the recommendations for Philosykos and L’Heure Verteuse. OJ Woman, too — it’s wonderfully forest-y! I’ll also add Profumum Victrix and Vero Profumo Mito to your list; both are very green and herbal.
LesNez — Turtle Vetiver!
I was thinking about LesNezs too, but unicorn spell, that’s really greeny green, without any sweetness.Otherwise: un jardin sur le toit (it’s skin chemistry if it turns sweet or stays greenish)
+ 1 Ormonde Woman…the most beautiful wood scent. Also, vintage Diorella, and two Annick Goutals: Eau d’Hadrien (lemon-pine yumminess) and Nuit Etoilee (minty citrus forest). Good luck!
I second the recs for:
L’Ombre dans l’Eau – so green and then a rose is revealed. I have the EdP. Having said that, I would try first as there is a tomato leaf note. But it really evokes a garden on a summery day.
Debut by Parfums Delrae – the greenness here is fresh and citrusy.
Guerlain Vetiver pour Elle is hard to find but it is so beautiful! Grassy and floral at the same time. In this case, the green is from vetiver, which is usually dry and masculine, but in this case, is very well balanced with florals and sweetness. My other favorite green floral is Annick Goutal Heure Exquise, which is a galbanum (for bitter green) with iris and rose. This is similar to Chanel No 19, but warmer and richer, with a lovely sandalwood base.
I’d recommend Grey Flannel by Beene — wonderfully green, with violet and a woody base.
apologies for any repetitions…….just try to see them as meaning you should really try the ones other people have mentioned before!
Reverie au Jardin from Tauer
Ormonde Woman from Ormonde Jayne
Dirt by Demeter
Zagorsk by Comme des Garcons
Chamade from Guerlain
L’Amandiere from Heeley
Verveine Eugenie from Heeley
‘green alive and botanical’…….on second thoughts, i would add also to the list, Frangipani from Ormonde Jayne. It’s actually very sharp and has a lime peel note, and is greenhouse-fresh white flowers.
Thank you! I am going to try the Reverie and the Zagorsk…
& I had a bottle of Dirt back in the day… 🙂
Sisley Soir de Lune is a great chypre with a honeysucle note. More for special occasions than every day…
Love this for modern chypre.
I would say, Eau de Camille or Eau De Charlotte, Annick Goutal.
Hi, thanks! I am going to try the Camille…
oh ya, fyi..Eau de Camille, nice grass, green/ slightly stemmy + honeysuckle..and Eau De Charlotte, again, stemmy green with a little bit of a dark side, but a light dark side..lightened by yellow notes.
I’d say to definitely try both! I’d guess Eau de Camille would be more up alley though, it’s a good scent.
It can’t hurt to try some classic “greens” like Bandit, Crystalle and Estee Lauder Private Collection.
Woodsy/floral/green scents I enjoy are:
Lancôme Magie Noire
Niki de Saint Phalle
Maison Martin Margiela Untitled
Etat Libre d’Orange Eloge du Traitre (you may also like ELd’O Afternoon of the Faun… I think it is quite well done, but it is too floral for me).
I agree that Chanel Sycomore is lovely, however fleeting.
Best of luck! Enjoy your sniffing adventure.
Hi, thank you so much! I am going to try both of the Etat Libre d’Orange scents. I am especially excited about the Afternoon of a Faun. 🙂
Annick Goutal Heure Exquise and Pennhaligon’s Amaranthine! Try Parfums Nicolai Vie de Chateau as well!
All of those sound gorgeous…
Some of these had already been recommended and therefore, I am seconding, thirding or fourthing etc etc
Andy Tauer Reverie au Jardin
Andy Tauer Zeta
Atelier Cologne Sous le toit de Paris
Cartier Baiser Vole EDT, EDP and Extrait
L’Artisan Seville a l’Aube
Ormonde Jayne Tiare
Puredistance Opardu
Thank you! I am planning to try both of the Tauers and to sniff the Cartier next time I am at Sephora…
Enthusiastically seconding Jour Ensoleille by SSS, it is an evocative scent that always brings a smile to my face. I call it “smile in a bottle.”
Also, SSS makes a gorgeous green fig fragrance called Fig Tree (less sticky sweet dried fig and more creamy green fig), which is one of my favorite scents by any maker, large or small!
Any one of a number of CB I Hate Perfume scents come to mind: I Am A Dandelion, In The Summer Kitchen, M3 November (one of my favorites), Cradle of Light (ditto), and To See A Flower, to name a few 😉
I will definitely try the Jour Ensoleille!
Tokyo Milk makes something called Crushed. I think it’s one of the Darks – sort of a range within the line.
Anyway, it’s very interesting – sort of herbal, grassy, with some nice mineral/dirt in there. It’s light and has a nice jasmine wafting around too. It’s quite low key, and I wear it when I need to be sure I won’t offend anyone with fragrance.
I bought it on a road trip up through Big Sur and it reminds me of all the stops along the way with the sun on the cliffsides full of shrubs and nice earth smells.
I second the recommendations for L’Ombre dans L’eau EDT and Jo Malone French Lime Blossom.
I would add Lancome O de Lancome – smells like an Italian herb garden baking in the sun – and Penhaligon’s English Fern. All the Hermes Jardin line are also worth trying too.
so far English Fern has been my favorite!
Some of these are seconded or thirded; some are new:
Jacomo Silences (either the original edt or the more recent edp; I don’t know about the new EDP Sublime)
Annick Goutal Ninfeo Mio
Miller et Bertaux Green green green and green
Caron Yatagan
Frederic Malle Bois d’Orage or Angeliques sous la Pluie
DSH Feuilles, Viridian, or Celadon
Guerlain Vetiver pour Elle
Hi all! Lindsay, here.
Thank you so much for all the recommendations, I am sure I will have a ton of questions. I am ordering as many samples as I can and will report back. I am very excited!
I’m very late to the party but I wholeheartedly second Grey Flannel and Papyrus de Ciane.
My suggestion is Whips&Roses by Kerosene, which is a gorgeous floral leather with hints of gardenia/decay. There is a review over at Perfume Posse- Robin, can I say that? If not, please edit me!- which references the Deep South.
Good luck and have fun sniffing!
Hello, Linnie. Sounds like great fun.
Anyone remember Estee Lauder Aliage? Mid to late 70s screaming green but wonderful back then, probably only tolerable in vintage.
Also, if money is no object, Amouage Opus 1 – lovely greenish chypre.
Jo Malone sounds like a safe bet too. Lime Blossom, Basil Lime Mandarin.
If you do try Diorella go for vintage. Reformulated version is a horror, vintage is a revelation.
Good luck!
Hi Lindsay! I am a bit late on the train here – have had a busy week at work! So many good suggestions for you already but I wanted to toss one more your way that qualifies as a cheap thrill:
Tokyo Milk Waltz No. 14 is one of the greenest I own and can be had for a song (about $30, I think). Notes of linden, honeyed rose, wisteria petals and white musk. A bit similar to Ineke Field Notes from Paris, if you have ever smelled that one.
I too, am late on the train here, sorry.
Here are my suggestions (based on Lindsey’s note preferences and style)
– James Heeley “Hippy Rose”
– Hors La Monde “Shiloh”
Sisley “Eu Du Soir”
– Dior “Dioressence”
-Keiko Mecheri “Mihime”
-Guerlain “Mitsouko”
-Etat Libre “Afternoon of a Faun”
Happy hunting.
For a natural Verbena with herbs, coriander, sap, jasmine and musk, Miller & Bertaux’s Green, green, green and green. I also thought of Annick Goutal’s Eau du Ciel (sun-warmed fields and nature itself) in addition to many listed above. Good luck with your search, Lindsay!
A perfume that is very green and forest-y to me is The Enchanted Forest (by The Vagabond Prince). It is unisex and although it does have black current, I get more of the green parts of the plant than anything else.
Hi all!
Thank you for all the recommendations. So far my favorite has been the Penhaligon English Fern, though I am still avidly sampling…