My friend Nicholas’s “Guide to Coniferous Fragrances” is a thing of beauty and a legendary internet fragrance discussion gem. When it outgrew filesharing apps and he was looking for a permanent home, I jumped at the chance to host it here as a guest post! I’m thrilled that he has agreed to do this. Hope you enjoy! 💚 ~ Enchanté
Bio: Nicholas Nilsson is 25 years old, currently finishing up his bachelor’s degree in bioinformatics at Brigham Young University, where he hopes to graduate next year. He lives nearby in Provo with his wife, and enjoys perfumery, disc golf and racquetball.
I have always enjoyed the smells of nature and the wilderness. Growing up in Colorado, I used to backpack in the Rockies and I became well-acquainted with the sights and smells of the mountains. From dewy fir sap and crushed needles, to the smell of smoke on my coat days after returning — these scents defined my wilderness experience and whenever I catch hints of these notes in perfumery I’m taken straight back.
Years ago I stepped into a Macy’s store looking for a fragrance, knowing little about them beforehand, and asked a store assistant if they had any fragrances that smelled fresh and outdoors-y. In a move that I chuckle about now, the assistant told me that she had just the thing and directed me to a bottle of John Varvatos Vintage, describing it as the exact scent of a mountain forest. While it didn’t exactly fit the bill for a mountain forest, it did intrigue me and started my search for the perfect conifer fragrance. That search is still ongoing, but along the way I’ve found a number of noteworthy fragrances, and also many that are not as well done.
Ratings:
Rating fragrances is a personal and arbitrary affair, but for this guide each fragrance is rated out of 10. In this scale a 5/10 rating indicates an “okay” fragrance . Not amazing, not bad, not exceptionally unique, but fine. This is a reflection of the scent itself, giving some regard to performance (longevity in particular, and I prefer scents with lower sillage) but not including pricing. While none of these reviews are exhaustive, hopefully this guide provides an entry point into the wonderful genre of conifer fragrances, or at very least a few leads to get started with.
By default, the table shows 10 fragrances at a time. You can expand it to show up to 100 at a time using the control at the top left, or you can scroll page by page using the arrows at the bottom right. You can also sort in ascending or descending order by rating using the up and down arrows in the blue section. (Note that the year is the year that the fragrance was reviewed and added to the list, not the year of release.) As long as Nicholas keeps adding fragrances, I’ll keep updating the table!
GUIDE TO CONIFEROUS FRAGRANCES
| Fragrance | Description | Rating | Year Added |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aesop - Hwyl | Beautiful hinoki forest; a very meditative and calming fragrance. A little biting, a bit astringent, and absolutley lovely. I get notes of juniper, hinoki, fresh pepper and traces of smoky vetiver. The brand also lists fresh thyme, frankincense and moss. Bears close resemblance to Hinoki by Comme des Garcons, and lasts around four hours on my skin. | 8/10 | 2018 |
| Alkemia - Falling Stars at Winter Solstice | A quiet snow-covered road through the forest on a clear night. Falling Stars at Winter Solstice is a beautiful soft Christmas pine and myrrh with a touch of smoke. It's a bit on the feminine side, but anyone could pull this off. It is available as an oil and also as an EDP, I find that the EDP has better projection and longevity. Fortunately it is not expensive. There are a handful of other coniferous Alkemia scents that are great, this one is my favorite. | 7/10 | 2017 |
| Alkemia - Mesnee d'Hellequin | A deep forest blend with a raw edge, this is not the Christmas kind of fir. *Mesnee* is a potent blend of balsam fir, oakmoss and fungi. When you hear oakmoss it usually brings to mind the 80's powerhouses of pre-IFRA days, but this is not that kind of oakmoss, rather a quieter inflective moss. | 7/10 | 2018 |
| Alkemia - Woods on a Snowy Evening | New England in the winter, this is a very camphorous pine with a minty touch. Other notes from the brand. include "powder snow", juniper berries, hemlock pine, white needle balsam pine, flat cedar, camphorous evergreens, and icy aquatic elements. Longevity with the EDP and oil is somewhat less than others from the line. | 7/10 | 2018 |
| Alkemia - Ýdalir | A mystical blaze of smoke, oakmoss absolute, fir, and pine resin. The conifers take backstage to the charred wooden heart of Ydalir, but they are evident at most stages of the perfume. Very different than many others from the brand, very evocative and challenging. | 6/10 | 2019 |
| Aftelier - Fir | This is essentially just the smell of Fir Balsam absolute, well executed but there's little else going on here. The only format is comes in is solid perfume which I will admit I don't care for as much. A nice fragrance but it'd be a stretch to justify the high price tag. | 5/10 | 2019 |
| American Perfumer - Bloodline | Bloodline is an American Perfumer exclusive that was made by Hendley. A smoky incense, cedar and myrhh blend with a touch of buttery vanilla sweetness. Whereas Fume comes across as camping in a bottle, Bloodline is dry and refined, there is a trace of pine resin but nothing like the amount present in Fume. Dry woodsmoke and vanilla dominate this scent on my skin, and I thoroughly enjoy it. | 7/10 | 2019 |
| American Perfumer - Colorado | Colorado is an American Perfumer exclusive that was made by DSH. Anyway, Colorado held lofty promises for me with main notes of spruce and fir, but let me down hard. While I can detect these in the mix if I look for them a bit, the main character of this fragrance to my nose is lemon citrus with a bitter celery. Fir sap does have a kind of citrus-y lemon scent to it, but this is much more lemony than sap and does not have the underlying resin to it. If I sniff closely I can make out the kind of "texture" that fir provides, but not to the actual note. I just don't smell the woods of my home state. A disappointment, to be sure. | 2/10 | 2019 |
| Annick Goutal - Nuit Etoilee | A cool fall night, not too cold and with the lingering mint freshness on a fleeting summer breeze. Almost more minty than pine, Nuit Etoilee is a calm, beautiful meditative scent. The citrus and mint wane in the first half hour, giving way to a soft pine and resin. Also Feminine leaning. Longevity is decent, but it doesn't really project much after 2 hours or so. | 6/10 | 2018 |
| Annick Goutal - Encens Flamboyant | Smoky frankincense and fir(the notes listed on fragrantica are not right, frankincense is the star here). This is a harsh fragrance devoid of any kind of sweetness, a bleak alien landscape. Has a bit of a medicinal vibe to it. | 3/10 | 2018 |
| Apoteker Tepe - The Holy Mountain | A transcendental hike to a remote Himalayan Monastery. The Holy Mountain features balsam fir, incense, labdanum, and guaiac wood. This one is very dry and medicinal, and while incense is listed as a note it comes across as more of a peat woodsmoke. The labdanum makes this one vaguely remind me of L'air du Desert Marocain in the drydown. Longevity and projection are decent, this one will project for around 4 hours on my skin. | 9/10 | 2017 |
| Areej Le Dore - Russian Musk | Musk is the key word here. Areej le Dore prides themselves on using authentic legally-sourced deer musk in this blend and it is certainly the most full-bodied musk I've smelled. Other listed notes are lemon, oakmoss, galbanum, and thailand oud. In a way, it shares some similarity to Dasein's *Winter Nights*, both featuring a heavy dose of musk. The pine is subdued, most evident in the early stages and slowly fading out. *Russian Musk* has something of a vintage vibe to it. It is an extrait and behaves as such lasting all day. | 7/10 | 2018 |
| Barrister & Mann | A dark mushroom forest from the likes of Wonderland. Fougere Gothique is a rugged and powerful archetype of all things wild, with mushrooms, and mosses at the forefront overlaid onto a base of firs and musk. A single spray will fill a room, for better or worse. It manages to smell very natural and woodsy, but doesn't shy away from the ragged edges either. In these woods there may be a decomposing animal or rotting log nearby. I really enjoy Fougere Gothique but I have to be careful choosing when to wear it, it has gathered many comments both good and bad | 8/10 | 2019 |
| Boadicea - Green Sapphire | A mountain lake in the late summer. Musky pine and raspberries, there may also be a bit of oud as well. It's a heavy scent, fairly sweet and long-lasting. Pine and sandalwood are especially present in the later hours. | 8/10 | 2018 |
| Bottega Veneta - Pour Homme | This one seems to be a pine and leather blend modeled after some of the old powerhouse scents like Tsar and Quorum. The opening is harsh and a bit synthetic, but in the drydown the Canadian fir and Juniper become dominant and it's botanical and pleasant. Around 2 hours of projection, 4 hours of longevity. I like this one better than the extreme version, still not my favorite. | 4/10 | 2017 |
| Chris Rusak - Io | A burned out pine lumberyard. Named after one of the moons of Jupiter, Io is an extremely dry and even acrid fragrance, with dirt, incense and pepper blended in for good measure. This description may sound intimidating, (and this can be an intimidating fragrance) but I enjoy the raw brutality of it. There is no sweetness anywhere to be found in Io, just a hostile landscape devoid of anything green or living. The pine in Io is only of milled lumber and a bit of resin, no needles here. This is certainly a beast of a fragrance that is very well-made and featuring tinctures harvested and created by the Chris himself, but I struggle to find occasion to wear it. | 6/10 | 2019 |
| Caron - Yatagan | Animalic, oakmossy pine. It was released in the late seventies, though I feel it manages to maintain a modern vibe. Very masculine. This is a weird one to me, and I do like it, but the oakmoss can be a bit much. Lasts much of the day. | 5/10 | 2017 |
| Comme des Garçons - Hinoki | I'd like to think that this is how a Japanese forest might smell. Hinoki is a green camphorous yet medicinal kind of pine. I'm not familiar with the smell of Hinoki wood itself, but the fragrances is reminiscent of a wooden sauna. Hinoki is beautiful, but it lacks any kind of longevity and projection. | 7.5/10 | 2017 |
| Comme des Garçons - Sugi | Photo-realistic juniper, sharply green and intense, like the smell of good gin. The pine and pepper help to round it out. It's a wonderful smell for a few minutes but is almost completely gone within an hour. | 6/10 | 2017 |
| Comme des Garçons - Series 3 Incense: Zagorsk | The smell of Russian monasteries placed in endless snowy Russian planes, the odor of light birch and dark pine tree woods.The main notes of Zagorsk are frankincense, pine, pimento, violet, cedar, iris, Hinoki and birch. This is a light scent, a very clean pine and incense. It was inspired by Orthodox Christianity and I think the incense is a good representation of churchy incense, though I'm not sure how the conifers come into play with that theme. Lasts most of the day, projection is barely above the skin. | 7/10 | 2017 |
| Dasein - Winter | A deeply drifted mountain pass at the edge of the treeline after the passing of a light snow flurry. Winter is a blend of blue spruce, forest pine, cardamom and lavender. It maybe just that my nose is being conditioned by the name of fragrance, but this one really comes across as a chilly-smelling fragrance. It's almost gourmand-like in it's sweetness, the lavender being quite different from other lavender that I've come across in fragrance, and the spruce providing a deepness. Longevity for 5 or 6 hours, and decent projection. | 9/10 | 2017 |
| Dasein - Winter Green | Toothpaste. Really just toothpaste-y mint and not much else, the other listed notes of pine, sambac, and pink pepper are almost entirely absent. I love a good mint fragrance and have several favorites such as Orm, Russian Tea, Nuit Etoilee, Woods on a Snowy Evening, ect. but this is not among them. Instead of the subtle fresh mint from the aforementioned fragrances, this is the equivalent of applying a spearmint gum wrapper directly to the inside of your nose. There are some meager traces of the pine at times, but never more than a fleeting whisper. Being a big fan of Winter Nights, the previous Josh Meyer & Sam Radar collaboration, this came as a big letdown for me. | 2.5/10 | 2019 |
| Dasein - Winter Nights | The scent of sitting around a campfire in the mountains during the heart of winter. Heavy, natural, cozy, beautiful. Similar to Winter, but now the pine has been burned and replaced by a very musky smoke. Winter Nights is an appropriate name because it lasts for nights on end, and if you spray this black elixir on your clothes the scent may not come out. | 9.5/10 | 2016 |
| Demeter - Christmas Tree | A nice little ephemeral holiday fir scent with a bit of sweetness. I like to liberally apply the splash-on bottle, and it would make a really nice room spray. | 5/10 | 2018 |
| Dior - Granville | Blustery summer meadow. Granville is an herbal lemon pine scent that is probably most at home during the warmer months. There is a lot of rosemary in Granville that gives a bit of a vintage feel to it where the sweet and savory meet, somewhat resembling older Italian fragrances like Pino. The citrus is very bright and adds some freshness. | 5/10 | 2019 |
| DS & Durga - Amber Teutonic | "Mahler’s hut, perched high above the valley of Alpine fir, horn echoes in the primeval forest. A Nibelungian hoard of precious emerald ambers". The notes from the website are alpine cedar, cardamom, green madarin, geranium, templin cone, Austrian pine, opoponax, and musk. Because amber wasn't listed in the notes I had assumed it wouldn't be prominent, but this is very much an amber fragrance. I get warm amber with a bit of musky fir needles, cones, and cedar. If I sniff closely I pick up a bit of floral note that I assume is the geranium. Amber is often a base note, but in *Amber Teutonic* it really hits you at first spray and fades out slowly, this fragrance is most coniferous in the drydown. It shares a slight similarity to Hiram Green's *Arbolé Arbolé*, possibly owing to the common cedar note.. | 5.5/10 | 2018 |
| DS & Durga - El Cosmico | An ethereal transportive scent, a forest of stunted pinyon pines giving way to red canyon walls and sage brush desert. El Cosmico is a very dry creosote, khella and pine scent, just extremely different than anything else I've smelled. It's simultaneously dry, and fairly sweet as well. Lasts most of the day and projects a fair amount of that time. | 8/10 | 2017 |
| DS & Durga - Free Trapper | Minimalistic mountain scent; a natural smelling citrus and pine. There is additionally a kind of underlying resin accord that can be smelled in many DS&D perfumes. Listed notes are cedar, pine, wild bergamot and snakeroot. Lasts half a day or so. | 6/10 | 2018 |
| DSH - Seve de Pin | Myrhh and sawdust with a prickly gnarl of needles and moss lurking underneath. Seve de Pin goes on sharp but does eventually soften and becomes more inviting and a whisper of clove comes out the longer it remains on my skin. This is a sweet and dry scent, a bit on the austere side and the dryness inhibits me from completely loving it, but quite good. | 6/10 | 2019 |
| DSH - The Voices of Trees | Dry fir needles and maple sweetness. I find this to be similar to Seve de Pin and few other DSH fir scents, they have some common DNA between them. Voice of Trees is slightly sweeter than Seve, and a bit less dry, and it’s my favorite of the two. Both have average longevity (based on the EDP formats). | 6.5/10 | 2019 |
| Etat Libre d'Orange - Eloge du Traitre | Aromatic fougere in the style of older fragrances, it reminds me of a slightly sweeter and fresher *Yatagan*. Bay leaves, moss and pine dominate this scent, has a very earthy vibe to it. Fairly masculine. lasts all day on my skin. | 5/10 | 2018 |
| Euphorium Brooklyn - Wald | The opening is a fantastic explosion of soil, smoke, resin, fir and fungi, like laying on the forest floor after a light rain. As much as I love the opening however, it settles down into a musky vetiver and soil, which I find to be less interesting. It's opening is fairly similar to Olympic Orchid's Olympic Rainforest, which I would probably choose based on the price difference. Wald lasts all day on my skin, though the projection is fairly soft, a foot or two at most. | 7/10 | 2017 |
| Evocative Perfumes - Siberian Fir | A dark Siberian forest covered by several feet of snow and ice. The fir balsam note is particularly clear and beautiful, and it’s a very dense and sticky scent that feels quite 3-dimensional. Fir is the main character here, with bits of resin and an almost turpentinic presence supporting it. Tragic longevity though, when I wear Siberian Fir I want to smell like a cold and dark forest all day but it lasts only a few hours with minimal projection (about average for a natural perfume). Difficult to import from Australia, though the perfumer has recently come out with an alcohol-free spray that is able to be shipped internationally. My review is based on the oil. | 8/10 | 2019 |
| Gallagher - Evergreen Dream | Opens with a bitter and zesty citrus, settles down into a kind of traditional fougere. Notes are galbanum, lime, oakmoss, pine, tonka, patchouli, and musk. Not my favorite pine note. | 4/10 | 2018 |
| Guerlain - Aqua Allegoria Winter Delice | Hot cider and fresh Christmas tree. Winter Delice contains notes of fir, pine, resin, opoponax, and vanille. It stays sweet throughout without quite being a gourmand, and gets sweeter in the drydown with the fir fading out. There is a bit of an alcohol sort of bite to the beginning but it thankfully burns off. The longevity is around 4 hours, and the projection is soft. | 5/10 | 2017 |
| Guerlain - Baiser de Russie | A creamy carmel, sweet cranberry and pine blend, a very festive fragance. I'm not often a fan of bergamot but it's very subdued here.The notes from Guerlain are bergamot, plum, pine needle, absinthe, cranberry,caramel, tonka bean, & vanilla. Listed as a women's perfume, but could work for anyone. | 7.5/10 | 2018 |
| Hendley - Fume | Camping in a bottle, a smoky fir, with fragrant pine cones. Fume is the most similar fragrance to Slumberhouse's Norne that I've smelled, though it is much more focused on smoke, and a bit less heavy. Sits fairly close to the skin, lasts all day. | 8.5/10 | 2017 |
| Hermés - Agar Ebene | Sharp and bright fir resin and citrus. Not much actual greenery going on in the blend, and doesn't last very long. Oud is listed in the notes but I don't pick up on it aside from a sort of crumbly-wood texture. | 3/10 | 2018 |
| Heretic Parfums - Blood Cedar | Fresh cut pine and turpentine. Extremely sharp and almost bitter at first spray, but it has a lovely balsam drydown with a bit of incense. Despite the picture on fragrantica, the liquid is a deep red. Smells very natural and lasts a long time. | 7/10 | 2018 |
| House of Matriarch - Bonsai | A small cypress bonsai tree in the middle of a zen garden. This is an herbal dandelion tea, with cypress needles, dirt and muted green incense. It’s light and uplifting, but as with many other offerings from this house it’s very fleeting and doesn’t last more than a few hours. | 5/10 | 2019 |
| House of Matriarch - Future's Past | The most realistic iteration of a fir tree out of any fragrance I've tried. When you want to smell the needles, the damp earth around the tree, and the green undergrowth growing up around the roots, this is the one. *Future's Past* is almost out the realm of being a perfume and wanders into the territory of being something of a "smellscape"; I'm in love with it. Notes are simply wood resin, larch and balsam fir. My only complaint is that of longevity, it's mostly gone after 2 or 3 hours. House of Matriarch emphasizes natural perfumery, and I suppose this is a trade-off. | 9/10 | 2018 |
| House of Matriarch - Sacre Noir | The realistic fir accord from *Future's Past* with visions of dancing of dancing sugar plums. While pine is prominent to my nose, there are some swirling eddies of sweet plum and a touch of florals, incense and resin. Just a beautiful dark holiday fragrance. Leans a little feminine but don't let that scare you away from trying this quintessential Christmas scent. | 8.5/10 | 2018 |
| House of Matriarch - Sex Magic | Mountain cabin bondage, or something. Leather, pine and cedar are present in equal doses throughout the life of the perfume, with a faint amount of moss and oud. Almost has a varnish-like quality to it, or maybe a hint of something animalic. Not complaints though, this is quite a unique fragrance. Longevity is respectable, better than others that I've tried from House of Matriarch. | 8/10 | 2018 |
| Imaginary Authors - Cape Heartache | An old-growth forest, that for some reason I've brought the strawberry lip balm of my childhood into? The fragrance features fir, pine, hemlock, vanilla, and strawberry notes. I don't love the strawberry in this one, but after it fades in the opening, the pine-heavy drydown is fantastic. Lasts most of the day and projects most of it. | 7/10 | 2017 |
| Ineke - Idyllwild | A sunny mountain clearing complete with rhubarb, wildflowers and a gurgling stream. Idyllwild contains pine, but it's not really a major player, I just think this is a lovely fragrance. Unfortunately it becomes a skin scent almost immediately. | 6.5/10 | 2017 |
| January Scent Project - Eiderantler | Spring lavender and balsam fir. *Eiderantler* is described by the brand as an aromatic fougere which I guess is accurate, but it has a very different kind of lavender than I have come to expect from fougeres. When first applied there is a kind of mettallic facet to the the scent, but it settles down fairly quickly and a pleasant hay note surfaces. Very reminiscent of spring. | 6/10 | 2018 |
| John Varvatos - Vintage | A nice pine & tobacco fragrance, there's also a bit of pepper and sourness from rhubarb. It comes across as a little synthetic and doesn't last for more than a few hours, but it's a great budget choice. Getting a bit off-topic with this, but it was the fragrance that piqued my interest in conifers and got me looking into niche in the first place. | 6/10 | 2018 |
| Juniper Ridge - Coastal Pine | Fresh and bright pine with a citrus character to it. Coastal Pine is a no-frills scent that is good at what it sets out to do, to create a natural-smelling pine fragrance. It’s a bit sharp on initial application and subsides to a wispy skin scent within a few hours, but it's also very cheap and pleasant. | 5/10 | 2019 |
| La Curie - Incendo | Smoke, smoke, smoke, and a trace amount of pine. Decent if you're into smoky fragrances, which I am, but this is even a little much. | 4/10 | 2018 |
| l'Artisan Perfumeur - Fou d'Absinthe | Despite the name there is only a faint similarity to absinthe, both having anise-like aromas. The opening has an odd sweet creamyness to it, but the drydown is pleasant with fir, ginger, anise and nutmeg. Other listed notes are blackcurrant, wormwood(which I admit I'm not familiar with the smell of), incense, angelica, clove, and pepper. A bit masculin. Longevity is not incredible, a couple hours at most. | 6.5/10 | 2018 |
| Luvandus - Seraphim | A sweet and bright mix of pine, mosses, flowers, and eucalyptus. The odd kind of medicinal sweetness from the eucalyptus almost eclipses the pine but it's a very unique and interesting fragrance. A light-hearted scent, nice to wear on sunny winter days. | 7/10 | 2019 |
| Lvnea - Ghost Pine | A fall day rife with wet pine needles, moss, with a kind of medicinal herbal underbite. One of my favorite rainy-day scents. The notes from the website are crisp pine needles, crushed foliage, damp moss patches, and ancient woods. While I'm not as big of a fan of oil-based scents, I prefer the *Ghost Pine* oil over the edp, as the edp seems to fall apart a little bit in the drydown. | 8/10 | 2018 |
| Madhat Perfumes - Fur | A heavy winter forest campfire smell. *Fur* is a very musk-forward scent, with castoreum as the star of the musk. Fir balsam absolute also has a strong presence, adding a breath of fresh prickly green needles and a hint of sweetness. There is a damp earthiness, a small amount of tobacco, and the smell of your coat drying out by the heater. The musk rounds out the blend, adding texture and softness as well as an implied sort of smoke. On my skin, this comes across as the wisps of a dying fire or the smell of smoke on your coat from fires past, not necessarily raging bonfire smoke. One spray lasts for the better part of a day and projects hugely around me, so much so that I usually use the spray stem to just dab on a drop.There is quite a bit of similarity to Dasein's Winter Nights here, with Fur being muskier and having more of a fir balsam-y character and Winter Nights having lavender instead. | 9/10 | 2019 |
| Madhat Perfumes - Winter XVI | If *Fur* is the smell of a winter forest bonfire, then this would be more like winter wilderness hiking. *Winter XVI* is the smell of frosted pine and mentholated incense. The menthol quality is interesting and gives off a harsh cold quality to the smell. This is in the same family as CDG's Incense Zagorsk, though XVI is sharper and stronger, and the pine is more forward. | 7/10 | 2019 |
| Maison Margiela - Soul of the Forest | Pine and a little blackcurrant & lemon, the pine comes across as somewhat synthetic, though it's still a pleasant linear scent. | 5/10 | 2017 |
| Memo - Russian Leather | Seems to be tribute to vintage fougeres. Leather may be in the name, but they may as well have called it *Russian Fir*. I mostly smell pine and lavender with some mint, leather and herbs, though the brand lists these notes: basil, pine, rosemary, clary sage, fern, lavender, coriander, mint, patchouli, guaiac, cypress, tonka, nutmeg and russian leather. It's not a bad fragrance but it seems like there are some out-of-place herbs in the mix, could be the basil or rosemary. Bears some semblance to Tom Ford's *Vert Encens*, though much less sweet. | 4/10 | 2018 |
| NOT Perfumes - Orm | “Inspired by the eastward journeys of our viking ancestors. From the defrosting spring forests of the Svear, the dragon-headed longships cut the waves of the Baltic, heading south east to trade honey and furs for gold, silver, silk and spices.” Orm is a chilly fragrance of pine needles and mint over a subtle amber base. The pine is crisp and clear, the mint is the mentholated cooling type that provides a cooling affect. The perfumer recommends wearing it on clothing instead of skin, and that is probably the only way to make it last more than a few hours.This line was one of my favorite new brands to try of the whole year. Orm is excellent but the rest from NOT are exquisite as well. | 8.5/10 | 2019 |
| Olympic Orchids - Blackbird | Like sipping a dark blackberry liquer in the midst of a fir thicket. Blackbird has a very juicy berry note over a hefty dose of fir balsam absolute, it is almost reminiscent of a fruitier norne with less incense but a similar fir character. It lasts for most of a day and is excellent. | 8/10 | 2019 |
| Olympic Orchids - Olympic Rainforest | A dark loamy forest rife with moss, mushrooms and fresh dew. This scent has a kind of soft mustiness to it that also brings to mind a vintage bookstore. Olympic Rainforest has notes of cedar, fern, rhododendron, mushrooms, oakmoss, black spruce, and balsam fir. I often can't handle oakmoss in large doses, but this here it's blended so smoothly that I can't help but like the scent. Lasts all day and softly projects for most of it. | 7/10 | 2017 |
| Olympic Orchids - Woodcut | A cozy glowing hearth in an alpine lodge, you're curled nearby with a steaming caramel drink. Woodcut features notes of cedar, oak, pine and the burnt-sugar caramel aroma of warm-fresh-cut wood. The caramel and wood combo is quite addictive and unique. Lasts most of the day and has moderate projection. | 8/10 | 2017 |
| Oriza L. Legrand - Reve d'Ossian | Dense resins, incense and myrrh. (sharp)Pine is a more of a top note to the incense and benzoin base, and fades out a few minutes after application. A very dry scent. Lasts several hours. | 5/10 | 2018 |
| Parfums Prissana - Haxan | A witchy take on the saturated fougere genre. The opening moments of Haxan are magical indeed, a wild swirling scent of gamey forest floor and needles, complete with fungi and enchantment. Unfortunately another magic act happens and it completely changes after a few minutes and settles into an acrid mud sludge, losing much of the magical qualities that shine when first sprayed. | 4/10 | 2019 |
| Penhaligon - Juniper Sling | Fizzy citrus and crisp juniper with a bit of a herbal vetiver. Juniper scents tend to not last long on the skin, this not an exception. I like the juniper note, but the composition seems to fall apart by the end of the first hour. Reminiscent of CDG Sugi, though I prefer Sugi. | 5/10 | 2018 |
| Phlur - Greylocke | If you're looking for pine, look elsewhere. I find the written notes(pine and apple) to be very misleading, with this being almost entirely vetiver. | 1/10 | 2018 |
| Profumum Roma - Arso | A sap-encrusted pine log, smoldering in the remains of a dying fire. Arso is a powerful, beautiful scent with notes of incense, leather, Virginia cedar and pine, though resin is the dominant note to my nose. Leather is listed as a note, but I can't detect it. It's mostly linear, but no complaints here. Longevity and projection are all-day and enormous. | 8.5/10 | 2017 |
| Ralph Lauren - Polo (Green) | Pine, leather and a bit of tobacco, this one is a classic for a reason. It's classy and lasts a long time. My dad used to wear this one though, I doubt I'd wear it much myself. (I have only smelled the more recent formulations) | 6/10 | 2017 |
| Robert Piguet - Oud | A huge dose of myrhh and resin with smaller amounts of pine and mild oud. Unfortunately it comes across as a bit stuffy to my nose, the myrhh really drowns out everything else. | 5/10 | 2018 |
| Serge Lutens - Fille en Aiguilles | A freshly-cut Christmas wreath surrounded by the candied fruit and baked goods of holiday preparations. Notes of Fille en Aiguilles include pine needles, vetiver, bay leaf, spices, fruit and incense, though the pine needles are mostly gone after 30 minutes or so. I don't care for the drydown of stewed fruit quite as much, which is a shame because the opening is one of the most phenomenal out of any coniferous fragrance I've smelled. Longevity is only a couple hours at best, and it primarily projects in the first hour. | 7/10 | 2017 |
| Slumberhouse - Norne | The primordial heart of Mirkwood forest, heavy, dank, and a bit scary. Norne is pretty simple in terms of notes, which are listed as fog-caked needle, lichen, moss, hemlock, incense. In the vial it is a thick, sticky dark green liquid. It's a fairly realistic fir scent, but I would say it's more the idealized scent of fir, what I think of when I imagine fir. I love this scent but there are sometimes few opportunites to wear it. Legendary longevity, and the projection is moderate to heavy. (This entry is based the 2018er formulation of Norne [post-2012]). | 9/10 | 2017 |
| Slumberhouse - Grev | A fresh blast of spicy clove and pine, Grev is a very far-removed gentlemanly cousin of Norne; Slumberhouse's interpretation of a fougere. The clove is most evident in the first 20 minutes of application, settling into more of a damp spring fir with a hint of powdery orris and eucalyptus(not listed in the notes). The notes from Slumberhouse are copaiba balsam, fir resin, clove, orris root and cedar. It doesn't last quite as long as other Slumberhouse offerings, but nothing to complain about either. | 8/10 | 2018 |
| Soivohle - Twelve Keys | A thick syrupy bottle-green extrait, *Twelve Keys* is a dense blend of balsam fir, anise, and orris. I can barely can stand to sniff the green stain that is *Twelve Keys* for the first half hour after I spray it; there's a very sharp and almost paint-like opening. Riding out the opening however, it turns into a gorgeously blended winter fir fragrance. Some of the best star anise I have smelled. As a side note, I think the inspiration for the name of this scent is interesting, it is named after a real book called "The Twelve Keys of Basil Valentine", an alchemical codex written by Johann Tholde in 1599. | 8/10 | 2018 |
| Solstice Scents - Russian Caravan | A whistling tea kettle being made over the fire after a night of camping. Notes are amber, smoked black tea, leather, pine resin, smoke, and black currant. This is a really nice indie scent in EDP concentration, the black tea and leather accords really work well together in the drydown. Lasts around 3 hours, projection is fairly low. | 7/10 | 2017 |
| Sonoma Scent Studio - Forest Walk | Perhaps a walk through the forest, but a forest with a large helping of lavender. This is a fairly basic, but very pleasant pine scent, with the main players here being milled wood, pine needles, and lavender. As it simmers down the resins (mostly amber) are brought to the forefront and it becomes a soft lavender honey. Lasts strongly for a few hours and then becomes a skin scent for another few hours. Sonoma scent studio has recently opened up again and Forest Walk is available for sale once more. | 7/10 | 2019 |
| Svensk - En | Starts off with a blast of black pepper, juniper berries and tobacco. Like other juniper scents it is very sharp upon initial spray, but settles down to a peppery pine kind of fragrance. From the website it is described as "a tribute to the Swedish juniper where all the aspects of this marvellous tree are interpreted", and I'd have to agree. Probably the longest lasting juniper I have tried, it lasts several hours. | 7.5/10 | 2018 |
| Tauer - L'Air du Alpes Suisses | Opens with a flash of sharp greens that fade quickly into herbal lavender with a touch of lemon and powdery amber (in Tauer fashion). With a name like “The Air of the Swiss Alpes” I wouldn’t have imagined that this would smell an awful lot like dryer sheets, but here it is. Very generic and neutered. It vaguely resembles a fougere, and if I've smelled anything similar it'd be DS&D's Amber Teutonic, though the DS&D has more fir and less sweetness. Very much a letdown for me, I ordered a bottle the first day it was released and sold it within a week of receiving it. | 1.5/10 | 2019 |
| Teone Reinthal Natural Perfumes - Black Spruce | After a brief disturbing flash of syrupy sweetness when first sprayed, it melds into a gorgeous dark spruce and oud fragrance, sharply green and deeply resinous. The sweetness retreats completetly and it is just the scent of a remote northern wilderness. Wearing Black Spruce I’m transported inside a log cabin hut with mud packing the seams between the log walls and spruce boughs hanging from the ceiling. Spruce notes are rarer in fragrance than pine, and spruce sap has a less-sweet character to than pine does, with its almost citrus-like character. This particular spruce note is very well done, it’s very life-like and crisp. I don’t particularly love oud in many cases but it’s very fitting and well-blended here, it dances on the edge of fecal-smelling but never enters that territory. This is a very complex and evocative scent, possibly one of my favorite conifers yet. Also difficult to import from Australia and quite expensive but incredible. | 9/10 | 2019 |
| Thorn & Bloom - Evergreen | From the notes (fir cone, pine needle. guiac wood, cedar, smoke, oakmoss, agarwood Vanilla) this sounded like my dream fragrance. Unfortunately I used up my whole 2ml sample trying to convince myself that I liked it, but it was not to be. I really can't put my finger on the culprit but there is something in the mix that is off-putting to my nose, something that makes *Evergreen* smell dangerously similar to cleaning product. There are certainly pine cones & needles present, but the smoke and oakmoss and oud just are not evident to my nose. It is an extrait and lasts all day. | 2/10 | 2018 |
| Tom Ford - Vert d'Encens | An almost faintly gourmand evergreen incense, this is one of my favorites from Tom Ford. There is definitely a vintage vibe to this one despite being released fairly recently and a kind of almost staleness in the opening, but that dissipates quickly. Very festive and classy fragrance. | 7/10 | 2017 |
| Tiziana Terenzi - Ecstasy | The kind of ecstasy that you find in the solitude of a remote snowy wilderness. A chilly enigmatic blend of pine, spruce, incense, patchouli, and rose. The rose adds in a fair amount of sweetness to offset the dry incense, the pine is dominant and rounds it out. Because of the rose it leans a bit feminine, but I again I certainly wouldn't discourage anyone from wearing it. It is available as an extrait and lasts all day. | 8/10 | 2018 |
| Vagabond Prince - Enchanted Forest | A black currant bush with juicy berries. It also reminds me of the smell of opening a fruit rollup or a bag of gummy bears. Enchanted Forest is a very jammy and sweet scent with notes of blackcurrant, honeysuckle, opoponax, oakmoss, fir balsam, and cedar. | 6/10 | 2017 |
Nicholas’s Recommendations
My Highest Rated:
- Slumberhouse Norne
- Teone Reinthal Black Spruce
- Dasein Winter Nights
- NOT Perfumes Orm
- Mathat Fur
“I want a festive Christmas-y fragrance”
- Dasein Winter
- House of Matriarch Sacre Noir
- Serge Lutens Fille en Aiguilles
- Guerlain Baiser de Russie
- Demeter Christmas Tree
“I want to smell just like a realistic forest”
- House of Matriarch Future’s Past
- Barrister & Mann Fougere Gothique
- Olympic Orchids Olympic Rainforest
- Evocative Perfumes Siberian Fir
- Heretic Perfumes Blood Cedar
- Svensk En
- Alkemia Mesnée d’Hellequin
“I want to smell like a smoky forest”
- Dasein Winter Nights
- Apoteker Tepe The Holy Mountain
- Hendley Fume
- Profumum Roma Arso
- Brooklyn Euphorium Wald
- Alkemia Ydalir
- Olympic Orchids Woodcut
“I want to smell like a fantasy forest”
- Slumberhouse Norne
- Madhat Winter XVI
- Madhat Fur
- Tiziana Terenzi Ecstasy
- Lvnea Ghost Pine
- Imaginary Authors Cape Heartache
Calming and Meditative
- NOT Perfumes Orm
- Comme des Garçons Hinoki
- Annick Goutal Nuit Etoilee
- Aesop Hwyl
- Comme des Garçons Incense Zagorsk
- Alkemia Falling Stars at Winter Solstice
Pine and Musk
- Madhat Fur
- Teone Reinthal Black Spruce
- Areej le Doré Baikal Gris
- Areej le Doré Russian Musk
- Dasein Winter Nights
- Caron Yatagan
Under $50 Gems
- Juniper Ridge Coastal Pine
- Alkemia (all of them)
- Caron Yatagan
- Luvandus Seraphim
- Varvatos Vintage
A Few Favorites Not Categorized in These Lists
- DS & Durga El Cosmico
- Slumberhouse Grev
- Soivohle Twelve Keys
