Can someone please clarify what a "fougere" fragrance is?

[Matt555]

I have been doing some reading but I cannot figure it out. I understand aquatic, gourmand, citrus, etc.....but I cannot seem to figure out what a fougere is. Can someone please explain and maybe give me the names of a few popular fougere frags? Thanks.

 

[Paul12644]

Hi Matt,

Fougere is a French word for fern, a green scent of pine or fir or what the Brits would call the English countryside.

 

[Timmy Dee]

Exactly - however the term has become somewhat bastardised over the years. They should generally have lavender, oakmoss and tonka bean, but these rules are not set in stone.
There are many lavender frags labelled fougeres when they're really not.

 

[MarkStar]

According to Luca Turin from Perfumes; The A-Z Guide


Ferns



The fougère (fern) genre has historically been the most fertile
source of great masculine fragrances. Fougères are built on an
accord between lavender and coumarin, with every conceivable
variation and elaboration. Great perfumery accords are like
dominoes: when juxtaposed, the materials must have a number in
common. In the case of lavender and coumarin, it is a herbaceous,
green, inedible, soapy character. In the other directions, lavender
has a fresh, thyme-like angle and coumarin a sweet, powdery,
vanilla biscuit one. Fougère thus handily spans a wide soup-to-nuts
spectrum with only two cheap materials. Further, each end of the
accord can be varied, on one side with other herbes de Provence or
citrus, on the other with vanillic and balsamic notes, without losing
balance and clarity. Sadly, in part because the idea is very old (the
first, Fougère Royale, was 1881), there are very few pristine
fougères around, and those that exist tend to smell cheap: Brut,
Canoe. Once again, simplicity works best when the raw materials
are luxurious. Ferns are usually labeled “lavender,” so try a few, not
necessarily expensive big names, and see which one fits you.

And...




Aromatic Fougère



A spicy variation on the fougère theme, which frees it from the
slightly one-dimensional character of the basic accord and propels
it into the realm of great, abstract perfumery, is the aromatic
fougère, a territory so big it seems to serve occasionally as a “none
of the above.” Perhaps the finest early example of this might be
Paco Rabanne pour Homme, the archetypal, slightly melancholy,
muted masculine aromatic that maintains a close kinship with
cleansing materials (soap, shaving cream, aftershave, hair tonic,
etc.) but unequivocally states its purpose: to smell good beyond
the call of duty. In a duskier, more intense direction, one may list
Blue Stratos, Azzaro, and Rive Gauche pour Homme in increasing
order of sophistication. These are open-shirted, straightforward,
virile, George Clooney fragrances, to be worn only if understated
confidence comes naturally to you.



 

[The Chandos]

According to Luca Turin from Perfumes; The A-Z Guide


Perfect.

 

[The Knize]

Everything in the thread so far is correct!

I would have said that fougere is lavender in the top and courmarin/tonka (different names for the same note) and oakmoss in the base. I do not know why LT leaves off oakmoss in his description. They say that oakmoss has courmarin notes within it, but it is far from the same thing to me.