Hey everyone, I kind of fell in love with "fern scents" and I love the idea of an imaginary scent for a real plant. I got Fern Concerto from Wholly Kaw, but I didn't know what other fougere scents were good or what they were like, so I ordered a bunch of samples from a retailer to try out the scents and post my findings. First, I need to admit my own cognitive bias on the topic of Fougeres. My mental image of a fern grove is one in a very damp, mossy, temperate rain forest. Something that may have a few notes of the swamps of Florida where I went to college, but more reminiscent of the deep forests of Washington in the training areas of Fort Lewis near Seattle. Loam, a little petrichor, brush, dirt, moss are all notes I would associate with a fern grove and therefore what harkens to my mind for a fougere scent. So when I take in the scents, my bias will be toward the ones with the most green, dark, damp, and earthy notes with some woodsy tones. That being said, my favorite of these fougeres was not the greenest and woodsiest scents.
Green and Herbal:
Declaration Grooming TSM Fougere: this was certainly the greenest scent amongst these fougeres. It's all at once warm, damp, mossy, verdant, herbal, and smashes fresh vetiver right into my nose and makes me like it! Earthy, grassy, this is a scent of the forest in a concentrated form and it to me is the archetypal fern scent. It smells to me like the perfumer here was really trying to create the scent of a fern grove deep in the shady heart of a forest surrounded by mossy trees, verdant foliage, and some fragrant herbs. Lathering this scent changes its spirit little to me, toning down the sage slightly while keeping the mossy, grassy, loamy aromas.
Sterling Varen: Just a step behind TSM Fougere, Varen brings its own green force, but with hints of floral (maybe jasmine or even some lavender?) along with some... cucumber? Yep, I smell it! It sounds a little crazy, but all of this does mingle very nicely with base notes that are mossy and earthy to make a slightly more playful and bright fougere than TSM Fougere. Lathering brings out further the heavy end of the green foliage and earth notes in this crowd. Again, this to me evokes an image of a shady and damp temperate forest in summer with a grove of ferns nestled into damp loam surrounded by moss, trees, and vegetation.
B&M Reserve Fern: This is my runner-up favorite of the whole bunch. Clean and fresh floral essence over a damp green base. It tells you immediately that this is a forest-y fougere, but doesn't quite grind your nose into the mossy loam of the two greener scents. The prominent notes of vetiver and moss are balanced by lavender. As it lathers, the oak moss becomes even more pronounced and gave me a greater sense of foliage and loam. Well-balanced, but unapologetically fern-inspired, this is a great fougere scent and definitely one that I want to come back to repeatedly!
Green and Herbal:
Declaration Grooming TSM Fougere: this was certainly the greenest scent amongst these fougeres. It's all at once warm, damp, mossy, verdant, herbal, and smashes fresh vetiver right into my nose and makes me like it! Earthy, grassy, this is a scent of the forest in a concentrated form and it to me is the archetypal fern scent. It smells to me like the perfumer here was really trying to create the scent of a fern grove deep in the shady heart of a forest surrounded by mossy trees, verdant foliage, and some fragrant herbs. Lathering this scent changes its spirit little to me, toning down the sage slightly while keeping the mossy, grassy, loamy aromas.
Sterling Varen: Just a step behind TSM Fougere, Varen brings its own green force, but with hints of floral (maybe jasmine or even some lavender?) along with some... cucumber? Yep, I smell it! It sounds a little crazy, but all of this does mingle very nicely with base notes that are mossy and earthy to make a slightly more playful and bright fougere than TSM Fougere. Lathering brings out further the heavy end of the green foliage and earth notes in this crowd. Again, this to me evokes an image of a shady and damp temperate forest in summer with a grove of ferns nestled into damp loam surrounded by moss, trees, and vegetation.
B&M Reserve Fern: This is my runner-up favorite of the whole bunch. Clean and fresh floral essence over a damp green base. It tells you immediately that this is a forest-y fougere, but doesn't quite grind your nose into the mossy loam of the two greener scents. The prominent notes of vetiver and moss are balanced by lavender. As it lathers, the oak moss becomes even more pronounced and gave me a greater sense of foliage and loam. Well-balanced, but unapologetically fern-inspired, this is a great fougere scent and definitely one that I want to come back to repeatedly!
