Faunalia

[GeorgeJr]

Held on December 5th, this is the festival of the Horned God of the Forest, one of the di indigetes of Rome, god of cattle, fertility, wild, untamed nature, and prophecy through dreams. The scent of a thick, starlit, unspoiled forest, with a burst of wild musk, opobalsamum, black bryony, mandragora, and hemlock.

 

Had this on yesterday & the day before ( was really digging it ) . That is pretty rare for me , I usually change up every day . So you have some idea how I feel about it already (yes, it'll be a positive review). My GF thought it had something in common with The Great He-Goat . Me , not so much . I guess she's getting more of the musk than I did & that's where she's coming from . For me this is all about spicy goodness with the musk & forest notes playing beneath ( & coming out to play as well at times ) . It's just a wonderfully balanced blend , quite sexy as well .

[Sabir]

Faunalia is one of my favourite scents. It smells like magic in a winter forest! The musk and plant notes mix together very well, creating a scent that's exciting and sexy.

 

Others have compared this scent to Ivanushka and Coyote. Ivanushka is like a soft, cuddly puppy compared to Faunalia's wild, untamed wolf. A similar vein but different intensity.

 

As for how "green" the scent is, I wouldn't rate it as very green at all. While there's a definite sense of forest, it's a dark starlit forest. I don't know why but I tend to think of Faunalia as a "purple" scent. Probably because it's so much more than just trees.

Edited November 23, 2013 by Sabir

[porcelina]

LOTS of pine here- it smells like a dark, cool pine forest surrounded by the blackest night. the pine here is very green and fresh, like crushed pine needles. there's a delicious undercurrent of wild musk- it reminds me a little of wolf moon, but more resinous, somehow?

 

as it dries down, it's mostly a soft, smooth musk with hints of pine and herbs. it's not nearly as intense as i feared it might be. i really like it, but it gets kind of faint after just a few minutes.

 

i might have to test this alongside wolf moon 2007 (which i have two bottles of) to better appreciate the differences.

[Alia Kaitan]

In the bottle this is very pine, with a sharpness that is almost spicy.

 

Wet, I am immediately getting a lot of pine, but that soon gives way to some more complex scents. There is a sweetness and a richness that very soon has wrangled the pine under control. This is definitely a twilight or night-time foresty smell, and the sweetness makes me think of thick, amber honey. A cooler note comes out on top, keeping this from being too heavy.

 

After just a few minutes of drying, it takes on a base very similar to my beloved Ivanushka... for which I am very glad, since I got this in the hopes to rotate it w/Ivanushka and thus preserve the Precious. The 'honey' smell has transformed into a pine-sap. Still sweet, but not overly so, and is blending beautifully with the musk and that slightly frosty top note that I can't quite place.

 

This is a very atmospheric scent, that also definitely works as a perfume because of the musk quality. It makes me think of walking through a deep, thick forest after dusk in winter. Maybe there is a brush of snow or frost on the trees, but this does not come across as a 'snowy' scent to me. It's warm and comforting, and even a little carnal.

 

I would say this is gender neutral... it is not a 'girly' scent in any way, but has a depth that will suit some women. At the same time... oh my... I would *love* to smell this on a man.

[ReallyZeb]

Fizzy, foresty, furry and fantastic.

 

This is the forest scent I was hoping for from things like The Black Forest - it smells of trees in general, with herbal greenery underneath, and no one thing dominates. Then on top of it all I get fizz like there is in Bon Vivant and Twinkle Twinkle.

 

I love it and hope somehow I can find more than the tiny bit I have, this is the nicest Yule I've ever found.

[mymymai]

ITB: Warm opobalsamum, subtly animalistic musk, and just a touch of a forest-like note. It's warm, Christmas-invoking, and oddly comforting.

 

Wet: It has a more forest berry tone when applied, but it's a true berry tone, not anything artificial. When paired with the musk and the opobalsamum and musk, it turns into something sweetly spicy on my wrist.

 

Dry: It's wonderful - spicy, warm, and slightly musky. It reminds me of Christmas so much - a wonderful winter scent.

[Ohyeathat]

I never would have picked this scent for myself, for my particular tastes. Having been frimped a decant of this from a fellow forum member I had to give a test.

 

 

Wet: Soft musk, wood and greenery.

 

Dry: The musk is so cozy soft and quite sexy. The wood smells like cedar but the musk softens it. Definitely is not the sharp cedar of a hope chest. The greenery is a lush forest floor.

 

I simply adore how this smells on my skin. Still very surprised at my adoration. I had stashed the tiny decant away to savor but when I saw it in the update for this years Yules I ordered it right away. There is a masculine feel to this for me, but think its one that I pull off quite nicely. Reminiscent of when I would buy the male version of a designer scent because I liked it better than the feminine one.

[dicyfer]

Coming back from a long hiatus just to review this incredible scent!

 

I went to the will-call event with a list of all the limited editions I wanted to try and the goal of limiting my self to just ONE. I thought I'd have a lot of trouble deciding but Faunalia blew the rest away. I've struggled finding a good scent for the "holidays" that isn't sickly sweet or too foody, while still being spicy, warm, and festive. Faunalia manages to fit the bill perfectly. It's crisp without being bright. Golden, masculine, woodsy, and most importantly, strong. It blends on my skin very well and has a great staying power without morphing too much (it goes ever so slightly musky).

 

Overall I'm so satisfied and predicting wearing this almost constantly through the end of the year.

[gloame]

Faunalia 2013.

 

On drydown, this Faunalia reminds me a lottttt of Bon Vivant, minus the cloying sweetness. I'm not sure why since it doesn't say it has a champagne note. I don't smell any coffee or hot chocolate. There's a light spiciness, but it's not necessarily cinnamon to me.

 

It smells like New Year's Eve.

 

4/5

Edited December 23, 2013 by gloame

[tziporra]

This smells like a very furry fir forest on me. Well, not fir specifically, I just couldn't resist the imagery of a furry fir. Or a whole forest of furry firs.

 

The musk is not quite enough on me to balance the heavy evergreenery, which is ever so slightly headed into Pine Sol territory. Shoot. I was hoping for more fur and less fir.

 

Tzi

[Mountaingrrl00]

The drydown reminds me of my beloved super-rare Buck Moon! It has the same soft Egyptian musk note. The top note is a bracing cold pine.

[SadariEvenstar]

Um, champagne and clove? This is not at all what I expected it to smell like, but I kind of love it anyway.

[OctoberGwen]

This smells really nice, kind of like Ivanushka with champagne. I don't find it overly masculine, either.

 

Probably not something I will wear, but I'm happy I tried it.

[tinyvulture]

A close match with Black Forest, one of my top GC's. They share pine, juniper and animal musk notes. The animal musk in Faunalia, while warm and sweaty, is also more cuddly and soft than in Black Forest. Think Ivanushka. Faunalia's scent description also lists some herbal and floral notes, but I'm not picking up any of those. The only additional thing I notice is a bubbliness or fizziness. Makes me think of a gin and tonic. A lovely woodland scent; if I didn't already own a bottle of Black Forest, I'd be ordering one of Faunalia.

[zankoku_zen]

2013 version

 

Powdery, citrusy cologne, snow. This one smelled more like a snowy version of a sophisticated male cologne. Maybe my nose is broken?

 

It smelled like snowy woods + citrus cologne. Good throw, decent wear length.

[JazzieCazzie]

Part of my Yule decant circle haul ...

 

IN THE IMP: Ineffable is the odd word that comes to mind. Light, sweet and yet outdoorsy. Can't put my finger on a specific note though.

 

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm.

 

WET: I get an image of light green with surprising sweetness. I definitely smell the balsam. The other notes might be mandragora, since I don't know what that smells like, and I seem to remember hemlock being sweet to me. I'm not getting any musk from this.

 

DRYDOWN: I think it's just a little TOO outdoorsy for me to wear and it goes a little soapy as well.

 

OVERALL: I like this but wouldn't wear it. I think if I smelled it on someone else I'd think they smelled fabulous, though. It's just not me.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a 3.5 for someone else to wear.

[brilliantcat]

2013

 

Piney and lovely, but the second it hits my skin there's this fizzy effervescent note that just amps until it ends up smelling like either forest-flavored soda (ew) or some kind of fizzy cleaner (ew). I'm really disappointed, it seems like it would be so amazing without that bubbly note

[thekittenkat]

For the 2013 version.

 

In the decant: Sweetish herbals in a mixed woods forest.

 

Wet: Now more herbal, less sweet.

 

The dry-down: A herbal and slightly sweet forest.

[Lethran]

In Bottle: Caveat: I am not familiar with all these notes. Balsam and wood dominant, with musk in well blended support. The poisons have a delicate green, herbal feel to them, but I can not tell you which is which. They do have a dangerous feel to them in aggregate. Wet: Really rich and interesting on the skin. The musk become dominant with the balsam in close support. The herbal poisons twine all through it, greeting a wild, green, over grown witch’s garden feel to the whole thing. It is beautiful and fiercely untamed. It is not a comfortable smell. There is a component here that reminds me of the lab’s fizz note or possibly their ozone. I am wondering if one or more of the notes I am less familiar with is in or related to something in those accords. Could this be the starlight in the description, mayhap? Dry: Woody balsam, with musk and an herbal edge.

[quickdrawkiddo]

This has a wildness I'm really liking, and to me that's what distinguishes it from some of the other woodsy-musky blends. It's also less piney and more oaky than, say, Black Forest or Dracul. The musk is sweet -- before I read the notes I was actually getting apple. And I love the snowy, outdoorsy note. It's a great wintry scent for anyone who doesn't want to smell like a Christmas tree or apple cider (not that there's anything wrong with that!). Really happy I took a chance on a bottle

[KakashiMorph]

2013 version.

In the bottle: Musky forest! Forest in a church? Church in a forest?

On my skin: A citrusy note hat reminds me of lemon is the first to spring up but calms down immediately, enough to reveal some musk and green underneath. I have no idea what any of the notes smell like except musk ( and a generic forest), so I'll be using impressions. I think it is the musk that is wild right now, almost to a leather degree, reminding me of either coyote or casanova ( or both). There is also a sweet resinous note in the background as well as a very faint soft powdery one. About half an hour late it calms down to this musky/slightly smoky/resinous scent that reminds me of the church alone rather than the forest. I don't think I ever got the starlit forest either except in the bottle. Either it is too subtle or too dark and blends in with the resin.

Drydown: The very first fresh/citrusy note.

[milo]

I really, really like this. It's wild, musky, animalistic, but in the very bestest of ways possible That being said, I'd never wear it, except home alone, where I can revel in it's awesomeness without worrying about how I smelled to other people. It's just too masculine for me to wear out, but I would like to smell it on a guy. I love the evergreen note too, just beautiful, and I will probably hunt down more. Sigh. I should just sign my paycheque over to bpal.

[LiberAmoris]

2014:

 

Faunalia is like forest musk champagne on me. There's definitely something effervescent here, reminiscent of the Lab's champagne note. The musk is crazy good, equal parts ambery/mellow and animalic/feral. The forest foliage and woods smell almost like they've been crushed underfoot—they're present but not overwhelming. The musk is really the star here, from wet to drydown...and in combination with the other notes it smells a bit like my big dog's underfur after a run through the forest. A little wild, a little sweet, a little like soap, and a little like the outdoors (greens and dirt). I love that smell, it smells like happiness. Definitely a keeper, and I think this will age well.

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: Sweet herbs and a woody background, topped by, yes, something effervescent and almost bubbly. I suppose that's the "starlit" part of "thick, starlit, unspoiled forest"?

 

Wet: Very different than I imagined. It starts out as a very sweet scent (but almost a foody sweetness, rather than floral or herbal), with that bubbly champagne/Sprite note over everything. However, this topnote calms down pretty quickly, leaving a very close-wearing woody-herbal scent, although still with a distinctly sweet edge.

 

Dry: A little woodier, but still much sweeter and lighter than I had anticipated. Throw is still rather low. Overall, I was looking for something much more robust and wild, and less "sparkling apple cider."

[lady_pandora]

This is mostly a sweet musk with hints of Sprite and of a wood note that's registering more as incense-made-of-wood than the tree itself. It's really comfortable and snuggly. But I think this one may be going to the boyfriend, because this is the same musk that's in Coyote that smells like "that's nice" on me and "hubba HUBBA!" on him.