Chaos Theory VII: Fougere

[Ashmedai]

Sharply fernlike lavenders and lilacs with a herbaceous, oakmoss-tinted touch.

I only bought one bottle of this one since fougères are a little dicey on me, and I don't like the more traditional men's cologne scents in general, which fougères tend to be. I needn't have worried, this one isn't. On application, there's a spitload of honey. I don't like honey and I amp it, so.... This is quite NOT what I expected to be in a fougère at all. I do get a little bit of oakmoss, and a hint of something mildly spicy as it dries down. Allspice? It's too faint to pin down. There seems to be some fern in here too, but it's not fresh and green, it's dark and somehow a little brooding due to the oakmoss and honey. The latter really tamps down everything, and this reminds me a lot of Honey Moon, or Door without the chamomile. The fern does get a little fresher and grassier on final dry-down, but it's still thick with honey and reminds me of a honey-sweetened herbal tea. I'm also picking up a bit of tonka at this stage. It's nice, even comforting, but it's just not "me". It's too honey-sweet and verging too much on the feminine side for me to wear, so off to swaps and sales it'll go. Edited July 1, 2015 by Ashmedai

[Atrous]

#32

 

So, this is basically raspberries with a splash of fougere.

Not notes I would put together but it really works and makes this fougere more feminine.

Cheerful and fun. I think it will make a great spring/summer scent. I am pleasantly surprised.

[Honeywhip]

I have bottle #59 and it's glorious. A fresh, sweet tomboyish scent, alternately ferny and vanillic, perhaps some lime? Think Villain with vanilla double plus plus. Or perhaps a frank-less Venustas. Detestable Putrescence in the barber shop?

[theredkilt]

 

# 66

 

In the bottle it smells oily and sharpish ferns. Once it hit my skin, i thought it smelled like something from the Steamworks line. As the oiliness receded, something ambery or ambergis-like came out with a powdery vibe. Upon further development, sweetenss emerges and the oiliness mingles with the amber/ambergis and reminds me very much of a men's cologne best suited for night wear. I think i pick up an oud note or maybe it could be the amber doing its naughty thing. I don't feel in any way cheated or deceived, i just can't exactly discern the notes.

 

Now that some more time has passed, it leans more towards a middle eastern/ oriental blend. I'm pretty sure some sort of amber was added in the Chaos blend, maybe oud and resins (benzoin or opponax). The drydown has a dense/oily texture and the throw is average.

 

3rd day of testing: This blend falls into the Animalic Fougere category for sure. There are definitely animalic notes in there (ambergis or musks or balsams). The end-result is balmy and dense.

Edited July 13, 2015 by theredkilt

[white_jenna63]

#36

 

Yup, that's a fougere, all right. There's some non-foody spicy-ness in the wet phase, and it's warm for a fougere, but not really distinctive. Very faint traces twelve hours later, didn't have a lot of throw.

[alterosen]

#31

 

Not getting any fougere when wet. It's faint & sweet - reminds me a little of lotus perhaps? Ever so slightly bubblegummy, becoming more candied but less Hubba Bubba as it dries. Only when it's totally dry do I sense the fougere in a bit of moss & pale musk.

[alterosen]

#52

 

Also not a typical fougere - this starts out with strong charred vetiver-y wood & something a little nutty behind. Then it starts getting a bit brighter & fresher: citrus or some other kind of fruit maybe with perhaps a hint of lavender or herbs. This must be the fougere coming out but I can't really identify the notes. It's not mossy, musky or lilac-y to my nose. There's still a bit of vetiver lingering in the background. I don't dislike this as much as I usually do these kind of burnt scents. It's oddly compelling.

 

eta: I think there's some strawberry in the fruit - what a wild mix!

Edited July 12, 2015 by alterosen

[Teaotter]

#31 (decant)

 

In the imp: citrus and... hmm. A sweetness, possibly floral.

 

Wet: If I had to pick a particular citrus, I'd say lime, but really, it smells more like Sweet Tarts -- powdery sweet and acidic without actually smelling like a particular fruit. There is definitely a floral tone, I think it's lilac, but there could be more flowers in there and I just can't pick them out. It's also got a warmth to it, which is probably tobacco.

 

Drying: Ah, there's the 'Irish Spring' I was expecting. So there's oakmoss in this, but it's relatively faint.

 

Dry: This reminds me a bit of Jareth, actually, though Jareth is sweeter on my skin. There is a bit more fern than oakmoss at the bottom, I'm pretty sure about the tobacco. There's allspice and maybe a bit of juniper, as well. The Sweet Tart smell backs off and leaves me with a bit of tartness and the powdery lilacs on top.

 

I like this a lot more than I expected when I first sniffed the imp, but it isn't really me.

[sunqist]

#38 - I don't know what the heck is in this, but it's pretty fantastic. I'm not at all familiar with the fougere family of scents, so I don't know what's the base and what's the chaotic overlay, but this certainly smells like a designed perfume. Actually, it's entirely possible that the chaotic notes are too faint to smell, and I'm just getting the fougere base, but that's fine. It lasts a long time, it doesn't morph very much, and the throw is reasonable. I don't know why I'm bothering to review it, because I'm keeping it forever!

[Teaotter]

#52

In the imp: The oil is the translucent pinkish-brown that usually comes with amber as a base note. Is this really a fougere? The scent in the imp is a bit fruity and a bit sour (sour like old sweat socks, not sour like citrus). I'm a little afraid of this one!

Wet: Huh. That wasn't what I was expecting at all. Sweet amber with Dutch cocoa powder and fruit that I think is plum. There is still a hint of sour sweat underneath the rest of it, which I hope will go away.

Drydown: Oh, there's vetiver in here! Not the charred, smoky kind, but the green and grassy kind. I'm still getting a sweet amber and plum on top of the vetiver, with a bit of lavender and cocoa as well. Though I'm not convinced it's all plum; there may be a bit of apple in here, too.

Verdict: This is so gorgeous! The fruity amber is warm and sweet, the grassy vetiver and cocoa give it some seriousness, and the bit of sharpness from the lavender rounds it out. This reminds me a lot of Wulric, with the vanilla swapped out for fruit. Where Wulfric is powdery sweet, this one is translucent and a bit tannic. (If that even makes sense, ha!)

I'd never have labeled it a fougere if I'd just sniffed it, this smells more like an oriental on my skin.

[annemathematics]

fougere #4

 

at first sniff, there was something both extremely wonderful and bizarrely off putting about my bottle. each time I tested it, I'd want to like it...i'd almost like it, but something would go foul on me. I couldn't figure out what it was until i read Ashmedai's reivew at the top. I think our bottles must be close to twins. HONEY, sometimes wonderful on me, sometimes going to diaper-y BO, was here doing the latter. and yes there was a trace of baked-goods-spiciniess at the end that evoked cinnamon/cardamom/nuttmeg but wasn't one of these (well, maybe nuttmeg or allspice, def not cin or card). it was hard for me to get past the honey to suss out more about my blend.

 

I ended up trading it away, a little sad that the musky take-no-prisoners honey and my chemistry clashed so stubbornly. hopefully the new owner can pull off the note, because if so, this scent is a winner.

[ReallyZeb]

CT VII Fougere #44

 

Very limey when wet, which I like, but as is usual with lime it disappears really quickly. The fougere that's left stays citrusy for a while, with a touch of lavender. Once it's dry it's subtle herbs and citrus with maybe a tiny bit of cedar.

[quickdrawkiddo]

I got a decant of bottle 51 and I am really really into it. It's got a mossy undertone and there's something sweet on top, like honey or vanilla. Tons of staying power. <3

[zankoku_zen]

#55

This one is more of a typical cologne, notes of honey and tobacco. Amber base I think. It's gender neutral, to slightly masculine on me.

 

#49

This one has a sweet top note, and something that smells like fresh baked vanilla goods. Love it.

[zankoku_zen]

#13

 

This one is a nice manly fougere, and I think it has a bit of brown leather in it. It smells warm, slightly rough as opposed to a polished and cool man's cologne, and I definitely think there's brown leather in it. It's soft, and kinda cuddly. It makes me think of suede.

 

Overall, it's masculine veering toward gender neutral but a woman could pull this off. Low throw.

 

This isn't to mr. zee_zee's cup of tea, so sadly its off to the swap pile.

[Lethran]

#44

In bottle: Very delicate and hard to pin down. Lavender fougere dominant, with a floral in the lavender and lilac range layered over it. I can swear to the lavender in the fougere, but not to the second floral. It goes very well with the fougere. There it a delicate spice, possibly a citrus, and something giving it depth, possibly amber or amberette. It's mostly about the androgynous florals though. Wet: Strongly Lime over lavender fougere. Not nearly as floral at first, though the florals rise to support lavender. I am still having trouble pining down what flower it is , but am suspecting it's something I have no chance of guessing like honeysuckle or daisy. There is still a sweetness and a sexiness that could be amber or amberette, that supports the fougere beautifully, and rises as it wears. The lime backs down to dance with that hint of spice. This is absolutely lovely, likely a little too delicate for my skin chemistry, but sublime. It slowly evolves towards a floral supported by probably Amberette and possibly a touch of honey with he soft fougere as a canvas. Dry: Floral and amber or Amberette over fougere fading eventually to lavender fougere.

Edited October 28, 2015 by Gwydion

[Teaotter]

I swapped for #49.

 

In the bottle: fizzy, like champagne

 

Wet: effervescent ginger, something cool and kind of minty or camphoraceous, and a soft vanilla. The spouse smells Five-Spice Powder in the throw.

 

Drydown: Dry ginger cola over vanilla, with a bit of medicinal herbs. This smells like a tonic, but a very pleasant one.

 

 

#49

This one has a sweet top note, and something that smells like fresh baked vanilla goods. Love it.

[yakiguri]

I bought my bottle from Ashmedai. <3

 

Was super stoked for this since I missed out the Chaos Theories due to rough patch at work, and I was excited at the thought of honeyed lavender. But what he thought was allspice is either sarsparilla or sassafras, because root beer is SCREAMING out of my wrist. I'm talking rivers of A&W / Barq's / Dad's Root Beer spitting out my wrist like I was some sort of smelly Spider Man. x_X UGH. There's some honey but it's quietly whispering in the corner while the root beer diva steals the spotlight.

 

Unfortunately I dropped the (full!) bottle while testing so my sink and vanity are going to reeking of root beer for some time. I may not have liked this blend but having half a BPAL bottle literally go down the drain is heartbreaking.

[Casablanca]

Bottle #42, the answer to the universe

In the bottle, this CTVII is herby and medicinal, and I get more than a touch of oakmoss tint -- more like herbs over a rounded oakmoss base that smells, to me, like the color olive. I don't smell much that's floral here.

On my skin, CTVII gives off a strong, leafy, oily, olive-colored scent. I wonder if there's violet leaf in it? There's also a touch of old, sour, brownish lime. Lavender is struggling to come out past the wall of olivey oil, but is mostly blocked. I don't smell any lilac.

This is a green fougere. I like some green blends. Maybe not so much this one.

[alterosen]

Decant of #73

 

Never would have pegged this as a fougere: though it starts out with a light musk, it quickly becomes honeyed & sweet, even rosin-like without any brighter citrus or mossy notes. It stays at this stage quite a while & then becomes something very similar to a light version of Snake Oil. But this is better because it doesn't do the "baby powder of doom" that real Snake Oil does on me (so probably no black musk). I think this really belongs in the Oriental category but I'm happy to have it!