In The Forest

[GoldenRubee]

Out of the mid-wood's twilight
Into the meadow's dawn,
Ivory limbed and brown-eyed,
Flashes my Faun!



He skips through the copses singing,
And his shadow dances along,
And I know not which I should follow,
Shadow or song!



O Hunter, snare me his shadow!
O Nightingale, catch me his strain!
Else moonstruck with music and madness
I track him in vain!


- Oscar Wilde


A wild, passion-inflamed skin musk with black pine pitch, brown leather, black clove, copal, white sage, oakmoss, patchouli, and saffron.

In The Forest is a deep, dark, resinous, mysterious scent. It borders on the extremely masculine side. My first reaction was that the pine pitch was over powering. Next was that the brown leather smelled like new shoe leather. Strong and gaining power even when the sage and oakmoss make their very meek appearance. The patchouli and clove only adds more strength and spice to this already potent mix. All in all, this is just too masculine for me. I love all the notes but I am afraid that this combination will only get stronger with age. I will pass this one to my son who will no doubt love it.

[Gold Dust Kitten]

Reviewing scents when the sharks are circling is always fun. Some things smell REALLY good and others smell REALLY bad. The first time I tested this was earlier this week when it arrived in my mailbox, and all I could smell was chemical leather and something sharply herbal. It smelled nothing like what was promised. I pulled it out again tonight and re-tested, and it seems to be getting better. There's still a weird sharp smell, but I can smell the clove, patchouli, copal, skin musk and fuzzy sage. The chemical-ness burns off as it dries, and I see a glimmer of hope that this could age well. Something about this oil reminds me of Ivanushka - I'm not saying they smell the same because I'm not doing a side-by-side comparison, it's just that they are both forest scents with soft, animalistic-musky fuzziness.

 

I'll definitely keep this bottle around.

[SadariEvenstar]

I love this. Going by the notes I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it, but I'm glad I got a decant on a whim. This smells like wearing a new leather, possibly suede, jacket in the woods in very early spring. It smells like the promise of growing things to come without there being anything green in the scent. There is warm pine needles and the very particular smell of the air in early spring - where the cold dry scent of winter mixes with the warm moister air of spring.

 

eta: I'm allergic to this. I put it on to wear for the day and I couldn't stop sneezing all day. It actually really made me feel awful.

Edited February 22, 2012 by SadariEvenstar

[OctoberGwen]

Mmmmmm. This is the first blend with leather in it that I've really liked, maybe because it's balanced with natural forest and musky smells rather than booze or hairspray or what have you. This is brown and deep green and gold, comforting and furry and gorgeous.

 

I get a piney smell but not an overwhelming one - it's more a sense of pine needles nearby. There's just a hint of sage that's really nice with the underlying patchouli. None of these stand out as individual smells to me, rather they all blend together to create something else. Actually, SadariEvenstar described it perfectly: wearing a soft suede jacket while crunching through the sunlit woods on an early Spring day. It's just wonderful.

 

I'm not big into wearing masculine scents, but I will definitely be keeping this.

Edited February 19, 2012 by OctoberGwen

[surf-tormented]

Leather Forest. LOVE!!

 

I don't find this blend overly masculine, but I am a guy's girl, so take that into consideration. It has an almost lemony freshness without the lemon, coupled with a shoe/jacket type leather, like a new item of leather clothing and then comes the great forest type smell.

 

I've never gone wrong with the Bards. I have gotten this one, The Traveller and Host of the Air, those two from past years and they have all been major win on my skin. I do have pale, dry skin, so I am amp notes different from other types of skin.

 

This is morphing to a fresh leather blend...is that possible? It is light and airy, while being a leather blend. As it dries, more of the spices come through, as does the oakmoss, making it delightfully green and black at the same time.

 

I guess I like the scent of a faun in the woods, because I seriously adore this. I find it an unisex blend, though, I feel men and women could both wear this scent and smell great!

Edited February 23, 2012 by surf-tormented

[Dark Alice]

Wet: Sharp, wet smacked leather with skin musk. This does smell like someone might have been spanked in the forest. Too bad that this leather, again this type of leather causes migraines. Drydown: Clean, skin musk, leather, with sharp pine pitch. This has got to go and I will be rehoming my bottle when it arrives.

[Larinessa]

Oh.

 

Oh my.

 

This is the gorgeous leather note of the red rider. The tough leather armor note I associate with the renaissance festival I work at. Along with it is the pine pitch (which is slightly pine sol right up at my skin level) but the throw is a softer foresty scent of walking through the woods. I can detect the cypress, and a vaguely musky note at the core.

 

I love this, the clear winner of the 4 scents I tested today, and I also think I may try layering this with the black Apple of Saturn.

 

In the Forest wins the bottle worthy for today!

[dreamingjune]

In bottle: Almost wet smelling resins with a hint of leather?

 

Wet: Why does this smell like The Seekim, minus the cocoa? Also this has a perfectly balanced amount of the rawhide type leather note of blends like The Red Rider.

 

Dry: I am guessing that the white sage or black clove is making me think of the hay note in The Seekim, though this is fading more here. I don't get the typical wet, or green forest notes here. It is more of a perfect blend of resins, wood, and leather with a slightly sharp top note.

 

Overall: I usually amp the crap out of this particular leather note, but here it is behaving nicely and not drowning out everything else. In The Forest is extremely well blended so that the individual notes seem to be dissolving into one cohesive scent that is hard to pin down. Definitely a nice blend of freshness, musk, earth, green, and smoke. Also, unlike any other blend I own with similar notes. Despite that, I would also say that those who liked Gacela of the Dark Death need to try this.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Oooo! This is so up my ally. The rich dark leather softy presides over a masculine blend in which musk, pine, copal, and saffron form a strong second rank. I am fascinated by the way the copal and saffron make a lighter counterpoint for the darker leather/pine/ musk combination. Patchouli is providing an earthy sort of grounding. The clove, sage, oakmoss add edge and complexity. This is complex and beautifully balanced, and does suggest a bard moving quietly through the forest. Wet: Leather dominant still, with pitch a strong second. The copal and saffron start out third strongest, but rise to being strongly dominant, pushing the leather and pitch down to second. Talk about fast morphing. O.o the other elements are now serving as a lovely and complex background to show off the four strongest notes. It’s not what I expected at all, but fascinating in it’s own right. Ten minutes later, I’m wondering if this might be a touch too much copal and saffron for my taste, but it’s a small quibble. Dry: Heaven. Spicy, musky, leather with lovely hints of pine and incense. Sexy and glorious.

[kawaiiferreto]

When this is wet it is very potent. Like "I am manly trees and leather, hear me roar. RAAAR!" It reminded me a lot of Brom Bones.

 

As it dries more the forest comes out to play and this really does evoke images of a sexy man in leather running around in a forest -- More nature-y outdoors dude than testosterone dripping I AM MANLY MAN HEAR ME ROAR like it was at first. I don't know that this is something I could see me wearing but it is very nice. I might play around with layering in something to make it a little more femme, because it is quite awesome.

[mistressfizz]

Sniff: Oh my, deep brown leather with hints of grass. I think I'm going to like this!

 

Wet: A rich worn leather, no chemical sharpness here. There's definitely spice lurking in the background. It’s not a foodie spice, but pleasantly herbal, refreshing and clean, balancing the heaviness of the leather. It has an almost “formal” feel, ceremonial and solemn, but comforting at the same time. I imagine a dark sacred grove, deer and fox and the occasional bear keeping watch.

 

Dry: The woods & musk become stronger, tempering the leather. I thought this would be Spanked Lite, but it has evolved into something different altogether. It dries dusty leather & woods and is surprisingly light, with a gentle but insistent warmth. A beautiful natural leather blend!

[stellamaris]

I like this one very much, although I am suspicious that I smell like a really nice chair, or handbag, as it is very

LEATHER. Quite LEATHER.

It's strange, I get the LEATHER straight out of the gate, then it turns to pure soap for about 5 minutes, then back to LEATHER. Mind you, this is only like a day out of the mail, this one may become more than LEATHER. I do like it though, I mixed it up today with Peacock Queen, my own version of Whip. Which I also love. Next time I want to try it with Elizabeth of Bohemia.

[zankoku_zen]

Pine, patchouli, leather and clove. Oddly enough, this sort of reminds me to an RPG blend... Ranger, I think?

 

Amping both the leather and pine, this is not my type of blend.

 

Off to a more loving home.

[sihaya09]

I was a bit nervous about this one, as pine pitch has ruined many a scent for me. To my nose, in the vial, there is a deep, lush green that comes out first, coupled with the same "skin musk" I recognize from scents like Buck Moon. On the skin, after about a half hour, this baby is all brown leather and clove. It's definitely not too masculine for me to wear, and sits rather close to my skin. I like it a lot!

Edited March 29, 2012 by sihaya09

[OlfactoryMaven]

When wet on my skin it smells really soapy, but upon dry down I am getting soft clove and leather. The skin musk in this helps take away some of the masculinity. If you like Quincy Morris try this one out. Definitely getting a bottle of this!

[theseagrows]

honestly, i mostly just smell leather. my skin may amp it in this, because it is utterly dominating this blend on me. i think i can pick up the sage, copal and oakmoss, but that's about it. it's a lighter leather scent than i've smelled. light and earthy with a strong leather note, on me. i like the idea of this, but wish the leather hadn't been so strong, it just smells way too traditionally masculine for my tastes. off to swaps.

[Doc M]

New car with a pine air freshener.... first foray into leather, hope they aren't all like this....

[yewberry]

Looks like my experience with this fragrance is a little unusual. I don't find it intense at all, but warm and surprisingly fresh. Leather at the front, pine winding its way throughout. A little warm spice and patchouli in supporting roles. Ah, and there's the copal in the dry-down. The oakmoss really ties it all together, melding it into one unique whole.

 

Overall a gorgeous, surprisingly airy, unisex-tipping-toward-masculine scent on me. So glad I bought a bottle!

[thekittenkat]

In the bottle: The leather is the chemical note, alas.

 

Wet: Ah, that's better! The leather calms down. Although it's not listed, I'm getting a hint of a nice pipe tobacco note.

 

The dry-down: There's the lovely pine pitch and oakmoss, with copal to sweet it. A tiny bit of my beloved patch, but it nor the clove are trying to take over. This is a bit like snuggling into the bf's brown leather jacket after he's worn Raven Moon or Jersey Devil. I like this morpher of a scent, and am considering a bottle (I have only a partial) for the bf.

[bheansidhe]

If this scent were a man, I would beg him to take me now.

 

In a manly fashion.

[milo]

Soft buttery leather and outdoors greenery and musk at first. More musky when dry with a touch of evergreen and wet leather. This is a masculine blend, so I'll never wear it, and the wet leather is really off putting. Not for me, but I wouldn't mind trying this on a guy.

[yakiguri]

On my skin In the Forest turns into The Illustrated Woman having a tumble in the woods with VILF. Pine and spicy leather are first and foremost, and I barely get the other notes. I'm a leather-lovin' fembro, but even *I* find In the Forest a bit too masculine for me to wear. I'll leave my decant be for a bit in hopes age brings the other notes out more and makes this blend more complex, especially since I already have both The Illustrated Woman and VILF.

[Little Bird]

My decant of this one has already been handed over to my hubby, as he loves pine scents (and I love leather, earth and spices on him, so it's a win for everyone, lol). I get mostly sour pine, dark and manly leather, and undertones of soft, earthy oakmoss and light, clove-y spices, but the scent is less sour smelling on my hubby. The drydown is less evergreens and more spiced leather. Manly and foresty. Not my favorite leather or pine scent, but the decant is a keeper.

[mymymai]

ITI: Leather here definitely is a brown leather. I small that coupled with clove on first sniff. Even without smelling more of this scent’s depth, I really like it. On second sniff, I can smell the sweet resin of patchouli and the slightly astringent quality of sage. Yum!

 

Wet: The leather is the first note that I smell on my skin, followed closely bby the resinous sweetness of copal and patchouli. The clove rounds out the detectable notes nicely. It reminds me of riding horseback though the forest when I was a child.

 

Dry:Leather and something that smells a little like berries. There is a soft spiciness from the clove and patchouli as well. Pretty.

[DJ Sin]

At first touch when In The Forest hits my skin its pure straight soap on me.

 

After it calms down, it behaves nicely on me. I can smell the leather and the clove, its like an old leather jacket I used to wear out at the coffee shop. Long last memories of wild nights.