The Forest of the Empress

[Lycanthrope]

A verdant grove of evergreens, the promise of peace, quiet, and refuge within the heart of Nature’s embrace: clusters of clubmoss huddle silently under a gently shadowed canopy of silver fir, blue spruce, red cedar, cypress, and live oak.

Another earthy offering from the Empress!

From the bottle, this is more fir-heavy, but is a swirl of mostly coniferous, sappy evergreens, but backed up with a touch of oaky woods. The cedar and cypress are trying to peek through.

Dabbed on the skin, whoa, whoa nelly, oh, man, I am Become Conifer!

STAND ASIDE, YOU ANGIOSPERMS
FOR WE ARE THE STUBBIER, SCRAGGLIER PIONEERS
TO CONSERVE WATER WE DEVELOPED THICK NEEDLES
(WHICH REQUIRE SIGNIFICANT SUN EXPOSURE)
IN MOST FOREST ECOSYSTEMS WE PROMULGATE FIRST
THEN YOU FROO FROO BROAD LEAFED WHIPPERSNAPPERS
COME IN AND OVERSHADOW US
KILLING OUR TINY IMMOBILE SAPLINGS

...BUT WE LIKE CLEARINGS
AND GROW IN COPSES WHEN ONE OF YOU FALLS
SO WATCH YOUR BACK!
GYMNOSPERM PRIDE
FIE, FIE YOU OAK
BEWARE NEEDLES IN YOUR BA®K!

In more fragrance related news from that odd divergence: This is a HUGE blast of needly green things. It's on me almost a bit much and reads almost as Single Note: Holiday Christmas Tree to me. It's very natural, just strong, and even for its strong opener, it actually fades pretty fast on me. This is common when I'm wearing any 'evergreen' note. With about half an hour, it's a whisper of mostly a bit of dry fir, and some cedar warmth, but beyond that, not too much else comes roaring to the surface.

If you're a big fan of evergreens, don't pass this one up, it's an experience, true, but at least on me died down pretty quick.

[roseus]

I goth this for my guy but I'm loving it on myself too! Mostly I get sweet fir, sappy and cool smelling (without being minty). There is a little herbal cypress peaking out and I distinctly get some cedar grounding it. A beautiful forest scent without the snow notes that often accompany them. My head feels cleared, like breathing fresh mountain air.

[Casablanca]

Last night, out of the mailbox, I had blue spruce coming on so fresh and strong and blue out of this, I thought it might need a timeout. Whoa holidays. On the other hand, I still enjoy wearing GYMNOSPERM LOVE. (Props, Lycanthrope, props!)

Now, this morning, silvery fir stands tallest in the blend, lean and almost crystalline, like an icicle or the cough of a cold storm. The spruce is just an occasional drifting blue ghost. The Empress's forest is cold and fresh, mostly white and grey and green.

After drydown, I get hints of woody oak and an uncharacteristically restrained cedar, but the fir still rules.

Less than an hour in, the conifers fade and I start to get something that reminds me more of distant hay or dried grass. It's clubmoss, maybe? It's dry and autumnal after the initial wintry rush, and it seems time has reversed its progression. But its phase doesn't last long. It's the last breath of this forest before it dissipates on me.

An autumn and winter blend that's enjoyable, if a bit short-lived.

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: I grew up in an area with lots of mountains and trees, and now that I live in a place where it is rare to see grass and trees, I am more curious about forest scents than ever. This is the scent of an evergreen forest that isn’t covered in snow. I get lots of fir, some spruce, and some cedar. It smells very realistic.

 

Wet: The bright, silver fir note is the most prominent note on me. Behind it, I smell the blue spruce and the red cedar. The combination of the silver fir and blue spruce give it a cool, wintery vibe even though this is a forest without snow, but the cedar adds this warmth to the scent. When I close my eyes and smell this, it really feels as if I am standing in the middle of a forest.

 

Dry: The scent is sweeter now. One of the coniferous notes has a sweet, almost jammy quality to it. I can also smell the dry oak now, and the cedar is more prominent than it was before, so the forest is warmer and less intense on the tree needles.

 

The jammy quality I got ends up going away, and it ends up being a lightly sweet evergreen scent with the warmth of the cedar and oak in the background.

 

Verdict: I absolutely adored the wet stage of this scent. I do not love the dry phase as much, but that’s because it’s not as intensely coniferous. I plan on doing a full-day test of this before this goes down and may end up getting a bottle of this depending on how hard the Lilith update hits me. But if I don’t end up upgrading to a bottle, I will definitely be keeping my decant!

 

ETA: This ended up being my favorite forest scent that Beth has done, and I regret not getting a back-up bottle.

Edited February 21, 2021 by doomsday_disco

[biggnerd]

In the decant: mmmm, beautiful evergreens with something a little greener underneath, cypress? I love these kind of smells.

 

Wet on the wrist: Evergreen with some wood underneath, getting good cedar under the evergreen. This is the smell of warm evergreens in the summer. This isn't a cool, winter scent. It's bright and warm and sunny. It's got that beautiful astringent, green almost fruitiness that fir, spruce, and juniper have. Did I mention that I love these scents? (also, have had several moscow mules).

 

Drying down: Evergreen is still there, but it's starting to yield some to a warm paper scent like I get from Dee.

 

Final: Warm wood, slightly soapy

[Lucchesa]

The Forest of the Empress goes on in a clarion blast of all the evergreens. I won't pretend to be able to differentiate silver fir from Douglas fir, or actually fir, spruce, cedar and cypress from pine, hemlock and redwoods, but this is very Christmas tree farm in summer, and I love it. While it does feel warm, not snowy, it is also lush, not dry, like a forest in the Pacific Northwest. The initial rush of needly greenery softens on my skin and within an hour has morphed into a much softer and sweeter evergreen scent, with the moss and oak apparent. This is not unlike the drydown of Theoi Nomioi on me. Lovely!

[zankoku_zen]

Herbal trees - fir, cedar, and oak. Feminine, and yet woody. Deep and mysterious. Good throw and wear length.

 

Definitely magical. This is what the forest for a Totoro smells like.

[annemathematics]

I just have soooo many evergreen forest scents already, that I really don't need another...ha! what I am saying?

I DO have a lost of forest scents, but this one is just so big and bright and pretty, the sap so bright and potent and gleaming. i kept coming back to this imp and wearing it always brightens my heart and makes me smile. the waft is moderate and it fades after a few hours. the forest sap scent stays true for the duration that it lasts, and doesn't morph into anything other than magical forest.

 

compared to other evergreen scents in my collection, this one is all about that virile fresh sticky sap. brighter and truer and cleaner than the juice in my other bottles. I adore this.

[alyelle]

Imp: fir and sweet cedar, blue-grey spruce, the sound of a distant river and the rustle of leaves

 

Wet: very gentle, all things considered - the soft, clinging scent of fir trees, underscored by the warm richness of oak and cedar. Peaceful, solitary, and green.

 

Dry: spicy bruised leaf litter, fading into a mist of fir needles and fog.

 

Incredibly short lived at only 2-3 hours, with a mild throw, but such a beautiful and ethereal scent - I will probably try to track down another.

 

Stars: ★★★★★