Sequoia

It brings back some of my best memories; highpointing (in my case reaching the peak of the highest mountains in the lower 48). It’s fresh and uplifting, but as others have mentioned the longevity is not the greatest. This is one of the best photorealistic cedar/forest fragrance that I own, and I plan to keep it in my collection. When I smell it, my mood is instantly elevated and I love that it's nontoxic. I’ve also tried some of Abbott’s other scents and they are all great unisex options, with my 2nd favorite being Big Sky.

This smells like burning Palo Santo, I love it. Genuine natural woody incense scent.

Abbott New York City is a brand that focuses on "clean, sustainable beauty" and it has that sterilized modern feel that most "clean" beauty does. However, the woodiness comes from a nice cedar botanical extract, but the rest of the notes/ingredients come from the usual lineup of synthetics you'll find in Sephora's "clean" fragrances. While I like it just fine, I am exhausted with the phoney marketing of so-called clean beauty that poses as natural when it is the literal *stripping away* of all natural ingredients because natural ingredients don't smell "clean" and because the natural world can cause reactions in some people. I guess we better eliminate everything real and replace it with flat, lifeless synthetics as though they're actually better for you. Don't be fooled. Clean is fake. If you like this scent, buy it, but just know you're not getting the purity of nature, you're a tiny bit of cedar because its so benign, but the rest has nothing to do with nature despite the marketing.

This was a totally intuitive blind buy– another successful one at that! On a cold day, after the first winter storm of the season, this incensey, cedar-centric scent is perfect. The wood is pure and photorealistic. The incense, especially in the chilly winter air, adds a mysterious, cool fog to one’s vibe. It paints pictures of wintry/foggy deciduous forests in my mind. The sandalwood is subtle and the pepper adds a bit of scent texture without being overpowering. I’m actually surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed wearing it especially after reading others' reviews and seeing the comments on its longevity. I suspect that folks may go noseblind to it or it doesn't last long on everyone. It isn't a beast mode scent, by any means, but I do catch whiffs of it for several hours. It doesn’t evolve much and lasts for a moderate amount of time. It is as unisex as the scent of freshly cut, fragrant lumber.

I recently found out about this new US based niche house from my friend below picknenders. They are offering samples of all 4 of their scent for $5 with free shipping so I figured why not. Antoine Lie created 3 of the 4 who's well known for his various ELDO creations and Wonderwood so it was a no brainer. Sequoia reminds me of the CDG Incense series so much that it really could be the 5th frag in that series. It opens up with a pine smell that quickly translates to a woody incense vibe with a touch of pepper. It's sort of coniferous but not completely like Lutens Fille en Aiguilles. It's minimalistic in a way that diehard smoky/incense fans won't fall head over heels for it but it's very wearable and approachable. Can be signature worthy and I consider it a safe and likeable scent. This is the 1st that I have tried and can't wait to try the others!