Hwyl

You're walking alone through a forest of cedar and cypress. The trees huddle close on all sides, but there is little underbrush and enough space to comfortably stroll between the tall trees. Through the canopy overhead, the sky is the color of dark slate. The sun has not yet risen, but the faded silvery-white of the eastern horizon suggests that dawn approaches. A wispy haze hangs in the cool morning air. The earth you tread is damp, your footsteps muffled by fallen leaves, not dry and brittle, but heavy with moisture from rain that fell the day before. Gossamer clings to the branches of nearby trees. Miniscule droplets of water hang daintily on the fine threads, not quite shimmering in the pre-dawn light. A stream churns softly in the distance as the current washes over ancient stones worn smooth by years spent resting in the shallow waters. Among the trees, you discover a small clearing not far away. In the center you see a lichen-covered rock that seems, somehow, an inviting place to rest. As you approach, you notice the ground here is a thick carpet of moss. Struck by a curious urge to feel the moss between your toes, you remove your boots and woolen socks. The feeling of the soft moss upon your feet is a comfort. You rest upon the lichen-covered rock, closing your eyes and breathing deeply. You are captivated by the beauty of this place and allow yourself to be absorbed within its serenity. A sound startles you to alertness. Was it a broken twig you heard? How cliché, you tell yourself. That only happens in movies. Still...the thought occurs to you that you may urgently need to flee this place. You find yourself wishing you hadn't removed your boots. You sit motionless, holding your breath and listening intently for another stick to snap, knowing the sound will never come. An uncommon stillness permeates the clearing. The babble of the softly rolling stream has strangely faded away within this secluded patch of land. There is motion, no sound. You exhale heavily to breathe life back into the world, to make sure you can still hear something, anything. You reassure yourself that the sound you heard was only in your mind. The majesty and mystery of this place has caused your imagination to run wild. And yet you can't shake the feeling that you're being watched. You look around, but slowly, trying not to appear as alarmed as you feel. You tell yourself to act natural. It's nothing. You're being silly. You scan the woods in panorama, your eyes bouncing from tree to tree, searching the spaces in between. Everything is as it should be. But then...that's not true, is it? You fixate on an old, gnarled cypress tree nearest you, mere meters away. Something about this tree unsettles you. You stare at the base of the tree and slowly -very slowly- you scan upward. Your gaze passes over the lower branches. As your seeking eyes work their way upward, they catch upon something! For a moment, you think you glimpse among the branches a crouching form silhouetted against the backdrop of the morning-gray sky. But before you can focus on the dark figure, a sudden flash of light! The figure is engulfed in thick gray smoke. Was the flash accompanied by any sound? You can't be sure, but you recoil in fright and squint your eyes as tightly as you can. When you open your eyes again, your vision is momentarily blurred. The world quickly comes back into view. Up in the branches, the smoke is beginning to fade, snaking away on an airy breeze which barely rustles the treetops. As the smoke slowly dissipates you wait, your eyes trained on the spot where you saw the figure. Only nothing is there. Just the gnarled branches of the cypress tree splayed against the backdrop of a stone-colored patch of sky, trails of smoke dwindling off to mingle with the morning haze. And hanging loosely from a one twisting branch, a single broken twig. ________ Long story short, this smells like you've encountered a shinobi deep in a secluded part of some Japanese forest and they ninja-vanished on you with a smoke bomb. 10/10 would ninja again

Hwyl is my signature scent. I’ve worn it for about five to six years and still haven’t found anything that comes close. I usually lean towards woody and earthy fragrances, although I try to explore clean, citrus, and aquatic scents as well. Hwyl is still the reference point I keep returning to. The opening is dry and quietly spicy. It's not loud, not attacking the nose in the way other spicy scents do, and also not smoky or incense-heavy. It feels like stepping into an urban spa that exists for functionality rather than escapism, and the owner of the spa "knows their shit" instead of just opening the business for the sake of capitalism, you know? There is a sense of clarity in the air, almost medicinal in its alertness, but without mint or anything that would tip it into traditional balm territory. It wakes you up without agitating you. As it develops, Hwyl becomes atmospheric rather than note-driven. It softens the emotional temperature of stiff environments like corporate offices, but at the same time creates a subtle buffer between you and other people. It doesn't invite familiarity. It helps you relax while maintaining personal boundaries. It's very androgynous, calm but not comforting, and grounded but not warm. The dry-down is where the fragrance feels most natural to me. It's nature as texture, not decor. It's moss that grows on its own. It's dirt that hasn't been curated. Right now most woody fragrances out there are trying to be friendly like a fairy godmother, a wellness spa, or a crowded tourist temple that looks serene on Instagram but is actually noisy with a long line of people waiting their turn to take 'gram' with the place. I love that Hwyl is definitely not that. Hwyl feels older, quieter, more self-contained. When people are trying to decorate their home interior into a 'zen' place, Hwyl just makes you the damn god of a thousand-year-old forest. For context, some of my top fragrances right now are Thé Noir 29, Tam Dao, Another 13, Vetyverio, and Santal 33. Thé Noir 29 and Vetyverio are social and extroverted. They're what you wear when you want to welcome people. Another 13 feels like clean laundry in sunlight. It is clean, but it's lab-level clean, so when compared to Hwyl, it completely lacks personality. Tam Dao is the commercialized Instagram temple experience I mentioned. Not bad, but definitely not unique. And Santal 33 is the definition of city people thinking what it feels like to 'touch grass' when they haven't really gone out to touch real grass. (Please, artificial public parks made for you by your government is not grass.) Hwyl remains the only one that gives you the real texture of nature. One thing I'd be extra careful with when wearing Hwyl, though, is that on a bad day like when mixed with sweat in Summer or when mixed with that jacket you're wearing twice in winter... Hwyl could smell like moldy laundry. It's a dry, spiky woody scent, so it has zero ability to round out any natural odor that's usually also spiky already. Just make sure you wear it on a day your canvas is clean.

It is not a lush green forest. It is maybe not even completely outdoors. I imagine an old wooden structure, with open doors and windows in the middle of a vast cypress forest. It is a 50 degree morning, but as the afternoon unfolds, warm dry air blows into the space. It is a church, temple, or even old abandoned library. Light pools into the darkened room in rays through the glass panes that remain, illuminated by dust and smoke. There is a feeling of knowledge being passed down, on the verge of being forgotten. This is one snapshot of HWYL. In trying to find a meditative, woodsy/forest scent, I have sampled over 100 fragrances over the past 6 months. Most were too synthetic, or smelled a bit generic. HWYL was the first AHA moment on this path for me. This is by far my favorite (and my girlfriends as well). She is incredibly sensitive to smell, and rather picky. I will put it on and get remarks every time. Strangely enough, on occasion she will compliment it and ask what I am wearing. HWYL is a bit amorphous and mysterious in that way, the scent can change based on various factors and be completely different from hour to hour on occasion. Sometimes I am in an ancient temple, but other times I am transported to vast, dry forest floor looking up into an expansive canopy. At least on my skin, it starts very subtle and gains power over the next hour or so. It is difficult to describe the notes exactly, but the overall atmosphere it gives off is a drier wood with wafts of mist/smoke and a hint of enigmatic spice. A bit of incense, but not at all like would smell in yoga studio or headshop. The vetiver listed in here does not smell at like other vetiver heavy fragrances I have sampled. I do not get the comparisons to Encre Noir at all, although I could see how they are in the same realm. Encre Noir is more obviously synthetic to my nose, whereas HWYL is more subtle and natural and shapeshifting on my skin. I am certain HWYL uses aromachemicals in addition to naturals, but they are used in a way that is subtle, balanced, and serves the whole. No part of the experience has any synthetic bumps in the road. Researching good scents to sample, CDG Hinoki was also listed as a close cousin to HWYL. Again, I do not think they smell that similar, but are in the same realm. Hinoki is a bit more green and less dry, and has a slightly synthetic note in there (ISO E?) but is overall enjoyable. If HWYL does not work for you, it is worth sampling Hinoki. In my newly embarked journey of fragrance, HWYL will always be a touchstone for me and I currently consider it my signature scent. I've been wearing it this winter frequently, and I could see it being great in the fall and spring as well. Time will tell if that holds true for summer as well. Probably office friendly if it suits your personality. I highly recommend getting a sample of this and spending some time with it. Throw in a good book and some coffee or tea, and you are setting yourself up for a successful day.

This was a blind buy for me and was not love at first whiff, but as I continue to wear it I am starting to really enjoy it. I bought this to switch from Bleu de Chanel to something less toxic with no formaldehyde or phthalates, which is a new journey for me in the world of fragrance. I find that this is really missing that bright citrusy / bergamot hit that Bleu has and instead offers a much more resinous, vetiver-rich, mossy foreword, which reminds me of the faux ambergris notes in Sauvage by Dior. These notes were a touch overwhelming for me when smelling the atomizer, but while the initial application suggests that the herbaceous top notes are blanketed in vetiver, the dry down is incredibly complex and reveals a totally different scent. I have combination oily/dry, hairy Mediterranean skin, which tends to make earthy resin notes smell sort of damp - part of what led me to not re-purchase Sauvage. I was worried the same reaction would happen between my skin and Hwyl, but I find that once it dries down (which takes quite a while), the powerful notes of cypress, vetiver, and moss take a backseat to the warm spice of frankincense and, to my detection, a hint of clove. The thyme note is more like a supporting act to the subtle spice and earthiness, and a very clear note of smoke rounds it all out nicely, allowing the fragrance to smolder on the skin. The overall impression is one of contemplation and knowledge with a papery finish, like you've spent a crisp spring morning reading a good book by the fire before venturing into the forest for a petrichor-laced expedition. I am impressed with this fragrance, especially for being a more natural formulation without harsh chemicals and phthalates. The sillage is rather intimate, but the staying power is phenomenal for a less synthetic product. I applied this in the early afternoon and could still smell it on my skin during my workout the following morning. It also sticks to clothing nicely, and I feel contrary to similar colognes, the scent doesn't oxidize or sour after prolonged wear. While this hasn't replaced my signature scent just yet, I'm not ruling it out and I'm eager to see what else Aesop has to offer. I do think this fragrance skews more masculine than feminine, but I could see it working on a more mature woman or a nonbinary individual. It is a far cry from flirty and fun with its more studious and earthy scent profile, but the scent feels transmutable and open to interpretation on different skin types. I would, however, recommend trying this on in an Aesop location or retailer over buying blind. I feel that I got sort of lucky in how my skin helped to develop the fragrance, but I get the sense that others may not have the same experience.

This is stunning and something I've been looking for since I started my fragrance journey! The perfect woody scent. It has nothing else, just different shades of wood notes and some smoke. It's beguiling, nuanced, mysterious, and within two wearings this has become a top 5 fragrance for me! I bought a full bottle the day I wore my sample for a second time! I’ve looked for a long time for a woody scent that smells like... well, wood. And every single time I try something someone suggests or that is listed as a woody fragrance, it never smells like woods or like this. To say I’m beyond excited and happy to have found something like this is an understatement. As far as who can wear this and when, I’d say it definitely leans more towards a masculine scent, but a certain type of female could pull this off. And it’s definitely a more casual fragrance, not something you’d necessarily put on before going out to a fancy dinner or tuxedo event. Slightly learning towards a humid scent instead of bone dry wood, it has the most beautiful Hinoki Cypress Wood that is the dominate note the entire time. It’s almost like a sauna type smell. It's accented so nicely by the frankincense, giving it such a soft slightly lemon like quality. The smoky note (probably from the vetiver) is definitely stronger in the opening and first hr or so, but then recedes into the background and is incredible. And the touch of sandalwood (that you don’t smell) adds a smooth texture to the entire fragrance that mellows the whole thing out a few hours in. If you’ve ever smelled Hinoki from CDG, then you have a very good idea of what this smells like and how amazing this is. It’s like CDG Hinoki, but much better and has amazing sillage and lasts all day! Sillage is moderate to strong for the first few hrs, then moderate. And it lasts 10-12 hrs minimum. And this is coming from someone that has skin that hardly ever holds a scent for more then a few hours! Performance is amazing, but also appropriate. I don’t know what a Japanese forest smells like, but if this is what it smells like, I need to book a trip to Japan immediately! And for how well this performs with only a few sprays, it is very affordable and full bottle worthy. Barnabé Fillion created a masterpiece here!