Italian Forest

This is such a wonderful fragrance. This does remind me of the Catholic church insense, it's very comforting and pleasant. Years ago I would go to midnight mass on Christmas with my dad, aside from when I was very young it was the one time a year I would attend a church service. He has since passed away and this smell reminds me of those times with my dad. It is extremely potent, a couple sprays fills a room, it's very long lasting, projects like crazy. I love cypress, and insense fragrances, but I find this difficult to wear, it's very strong and can probably be assertive to anyone around you. It's not bad by any means, and others may very much enjoy wearing this out and about, it's quite wonderful. I just prefer to wear this alone before bed or spray it on a pillow sheet because it's just a really comforting smell, and has an olfactory thing going on for me.

I’ve wanted to try Italian Cypress for a very long time, and I love the cypress note... Italian Forest seems to have more going on than the notes listed above would indicate. Something in this reminds me of a posh potpourri, like the smell wafting through Pottery Barn or housewares section of Nieman Marcus. There is a warm, soft spiciness here that makes it cozy rather than austere. I wasn’t expecting that accord based on the note combination. It’s not “cologney”, but smells more like a... scented candle? Maybe, not quite, but it’s closer to that effect than anything else I can think of right now. This is not a bad thing, just... different. It’s a quality scent that performs well and exudes undeniable classiness. I need to wear it more to see how I take to it, but, well, there it is.

If you have ever been to a Catholic church, this smells identical to the fragrant incense from the brass censer that the priest carries through the church. I used to be Catholic so it is a familiar and even pleasant smell. The fragrance is excellent, masculine, earthy and piney. The projection and longevity are both outstanding with very few sprays. I can smell this fragrance with every inhale. Psalm 45:6-8

My last bottle of TF Italian Cypress ran out about 7yrs ago. This is pretty close. At 1/3rd the price. The only difference I can tell is the longevity and thickness of it. Italian Forest is just a lighter version of Italian Cypress but the scent is pretty spot on.

As a person who appreciates TF IC and vintage Z-14 I ordered this and am not disappointed. Definitely same family of scents, which includes also includes Floris 1962. A well blended linear mossy cypress. I don't see anything in common with Polo Green.

This is amazing. I can definitely see where some where’s get the Polo green vibe from this. Very nicely done, I think this will become a regular for me, office safe and smells well composed. Woody and conifer fresh, well worth the purchase!

Fantastic versatile, masculine scent with excellent performance. I have not smelled the Tom Ford but can not imagine it being much better than this. It was an instant love for me. Definitely worth a sniff for all fans of woody scents.

If you loved the original Halston Z-14, then you will absolutely love this. When you take the cap off and smell, it is like coming home...

A few caveats before my review: I've never smelled the Tom Ford OG. Comparing this to Polo and Z14, I'm using the currently available versions; have never smelled vintage versions. Also, with Z14, I have the latest latest, not the one from a few years ago that had a heavy cinnamon note. So, with that out of the way, what can I say? Italian Forest is awesome! If you like old style masculine fragrances, you can't go wrong with Italian Forest. It opens immediately with a strong cypress scent (not pine) and is fairly linear, not changing much as it dries down. Under the cypress, I detected a slight woody accord. Didn't get any other notes out of it. Longevity is excellent, got about 10 hours out of it. Sillage was pretty strong the first hour or two after which it pulls back to a close scent bubble. Italian Forest strikes me as very versatile. Would work anytime of the year, both hot and cold weather, day or night. Works formal as well as casual. A real winner here! Comparing Italian Forest to current Polo Green, I really don't find any resemblance. Polo definitely starts out with pine, not cypress and becomes more woody as it dries down, losing some of the pine. Italian Forest is cypress all the way. Z14 starts out with a strong blast of lemon. The initial citrus disappears as it dries down and a more generic coniferous note appears - not really pine but not really strong cypress like Italian Forest. All three are sufficiently different that it wouldn't be redundant to own all of them. Out of the three, Italian Forest has the best performance. I'm definitely adding it to my collection. UPDATE: After wearing Z14, I changed my mind and liked it better over Italian Forest. The fresh opening citrus nailed it for me. And it hung around along with the cypress for quite some time.

ITALIAN FOREST--ALEXANDRIA 3/5/24 This is like Halston Z-14 from the 80s and 90s. I really like it. Masculine. Not sweet. No vanilla! I never smelt Tom Ford Italian Cypress but if that inspired this cologne...I would have liked TFIC as well. Great for office wear. After a year of using, getting 8 hours longevity. Spring and Fall are ideal for this cologne. And it is great for rainy weather. I strongly recommend it. But I am age 55 and feel these masculine scents fit my lifestyle perfectly.

This is great! I get the Polo Green tobacco/ash tray scent but l really like this fragrance. I've never smelled the OG (Tom Ford Italian Cypress) so I can't determine if it stacks up and this fragrance smells just like Halston Z-14 but overall l am enjoying this fragrance.

I think this may be the first fragrance I've had to scrub off. Extreme 80s powerhouse vibes here. Pretty linear and smells like highly concentrated bar soap. Not sure where the incense comparisons are coming from because I can't detect any. Nuclear performance to the point of being obnoxious. My nose simply could not tolerate this.

It's not as dense, nor refined and lacks the smokey moss that Italian Cypress has, but this is still quite good. Its brighter and airier. It's slightly synthetic but acceptable. I've tried dozens of Alexandria Fragrances and this is the only one I would actually own. Mainly due to the fact I can't find any more bottles of IC. Anyhow, those looking for another alternative should try Floris 1962. They're very similar, however, the smell itself is a bit more old school, even more so than IC.

This is a great scent but to my nose is carrying more incense than the original TF version of Italian Cypress. This does last 10 hours on my skin & smells very mature, which I absolutely love. If you want a 99% match to the original Italian Cypress, then you need to acquire a bottle of "Leonardo" by Maison Kin. Then give it a few sprays & let it rest for a couple of weeks & you have a great version of the original TF Italian Cypress. Thank me later.

In healthcare my work fragrance has to be pretty friendly. This has become my daily driver. lasts the whole 12 hour shift and feels very fresh when work can be anything but(t). Very linear Cypress, but feels composed: herby, citrus, sweet, woody, but all in service of just being cypress. Smells great, but won't bomb your patients/coworkers. Never had a patient/coworker say anything negative about this frag.