Figuier Ardent

I fell in love with this scent when it first came out. I first sampled it on paper: the bergamot-fig leaf-iris combination was so fresh and unique. However, when I purchased a travel spray that spring, I found I could not wear the scent properly at all. The scent turned into something sharp and soapy. It contrasted horribly with my chemistry, making my natural scent smell like rancid BO, even when freshly showered. I tried it a few times throughout the spring and summer to no avail, but kept the bottle and used it to spritz some linens in my home for purely sentimental reasons. This smells like my childhood home on a mild summer's day: I grew up on the New England shore, and we had several fig trees in our yard. My mother raised citrus trees and would put them outside in the summer as well, and as long as it wasn't on my body, I loved the smell. Thus, Figuier Ardent was pushed to the back of my fragrance drawer for two years, used occasionally to spritz my pillowcases when I wanted a whiff of comfort before bed. The notes in this are so bright that it did not occur to me to try this as a cold-weather fragrance until recently, and damn, have I been missing out! Figuier Ardent smells like I am standing at the edge of the Northern Atlantic ocean on a cloudy winter’s day. The trees have lost their leaves, but the smell of juniper and the scrubby, stunted pine trees that grow at the edge of the marsh is so strong you can taste it. It is windy and the water is choppy, a tinge of ice in the air and as you watch the surf roll in, the waves sprinkle you in a fine, briny mist. The opening is a bit sharp and alcoholic, but it wears off in a second or two. On my skin, the bergamot, cardamom, and pepper are the most prominent through the opening. The iris is also immediately present, lending a little powdery-softness to round out the sharp edges. As the opening fades, the iris loses a bit of its powderiness and becomes earthier while the woody fig smell becomes more prominant. I do not get the smell of ripe fig at all in this--the fig is very woody and green. For some reason, I smell something piney in the resins, although this note is not mentioned. The oakmoss/cedar notes begin to peek through as the middle notes develop, but this scent is not particularly long lasting, so the basenotes don’t really seem develop fully. They just fade with the rest of the scent. I apply a spritz to each of my wrists, one to my hair, and one to my chest. The scent probably lasts 5-6 hours on skin, no more than that. The sillage on this is rather faint, projecting only about six inches or so. I think it works best for daytime, as it is light and discreet, though it may be a little outdoorsy for an office job. This is less unisex than most Atelier offerings. It definitely skews masculine, I think, due to its greenness and spice, but it works for an outdoorsy, athletic woman, too--which is probably why I love it so much!

Huh, really strange. After the inital spray I get a PERFECT coconut scent, the way I love it. Creamy-milky, juicy, sweet and smooth coconut, even though no coconut is listed. I also get the fig with its leaves and the fresh anise x bergamot combo, making it a little bit green-floral. All the other notes are in there too and they are very well balanced so that it's difficult to pick up an individual note (the cardemon being the most prominent out of all the other notes). Initially gave me a little bit of a shampoo vibe, but the quality of the ingredients make it feel luxury. And after the coconut vanishes a liiiittle after 5 minutes it gets more green thanks to the fig leaves. After 10 minutes you begin to smell more cedar. And then after 30 minutes coconut again. It really changes a lot and it's not linear at all (compared to most other AC fragrances). Would be perfectly suited to wear on the beach. Has tropical vibes to it. A good love for me, it's one of the more outstanding ones from AC. Only downside is that it lasts for like 3 - 4 hours with a moderate sillage. And after that it's basically gone.

The opening and middle of this is stunning. Similar to the fig standard PF by L'Artisan and Philosykos by Diptyque, but with a little bit fresher and natural oomph to it. If you're familiar with Atelier, you know they do an outstanding job with clean and natural scents. You can feel Schweiger's delicate touch with this and it would be no different than some of his other compositions such as ELd'O's Philipino Houseboy and Atelier's Orange Sanguine where you sense a nice playful dance of almost tropical proportions tethered by a soft and natural powdery base. After about an hour and a half, the Iris really exposes itself and you get a pleasant baby powder feel. I tend to like the first two hours the most and at this point reapply as it's a pretty light scent to begin with. However, I feel like this projects pretty well sillage wise and longevity is above average for Atelier. All in all a very beautiful fig from a very beautiful perfumer. I would definitely recommend this one for a more powdery interpretation of fig.

This fragrance has quickly become my signature. From the first burst of bergamont, pepper, cedar, and greenness (to my nose) to the dry down that hosts the fig, to the powdery iris fade, it is just magnificent. It takes me back to hiking days in the Cascade mountain forests of the Pacific Northwest. I do agree with Pindlekitz that is quite an "artsy" fragrance, but mountainous artsy. Longevity is about 6 hours on me, but it becomes more of a skin scent somewhere between 3-4 hours. I do wish it projected a bit more, but it still gets two thumbs up from me!

💞 it smells so good! Ingredients quality is top notch. As soon as I knew it was discontinued I bought 3 100ml bottles. I will be using the first 2 and I will keep the last one as a good memory! Sillage and longevity are moderate because this is a cologne, so this shouldnt be too much "in your face" type of fragrance. I really love this cologne, especially during summer in the evening relaxing in front of the sea... so goooooood!