Fig Leaf

Ooh, this is the first time in a while I’ve tried a “love at first sniff” Demeter as someone who regularly buys samples from them in bulk. The opening is almost pure fig, reminiscent of Pacifica Mediterranean Fig, then as it settles it deserves its Fig Leaf name. Quickly turns into something more woody and green than fruity. It even has a bit of a powdery-spicy nuance that I don’t usually notice in fig leaf perfumes, surprisingly. It has really good projection for a Demeter as well, I’d say about 75% of the ones I’ve sampled turn into a weak skin scent within an hour but this one has impressed me. It’s also one of the few from this house that can stand alone as a perfume while I’ve always felt the need to layer most of the others together.

I love perfumes with a good fig note and this is almost all fig notes and it's amazing! I have philosykos EDP (love this one too). Demeter's take on the fig leaf is gorgeous. It doesn't smell chemically at all which really surprised me as I was expecting it to smell synthetic and not at all natural. This smells like a fig tree during the warmest months. It's absolutely stunning. I would pay top dollar for this one. Good job Demeter!

I have SO many fig fragrances in my collection because this made me fall in love with the note. Smells near identical to Diptyque's Philosykos. Not nearly as long lasting as it is a cologne, but at this price point it's definitely worth getting a travel size and reapplying.

"Your perfume is...confusing." So said the boyfriend the first time I wore it. Fresh, woody, and "dirty-clean", if that makes any sense. Makes me feel like a wood nymph. No it doesn't last long, but what Demeter does? I don't mind reapplying.

Truly a perfect true-fig scent. It’s green and fresh, almost a bit soapy. If you’re trying to figure out whether you like the note fig or not this perfume is perfect for exploring the note.

Photorealistic fig leaf smell, literally like walking by a fig tree. No unnecessary sweetness, very aromatherapeutic. If only it lasted longer than half an hour :/

niente da fare: come mi rilassa il fico, nessun altro. questo è bello, ci sono più foglie che frutto all'inizio, ma poi vira sul polveroso

I wish this lasted longer because is the best scent in the world. It reminds me exactly of what fig trees smell like

Very nice. Fresh and sweet. Lasted a long time on me, or at least on cotton clothes i was wearing. Almost 8 hrs.

Not strictly a fragrance. And exactly what it says on the tin: a library kind of scent, solileaf (if there is such a thing?). I can't really imagine wearing it as a personal fragrance on its own, but it's great when I want to experience the smell of Mediterranean which a fig bush is emblematic of for me. I said 'fig bush' and I'll stick to that as this is more than just the green and figgy bittersweetness of the leaf, the warm and sweet fruit is there too. For me, there is too much of the fruit, actually, but it dirties up the green rather nicely. At the price (£10/30ml) it's pretty good as a functional scent and if other Library scents are anywhere near as good I am going to never buy a room spray again... 8/10 as a room/linen fragrance 4/10 as perfume For some reason the UK bottle I got only mentions Demeter on the back label. Pity, as it's a good name. I am going to try and layer it with jasmine and leather and smoke as perfume because I am hankering after something like this just now. So this review will get updated.

Fig Leaf actually has some complexity, for a Demeter - others I've tried are generally one-note, but Fig Leaf has some development. It opens with a bright green, leafy smell that reminds of geranium leaves more than anything. I've never smelled a real fig leaf, so I couldn't tell you how authentic it is, but it is a convincing leafy note that smells natural. Over the course of about an hour, the green fades and the sweet figgy scent emerges, then comes to the forefront. For the next hour or so, the fig stays, while a coconut note slowly starts to appear. The fig + coconut lasts about another hour, for a total of about three hours. (As with most fragrances, it lasts longer on clothers than on skin.) All in all, it's very good for a Demeter pick-me-up cologne. I wear it often on the weekends to run errands or to visit family members. It's an office-appropriate scent to my nose, too.

Demeter Fig isn't as straightfoward as it's presented. Upon application, Demeter Fig hits your throat like a fig flavored Jolly Rancher hard candy. As the seconds go by, a very vivid sharp astringent nuance takes over. It's like getting shampoo in your eyes and burns. This sharp astringency is the fig leaf. And the fig leaf lasts 20-30 minutes until we are met with a rewarding drydown of coconutty fig flesh that hugs the skin. I bought the body lotion to layer with the fragrance spray... what a joke! The Demeter Fig Leaf fragranced body lotion is so intense that it starts to resemble corn nuts! Not an instant like - I had to understand it before I "liked" it.

What do I get? Fig leaf + Windex. Seriously. Yet somehow I like it. There really isn't much to say, I just wished it smelled more like "real" fig leaf. Maybe they went with full on fresh green fig leaves, which is why it smells a bit off, since you can't really smell them too much at that point. So I guess I was hoping for more of the dry fig leaf smell I'm used to from the fig trees my family has in our backyard.

I like this. A subtle figgy scent and indeed the only fig based perfume I have ever tried. I combined the body lotion, shower gel and spray as my holiday scent in spain last year :) Lovely probally would not buy again but it invokes many happy memories.

I have the UK version. Library of Fragrance. Fresh fig leaves with a little fruit. Relaxing to wear to bed on a slightly sticky summer evening. It's a cologne. Good to freshen up. Nothing spectacular in terms of sillage or longevity. Does the job.

Diptyque’s Philosykos but with a more photorealistic green fig opening and a coconut lactonic drydown. I prefer this to Philosykos, shame that the longevity is a bit lacking.

Smells like a fresh fig with a bite taken out of it — green on the outside, subtly syrupy on the inside — for a nice balance of green sweetness. Lasts 4+ hours for me.

SWeet,FRuity,Figgy.Light,clean,mild.Sadly,these fumes r gone in 2 or 3 hrs.You have to reapply a lot. This is more akin to a very light body spray.REfreshing tho!!

This smells like the skin of an unripe, green fig while also getting a whiff of the bark on the fig tree. So lovely and pure. I use it as a room spray.

This one's tricky for me. I'm typically a huge Demeter cheerleader and I agree with lot of the points in the more gushing reviews, but I can't bring myself to love this. It must smell like a shampoo my mom had when I was growing up, because this just smells like a woody, figgy shampoo to me. It's a well-rounded fig smell that leans towards woody and green; on paper, I love it, but in real life I don't think it's all that special. I've experimented with layering, but the soapiness seems to overwhelm anything else. I may keep this one around; my ideal fig, Debaser, is crazy expensive. It's really worth a try if you like fig or are just curious about the note, but it's never going to be a personal fave. Longevity under 2 hours with intimate to moderate sillage. A bit oily, as Demeters can be, but it doesn't stain t-shirts or jeans and lasts longer on clothes.

This is about the 6th fig scent I tested. From niche like Diptyque and L'Artisan to the more cheaper ones like Superdry and Elizabeth Arden, I think this is the most realistic fig fragrance so far. On my skin it opens a bit sharp but not the rubbery plastic sharpness that I got from Superdry Neon Purple. The drydown was a soft fruity skinscent.

First 30sec are great and then the dry down goes a bit wonky. Luckily it's a fleeting fragrance on my skin anyway. It's an interesting scent but maybe better suited as a clothes freshener or ambient room spray. Fresh, not floral, aquatic, or even really fruity. Perfectly unisex.

smells fresh and soapy but nothing like a fig leaf in my opinion!

Beautiful fig fragrance. Unfortunately - it stays on the skin only about two-three hours

The scent of fig in perfume, either leaf or fruit, is assembled from an array of divergent notes, but it is by no means a fantasy accord. Picking a young fig leaf from my garden and muddling it in my hand is revelatory. At first there is just the commonplace green scent of an average leaf, but soon a remarkable, gently rounded, almost floral, soft sweetness arises, perhaps slightly creamy (or does the fig's white latex just looks milky). The resinous glands on the leaf also add some faint spiciness to the melange, like sweet cinnamon, without heat. Smelling a fig leaf this way fully explains why fig is an oft-desired note in perfumery. So how well does Demeter Fig Leaf mimic this scent from nature? Overall, rather nicely. At first, the initial spray is too sweet, more like a blend of apple, pear, and maybe, fig fruit. Don't get me wrong, whatever chemicals make up the first top notes in this not entirely linear fragrance, they smell wonderfully delicious, but just too strongly fruity sweet to faithfully replicate the genteel fig leaf. However, later, at some point during the drydown, a fairly close fig leaf scent does finally become evident. Such bliss. Having a fragrance that can mimic this heartwarming note is very precious to me. Especially since I now can't find any mention of Fig Leaf anywhere on the Demeter website! I can't imagine why they would discontinue this amazing scent. Maybe it is just on temporary hiatus.

This particular entry in the Demeter series smells much more like perfume than the scent which it is intended to mimic: fig leaf. The opening has a strong solvent odor reminiscent of something in the neighborhood of nail polish remover and paint thinner. Even after that has cleared out a bit, the solvent scent continues to maintain the upper hand, smelling by now a bit like glue, with the result that the fig, though certainly detectable, seems to be only part of the story. I believe that this is simply an extreme version of what often appears in fig perfumes (and others as well) as a kind of doughy quality. There are tons of fig perfumes available, and many of them offer much more faithful renditions of various parts of the fig plant than this particular Demeter effort. I would not recommend this as a fig perfume, and I also find that it is not as good as many of the other facsimile scents in the collection. A definite try before you buy, unless of course you find a bottle for the price of a sample (as I did), in which case, it's probably worth trying for the experience alone. Anyone who is willing to pay $6 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks should be willing to shell out that much for a perfume sample, no?

This is one of the better fragrances from Demeter. Although it smells like figs, it seems much more complex than just that. Fig Leaf is a wonderful, juicy and somewhat fresh scent with a beautiful feminine vibe. In my first year of living away from home, I lived in an old house with a fig tree out the back. I have beautiful memories of lying out on the back porch in Summer feasting on figs. The minute I smelt this fragrance, it took me back to those happier times. Fig Leaf has an interesting tang to it throughout, however closer to the drydown the scent becomes a little powdery and milky. Unfortunately the scent doesn't last long. Even on clothes it didn't want to hold.

Figgy figerson. Wow. Starts out boozy fruity and quickly moves straight in to fig leaf with a coconut or perhaps woody base. I wouldn't call it sweet like some others have, unless boozy overripe fruit is sweet to you. It is quite linear as well so it could be used to enhance other fumes or give more fig to your figgy favorites. Silliage is light seems to run its course from boozy fruit to green fig in about five minutes, then it's a skin scent. On clothes much longer. It's fun to smell but alone it is too simple for my curious nose. For layering and on its own i much prefer jo malones fig. VERY fig VERY linear but still great by itself when you want to.

Really love this one. I finished the sample and immediately bought a half oz. I don't know what a fig or fig leaf is suppose to smell like but this is boozy and juicy but also creamy/milky. It's not at all sweet. It does make me feel like a forest creature and it's my favorite scent I've tried from demeter so far (I have 6). It lasts about half a day and is mostly a skin scent. Overall, I don't necessarily understand the scent but that's what makes it fun. Edit: I bought the half oz and it smells slightly different. The larger size does not transition into the milkier second half.

I like this. It makes me feel like Fall...and Fall is my favorite time of year. This is my second Demeter fragrance. I was disappointed the first time around because the longevity with this line is pretty mild and I had different expectations. However I've changed the way I look at Demeter fragrances. These aren't Muglers or Diors these are skin scents, like an after-bath splash (think your grandma's Jean Nate) or a weekend scent where your bummin around the house. Anyway...I really like this fig. It smells like, well, fig. Good stuff

I am not really familiar with how figs smell, but to me this smelled very green, sharp, and foresty. I bought it because I was really excited to find demeter in store in my country, I could not test it before buying, so just bought it. It reminded me of a forest near the beach in Italy I went to as a kid. It was nice, but not personally something I would wear on my skin, because of how sharp it was on me. It could be because of the way it was stored, but I ended up finishing it as a roomspray. pretty long lasting that way.

It looks like this could be a less expensive alternative for Diptyque Philosykos!, but it's just missing the woody quality. It'd be interesting to see if this were layered with another woodsy scent by Demeter. Mixing and layering is just fun, and Demeter seems to aim for that.

A lazy and poor interpretation of fig leaf. Smells cheap and hand soapy. Find it strange that some people found this fruity, maybe the old batches had that angle. Do not expect anything similar to Philosykos.

Fig Leaf is sweet and delicate, such a pity that it disappears so quickly. Subtle everyday scent.

smells exactly like public bathroom hand soap, cheap, synthetic, unremarkable.