Ivan the Fool

Ivan the Fool reminds me a lot of Cedrat Boise by Mancera, not in quality or execution, but in profile. Both fragrances start with a very clean effervescent citrus. However, while Cedrat Boise's opening comes off like lemon pledge, Ivan the Fool is much more photorealistic to its note listings. This makes Ivan the Fool a less headache inducing wear. On the drydown both fragrances have a strong smoky leather and woods combo. The big separator is the addition of a pine note in Ivan the Fool which is very fresh and airy. I compare Ivan the Fool to Cedrat Boise rather than the genre definer, Aventus, because there is no juiciness in Ivan the Fool. Aventus has the very prominent Pineapple note, and while Cedrat Boise does have some juicy fruit elements, the woods, citrus, and leather are much more apparent. If one is looking for a fragrance that is in the Aventus genre, then I highly recommend Ivan the Fool. It has a lot differentiating it from the others and going back to the pine note, that is one of the better pine notes I have smelled. Often pine can come off like pinesol, like in Russian Leather by Memo, Fantome has avoided that. Has all the makings of an anytime all arounder. I recommend anyone who likes the sound of this to sample it for themselves.

Another excellent find from Fantome’s Slavic Fairytales Collection 🧚 🧌🌲 Such a beautiful enchanted pine forest/woodland scent! The musky animalic notes weave in and out, like a wolf pacing stealthily back and forth along the border of its territory. Or maybe it’s a shapeshifting fantasy character who turns into a wolf every full moon. I imagine this would have come to be after acquiring an ancient book of “folk rituals” that was actually magical with a beautifully embossed cover. I love the inspiration of the story of Ivan and Yelena. I can imagine them tangled up in each other, resting on a bed of pine needles and moss while on their journey through the forest. Smells like the aroma given off when you step on moss, the fur trimmed leather hide cloak of an adventurer from a Russian fantasy novel. Imagine a witch crafting a bundle of pine needles, aromatic gathered herbs, a tuft of fur and bones, tied with a leather strap, and some figs left out as an offering to a magical being on a wooden slab sourced from a fir tree.

Wearing this fragrance makes me feel like I'm in a beautiful Ivan Bilibin storybook painting! All of the listed notes appear together right away and are pretty distinguishable. It's definitely a slightly more masculine scent but it can easily fit anyone who wants to go for a folk fantasy type of vibe. After an hour or two the musky moss/fur in the front backs off and the bergamot/fig comes forward for a sweet/sour fruity scent. Really special fragrance with a unique idea that pulls through extremely well

At first, this comes off as deeply woody and spicy, like burning incense, an old church, but as time wears on and it dries down onto the skin and clothes it almost smells... floral? To my nose there's a hint of rose even though it's not supposed to be in the notes at all. It might be the bergamot mixing in with the fig, but either way it's lovely and leans this scent in a feminine direction (but in a rugged way-- this woman camps alone with her dog and chops her own firewood). Beauty.

The golden fig in this is quite nice! I love fig and this is less fruity and more dried fig with some woody base notes. A wonderful and wearable fragrance. I have the perfume oil