Summer 23

This is my first Ffern perfume, and the packaging, extras, etc. really are beautiful and make for an exciting unboxing. This scent was described as stone fruit citrus (with osmanthus being the featured ingredient). I can smell the sort of apricot/peach notes, but barely. Instead, this is almost all spice on me. Personally, I don't mind as it's the only fragrance I own that is spice forward. It's quite intimate in sillage and lasts at least 4-5 hours on my skin.

The nutmeg is the star in this, and honestly, this is one of the first Ffern fragrances I've tried that I can actually see me wearing on a regular basis. It is soft, with some spice and roses, and that wonderful hay note that Ffern do so well. The citruses don't stick around for long. Really pleasant and wearable.

Such a beautiful, natural herbal scent. Reminds me of a traditional Chinese herbal medicine shop, with fresh, zesty top notes and a bit of aged wood, plus a slight warmth from the spices. I wish there was more osmanthus to give it that 桂花香, but that’s expecting too much.

Most natural citrus scent I’ve probably ever smelled. It opens with this really really smooth blend of bitter citrus that reminds me more of the zesty peel than the flesh of the fruit, and a nice underbite of green osmanthus. Then as it dries, it keeps this citrus backbone as it becomes more aromatic and slightly creamy woods. The aromaticness mostly coming from the basil, neroli, and geranium; very tart yet refreshing! Then, as it dries down it gets earthy and smooth as it sinks really deep into my skin. This is a like for me for the pitiful performance and projection. It lasts a disappointing 3-4 hours, and only gets very mild moderate projection for the first 1.5 hours. First bottle from Ffern and it’s solid! Not a staple in my rotation, but it’s nice when I forgot to put anything else on. Can’t wait til fall!

This is my first ffern fragrance, I heard about the brand and was excited to sign up / join the ledger. I was, honestly, a bit dubious I'd like this scent given the description of the perfume notes and my initial sniff on skin. I was so pleasantly surprised at how this fragrance evolved - moving from a strong citrus rush (emphasis on the lime and grapefruit) to gently spiced floral waves settling down on sweet hay. The citrus stays but it's breezy. It ends up in a lovely place. Is it a big, bold scent that lasts forever? No, but I prefer that honestly - I can sprtiz it liberally and reapply as needed! I love that this smells like nothing else I own.

Ffern does subtlety and storytelling well. The scents always fade, but it feels poetic in a way: the seasons change faster than we expect; time flies by. Summer '23 isn't one I reach for, but I love smelling the opening notes. Pungent citrus rind fades quickly to a spiced herbiness, and settles on a smoky note that sits incredibly close to the skin. The journey doesn't scream summer to me. I like what aidanryuto said about a barn catching fire. It certainly goes up in flames

It's an honest citrus-driven Osmanthus on a bed of ambroxan. At first I was underwhelmed, but the more I wore it, the more and longer I noticed it on my skin. And people around me notice it too, and I got a few compliments, which seldom happens to me... I will finish up the bottle before the Autumn edition is out.

Not masculine or feminine at all. Very unisex to me. Sour citrus. Pretty basic. Weak performance, smells VERY natural. Smells good when layered with my diptyque eau de minthe (citrus and mint is one of my favorite combos)

I love strong citruses, my favorite notes, and this has it in spades with grapefruit dominating. But as a summer fragrance, it's simply too heavy. Strong herbal backbone.

Summer 23 is clearly of very high quality and contained no chemical ingredients, the smell was beautiful, but it was just not a smell that I felt like I needed to own. I was happy to have tested it and worn it a few times & the longevity was amazing, even surviving a hot shower, but I just don't have a love for really green scents and this smelled just a little too much like citronella bug repellent for me. Ironically a decently iconic summer smell. Just not for me! I hope it finds its home with someone else :) Reminded me of Penhaligons' Blenheim Bouquet. Smells like your sort of handsome, much-older-than-you camp counselor who wore a safari hat everywhere and doesn't mess around with the bugspray.

This is my first ffern perfume. The longevity and projection are weak . Slightly citrusy, spicy, somewhat inoffensive, borderline boring. It feels unfinished, it is kind of flat. I have been layering with eccentric molecules molecule 01 + guaiac wood to add some depth and interest and it makes for a much more well rounded fragrance.

Weak, subtle, leans femme. Has the charm of a designer urinal cake. I’m not giving up on Ffern but this is not the one.

This was my first Ffern perfume and on first opening the smell was a little on the alcoholic side. However it lost that after 10 minutes and developed into a beautiful scent. Unfortunately for me it just doesn’t last on my skin and needs to reapplied every half and hour. So although the scent is beautiful, it’s not worth the money! That said the packaging is stunning and enclosed are some little extras! I’m hoping the Autumn 23 will have better projection than Summer 23!

I’ve been on their ledger since Spring 21 and unfortunately this was the one that made me give up. Having gone through a few rotations of their seasons I was really hoping to notice changes but they all smell so similar to each other I can’t warrant that amount of money on something I really can’t distinguish between. I’d hoped their summer ones would be lighter and more citrusy but they’re all very strong and herbal and to me far too heavy for summer or spring.

I'm not sure why this has been added to Fragrantica but Spring 23 is missing. The latter was my first Ffern perfume and I loved the citrus-ginger-vetiver-hay-basil freshness. Personally I prefer Spring 23 orange to Summer 23's grapefruit but at least I can treat Summer as a replacement for Spring.

This is my second FFern fragrance. I really enjoy Spring '23, but this one I returned. It's too similar to the Spring scent to justify keeping both. Summer is actually more spicy than Spring, it's a little nonsensical to me. It feels more like a fall or winter scent.