Juniperus

Mission accomplished. I was looking for a signature scent, and I found it with Juniperus. It has a consistent smell that recedes nicely into the background after a couple hours. After spending the day at a proper perfumery, I ended up picking it up at an upscale men's boutique—which makes sense, given the scent: agreeable but not timid or cheap. Fiele made good use of their all-natural approach here. The olfactory profile is classic and familiar (maybe a grown-up Abercrombie?), but the scent is clearly more robust, perfected, and well-crafted. It’s like sourcing the freshest, most delightful ingredients to make the absolute best garden salad—lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and vinaigrette. From a glance, you wouldn’t know the tomatoes were heirlooms refined over decades or that the lettuce was picked at peak crispness from an alpine farm. But once you experience it, there’s no going back.

smells of woods, cashmere, warm light. on the skin first notes are needles/leaves and citrus. dries down into a cedar. reminds me of being snuggled in a wool blanket in a log cabin with sunlight pouring into the windows. medium/long longevity and moderate sillage. most men do not seem to enjoy it on me while most women do, so i find that a plus. on my own skin i find it warm--but still fresh--and intimate. this was one of my first "go-to" fragrances and was my first fragrance in my current collection, so I will always feel sentimental about it.

Very natural-smelling juniper. I have some roasted juniper berries in my spice cabinet, and the berry part of this scent smells quite similar, likely helped by the pink pepper. Other than that, I think this fragrance focuses more on the roots than the bush needles, especially when comparing Juniperus by Fiele Fragrances to Juniperus by Pineward Perfume which were so similar in both name and notes that I had to get a sample of both to compare if they in fact were the same. They are not, but both of them smell like natural juniper so of course they are similar. The main contributor to the root feel in this fragrance is the salty/bitter myrrh. If you've smelled Myrrha by Fiele Fragrances, it's most likely the same blend used here, but less spicy and here it's mostly a mild supporting note and the Juniper remains in charge of it all.

So I like this fragrance, but I don't think that it's the best. I'm on the hunt to find a really great sustainable, eco-friendly, natural fragrance, and I had high hopes with this one, but I was underwhelmed. It opens very nicely, but it dries down to smell very stale. It also disappears within two hours or so. My mom told me that it made me smell like one of her old Italian uncles from when she was younger. I didn't really get that vibe, but I'm not familiar with her point of reference, so maybe it's true.

Testing blind the opening gave me a complex mix of herbs, woods, and astringent spice which at times was nearing toilet bowl cleaner. This was a bit concerning, leaving me eagerly waiting for the dry down in hopes to reveal something more inviting. It shifted from pine to almost winter mint. There's a tad of citrus sweetness keeping it from being overly dry or woodsy. But there's still something underneath that's keeping me from being neutral about it and leaning towards not liking it. Whatever it is, I'm just not agreeing with it. It's a bit too poopy! Like rotting wet leaves. It's just a hint, but enough for me feel disappointed I will have to smell like this for the rest of the day. This is the downfall of testing blind. Looking at the name and notes now, I'm even more disappointed, seeing this is all about juniper. I'm an avid gin drinker, but this is all gone off. Looking at the notes, it's something about the Juniper Berries, Fir, Myrrh, and Cedar combo that just isn't working out for me. I'd like to blame the myrrh, but I like myrrh just fine outside this. Is it the Fir? Maybe. Hard to say. I don't get why this doesn't work knowing the notes now, but it just doesn't. Just to be clear, it's not bad, It's just shy of neutral for me. But I'd rather not smell it than deal with it, and that's not good. Double the sad face for wanting to like it but I can't.