Útilykt Spray - 66°Norður x

An absolute masterpiece. I was shocked to see Jónsi as the nose behind this fragrance, as I've been a Sigur Ros fan for over a decade. Unsure if he's done more work for Fischersund, but Fragrantica's profile for him shows only this product... This fragrance feels like the work of a lifelong veteran of the fragrance industry - someone with an unbelievably refined nose, and a gift for plucking scents from the fabric of reality, blending and bottling them with faultless subtlety yet an unabashed confidence. Often, the "story" copy on websites from the fragrance house can be... verbose, overstated, or sometimes wholly inaccurate. Fischersund, as a fragrance house in general, are one of the few whose fragrances perfectly match the descriptions they provide. However, in this case, it veers firmly into shockingly accurate, to almost an uncanny degree. Every. Single. Note. is present and clearly detectable. If you've hiked in Westfjords, the black sand coastlines, or traversed the highlands, you'll find this scent will rip you back to your time there (think Anton Ego's flashback in Ratatouille). I'm an avid winter wild camper, and rarely find fragrances that capture ozonic mountain air, a snowfall among fir trees, wet moss, and the rejuvenating aura of a truly wild wilderness rife with grassy fields, wild herbs and flowers, and swaying trees in the distance. If you need visuals to picture this fragrance, watch Kraig Adams' video "Solo Hiking 60 Miles in Hornstrandir Iceland" - it's probably the closest I can get to illustrating what this fragrance smells like.

Standing at the foot of a mountain after a long hike, cool marine air as one is facing the coast, pitch pine and reindeer lichen covering the ground. There is a slight chill from the wind, and there is a certain nakedness, a vulnerability in being here, that is liberating. The air. The landscape. I've perspired and struggled, my legs tremble, but here is the reward. Looking all around me, I inhale deeply. The smell of highlands meeting lowlands, exertion meeting calm, the wind picks up, carrying the aroma of fir trees, scrubby vegetation, and herbs. I watch branches swaying, grasses fluttering, distant waves crashing. I feel a shiver of exhilaration. I feel a stillness, while my surroundings seem to communicate their wisdom to me. "To end this eternal opposition between our self and the world, to bring back the peacefulness of all peace that is above all reasoning, to reunite ourselves with nature into an infinite totality, that is the goal of all our endeavours." —Friedrich Hölderlin, preface to Hyperion. This is what I think Útilykt smells like.

I encountered this perfume during my first time in Iceland while perusing the 66°Norður store and was immediately smitten with the notes of cold air and moss. I was limited in my budget and came home to the United States without it. But I could not stop thinking about it, or the girl I met in Iceland. Simple solution: have this girl (now my wife) bring me the perfume. It was that good. It is an ethereal, chilled scent like walking off-path to gather herbs in the volcanic tundra, with the last vestiges of snow leaving the smaller mountaintops, and the fog rolls in from the ocean. As someone who is frequently in such environments for work, I felt transported back. While this is more of a non-summer perfume in the temperate parts of the world, I would argue that this is an all-season perfume in places that don't get warm in the summer, like Reykjavik or Dutch Harbor, because above a certain latitude summer really *does* feel like this. For me, it is a must-have on my perfume shelf and it will stay there as long as I can find it.

I actually visited their store in Reykjavik a couple years ago, which is when my father bought this (I was a bit younger then so I thought it was boring, but looking back it was a super interesting experience.) I've never really worn it, only admired it from afar- the scent is TOO realistic and beautiful! Every time I smell it reminds me of that amazing trip to Iceland. Probably one of my favorite fragrances in the whole world, even though it's nothing like the girly, sweet perfumes I normally wear. So amazing- I might be biased because I'm a big Sigur Ros fan. This smells exactly like Iceland- smoky, mossy, fresh, and cold. I wish I could smell this every day.

This fragrance is a beautiful fresh crisp clean wildness scent. I do not have the spray, but the balm/wax however I imagine the scent profile is basically identical. This is a very unique fragrance and masterfully crafted with quality ingredients. Very masculine and crisp is the way i would describe it. Like the air on a cool fall or spring day. I’d say it’s versatile enough to wear any season night or day, but feel it’s best suited for spring/fall into early summer/winter though. I love this as a fragrance to wear but would also use it as a candle. As it has a cozy and inviting aura without being cloying or obnoxiously overpowering. 10/10 would recommend!