Wild Fern Cologne

Imagine a dusty library with the musty smell of old books and cigarette smoke. Now imagine the freshest, greenest, brightest herbal shave cream aroma piercing through the gloom, overpowering everything with its pristine beauty. The mustiness never really disappears, even exhibits a bit of dirty patchouli raunch early on, before fading back to a dry, woody hum in the background. This is what Wild Fern smells like. It's a fragrance that smells rather like something from the late 19th century, but possesses a crispness, a clarity, that presages modern wonders like Drakkar Noir. The camphoraceous lavender note, tinged with dots of anise, basil, peppermint, and rosemary, all generously brushed with bergamot, present as the key "fresh" template of Acqua di Selva, Drakkar Noir, and everything in that bracket of the fougere family. I get three hours out of this before it fades to a total skin scent, but it leaves a nice burr of natural oak moss in its wake. Perfect in the cooler weather, and refreshing in warmer temps, it's an all-season wonder. Ingredient quality is fairly high, and there are definitely quite a few naturals in the mix, but that means volatility is also high, and thus the abbreviated longevity. Still, this is sturdily made for a classy wetshaver fragrance, and as far as fougeres go, this is one of the first. When you visit Trumpers, you're not just visiting a perfume shop - you're visiting a barbershop. They literally have people cutting hair in there (or at least they used to, I can't speak to their 2020 business model). Therefore the moniker "wetshaver scent" isn't just a term casually directed at their compositions. Wild Fern is the original barbershop fougere, and I think it's a blessing and a godsend that it has survived the last 143 years.

This cologne is best summarised as gothic meets naturalism meets symbolism in the latter half of the 19th century. Dark moss contrasted with vital notes of coumarin remind you that life will always win over decay – an impression from late autumn before the frost when the air is crisp from the essential oils spreading from the leafs on the ground, or from springtime when a carpet of sweet woodruff burst through last year's decay and adorns the forests with an omnipresent scent of new life. While it is not naturalistic, it does not matter because the connotations are so vivid. It is a bit strange to not mention the camphorous aniseed and mentol notes in this scent, but in the other hand you could easily scare people away from trying it. (Fern notes are always contrived, there is no method for distilling its essence successfully into perfums). I love it, but I think it is fair to say this is an acquired taste and not an everyday office affair. Do not overspray on your way to the bus. To sum it all up: Apart from a sharp first two minutes, I think Wild Fern is amazing, it takes your imagination right to Glencar Waterfalls in Yeats' poems from the 1880s. Mossy, damp, wild. Perhaps not a date night scent for neither young nor old, but a must-have for anyone into "green" fougères.

Another top notch fragrance from Trumper with seemingly real oakmoss in it. Good performance overall. One of the best green fragrances out there. Love it!

I recently wrote this in reviewing Pen's English Fern; it serves just as well here: "Recently got a set of samples from Trumper and Penhaligon. This is almost identical to Trumper's Wild Fern, with perhaps a couple of small differences. The Trumper is a bit softer, with less sillage and projection. On the other hand, Wild Fern is probably a little more nuanced, since it seems like there is a just bit more going on in terms of the notes involved. But these are both very similar, mainly lavender and oakmoss, and I doubt someone could tell the difference unless they were applied side by side, if then. Neither lasts very long on my skin but both are pleasant. They might both, and particularly the Trumper, be better viewed as great after shaves than all day colognes. Aside from what it smells like, English Fern (and Wild Fern) are interesting from an historical standpoint. Houbigant's Fougere Royale began the fougere fragrance family, now one of the largest. Modern representations are Brut, Clubman, Polo Green and the list goes on. Curious to know whether the current offering by Houbigant was faithful to the original, I learned in going through the reviews of that fragrance that the answer is 'no'. But at least one of the reviewers, who apparently had some experience with the original, suggested that the closest modern representation might be English Fern. Very interesting and probably true since Fougere Royale came out in 1882 and Trumper's Wild Fern came out in 1887. No doubt Trumper modeled his offering after the French one. And, as I say, English Fern, which itself came out in 1911, has almost the same profile as the Trumper cologne. Fun to connect the dots. Also fun to see just how much fougeres have changed; there is a big difference between English Fern and, say, Brut (or any other modern fougere for that matter, including the current Fougere Royale; I have a sample and indeed it smells nothing like either the Trumper or Penhaligon). How to summarize the difference between these original fougeres and the modern ones? At the risk of dumbing it down too much, the originals were much lighter and simpler." For Wild Fern I would say that if you like soft, clean fougeres and are looking for no more than after shave longevity, this is a nice choice. If you don't fit that profile, keep looking.

Got my nose on this as I wanted to get a piece of history - one of the first releases to focus on the "fern/fougere" accord back in the 19th century. Lush, green and almost a little swamp-ish. This effect has to be coming from the quality oils they used. That atmosphere blossoms on top of what smells like a Tabac-type or shaving foam/talcum powder base. This only lasts 4 hours for me and it's a linear scent - doesn't change throughout scent life. I was happy to get my nose on this - did not keep it though because, in Canada, it's not cheap - runs for $76CAD for 50ml from the only distributor in Canada to sell Geo F. Trumper products that I'm aware of (Fendrihan). The quality and smell is there but the complexity or scent evolution isn't where you'd want it to be when looking at the price. YT channel - The Scentrovert

I'm not big into this type, but here goes: it opens with mostly wintergreen or faux-WG, with a bit of a cooler, more direct green note on top of that. Burns my nostrils unpleasantly (definitely the only Trumpers to do that!). Starts to develop a Blenheim/Wellington style sweaty herb overtone. But then all of a sudden, it smooths out dramatically (did my nose break?). Now it's a lot weaker, and more of a calm green without too much mint or dry herbs. This is acceptable. Why didn't it tell me right from the start that it was going to do this? This is much more relaxed than Pen's English Fern, making it another example, like the aforementioned pair, of Penhaligons using a jackhammer and brute force to create the same scent that Trumpers does with a precise chisel.

Opens very similar to Davidoff - Zino, without the rosey-ness, and maintains the same creamy Lavender and Patchouli. The same, almost powdery dryness, cool Mint and Oak Moss of Cerutti 1981. A similar moldy, wet rotting wood accord as, Amouage - Bracken. A reviewer below mentioned, Wintergreen or faux- Wintergreen. I get that. Dry and damp at the same time. Light, airy, almost powdery, but with depth. Slightly mentholic/medicinal and moldy/rotting wood. Cool. Green. Creamy Lavender. Patchouli. Mossy. It's art to capture a scene in a fragrance.

I regard this as a subtle classic that certainly attracts attention at close quarters. Very popular with (sorry, sexist) a few of my female friends who like its subtle (yes, it is, unless you insert it squarrely in your nostril) tenor.

Smells like Boss Murphy getting a fresh shave at the finest barbershop in Manhattan while the pipes of the calliope aboard the Mary Powell echo the melody of “The Sidewalks of New York” in the distance, 1894

Very pleasant and smooth classic bitter geranium heavy barbershop a la English Fern from Pennhaligon's. love it!

Pungent lemon and lavender like a toilet cleaner --- at least close to the skin. A very penetrating and unsubtle concoction.

Green vegetal. About as wild and exciting as eating your vegetables from the school cafeteria.

The ultimate classic barbershop fougere, Wild Fern is the olfactory equivalent of hearing oboes and bassoon in a baroque pop song of the 60s. It needn't be complex, as it sits in the crossroads of the functional Pinaud camp and the masculine pick-me-up cologne, and for that I love it. It's that bitter burst of geranium leaves accented with basil that invigorates, with a generous vaguely wintergreen-esque amyl salicylate powdery-crunchy clover smell that, when added with anisic touches, coumarin and a bit of carnation, really does remind me of walking through the woods carpeted with fragrant ferns in New England's late summers and autumns. This is the great grandfather of Paco Rabanne Pour Homme and Azzaro Pour Homme. Trumper seems to have preserved the je ne sais quoi of oakmoss in Wild Fern's base in spite of restrictions, which is impressive, and there is a cameo of the wonderful sandalwood as it appears in its highly-lauded Sandalwood Cologne. I have no idea why other reviewers are accusing it of mewling performance; I find quite the contrary, it lingers for several hours on my skin. A grey and muted green beauty.

I wouldn't be surprised if Wild Fern smells closer to the original Houbigant Fougere Royale, the eponymous prototype of the genre, than the 2010 re-make of the Houbigant Fougere Royale. I have both. The 2010 remake is "cleaned up" and re-interpreted for modern tastes from what I've read (I've never smelled the original FR). I think I read that Luca Turin said the original FR smelled like a "public restroom". There is some nastiness and crudeness to Wild Fern. But I like that if it represents the original more closely. I don't need a historical fragrance to meet modern expectations.

Wild Fern, as the name suggests, is a fougere cologne. It connects with the scent of forest undergrowth in a more organic way than most other fougeres. It is indeed like "wild fern" in its natural habitat. (Is there such a thing as a "cultivated fern", by the way?) Modesty, serenity and peace of the woods is found in this soothing green blend. Wild Fern is the scent to reach for when one needs to calm down their mind, to be able to focus and contemplate. It's like "green baize" - it will, too, have a soothing effect on others around you you are making business with.

I thought I would like this based on the notes but to me it smelled strongly of those $4 pine tree air fresheners for your car & pinesol bathroom cleaner. That being said I do like other fragrances from this brand but this was a miss for me.

A cologne, similar in spirit to Penhaligon's discontinued English Fern; sandalwood-base; green, fresh clean, 'oldschool'-soapy vibe. Very "proper", one of my favorites from this house. wears close, not too formal. Can be worn year-round.

This, Douro by Penhaligon's, and Very irresistible men by Givenchy, are the only three Cologne that a (gentle)man really need in his life. Along with the other two mentioned above this is the best perfume FOR MEN ever created.

Has the same pungent aroma as the mosquito repellent I rolled on when I went camping. Sits close to skin and the scent fades off in just one-two hours.