Artisan Forest

This one was love at first sniff for me and I had been waiting for it to hit discounters. Yet, here we are 7 months after launch and it's still only available at retail, which is odd for a JV release. It seems to only be available on the JV website and at Nordstrom, but no other stores in the US. Weird. It also appears to be the first EDP in the Artisan lineup. It's also strange that a release from a big brand like this only has 5 comments this long after release. All the oddities aside, I finally caved and bought a bottle after skin testing it a few times over the past few months. I've either smelled or owned every JV fragrance and Artisan Forest is without a doubt my favorite. The fig, violet, and mandarin (tangelo) come together to form such a beautiful and mysterious fragrance that is somehow uplifting yet calming to me. The bright citrus shines in the opening, and as it dries down, the woody notes (especially vetiver) become more prominent with the fig still holding strong in the background. While I wouldn't associate this smell with a forest, there is certainly a green outdoorsy profile to it that almost comes across as an exotic tea, which I'm guessing is the buchu. This has a tiny bit of sweetness to it in the opening only, but nothing like the level of sweetness of most new designer fragrances these days. While it does have some old school notes like galbanum, artemisia, patchouli, and vetiver, it doesn't come off like an overly mature fragrance to me but I doubt teenagers would appreciate it. 25+. Did the EDP concentration help the performance? Yes and no. It does last about 6-7 hours on my skin which is longer than other JVs, but it is literally a skin scent within 5 minutes on me with no projection, which is worse than any other JV. I'm hoping it's just a maceration issue, but this has been the case with my bottle as well as the two in-store testers I've tried as well. Even if it stays that way, I still have zero regrets because I do love this scent so much. I think it would get a lot more attention if it wasn't so hard to find.

Tested today. so far the best john Varvatos I'd say. it's fleshing green and flowery smell for men.

Aromatic/green/woody with a hint of sweetness & citrus. It's got a slight barbershop/fougère vibe. The opening fades very quickly but after that the notes stay very consistent, getting smoother and blending well until the end. On my skin, longevity and projection are moderate. I find it very reminiscent of the underrated "Arbo" line by Brazilian house O Boticário. This fragrance is "light" enough to be worn throughout the year, hot summer included. Bottle is beautiful, cap slides on and it had a good sprayer. I picked a 75ml for 49€ at a discounter online in France. I blind bought it because I'm obsessed with "forest inspired" fragrances, even though I end up not liking a lot of them. This one is very well blended and smooth, I would've loved a bit more sweetness but I think it'll pair well with a rugged winter outfit with earthy tones or light summer outfit with green/leaf pattern button up shirt.

A good one from JV. It is not the woody, mossy, or musky style of some other similarly themed fragrances, rather leaning into more of what I'd call rainforesty, with some vegetable notes like cucumber or freshly cut celery and maybe a tiny bit of dill. There is some wood, but it's more like freshly cut green twigs than an old, rich woody direction. It's coated in the warm aromatic aftershave note the other JV Artisans have as well but over all is neither very heavy nor very long-lasting. Keep it for short outings or workouts

This is funny to me that there are no reviews about Projection or Sillage, nothing mentioned in the reviews about Longevity on this, since it is an EDP, yet there are people who took the time to add Hate and week on a new product found on the manufacturer's website. What a Joke!!! And this is coming from a non-Varvatos fanboy!!!

I own every other Johnny V so this will definitely be jumping on my shelf :) Being honest, looking at these notes, it looks rain foresty fresh and ORIGINAL. Keen to get my fat snozzer on it for sure!

Wish these people would stop putting bad reviews on stuff that's not even out of tried. It's sad. Guess Ross is right calling you all trollgrantica and why I went to the other site for more info.

To me this smells like a sweeter, better and more niche version of JPG Le Beau Paradise Garden

Any link for the discounters would be nice. I still see it at 120/160 USD 😭

It's starting to hit discounters (slowly) for my fellow JV fans. 🤘

I'll always be first for a NEW JV. HYPED AND I WANT IT ASAP.