Wood Haven

It is exactly what it says in the notes, the thing is - this is a unisex all year everytime versatile a bit boring fragrance. The top is a very natural smelling lemon/sweet and acidic yellow citrus with fuzzy, papery, dusty black pepper. The pepper, slightly different, is also in the mid with gin-like juniper and a bit thicker than top citrus feel (ginger). The whole base is clean wood and a clean piney-ceadery note. It's moderate in projection from the start, and will last you somewhere about 7 hours. Absolutely everywhere and everyone safe, even blind buy safe, if you don't consider this overpriced. I get the comparison to Terre d'Hermes, but this is just way nicer, natural, and I think less straight up Iso E Super overdose the Terre is. Now I actually like it a lot. If this performed better I'd think of buying it. This is even a signature scent worthy perfume. I like it a lot, but IMHO it's a bit pricey for what it is, and it might be boring to some.

A nice vetiver fragrance for those who enjoy vetiver along with ginger, which I do on both counts. I am not a big fan of citrus, which I find to be a bit too prominent and lingers a bit too long for my enjoyment. As others here have mentioned, I do like this scent but it's not what I had expended from Wood Haven (something more along the lines of a Wonderwood, I suppose). Moreover, I am a fan of Keresene and own several of this house's fragrances, including this one, but overall I have dozens of vetiver fragrances--most were far less expensive--that I will be reaching for ahead Vetiver-Ginger Haven. Wood Haven perform pretty well in that it lasts 8-10 hours on my skin and projects moderately. A tepid like.

I received bad health news about a family member and had been in the dumps all morning. Nothing—not the sunshine, walking, stretching—helped. Then something possessed me to spray my shirt 4 times with Wood Haven. A smile broke through, my sadness lifted. The exhilaration of spicy ginger, luminous grapefruit, nose-tickling pepper, resinous bergamot, and smoky juniper made my mood turn around in seconds. Now, in the mid-drydown, the almost sweet-woody vetiver and somewhat creamy-dry cedar is calming and enhancing the top note effects. Good stuff, this Wood Haven. It’s one of the best woody-citrus masculines for anytime wear and, as I now see, mood-enhancement as well.

Superb fragrance, top quality materials. Starts out with a grapefruit-ginger-pepper punch, then transforms over time into a silvery, smoky, lightly spicy, juniper-cedar scent with a touch of medicinal yet soft guaicol in the background. One of the few citrus-woody-smoky scents that is complex, non-linear, and long-lasting. It puts Terre d’Hermes to shame and is cheap considering the quality. $140USD for 100ml is a steal.

A fun nod (I assume) to Woodhaven, MI, which is about 20 miles outside of Detroit...I love the wood and citrus notes in this...and the touch of ginger and pepper that give it a spicy finish...slightly masculine, but still totally unisex...oh Kerosense, I may just have to collect them all...

So I have two experiences with this. One was from a bottle at the counter at a store and the subsequent sample and then the bottle I bought which had a very different profile. I think there must have been a change in formulation which would account for the different scents. The first time I tried it opened with a glorious and bright citrus. Lemon not in any cleaning sense, but like a natural fresh way. Then it settled and the cedar settled in. I smelled the juniper and it gave an almost funky oud smell. I really enjoyed this one and it’s the reason I bought a whole bottle. Overall the scent didn’t last as long as I’d liked. The bottle I purchased opened with a much less pronounced citrus profile. Much more bergamot and grapefruit than lemon and much less bright and fun. The ginger quickly comes in and gives it a little sparkle or tingle to things. The cedar is below undergirding things and the ginger remains pretty constant. Almost a bit much. There’s also the spiciness of the pepper in there too. This one smells much more masculine and traditional. I’m pretty baffled at the difference between the two. Almost like one version took the opposite scents and enhanced them from the other that were less pronounced. I’m going to try and return my bottle in hopes of getting one that has the original scent I smelled.

Wood Haven, like Santalum Slivers, is a pretty agreeable, slightly masculine-leaning citrus/woody blend from Kerosene. Wood Haven definitely leans more toward cold weather use, as while it contains a similar blend of mixed citrus and woods (cedar and guaiac), some of the other contributors of vetiver, ginger, and especially pepper are more prominent. So it's also spicy in addition to being woody and fresh. Like Santalum Slivers, Wood Haven is certainly a fragrance I would happily wear on many occasions, but I'm just not quite inspired to buy it. $140 for 100ml is more than reasonable niche pricing, so Kerosene always has fair price points, but this fragrance is safe and agreeable when I enjoy the more daring, bold options from the house. Fine on performance but not boastful, Wood Haven is noticeable but not imposing, roughly average for both projection and longevity. Usage occasions are yearround, and while it leans slightly masculine, this is realistically something that can be worn by anyone. Certainly one I'll revisit over time and see if this review changes. 7 out of 10

The outburst of citrus and pepper in the opening is so f-ing wonderful!!! My favourite top note all categories at the moment. Dries down quite fast to a nice easy going wood scent. If you want a citrus and wood-fragrance that's not too loud this must be the one. I'm a bit tired of woody scents but could go full bottle just for the opening...

I got an initial blast of ginger and grapefruit that was refreshing but that disappeared within 30 minutes (on my skin) and I really don't smell much of anything any more. I am working from a sample from the perfumer and maybe a spray from the bottle would give better performance.

Wood Haven is a good name for this, I think! It doesn‘t evolve that much. Basically it starts off with some kind of citrus and dries down to this nice, warm wood scent that reminds me of the forest but also bonfires, wood workshops, furniture stores, matches and rooms with a lot of wood in them like wooden floors and furniture, maybe even antiques. I think the performance is pretty good, I could smell this even after 10 hours, which is great! It‘s strong but not overwhelming and I seriously doubt you could offend people with any amount of this. It‘s a like for it‘s kind of artsy vibe but I don‘t think this is something I‘d actually wear a lot. I think it‘s unisex but a little more on the masculine side, anyone could wear it though! It also suits winter really well because I always associate wood with chimneys and bonfires, which for some reason remind me of winter time. In the end I think it‘s good. But nothing that actually blew my mind, which other Kerosene fragrances actually did!

Opens very citrusy with just a bit of woods in the background, very bright and fresh with a cool, smooth undercurrent. Warms as it wears, growing spicier and more complex as it settles. Ah, the juniper is coming forward and it's very strong. I'm not enjoying it as much now compared to initially. The ginger is showing up now. Side by side with the juniper, they are the strongest notes at this point. I am not a fan, but they do marry well. The sharpness from the juniper ginger pairing slides back as a sweet note emerges. I don't think it's vanilla? Maybe a hint of sweet tobacco? Alright, the end game is surprisingly semisweet. The juniper and ginger have calmed down. The woods have arrived and provide a balanced base. It's nice but too dramatic and sharp at points, not smooth enough for my taste. Review of official sample directly from the house of Kerosene.

First blast of sweet oud and aged cedar. The woods are lifted by an elusive sweet candy fruit note, fleeting and appearing for a second before disappearing again. After a minute, the sweetness disappears forever as the scent settles into woods, warm and just on the edge of ginger spicy. Overall a pleasant and classic wood fragrance, nothing new or groundbreaking at all, it's simply just... woods. Linear and one note. Nothing wrong with that but it's probably the most generic from this line that I've tried so far. Masculine and best for cool weather. 6+ hours later: Very long lasting, still going strong on that linear one-note woods.

First the good. I don't get any aroma chemicals that can be detected in TDH or it's flankers. The ingredients quality feels fairly good and it's unique. The performance isn't good on my skin which is fine, I'm not a performance whore and I'll trade quality for chemical. My gripe is there's way too much ginger in this frag and it muddles the citruses, vetiver and woods. It just takes over the fragrance. The drydown smells exactly like ginger ale. If you love ginger or ginger ale it might be for you.

Ginger powder; that's all I smell. It's "effervescent", especially at the beginning, like Ginger beer. Some woodiness, probably a little bit of frankincense, and a LOT of ginger! It smells "indie" for sure. Not for me.

Lemon, juniper, vetiver. Very intimate, not really special, basic. Remove the lemon, pump up the WOODS and maybe add a sappy maple. 5 / 10

Maybe Oud Wood plus refined citruses. So, a multitude of very acidic and high veneers. Similar to the grapefruit from that line.

Terrible performance, lackluster and very forgettable scent. not worthy of being part of the Kerosene lineup.

Funny enough, but this not so "woody" on me at all. It opened with a burst of ginger and lemons making me almost sneeze. After the harsh opening part is gone I am left with a smoky aromatic scent of vetiver and citruses. Even though I was expecting more woods and a dryer scent, this is a good one. Does not bring anything unique to the table unfortunately as I have a feeling I have tried this somewhere before. Truly unisex as the woods never get too dry to get masculine and citruses with vetiver never get too sweet to get feminine. Worth a try if sample comes around, but nothing one should be hunting for. Sadly I must say - a disappointing for me. I hope other Kerosene creations will have something to wow me.

Upon first whiff I get a peppery cumin combo. After that I get the freshness from the citrus, especially bergamot. Reading these notes now, I think the reason I smell cumin is the vetiver and ginger combo. But do you know what I don't smell much of? Wood. I'm not sure what to make of this fragrance. The spiciness and the citrus freshness feel like they need a star player, like the fragrance is lacking something important to carry it. But that's probably the point of it. This is the first Kerosene fragrance I've sampled that I didn't particularly like. It smells alright but to me there's nothing that grabs my attention with it.

I am rather disappointed with this one. I typically prefer Woody perfumes, so I figured this one would be my jam ... Nope! When I first smell it, I smell lemon and pepper. Then the ginger comes in hot and heavy. I usually like ginger notes...this is too much to me. I feel like the ginger inappropriately touched me. Lol. It goes on and on and on. After that, there is the faintest wood smell ever. I love Juniper, but that did not seem to appear at all. Bummer. Should have been named Wood Craven or Wood Shavings or Wood Framed or Wood?