Il Était Un Bois

Not at all the deep, earthen wood I had braced for! No damp bark, no cavernous shadows, but instead, mellow beams of sun. A soft, golden-brown warmth of grain fields sighing under a sky so wide it swallows sound. Wood is present of course, but not the heavy kind. Wood shaved fine, curled like ribbons, steeped in warmth until edges blur. Powder diffused, softened, carried on the air. And then, oat milk. Unbidden, it rises—a delicate creaminess threading through the wood, pooling into the spaces where less than-desirable sharpness would have occupied in any typical wood fragrance. Not thick but silky, grain-type-of-savoury. It catches the wheat, the pale sweetness of husks and chaff, and turns them into something tender. Warmth upon warmth, stacked in layers so sheer they feel like light itself. Like looking at the world through a pane of golden glass, edges blurred, time slowed. A scent less not put on but slipped into, like a morning bathed in pale light, neither wholly earth nor dream. Absolutely captivating and unlike anything I've smelled before.

I actually cant get enough of this. I havent been able to stop sniffing my wrist like a buffoon. I really did expect a pine-cedar-lush spring forest but i am charmed by this subtle rice-y oatmilk-y scent. Its like every other perfumer tries to capture the essence of the mid-air. The leaves of the trees, and the rich smell of bark as you look up at the canopy. This fragrance instead looks down at the ground. grass swaying in the wind, or the dried up remains of the squirrel's breakfast. Sumlikedat.

Such a calming, grounded, delicate fragrance. It reminds me of the kind of perfumes made by Olivia Giacobetti (Philosykos, Premier Figuer etc) calm, woody, subtle, no big chemicals. Smells like someone who spent the night in a high-end country cabin, maybe in Scandinavia, sun-warmed wood on a sleepy morning, birds singing, scent of dry grass on a delicate breeze. Love it!

This is a wonderful scent - absolutely love it... The oaty buckwheat note really enhances the rooty vetiver + creates such a powdery soft inviting feeling. Addictive, yes! This isn't leafy, damp or green in anyway - for me it conjours up resting under a tree on a warm dry day. Stunning...

I agree with the review below, it’s nice but it’s not a “wow” scent to me. Just a pleasant, soft, nutty/cereal-y Vetiver. It’s very linear once you get past the opening, what you get after the first 5 minutes is basically what you have for the rest of the life of the scent. It’s pleasant enough, but there are far better scents (and Vetivers) out there for the price. I also don’t think the fragrances matches the marketing myself. This doesn’t make me think of “a forest”, this makes me think of a barley field or grain pile. More farm than forest with such strong cereal vibes. So yeh, it’s pleasant but nothing worth writing home about imo. Edit: just realised I said the word ‘pleasant’ 3 times... still I’m leaving them in since that is the word that comes straight to mind when I smell this.

A curious perfume. I love Mechant Loup. I would describe this scent as it younger rebellious brother. Buckwheat hits hard but soon settles down to an earthy, nutty, quite sensual scent. This is one for late summer, Early Autumn. It’s addictive but not one for the Spring Summer months. It’s masculine but not overwhelmingly so. Not as dirty or intoxicating as Mechant Loup Or Fou D’absinthe...but full marks to L’Artisan for pushing the boundaries. I wish other niche Parfum House’s were as brave

So hard to describe this... It's masculine. It's woody. It's kinda fresh but in a balsamic way. It does remind me a bit of Mechant Loup and Fou d'Absinthe, but just a slight vibe. It definitely transports me into a cold forest, with fresh cut woods and cold air. That wheat note is insane, so original! It's great, would consider buying it at some point, it smells like a signature fragrance of a nice man. Vetiver is really beautifully surrounded here.

i loveee the opening on this, very savoury bread/wheat husk/floury, dry, lightly woody, but alas after a few (2) hours it is pulling really soapy and synthetic on my skin :P search for unsweetened bread perfume continues

Il Etat Un Bois smells very grounded, down to earth, natural, organic. Very unisex, abstract nature perfume. Sort of aromatic-fresh. I agree this is a bit similar to some perfumes of Hermes, at least the mood.

I would like to start by saying that I have never smelled(or eaten) buckwheat before. What I get upon spraying is something nutty and powdery, alongside the refined vetiver. In the dry down, the vetiver become slightly leathery, not rooty, damp and smokey, with some of that nutty, powdery, slightly sweet "something." I'm not getting much cedar. It's almost linear; there isn't much change going on. My advice: try it more than once before purchasing because my opinion about it has changed from like to "I don't care for it." It's not bad; it's actually fairly pleasant, but it really doesn't deserve the £170 they're asking, imo. I can get much better vetiver perfumes for less.

At first, I hated it. A buckwheat much too aggressive and unpleasant, as if altered ; instant of immediate retreat. I had to wait about 10 minutes for this unpleasant smell to fade and give way to a much more aromatic and woody scent. It then became pleasant but, even if I find the smell mainly woody, I'm not in a wood, in fact I don't know where I am, I have difficulty describing this smell. Maybe I am at the edge, it is an "almost wood" and right next to it is... a field? In my opinion it is more of a countryside smell (wood/cereals/nature) than a forest. In short, not bad but particular and not to my taste.

As a frequent buckwheat eater I don't think this smells like buckwheat at all, unless it supposed to be the flower rather than the food, I have no idea how that smells

My impression matches those below me. A nutty/cereal-y fragrance, reminiscent of Un Jardin a Cythere. "Inspired by a walk in the forest", they say, but this is more wood, than woods; brown scent, not green at all. "Once Upon a Forest" means: they fell down the forest. And made... pistachios out of it? Leans feminine in my opinion.

Very unpleasant. Feels like you are surrounded by leftover plain rice. If you love food earthy ingredient smell, maybe this will be appealing. But do not buy it if you like fresh scent

strange scent—almond, milky, and vetiver. No sweet, there’s an oily feeling in it. The almond note is very prominent. The name and the fragrance don’t match at all—there’s no forest vibe.

i have explored my fair share of niche perfumes and i always seem to find myself returning to L'Artisan Parfumeur and Un Bois does not disappoint. Context: I am a male in my late 20s located in Asia (humid and hot) in the corporate scene (Office). Trying this at their counter i am suddenly transported to a forest cabin in the middle of skandinavia, white pale freshly cut wooden bark, dark green leaves that wave in the cool air, the scent is v refined and photorealistic, it has a v simple scent profile and is rather linear (which i appreciate for a work setting). Most woody scents tend to be v dense imo, but Un Bois manages to be airy, powdery almost creamy in the most addicitng way, a scent profile like this im usually against for hot humid weather, but the warmth really brings the scent to life. Its like holding onto a freshly dry cut piece of wood, genderless and ageless imo, but can lean masculine for some, but its v comforting and meditative. A scent that suddenly makes you slow your breathing and find the person who is wearing it, instead of a scent bubble, i imagine this scent to be a small noninstrusive pale white mist that wafts in the air when a person moves. A subtle quiet beauty, introverted and sophisticated. Bal d'Afrique by Byredo screams in comparison to this smooth operator. I can see how some may think the scent smells rather oaty/flour-esque, but thats what makes the scent comforting haha This is not a gourmand at all. Try it on a testing strip and you'll catch yourself sniffing it subconsiouslly all day, not a must for everyone, but a fantastic clean skinscent for men imo.

Spicy, creamy, guaiac wood, cedar, vetiver, with a soft balsamic note that gets stuck in the back of your throat (a la Fou d’Absinthe and perhaps even Vert des Bois). Got a sample today from Neiman Marcus - immediately reminds me of a creamier Kenzo Jungle Homme intersected with the dryness of CDG 2 Man - a touch of Scorpio Rising too. The opening is much “greener” wood, and the drydown is much drier “incensed” wood. Imagine transitioning from the jungle to something much more arid. Agree with Vitodito: it has that all-rounder quality, not quite pencil shaving, but in my opinion perhaps a more crowd-pleasing Fou d’Absinthe. People will smell this and think, “ah, I’ve smelt this before” ... but perhaps this might be the best iteration of that smell (?) Initial impression: chalking this up to a semi-return-to-form for the brand. P.s. fourth time full-wearing and still drying down to some sort of pepperiness that seems to irritate my upper lip and nostrils - if you know the feeling, you know what I mean... having missed out on the “Golden Age” of L’Artisan to focus on the “Golden Age” (2000s to mid 2010s) of Penhaligon’s ... I’m afraid Puig is now dragging them both down the “synthetic train” drain

This was quite the surprise... and I’m thankful that I stumbled upon it. I haven’t heard of this fragrance before randomly sampling it. Because Un Bois gets overlooked easily, especially when Timbuktu and Tea for Two are in the mix. Side notes: This is an interesting play on Vetiver... especially for those whom always comment on how much they can’t stand a Vetiver accord. This may be your gateway into that note...

Very clean, a drier version of Bois Farine and a touch softer and fluffier than Sycamore. Well-blended and sophisticated.

First trial : reminds me a lot of Hermes Un Jardin à Cythère