Mousse Arashiyama

Le Jardin Retrouvé is a wonderful house and out of all my sample set, Mousse Arashiyama instantly stood out. As an incense lover, this took me in a different direction than I expected it to. Picture this: a Japanese temple, hidden deep in the woods with a river flowing nearby. You can hear and smell the aquatic wisps of fresh water and you feel grounded from the mossy greenery surrounding you. As you step inside the temple, Shinto incense wafts and overtakes your senses. To me, this is a soothing, calming vision and it definitely suits Mousse Arashiyama. The brief mentions the inspiration to be the self-named gardens in Kyoto and I can see (smell) why. It's an unusual take on incense, in that instead of going for the typical churchy vibes, it goes into an aquatic and mossy direction. The result makes for a very natural smelling perfume, as it is the case with all of Le Jardin Retrouvé`s fragrances. However, being incense dominant, it might not be for you if you don't care for the smell of it. I would still say to try it, as the aquatic and mossy notes definitely take it elsewhere. So yes, Mousse Arashiyama is aquatic, mossy incense. It is also (to me) soothing, calming, grounding and meditative. I will definitely wear this one when I feel the need to compose myself. I would say it leans masculine because of the mossy and incense aspect but a confident woman could wear this easily. Thanks to the incense and moss, the longevity is quite good, easily 7-8 hours on me with good projection for the initial hours. I don't think this is something you wear to a club or a romantic dinner, however. This is more of a functional perfume to me, one I will use to reach a certain state of mind. Regardless, I absolutely love the smell and the fact I'm sniffing myself agressively is always a good sign! I'll be wearing this one in the Spring when greenery is returning. Fans of incense, get your nose on this one.

There needs to be more praise for mastic resin in perfume. Also known as lentisque, this resin comes from Pistacia lentiscus, an evergreen shrub native to the Mediterranean basin and in the same family as pistachio trees. The resin has an aroma that I would describe as "green incense," only mildly smoky in scent and flavor (it's considered a spice that's long been used a chewing gum), but more so sweet-verdant, raw-earthy, and with turpentine-coniferous top notes similar to that of frankincense. There is a radiance to it that feels like sunshine to me. I love its use in Sisley's Eau d'Ikar (now repackaged as L'Eau Rêvée D'Ikar), Tom Ford Vert des Bois, Masque Milano Terralba, and WienerBlut Klubwasser. In the brilliant Mousse Arashiyama, Maxence Moutte uses mastic resin with a fig leaf accord to evoke the feel of a lush, wet mossy forest. Just an accent of Calone is used to impart the watery effect. I've never visited Arashiyama in Japan (how I'd love to!), so I cannot opine whether Moutte has nailed its ambience, but I can say that there is a certain familiarity to its overall feel, since I am always exploring forests in my own spare time. While oakmoss is listed as a note here, I think more the true mosses that cover the stumps of trees, deep green and velvety, like that of Leucobryum glaucum, pincushion moss. I detect Maceal here (which I confirmed through the Le Jardin Retrouvé website!), a green-woody aromachem produced by Givaudan that I at one time experimented myself in creating a woody, mossy effect. It turns out it can create this effect as evidenced here. This is also an example of where a soupçon of geosmin can be used effectively—it's even so subtle underneath the layers, rather than holding all else hostage. This a fantastic creation.

A scent portrait of a damp, mossy forest. I definitely get the woodsy vibe, but Maxence Moutte steers away from making this a 100% lifelike nature scent and gives ample consideration to wearability, so the end result feels impressionistic rather than photorealistic. Very soft and serene, and it comes across a bit like a distant, much more well-mannered cousin of Sloth, a scent that can be a struggle to wear in warm weather, or when you're just not in the mood to take the full brunt of some of its more distinctive traits in all their mildewy glory. This scratches a similar itch with the wet moss and incense combo but spares the wearer the chore of contending with anything overly challenging. Despite what the accord tower suggests, I'd call this more green than woody; it's just a mossy greenness. And there's definitely prominent fig to provide sweetness, so if you don't like that note, steer clear. There's also calone, which I'm usually not crazy about, but it's dosed conservatively here and helps to conjure up notions of rivers and waterfalls and mist within the forest scenery. So if you're like me and normally put off by that note, this still may be worth trying. Personally, I can't fault this too much. I think it strikes a great balance between wearable and atypical. And it nails the brief without taking it too literally, which is nice to see once in a while. Great first experience with this house. High hopes for the rest of the line.

A perfume that gives the feeling of being in nature! Pleasant fresh scent that is well suited during for daytime in late spring and for summer days! The mixture of Oakmoss that becomes prominent together with aguatic scent, fruit and wood works strangely enough very well and everything is pleasantly fresh. It otherwise starts with a light smoke scent (very light and not intrusive) and fresh citrus and it is absolutely very affordable and also interesting. Complex in its simplicity and I look forward to using it during the day frequently during late spring and summer. Seems to consist of nature products. Well worth a try. A bit 70s "old school" but at the same time very modern and I would call it a green spring and summer perfume. Recommended.

My experience with this house seems to have me straight down the middle for the score of "Lovely,but it smells like a high quality version of something I have" or "smells novel". This is the later. This is the first time I've tried a perfume with incense that manages to smell light and delicate.I agree this smells much more Mediterranean than anything. I'm a big fan of Korres perfumes, and this smells like something they might release. It might be a little early to call, but I think I like this even more than Violet kew.