LES ALPES

Like the cold November air caressing my face while my core is warm while wearing a fleece, Les Alpes is a landscape of exhilarating contrasts. It delivers far beyond the charm of its alpine theme. There is the sensation of altitude: a clarity, if you will, even a hardiness. Pellegrin seems to emphasize the presence of conifers through not only the absolutes of pine and balsam fir, but with juniper berry and rosemary essence, and the green-anisic bittersweetness of fennel, among other aromatics. The result is a cool and crisp atmosphere and blue sky expanse softening into a flannel softness. The tonka-tobacco blanket of hay absolute and the garnet-red (pardon my synesthesia) of deep, sweet cistus absolute is the calm, the enfolding comfort, retreating from the open air and into the cozy cabin to drift off into a slumber. The duality of chill and warmth is not like anything else I smelled in a fragrance—perhaps vaguely so in certain classic fougeres, but nothing quite as simultaneously striking and lulling as Les Alpes. This one is for blissing out... One more note to add: I don't get why the below review thinks this smells exactly like Brut aftershave. To me, this smells nothing of the sort.

Growing up, both my father and my stepfather were as in to perfume (“cologne” in dad-speak) as the female members of my family. I remember medicine cabinets featuring a rotation of all kinds of bracing concoctions, from Brut and Old Spice to Aramis and Eau Sauvage. Even Guerlain’s Vetiver made it into the mix, probably from one of my mom’s trips back to Europe to see family. Les Alpes has a similar feel to those vintage “colognes,” the same dance between fresh and spicy, earthy and ethereal. The herbal, pine, and wood notes are so beautifully modulated and incorporated, though, that an entirely new whole is created out of what would normally be its too distinctive parts—nothing here sears the nose or stands up and shouts. On the one hand, this is what I like to call a “proper gentleman” of a perfume—if either of my dads were still alive or if my husband wore perfume, I would rush out to buy this for them. On the other, it has the cool elegance of the world’s great fresh EDTs, like the bottles of Eau de Givenchy and Eau de Rochas my mom would buy to freshen up in the summer. So I guess I’ll just have to buy it for myself.

I'm in a fougere phase right now, and even though I don't really like Brut that much (at least not the vintage sample that I have), the comparison below is what convinced me to try Les Alpes. I would not have made the Brut connection myself, but Les Alpes is basically fougere-adjacent so I can see how someone might think of Brut if that's their touch point for the genre. Les Alpes is much more pleasant though, sweeter, fresher, and more naturalistic.

It opens like the first breath at dawn on a mountain, cold, pure, almost spiritual. As it settles, Les Alpes feels like a soft, sun-warmed blanket, calm, cozy, and comforting, almost putting you to sleep. For me, it’s just pure peace, a breath of altitude and the quiet beauty of the earth.

Pine needles, herbs, woods and fresh mountain air. Amazing scent! Green, refreshing, slightly old-school and completely different from anything else I own. Smells like a modern old school fougere, if that makes any sense... A blind buy that paid off beautifully.

As someone who isn't a big fan of fougere parfumery, this is an absolute masterpiece. The opening is a bit sharp for me with all the pine and so on. The dry down is absolutely divine. It might join my life long parfum list.

This absolutely smells in the neighborhood Gucci Envy for Men (and Floris Santal by association). I love Envy, so IMHO this smells great! It does read as a bit fresher and weaker than Envy--a watercolor of that scent if you will. I agree with some of the comments below that this maybe doesn't read as "alpiney." I can't help but smell the spices of Envy (cardamom, ginger, juniper); there is a certain coniferousness to it, though, and a brisky, chilly vibe! When I think of alpine landscapes, though, I think of the grassy, wildflower fields ABOVE the treeline. I wish there was more of a natural, agrestic, floralcy to it like hiking above the trees. Nissaba's own "Provence" kind of does that windswept floral better. This isn't necessarily fair to the fragrance, as it's my personal expectation of what "Les Alpes" should smell like. Taken on its own merit, this is a lovely sweet fougere. I wish it lasted longer and that natural hay absolute was more able to be smelled in the drydown.

I think this is quite nice, but it has far more of an oriental/spice fragrance than that of an Alpine fragrance. There is cardamom, cinnamon and sandalwood, with a sweet-ish vanilla note, which makes this spicy/creamy and quite the fall fragrance as a result. Do I like it? Yes. Is it well blended? Also yes. But I would rather wear Floris Eau de Santal instead.

It’s a really nice scent. Super fresh and aromatic. I really enjoy the juniper berries and cardamom parts here. Geranium makes it a touch more masculine but I still think it can be a great summer scent for everyone. Reminds me a bit of Spirit by Vallense. My ig: scent.guide

Smells exactly like Brut aftershave. I promise if someone smells this on you, they're going to assume it's a very traditional masculine cosmetic project like aftershave or shaving cream, not a perfume. Projection is very minimal and only lasts about 2 hours. Bummer.

Anisic soft herbal piney geranium creamy fougere The remaining Nissaba offerings, compared to this Extrait, are more so monothematic compositions, meaning that they evoke a particular setting quite effectively, particularly as the stunning Provence. Les Alps is arranged more so classically to abstractly resemble fougere structure (which I guess is why Brut was mentioned below even though they share practically nothing in common...) Overall it remains quite simple throughout with a very airy fennel anisic dewy top, going into bright high pitched juniper sandalwoood with rosy geranium inflections, settling on a creamy tobacco-ish fougere base. When smelled from further away it‘s fresh and vibrant, while approaching closer feels warmer, creamy and inviting with a creamy sweet woody character. Its a very interesting interposition of bright and invigorating against fuzzy warm woody. Two scents come to mind, Lolita Lempicka Homme, but only in terms of warm woody anisic opening notes and Stora Skuggan Fantome, particularly the bright transparent woody elements. However Les Alps feels more substantial than both, less sweet than the Lempicka and less abstract woody than Fantome.

Wild that folks are getting such pine / mountain notes. I'm getting a lot of resin and tobacco. It's reminding me a lot of Amouage Royal Tobacco. This is a great fragrance. Well-blended. Woody + resins.

Wonderfully pleasant scent, but very very bad projection. I forget I wear it unless I sniff my wrists

Not too offensive after the dry down but it smells like my grandpa.