Digitalis

Digitalis is the smell of Mother Nature, with all her different green facets. It opens very bright, slightly moist and green, like the scent of spring leaves just after rain. Or like dewy grass and wet woodland soil. A sharp pepperiness appears and gives this cheerful hymn to spring a darker feeling. And not far behind the pepper lurks a lovely dry incense note, that removes some of the dewy, wet notes and takes the fragrance deeper into the woods. To a place where moss and ferns cover the forest floor and mischievous nymphs play amongst the shadows. Digitalis has a rapid development the first 30 minutes or so, then it just softens slightly. It becomes dark mossy and somewhat earthy, and shifts between feeling dewy and dry. It's a lovely, very naturalistic smell of woods and the more wild and untouched parts of nature. I think I get a tiny hint of something slightly coniferous in here as well. It doesn't smell like a coniferous forest, but it's like there is one close by, and the wind carries its smell to you. This airy, fresh, somewhat piney scent lifts the mossy darkness a little, and adds a few bright spots to those deep green shadows. This is very much a scent of three elements: Earth, air and water. And I guess the incense even brings in the fourth: Fire. It's a scent that feels very new and fresh, and slightly ancient at the same time. Ageless even. A gorgeous creation, perfect for spring and summer. And that says something, because I don't usually like prominent cucumer in perfumes. But here it works, and it's really beautiful and refreshing. Longevity is great, as usual with this brand. It lasts over 8 hours on my skin. Sillage is quite strong right away, but becomes a soft, mossy skin scent within an hour or so.

Digitalis is perhaps the most aquatic, ozonic, and green of the Les Potions Fatales collection from Parfums Quartana. Usually "ozonic" is a descriptor that renders me inclined to think that a fragrance is cheap and only ephemerally interesting or tolerable, as that's been my experience with most fragrances described as such, but in Digitalis, that mold is broken. Apart from the Digitalis (or Foxglove) flowers, a genus with which I'm not all that familiar, this perfume entails moss, ozone, violet, resins, cucumber, coriander, and rose. It's quite fresh, surely green, and comfortably blended. It has vegetable and herbal hints but is not akin to wearing a vegetable (like the first incarnation of Zoologist Panda, for instance). Performance is quite great for the type of fragrance it is, with projection roughly average, and longevity above average. Overall not as quite as robust as LOTV or other offerings in the line, but certainly satisfactory for the usage occasions, generally daytime during warm weather, in my estimation, though it's a versatile-enough offering for men and women alike throughout the year. It just plays better to the day or casual (than the night or formal) occasions. The pricing for Digitalis is on the lower end of the collection, at $145 for 50ml, sold at Perfumology, Twisted Lily, Fumerie, etc. in the US. 8 out of 10

As a certified herbalist, I am very familiar with digitalis in the wild. Not the taste, because it would kill you! So I was incredibly intrigued by this offering from Quartana. In the beginning, it smelled like all the times I would set out for a hike. I get to the trailhead, and it smells just like plants. Not trees, flowers or anything else. Just the green scent of wild plants. The cucumber quickly appears and remains the whole time. I like cucumber in general, from good ol' Bath and Body Works Cucumber Melon to En Passant. It's more along the lines of the Malle fragrance. It smells just like the fresh slices of cucumber they put on my eyes at the spa. Clean, crisp, pure, refreshing and naturally a bit sweet. I definitely notice incense in the drydown. It drifts up to my nose and smells a bit woody and very faintly smoky. Digitalis never smells stale, dull, nor synthetic. It maintained its integrity for a solid 6 hours, until I accidentally washed it off. Even then, it remained quite present on my skin for a few more hours, to the point where I could not put on a different perfume. I wore it in 88F, no problem. Held up beautifully. Highly recommended for spring and summer. I would wear this year-round. I seem to crave petrichor in winter.

Sigh... I can’t pick a favorite from this collection. This would be in my top 3 though. Amazingly full of nature, imagine hiking all day while staying fresh and coming home before the sun sets. You know when parents say you smell like outside? That’s what sits in the base of this fragrance. There’s this sunny vitamin D glow scent that radiates throughout the other notes. I smell everything. The plants, the light florals, the sky.. I smell the blue skies in this but can also imagine a cloudy day where the sun is trying to peep through. Very pleasing and not overbearing. The cucumber is very prominent in this.. especially as it dries down on me. I love it.. never smelled anything like these fragrances as a whole..

To my nose, the cucumber, coriander and black pepper notes are STRONG, and this smells exactly like a salad. While I like Digitalis a lot, I don't get any of the florals other people are smelling at all. It's a bit flat and vegetal on me, but not in an unpleasant way. I can imagine this as a good layering fragrance.

Saddened to have just run out of my sample of this because it's so easy to wear. The cucumber is really prominent in a way I find super endearing, as someone who grew up loving Bath & Body Works Cucumber Melon. When a friend was going through my sample collection, I directed her toward Digitalis with the Bath & Body Works association in mind. She agreed with me, saying it smelled to her like finding a bottle of Cucumber Melon in a nice wooden cabinet. I instantly loved that description, because I think it paints a great picture of what this smells like. While there appears to be no wooden notes, the violet and moss add an intriguingly breezy refinement to the cucumber. The person I imagine wearing this is a very well-behaved young girl at a party full of fancy adults. It's maybe a slightly somber party, so her presence is a breath of fresh air. The adults who interact with her keep saying how sweet and well-spoken she is, and how she's destined for great things. Despite her politeness, the girl doesn't care much about what the adults are saying, and just wants to go read or practice sports outside. Truly, I mean it as a compliment, but if you happen to know of any adult who loved Cucumber Melon as a kid, but doesn't totally know what to wear now, this would make a fantastic gift. I think Digitalis is easygoing and clean-cut in a similar way, but doesn't smell cheap or cloying. I've seen some people say this perfume is weird, dark, and masculine, and I don't any get that from this. Despite me associating cucumber with tomboyish millennial girlhood, Digitalis definitely feels like a true unisex. Airy, fresh, inoffensive from top to bottom, and sadly gone too soon. It's pretty overpriced, so I don't think I'll get a full bottle, but I've really enjoyed having this perfume around.

Imagine a cucumber-scented soap bar aroma, dialed up to...11. I nearly feel suds in my nostrils, little soap bubbles popping, tickling and tingling. This is how Digitalis begins. It's wild. Soon something in my brain lit up telling me it was something I smelled in the very distant past—like childhood. Some functional product, perhaps. Then I realize that this has some heavy-hitting ozonic materials in it. Almost eye-watering, jeez Louise. Then its grows more wet soil and geosmin like, then it dawns on me! Yes, I have it! The smell of childhood, turning over rocks to see all manner of creatures scurrying away: pillbugs, earwigs, burrowing insects and earthworms. The smell of my hands after inspecting, examining, with wonder, the organisms. Oh, and also the smell of watermelon minds comes to mind. Digitalis is thrilling as a piece of olfactory art, but my mind can't quite reconcile with the very fact that it doesn't really smell like perfume, per se. That said, it's fascinating, even if it doesn't feel eminently wearable.

I was not expecting to enjoy this fragrance as much as I do. This is ultra green and super fresh, in a way that feels both youthful and sophisticated. I was worried about this smelling synthetic (I noticed several people comparing this to cucumber melon which was not a scent I enjoyed), but the cucumber and ozonic notes in this actually feel pretty photorealistic and natural. There is an aquatic quality that I also really enjoy in this and the subtle incense note gives this depth. While I love Zoologist Dragonfly, I feel like Digitalis smells like what I would want Dragonfly to smell like. I was also surprised by how long lasting this was considering that "fresh" fragrances tend to fade on my skin pretty quickly.

Digitalis is an interesting green fragrance. It opens with a fresh, spicy greenness that is truly quite lovely and unique. As it dries down, the scent changes; the ozonic and cucumber notes emerge strongly. Overall, I wish the opening lasted because the dry down isn’t quite as balanced on my skin. A cucumbery, ozonic scent emerges, reminiscent of the way your clothes might smell after you’ve been outside for a long time. It’s very interesting.

Green & airy. It’s quite nice actually. I didn’t hesitate to spray my whole body after sampling.

When I first sprayed Digitalis, I was instantly reminded of Acqua di Sale by Profumum Roma, and also Bleu Turquoise by Armani Privē: that unmistakable, weird aquatic accord was so powerful. But when I came to it a few hours later that was gone, and what was left was rather nice. Initially I wrote this off as a dislike, all I got was a freshly cleaned public toilet with a lemony urinal cake effect. Thankfully though, this gets left behind rather quickly and becomes more salty, slightly sweet yet also green, light and watery, airy and sunny. It’s a very hard scent to describe. It does have qualities of surface cleaner and public toilets (without the filth), yet it also has this lovely airy herbaceous quality to it as well. I don’t think I love it, but I am rather enamoured by it.

MAN DOES THIS ONE STINK!! WHO WANTS TO SMELL LIKE A CUCUMBER WEARING A NEW CAR SCENT AIR FRESHENER TREE WRAPPED AROUND IT'S NECK??? YUK! Sorry Mr. Quartana... The only one in this collection I do not like.

ALL I smell are watermelon/green apple Jolly Ranchers, cucumbers and Band-Aids. I've also finally concluded that I don't like the smell of violets, so this is a NO

On my skin, Digitalis is very much about the pepper and basil. It's piquant and veers toward the traditionally masculine, which I find interesting, considering how frilly the inspirational flower appears. While I can't make out the other notes specifically, it does settle into a mellower, vegetal scent. I can sense cucumber's influence with something dewy and fresh. The pepper and basil do persist throughout the composition, but more at skin level. It's an unexpected fragrance. Just this side of peculiar. I'm looking forward to testing the rest of the line. This is purportedly the lightest in the range, the others being darker and more toward my usual taste.

I really love this. The reviews below say it smells like actual fresh air. And it does. Not like soap or laundry either, it’s Like your clothes smell after you’ve been playing outside all day. I love to layer it with Bloodflower. Makes one smell like an actual Goddess. If you layer it with Poppy Soma you’ll smell like an actual Angel Goddess.

Cucumber, green bell pepper, violets leaves, and air. This is very blue & green. When it goes calm, the black pepper, vetiver, coriander, & galbanum appears clear and the water notes become quite strong. This is strange, and clean green watery fragrance! i never sniffed something like it before!

I the beginning I feel sea-notes. Later bitter earthy moss. Somewhere in the between on these you might fit cucumber or watermelon. Conclusion: cooling earthy summer frag with a hint on sea-salt.

I can't think of anything else to say other than "it smells like an earthworm"