Forest of the Golden Dream

This is one of the most incredible perfumes I have ever smelt in my life. I cant even describe it as a fragrance, it's like a healing experience and I dont say that lightly. You will never find a dupe for this, it's impossible. This fragrance is a moment of pure olfactory genius. It's very green, mossy and woody but there is a thread of something golden, ethereal, and magical running through it. This smells exactly like an enchanted wood- thats it, there is no other way to describe it. It's heavy on the pine but not in a toilet freshener way, it's the experience of walking through an enchanted wood at sunset or sunrise, pine needles crunching under foot with golden sunlight streaming through the trees above and a whisper that something amazing and other worldly is about to happen. Its not all innocent mind- there is an odd, mysterious darkness that settles underneath that freshness that makes you feel slightly apprehensive that you are about to enter into an unknown world beyond the realms of your imagination. I have never experienced a fragrance that has actually taken me with such firmness to another place in time and space, but this does. Simply smelling it makes me feel restored, and as if I have been transported to a place where all things are possible. Every single person I have asked to smell this on me has become instantly hypnotised by it and cannot stop asking to smell it again, and again. I have always been a fan of Parfums Quartana and their poisonous plants range - up until now Venetian Belladonna was my favourite fragrance but this has knocked it off the top spot with ease. Well done PQ- it's incredible that you have made such a stunning fresh green/woody scent that has so many complicated layers to it. This fragrance is absolutely exquisite and I will wear this forever.

Sampling the latest release from Parfums Quartana, Forest of the Golden Dream, the follow-up to last year’s award-winning Ierofante and the beginning of a new collection that will continue through next year called “Les Potions D’Entelechie.” It’s fresh, green, aromatic, with a fine mix of trees—for me, a cross between a summery palm and a wintery mix of cypress and pine, slightly sharp but still quite calming and transportive. There are also spices and resins (cardamom, patchouli, fir balsam resin) that round it out and given it a more wintery character, even though, to me, it remains a very fresh and pleasant fragrance, albeit with a lot of nuance. It explores, as discussed in the CaFleureBon article, the healing properties of ancient cultures, and it really does smell like a healing fragrance, but not medicinal to be clear. Natural, green, multifaceted, with a comforting familiarity. Forest of the Golden Dream is sold both via the house site and great boutiques like Perfumology, priced at $215 for 50ml in EDP concentration, and performs well, not quite as intense as Ierofante, for comparison, but still a very pleasant level of density and projection. 8 out of 10

I am in love with this fragrance! I'm just starting to get into fragrance so I'm not sure how to best describe the individual notes but it makes me feel like I'm in a quiet forest at mid day when it's not too hot and not too cold and all I can hear are birds, sometimes it makes me think of the sound of cicadas too which makes me think of a calm summer day. Either way it's calming and sort of meditative. I have a sample that I purchased from my local La Jetée, which is supposedly a decant. I love the smell but I can't seem to keep it on me. It smells amazing for 30 minutes but nearing the hour mark it's so faint I have to put my nose almost on my wrist to smell it and after that I forget I'm wearing it at all because it's undetectable. The second application I did today was two sprays on the inside of each wrist/arm, and two on my neck (6 total). It's been 45 minutes and it's already very faint again. I want a full bottle of this because of how it makes me feel but at that price point I'm afraid it's not worth it. Other reviews are saying they found it long lasting and projecting well so maybe I'll gamble and hope a full bottle would be better.

Put on French Lover, go into a sunny northern forest where the pine sap is sticky and oozing, and light a Big Sur After Rain Candle. This is complex, non linear, with a green essence that roils through it's variolous shades of light and shadow - watery violet to somber laurel and deeper pine. The eucalyptus feels soothing in the lungs, it gives the refreshing feeling of your senses blossoming, inviting in the gently spicy coriander and pine. With the blinds dawn I'd swear it was a sunny spring day outside instead of the windswept Canadian winter it is. French Lover is a relative but this smells much more modern and frankly of higher quality than the current French Lover, performs much better as well. It wears like a green fragrance greatest hits album, not counting those floral Lilly numbers I never much cared for. I really enjoy Ierofante as a wearable piece of art, but this one should have gotten the award. A big wow. If you love green fragrances do yourself a favor and get a sample soon! I can't wait to wear this in spring.

This forest is undoubtedly enchanted. However, the blend is so unique that it’s hard to trace the scent to any known combination of herbs, plants, or fruits from the woods or underbrush. It’s otherworldly. It seems to even include the scent of the nymphs that inhabit the forest. Their skin is damp after the dances and songs dedicated to the tree deities. There have been passionate encounters among the bushes. A sense of dangerous delirium and deception prevails: a human could lose themselves in this forest, surrender to its wonder, and never return. I invite you to read the pages describing the encounter between Kvothe and Felurian from The Wise Man's Fear, a fantasy novel by Patrick Rothfuss (the second book in The Kingkiller Chronicle). The fragrance seems to capture the context, the characters, and the acts described in the most beautiful pages of fantasy literature from the past decade. For me, Forest of the Golden Dream is the best fragrance of 2024. A cinematic olfactory journey.

Christ on a bike, if there was one scent that I would wear for the rest of my life, it would be this. Words cannot convey how beautiful and mysterious (I know! I never thought I'd use that word to describe a fragrance either) this fragrance is. There are no aspects to it that are overwhelming including the pine, in fact, its hard to really locate each note and tbh you don't need to, as the overall fragrance of this is superb. The only way I can describe this fragrance is that you are walking in a damp forest after the rain and come across a clearing with some species of flower that have never been seen before, the smell of them combined with tree resins and camphor and pine and cypress overwhelm you and you lift into the air slowly and float along the tops of the dark trees. Its no wonder they named it Forest of the Golden Dream - when you smell it you'll understand. Best 225 euro Ive ever spent

From the very first inhale, this fragrance captivated me entirely. Celine Barel has masterfully distilled the essence of an enchanted forest into a bottle, offering a transportive experience for those who yearn to escape into nature’s embrace. When I close my eyes, I’m swept into a lush, dewy realm. Mist drifts lazily through a canopy of fir and pine, their resinous warmth grounding me in serenity. Nearby, the gentle murmur of a brook weaves through rolling hills, its crystalline waters cascading over moss-laden rocks. The air is alive with freshness, yet soothingly earthy—a perfect balance of vitality and tranquility. This scent doesn’t just evoke a place; it evokes a feeling. A profound, unshakable peace settles over me with every wear. It’s a sensory masterpiece, a sanctuary in liquid form. 10/10.

If there were a rating higher than Love this would be in it. Absolute perfection to my nose. The quality of the ingredients is insanely high, for example the olibanum in here is comparable in quality to Amouage. It’s definitely not linear, in any way. Starts crisp and evergreen, then the frankincense bubbles up about an hour in, then the mimosa starts to surface around 2 hours in. Perfectly balanced, masterfully blended, and a true masterpiece in my opinion. I’m sorry some don’t love it as much as I do, but if you’re a fan of the individual notes please make the effort to wear it for a full day so you can experience the evolution, temperature and texture changes while maintaining the emotional spaces of calm, introspective joy. You may find your new favorite.

I received a sample of this recently and I have to say it is becoming one of my favorite colognes. I was very hesitant when it came to 'Green' notes but this is sensational. This reminds me when bond no. 9 took Rochas man and improved upon it to create New Haarlem accept with Encre Noire. Just a beautiful scent that I could wear forever sans the price tag. The pine and lemon are the main players giving this the feeling of walking through a majestic forest. Strong masculine association on my end. I am surprised that there is not more of a following for this. current rating is a strong 8 to a light 9 on this.

Did not like this at first sniff, but it's grown on me quite a bit. Forest of the Golden Dream encompasses multiple elements...water, air, and earth. Starts off as a slightly aquatic version of Bottega Veneta Pour Homme with its pine and fir notes. I also sense some elements of Sel Marin by Heeley. After the opening, taking a whiff of this is like standing in a forest beside an ocean; a very realistic airy, green, watery scent. The dry down to me smells like wet earth. Definitely a great olfactory journey.

I love perfume but am so picky. This is the only fragrance I've come across that I truly love and think is a 10/10. That being said, I've only tried around 60 (on my skin, probably closer to 300-400 on paper). I wish I had the budget for a whole bottle. I've been preciously using my sample I got last year only on very special occasions and I am so worried for when it runs out. I think at this point I just have to save up, I sure wish there were travel sizes of it.

Many foresty scents lean heavy and are best suited to autumn and winter, but this is a more sun-dappled, year-round interpretation of a dense, green wood. I can almost see the dust mites floating in sunbeams. Dreamy indeed. ETA: My only "complaint" about this scent is that it is a little too clean or lacks a particular depth in the bottom end. This is perfectly remedied by layering it with Heretic Dragon's Blood.

@crescentlike This is the best find out of a long list of samples I received from a friend. Wear it, that's what it's meant for. Let others know what it is if they ask. This deserves much more credit than it has.

Took a punt on a sample of this for my first ever wearing of a niche fragrance a few months ago. I liked the sound of the listed notes and the reviews were quite good, so I figured why not. To tell you the truth, I sprayed this about in my twilit bathroom and I was disturbed. I was immediately overwhelmed with imagery of places I'd never been or seen. A prehistoric, humanless planet. One where the Pine Barrens are still the ocean floor and the Appalachian foothills still bear glacier scars. This specific scent was probably emanating from the arborvitae tree I used to hide from a giant reptile. All this I saw when I had been conditioned to expect sweet, candylike scents from "green" fragrances as the designer brands tend to use. All this has far more to do with my tastes as a noob rather than the fragrance itself, so please view this comment through that lens. Seasoned fragheads will probably have a different experience. I fear I overstepped in choosing this one, and that my nose is not developed enough to fully appreciate a scent so layered and distinctive. I certainly could not wear something so evocative in public at this time. But I'm still glad I chose it, for I had no idea fragrance could be mentally stimulating like a novel.

Pine is one of my favourite notes, and I have spent time this year hunting for the perfect pine. This is not it, not by a long shot, though it is a very nice scent. It absolutely conveys the wonderfully rich and living smells of a deep green forest. The pine itself is dense and vivid, intensely green like a thriving Christmas tree, alongside a subtly sharp minty facet. At first the greenness is a little too vibrant, but it soon starts to dry out and become sort of papery by way of bay leaf mainly, as well as soft incense and woods. It’s a lovely scent, particularly in the later dry down I find myself really enjoying it. It’s just that first hour or so it’s borderline fluorescent green leaves which is just a bit much, that alone puts me off buying it sadly.

Oh my, what a lovely, ephemeral, ethereal fragrance. Just beautiful, too bad it doesn’t last much beyond 4 hours on the skin and as for projection- it’s not much beyond close proximity otherwise I’d totally consider a full bottle purchase. It is a stunning fragrance however.

Got this as a free sample from Fumerie. Smelled very nice at first. Nothing world-shaking, but a good balance of green with a pleasant floral. I would've been happy if it stayed there, but then it dried down to the notorious sandalwood pickle effect. I have heard of this phenomenon, and have tried and loved other fragrances that people have complained turn into pickle on their skin, but this is the first time I've encountered it in person. I find it fascinating, but as much as I love pickles I don't think I want to smell like pickles. Or do I? I'll have to sit with that one. Now I want a pickle. As usual when I try a fragrance that isn't quite right but I don't totally hate, I think I will give this another go at a later date to see if the 🥒 happens again. Maybe it's a fluke because I don't yet see any other reviews complaining of the same thing.

@larissamorn Thank you for your passion, but I'd rather you called me out directly by name. As I mentioned in my original review, my conclusion was that I must have gotten a bad batch, because every other comment before and after is glazing this stuff to the moon. How else can I comprehend such an uninteresting bore of a fragrance being so highly lauded? Historically, I like this genre of fragrance as well. I just didn't find anything really redeemable about it. I gave it like 5 full wearings (a full wearing is less than 4 hours by the way). It has relique d'amour levels of performance but unlike relique, this wasn't special or memorable at all. I think myself to have pretty good scent memory. After a couple months, I cannot for the life of me remember what this smelled like. So yeah, it is overpriced, very weak, uninspiring, and unmemorable. Time has further justified my initial review. Sometimes I sell a fragrance and then, some time later, I think about it and start to crave it. Not this one. There is nothing for me to change my mind on, I don't remember what it smells like. I don't particularly like being a snarky dissenter, but like... every review is absolutely glowing. Someone had say something against this stuff. Don't worry though, one bad review shouldn't turn someone off a fragrance with an otherwise 100% positive review history! I'm glad you and others enjoy this though! I really wanted to like it as well. I wrote a bit of an emotional review earlier when this turned out to be nothing.

Very overrated. Belongs at perhaps a 3.7-3.8 on fragrantica. Gorgeous bottle and naming, middling scent. Incredibly overpriced for a very weak, uninspiring, unmemorable scent. Not particularly enthused about this one. Not a special rendition of a forest, also much too weak for its price. I’d take a pineward, or other natural woody forest perfume over this one. Don’t believe most of the reviews, this one’s pretty linear and boring. Do not buy. Unless I got a bad batch, who knows.

The only way I can describe this one is...Christmas trees with tinsel all over them.