Wolfsbane

Wolfsbane is another interesting and somewhat baffling fragrance from Parfums Quartana. The notes aren’t presented as a tree, but as a long list, which seems accurate as every Quartana scent has been a melange of notes that seem to break from the rules of conventional perfume design. The notes are not balanced in the usual way, making it a bit chaotic and also intriguing. These fragrances that take time for me to fully understand (which can be hard to do with only a sample vial). Whether or not I fully understand them, they take me on a cool journey. Wolfsbane is my favorite so far. I can hardly break down the notes, as they present a cacophonous olfactory experience at first. What I can pick out are the absinthe and fig leaf, which are sharp and medicinal at first, but quickly fade. If you try this fragrance, don’t judge it based solely on the opening. The truffle is distinctive, adding a strange earthiness that persists well into the dry down, but only when sniffed up close. The scent bubble– which is large and more noticeable to others than it is to me– is surprisingly lovely and sweet (not cloying) with a powdery texture. What starts out as a quirky mishmash, dramatically transforms into something bizarre and very beautiful. It takes a minute to understand this one, but it is worth taking the time as it becomes lovelier with each hour it's on the skin. I admit, I don’t always fully understand the vision behind the perfumes I’ve tried from this house (which is NOT a dig on the designer). I'm happy to say that I *really* click with Wolfsbane. It’s extremely unique; it manages to balance the weird earthiness of truffle with a beautiful, sweet, compelling scent bubble. I love its many contrasts. I love the unconventional approach. I like that it rewards patience. The longevity is absolutely outstanding. This is going on my "must-have" list.

Perfume is a funny thing. I see people comparing Wolfsbane to Black Orchid. I can understand why. At the same time, had nobody mentioned it, I would not have thought to compare the two as I find them different enough. Actually, the fragrance I would compare it to is also one that I have compared to Black Orchid, and that is Precious Oud by VC&A. Wolfsbane is like the long-lost sister of the two; the missing link. I get a lovely earthiness from this fragrance that is strong on the tuber but equally strong on the patch. It smells more authentically like dirt or soil, so unlike those other two fragrances, this one seems more organic, down-to-earth, naturalistic. Almost like I'm on a hiking trail. I catch whiffs of fresh, green fig leaf, adding to the sensation of being in the great outdoors. Then there is a sugary, candied tuberose that smells as though it were dunked in absinthe, which is the next strongest thing I notice. I find it fascinating and complex. So it feels really fun suddenly, a little psychedelic, like it's Party Time...like I ate some shrooms on the hiking trail. I actually love all 3 of the aforementioned fragrances. In fact I owned the other two, but eventually sold them. Black Orchid felt unbalanced somehow, and Precious oud was honestly just too sexy (it's weird that I'm saying that, as that should be a good thing). I never reached for them. Wolfsbane is the one I would choose of the lot. I'm a nature and woods lover at heart, and I love the blend of nature and fun that I feel when I wear it. Bottom line: it's a gorgeous fragrance. I also enjoyed the very popular Poppy Soma, but Wolfsbane is equally wonderful.

This isn't a review as much as a testimonial... I smelled Wolfsbane while hanging out with Carlos, Steven and Manny, all Youtube fragrance reviewers many of us know of...And I smelled Dozens of fragrances last night with these guys. My nose was bombarded with the most beautiful smells you could imagine...Out of DOZENS of scents, 2 stood out to me...Oud Satin Mood by MFK and This... Just unbelievable fragrances. I will be buying this scent at some point for sure...It lasts forever, and it reminds me of a better blended Tom Ford Black Orchid...It's a head turning fragrance that worked beautifully on my skin and was on my skin through my nightly shower...I could smell it when I woke up this morning...There's nothing weak about Wolfsbane... The blend is amazing...and the quality of notes is very evident... If there was one thing to be a little disappointed about, it was the sprayer which shoots out tons of juice but not in a diffused way...Felt like I was spraying myself with a hose...lol...This isn't a huge issue to me however as Parfums Quartana is a new brand and many times u have to sacrifice something as a start up fragrance house unless u have millions in investment...Besides, U don't wear a scent's presentation, u wear the scent...So sprayers aside, this brand is very intriguing, and worth sampling for sure...Plus, the whole "basing fragrances off of killer plants" angle is very clever. Simply Put...A WOW FACTOR SCENT. I look forward to getting it and giving it a full fledged review at some point... YOUTUBE CHANNEL- SIMPLY PUT SCENTS

This is interesting stuff. Subtly animalic and, green in that sort of humid, swampy way. This line is definitely intriguing. It opens very densely. I detect fig, vetiver, black pepper, a faint whiff of cumin, a balmy sort of resinous sweetness, a slight funky animal aroma, and a couple of indistinct woody and floral notes. There is an interesting smooth-sharp contrast happening between the sweet, softer accords and the sharper spicier ones. The almost milky fig blends with the resins and provides a pleasant base for this interestingly bitter green, almost salty blend of pepper, vetiver, cumin and castoreum. The bittersweet dynamic coupled with the extremely earthy notes stands out as very unique to my nose. As the fragrance wears on it goes through quite a few different phases, at one point becoming a strange spicy white floral sort of thing, reminiscent of some funky tuberose fragrances I've smelled before. Eventually it dries down to a slightly spiced vetiver with a wonderful smooth sweetness. The longevity is incredible and the sillage is as well. Really really like this one and could see myself wearing this often. 8.5/10

I have sampled Wolfsbane , Mandrake , Hemlock and Digitalis.I really like the first 3.Digitalis was not bad , but it's not my thing. Wolfsbane do have a strong resemblance to Black Orchid by Tom Ford.It's not a clone , but the base is very similar ... to me at least.It's less sweet , a bit bitter and also it's green and boozy.The truffle note is the same like in Black Orchid-i presume they both use the same fixative/aroma chemical. Wolsbane and Black Orchid are like 2 twin brothers.If Black Orchid is a metrosexual extrovert , Wolfsbane is a manly "i do my own thing , and don't care about your opinion" alpha male .Unlike Mandrake both projection,longevity and sillage are really good.Longevity is at least 7 hours , with strong projection for the first 2-2.5 hours.Bare in mind my skin is dry , so to me that's a top notch performance.

Boy is this in yo face ! I like it doe. This is feminine to me, a girl who likes the mysticism of the wild and her pet dog. You goth girls got to get on this. I get a rich, yet aromatic violet smell is animalistic and maybe aldehydic too. It smells like black phantom in a way , with less of the sweet invitation and more of the bloody dire wolf. It is hard to explain , but is confident, full, and bewitching. I am a man and have a luxury scent box sample I love and smell from time to time. I cannot see this on a man, I got 7 hours or so, but projected strongly for 2 to 3 hours.

I don't smell anything masculine here. It smells like creamy pastries, pistachio ice cream and herbal liquor in an orchid garden after rain. It is complex, emotionally loaded and beautiful, from start to finish. It could be a perfect wedding scent.

An intense narcotic scent, truffle really shines through mixed with absinthe so well that it can be hard to pick up individual notes. This rests upon an animallic base with herbal undertones. Very beautiful.

Somebody send me a full bottle of this I'll do the splits for u

Sweet rubber! It's like a fetish! slight sweet animalic leather. It's frutti, animalic, dark, and kind of boozy. This is like booze splattered on soft leather. When the creator said this fragrance is beast, he wrote "It's super intense in a dark beautiful way. It's like having gay sex inside Berghain listening to dark techno at 6am", i don't know how that would smell, but from the sound of it i thought that it will be something quite animalic, sweaty, & very spicy intense, but it turned to be a sweet honeyed booze on a soft leather! I can't deny that this fragrance fits perfectly the ad photo & the idea behind the fragrance "Leder 6" by J.F. Schwarzlose Berlin (previously known as Fetisch) which is a guy wearing leather fetish gear & hugged by a woman, it's good, and it doesn't smell like Tom Ford's disturbing fragrance "Black Orchid". Edit (30th Dec 2021) 4+ years... Well, i didn't go that far from what i am sniffing now..This blend is NOT a beast as what the perfumer said as i have sniffed way tougher than this one that made me puke like "Montecristo" by Masque to mention some.. this one is strong somehow but on the sweet side, it has castoreum, sweet absinth, angelique, cumin, patchouli, cedar, & tobacco blossom. It's more on the soft leather but kind of overpowered somehow to be a fragrance, i mean don't apply more than 1 sprit or you will be annoyed by its power. After all, it's pretty.

Wolfsbane starts off as quite a perplexing cacaphony, but I can't stop trying to sort out its puzzle. Its simultaneously, sweet, bitter, sour, creamy, green, yet fruity, but also earthy and woody. Something about it also reminds me of the convergence of aromas one is hit with when walking into a Lush store, but a Lush store from an alternate dimension. The contrasts never quite meld together, and that's part of its appeal. It's organized chaos in olfactory form and I keep sniffing it with pleasure. I am soon reminded of crayon wax, old potpourri, licorice all-sorts, and scent rubber erasers, pencil shavings. They all quarrel in the most glorious racket. I begin to notice Stemone ("fig leaf!") and Prunol ("perfume Italian plum!") move forward, into relief, among the many elements. Further into the dry down, in begins to remind me of the aerosolization of the chemicals used in a fog machine; that distinct sweet, acrid smell. What a trip! I don't think I'd go so far as buying a bottle of this and wearing it all over my body, but I am definitely keeping my sample for reference, because its something else.

This definitely changed once it sat for a while after arriving. My first try of it, three days after it arrived in the mail, it was a very strong, peppery, very masculine smell, that definitely wouldn't suit day-to-day wear and I didn't enjoy it. I came back to it a week later, ten days after it arrived, and the scent is now incredibly creamy/sweet, with only undertones of something peppery/spicy, that sits quite close to the skin. After a few hours on, it smells like soda--the sweetness and quiet peppery scents blend to make you think you're right up close to a bottle of Coke, with the bubbles fizzing in your face. I like it a lot better now than how it was at the start, but I would not FS this.

I bought a sample of this to explore further fig scents, but fig plays a tertiary role. It opens quite strong... And I wish the opening would last longer. It kind of mellows out after about 15 minutes. Wolfsbane has a nuttiness to it, and there is a sweetness that permeates the scent. It smells somewhat like a candied floral pistachio liquor to my nose. This definitely has some similarities to TF Black Orchid, but this is more earthy and green, certainly due to the vetiver. But while I wouldn't consider Black Orchid a gourmand, I would consider Wolfsbane a gourmand (probably the sweet pistachio) Not for me.

Mi piace molto, note di linfa verde fresca e assenzio al posto del rum di Black orchid, ma poi il resto è copiato. Quartana ha preso i poison e gli opium e ci ha fatto le pozioni fatali di veleni (poison) e droghe(opium). Peccato che la profumeria di nicchia sia solo emulazione di profumi famosi che tanto finge di disprezzare.

I was blind testing it. So my initial thoughts are: Interesting combo of dry earthy (even moldy) notes and aromatic freshness from mint and other herbs. It almost smells like a dental floss with some sweetness from hay (and coconut?) underneath. It’s not an unpleasant scent, but rather unique. Follow me on IG: scent.guide

It opens greener than TF Black Orchid, but dries down to a very similar result, but at the very end has a slight green sweetness.

I knew this perfume smelled familiar, but I couldn’t place it until looking at Fragrantica - of course it’s Black Orchid; which is a perfume I love. This however, falls short of such a masterful creation, despite being rather nice. It’s that sweet earthy truffle note which harks back to Black Orchid, only here there is no orchid. Instead, a rather dry, fresh-spicy leafy facet combined with a gentle gummy tuberose. It holds the spirit of Black Orchid, but faded and forgotten. Funny, I despise truffle in food but rather enjoy the accord in perfume. The only enjoyment I find from this scent is its similarity to Black Orchid, which is infinitely better so I might as well just wear that.

I agree 100% with BlackCuckoo's review: The first 30 minutes or so this is creamy and sweet, and I quite liked it (much to my surprise). But that eventually transitions to something that does indeed resemble potpourri, a sort of dried floral/woody/earthy melange that's not awful, but not something I want on my body. And yes, this is quite a lot sweeter than I would have thought. Mercifully, I get no truffle scent– I think truffles smell like bad breath, so I was bracing myself for that.

I still smell this after a long hot shower. Its longevity is like the curse of the werewolf. Interminable. Burdensome. Only to be stopped with a silver bullet. I often wear autumnal and wintry fragrances out of season, but for the love of god, don't wear this on a warm or hot day. It's a weird scent to begin with, one that I need to be in a very specific mood to reach for. But the strange charm is unreachable in the heat. On a warm day, this is like wet dog and marshmallow.

Similar to TF Black Orchid but not as heavy.

This reminds me a lot of TF Black Orchid EDP, except on me Wolfsbane is much more medicinal (especially in the opening) and is more earthy. I see absinthe listed, but I don't get that at all--unless it's coming across as very medicinal in this fragrance. The performance on this is fantastic, lasting all day on me. I see this is designated for men here on Fragrantica, but in my opinion this is completely unisex.

In general I appreciate the whole Quartana line of the potions fatale, but Wolfsbane althou it is a better version...It's still quite identical to Black Orchide fromTom Ford. If you like that one, this will make you super happy. I had both. Black Orchid is not for me. I still gave this a go, but god no. Great longevity and silage.

I bought this blindly on a whim AND WHAT A BIG MISTAKE! This stuff literally bit me! It smells way too medicinal & almost a bit Vicks vapor-ish... i had to eventually scrub it off. NOT FOR ME!!

Received a sample. Not impressed, performance weak,scent not that unique. Became a skin scent after an hour or less. Not bottle worthy in my opinion.

I'm getting earthy marshmallow that transitions to a woody, holiday potpourri mix. It's overall much sweeter than I was expecting. Not my fave

When I first sprayed this on paper I was startled by how differently this smelled compared to my expectations. I was hoping to receive more of those woodier, earthy notes but all I got was this overwhelming sickly sweetness that I can only assume comes from the absinthe. I was with a friend when we tried it and we both agreed that it smells like stevia-sweetened fruit soda or, worse yet, the smell of sick after drinking way too much Fanta.

A gooey, fluffy marshmallow that has been soaking in a glass of absinthe for several hours. Monstrous projection and extremely cloying on my skin. Unfortunately, I don’t get any of the earthy or woodsy notes I had been hoping to smell. Very, very sweet.

I see that several people says that Wolfsbane has similarities with Tom Ford Black Orchid. And they're not wrong. It's very similar, but there are some nuances that makes it slightly different as well. The most prominent difference is the green notes of bitter absinth and fig leaf, that takes Wolfsbane to a murky, muddy place. And there's also the animalic note of castoreum that gives Wolfsbane a much more rugged and beastly appearance. Wolfsbane is a much more masculine and sinister take on Black Orchid. Wolfsbane takes me to a deep, dark forest in the middle of the night. There is probably a type of marshland close by, and the night is foggy. Somewhere in the shadows a creature is lurking. It might be the name of the fragrance that make me think of werewolfs, but yeah, it feels like there's werewolfs in the woods. Hunting. Feeding. This is a very dark fragrance, the darkest one I've tried from this brand so far (and I have only one left to test). It opens quite sharp and bitter with prominent tuber and absinth, but gets slightly sweeter, earthier and a tad more floral and spicy after a while. But all the notes have this underlying depth and dark personality, so even though the scent gets smoother and calmer on the skin, the darkness is still very much present and active, if that makes any sense. There's a threat hidden in this scent, and it doesn't leave. It lurks in the shadows, right behind you, from the opening until the last whiff. Wolfsbane is an intensely atmospheric scent. It attracts and repels you. It has the same type of seducing quality as a classic 19'th century horror villain has - he scares the shit out of you, but you're still intrigued. Longevity is fabulous, I get over 10 hours out of this one. Sillage is strong at first, then it dries down to a pretty solid medium. The last couple of hours on the skin it is a dark, earthy vanillic skin scent.

Wolfsbane might have the most notoriety of any perfumes in the Parfums Quartana Les Potions Fatales line. It's dark, woody, spicy, and rooted in, well, roots: angelica root, ginger root, and vetiver. It's blended with the wildcard ingredient of absinthe, a tricky animalic contributor in castoreum, and a couple of flowers, and a comfortable bed on benzoin and sandalwood. It feels more loud and invasive at its opening but it dries down to be rather subtly and comfortably blended, clearly apt for colder weather, and probably nighttime wearing. It’s surely an adventurous and bold plunge into its dark roots, but after several hours of wearing, it has a calm balance, slightly sweeter than when it opened, with the benzoin and sandalwood becoming more involved. It’s a fun dive into a rooty, vetiver, liquor, licorice sort of creation. Fans of the darker Slumberhouse entries might find Wolfsbane a worthy companion. It’s surely a great performer, to that effect. A quick whiff of it several hours in reminds me a little of Slumberhouse Ore, even though I know, objectively, that they’re quite different. I can imagine this will be more interesting to men, given its dark and spicy tones, but as with the rest of the collection, I’d recommend that everyone at least give it a sniff and see what they think. It’s priced at $185 for 50ml, the higher end of pricing for the line, but certainly in performance and bravado, it’s particularly worthwhile among its peers in the line. It’s not surprising that it’s so popular while seeming turn others away. It’s simply not for everyone. 8 out of 10

This is certainly something for the curious and open-minded. Also for those who are bored with a lot of the most well-known niche brands. I mean, truffle – how often do you actually see that? I agree with a lot that has already been said. It’s a bit mean, but I also loved the comparison – the initial experience of this perfume is equal to that of walking into a Lush-store. An overwhelming, confusing, but also somewhat satisfying experience (given you are in the right mood). Funny because it’s true. I totally get that impression. The more I think about it, this is very much like holding an actual Lush bar-soap in your hands. Somewhat strange and unfamiliar, definitely earthy, and also very sweet and cosy. If I was to put down this perfume into own words. It’s strong (like a gourmand typically is very strong). It’s notably sweet. Earthy. And clearly boozy from the absinthe. An intense, fruity-sweet and boozy gourmand, but far, far away from any Kilian. A totally different universe. For a second, it has a faint, underlying floral-fig green freshness too. All together, it’s a trip, a bit confusing, not very intentional (but rather unintentionally interesting). Unusual and again, a very interesting and alternative gourmand-experience. In the dry-down, it becomes greener, less boozy, not as overwhelming as in the beginning. Perhaps even reminding me a little bit of Parisian music .

Aaooouuuu! Wildly compelling scent with undercurrents of absinthe. A distinctive accord with recognizable notes, but balanced and blended to evoke the mysterious. Strange and arresting images come to mind. Dark verdant nights, danger in the wind . . . desperate to mask your scent from werewolves. The brooding perfume of a warlock that takes the arcane and makes it seem knowable. Wolfsbane is highly wearable with great sillage and powerful longevity. Plant based spiciness, animalic balanced with sweetness. I loved every minute of this unusual fragrance. "Widdershins go when Moon doth wane, An the werewolves howl by the dread wolfsbane."

This is a wild one- sweet and creamy (castoreum? Benzoin? Tuberose?) And foul- sense affirmingly so, and in a way that doesn't surprise me after sampling others of the Quartana set, mainly bloodflower, which is still sitting on the back of my tongue a month later. Wolfsbane is far friendlier than bloodflower, but I still find it interesting, challenging, bizarre and a bit gross; made more for appreciating than enjoying. I agree with other reviewers who say that this is not a strictly masculine scent. EDIT: 4 hours later, wolfsbane has faded into a smoky marshmallow smell- to my nose, reminiscent of a fog machine

I did the discovery set. This is may fave on paper, Not looking at any notes my first impression was a kind of plank based milk I had made with cashews coconut dates. None of these scents are listed. Crazy, knowing the profile now I guess it is the absinthe benzoin, and then the flower- but not tuberose. A different flower. That was on paper. On skin definitely the absinthe, vetiver, benzoin. It was weird how different. I do not get that milky essence. I’m going to have to explore this on my skin more. But I do think this is the most interesting of the bunch. They are all nice though.

OMG what on earth is this??? The truffle, I think I can get that (it's truffle season here in the southern hemisphere, and I chanced upon one a few weeks ago and smelt some FRESH AS truffles right out the ground). There's also some cleaning product something going on, a bit like the plastic wet-synthetic-sweater vibe present in sibet, as well as something fruity-nutty. Honestly, I was not ready for this and I'm not sure I will ever be!!! You need to try this. I'm not sure you'd like it, but OMG you need to try this out...

There is a numbing quality to the opening with a medicinal note in the opening that reminds me of tooth medicine. There is a hazy sweetness But this is also primarily spicy on me. I was surprised not to see clove or nutmeg as listed notes. Tobacco is clearly present. The end result does remind me of some more masculine fragrance that I can't quite place maybe Bois de Encense but more in feel than literal notes but it isn't a glaringly gendered composition. Very interesting

Deliciously poisonous dreamsicle, I can’t stop sniffing this. It is attention-grabbing, mouth-watering, sweet but...there’s something lurking underneath. This is really exciting; I usually hate gourmands. But it’s on the line between floral and gourmand for me so maybe that’s why it works. Something about this is like a cocktail, sweet but with a little sour tang that should warn you, but you don’t realize how strong it was til you stand up. Weird but it works!

I got very excited at first, spicy white floral in a unique way... or wait a minute!? Only after I checked the similar section, I saw the comparison to Black Orchid... and now I can not unsee it. Even my husband asked me if I was wearing TF. Although I appreciate Black Orchid I am a bit disappointed, for the money I would expect something more original.

It is official. I'm not a fan of truffle in perfumery. All fragrances smell the same whenever this note is heavily present, in the same fashion ambroxan makes everything smell the same. All I can think of is Tom Ford for Men Extreme when I smelled this.

Thank God for Fragrantica. I was sniffing this and I couldn’t figure out what it reminded me of. It was driving me nuts because I couldn’t place it, and thankfully Fragrantica gave me the answer - it reminds me of both Precious Oud and Black Orchid.