English Fern

I think this fragrance is hugely underrated. It's a soapy green fougere whose over 100 year old formula still feels relevant today - not to mention oh so very English. It calls to mind bracing walks in the English countryside - perfect for the quintessential dandy. It also calls to mind old fashioned soap, used both for shaving and also laundering a crisply pressed shirt. For this Englishwoman, it is the perfect antidote to winter doldrums: grab your wellies and your dog, throw your hardiest country jacket, and douse yourself in this before venturing out into woodland, field or fell. I find this particularly invigorating on a cold, windy day: a comforting waft of Victoriana as I hack my way through the brambles. Lovely stuff. I do detect a decent dose of cardamom and/or bay in the formula, but these notes are not listed here.

I was going through a box of samples this weekend and realized "I have one too many samples, I need to start wearing through these." So today before I left for work, I reached for my sample of this, poured it out in my palm, and slapped it on. This is, without a doubt, one of the BEST barbershop fougere fragrances I have ever come across. This was everything I wanted and more. And when I was on break at work, looking online for bottles of this, I wanted to CRY when I saw that it was discontinued. God only knows at this point how long this sample had sat tucked away while I was off looking for a good barbershop fragrance, and I could have had THE ONE long before now if I would have just opened this one up years ago. Life is just not fair some times. (╥_╥)

This one surprised me a little. With a name like English Fern, I was expecting it to be very green and possibly a bit dull, but it opens bright and sharp, with the lavender dominant. It also smells a little of citrus to me, though no citrus notes are listed. With time the sharpness subsides, and it becomes softer, slightly powdery and soapy, and much more feminine than I expected, with the lavender present throughout. This lasted much longer on me than most Penhaligon's do. I don't usually like sharp or green or lavender-based fragrances, but overall I liked this one much more than I expected to.

I must say, I was surprised by this fragrance. I picked up all the notes that are listed, but I also get a good dose of anise (which might be part of the [now synthetic] oakmoss). I was not expecting this to call to mind YSL Rive Gauche PH, or Azzaro PH, but it does for me. English Fern is much brighter, and better suited to warmer weather than those two, but they haunt my mind when I take this in. This is a great gentleman's scent, and I would highly reccomend this to anyone who enjoys Azzaro PH or Rive Gauche. All around good stuff!

I really agree with DawnLady3 about the expectation about English Fern, which should be green. However, it is definitely SOAPY, which comes from the lavender. And I don't usually like lavender. As time goes by, it smells very soapy and white flowery. The base note, which I always love, is not quiet but a little out due to the pachouli in it. Overall, it is not bad, and I do like it. Though I expected to be a green one, so a little bit disappointed.

Ok, this stuff is very green and inspiring, like a walk in a park after the rain. The grass is wet, and the air is so clean and piercing. The geranium is more noticeable than the lavender. There is something slightly sweet too, maybe some hint of anice, and yes, I feel the cardamome too. The performance is good. 9/10

Licorice, anise, ouzo, pastis is what comes to my mind. With a bit sweetness in the back. Very pleasant. Very masculine and mentolated as mentioned. People say medicinal but i don t smell it as bad, quite the opposite as i find this scent very soothing. I love it! Was a blind buy for me.

one of my all time favs! day or night. i had a bottle some years ago and after finishing it, i never quite forgot English fern, though i went on to get other green scents (my favourite fragrance type). just got me a bottle today, after 3 years! i'm never going to let you go baby...

Got the new bottle today. It starts fresh and stays that way comparing with my older bottle which is stronger and with medicine smell. The new one is watered down more unisex. I prefer the old one.

If anyone can suggest a close dupe/substitute, that would be great. I miss this fragrance. It smelled so clean and fresh, so green. It felt being inside a clean bathroom with lavender soapy scent.

If there are any bottles of this for sale out there in the world, I am interested

Recently got a set of samples from Trumper and Penhaligon. This is almost identical to Trumper's Wild Fern, with perhaps a couple of small differences. The Trumper is a bit softer, with less sillage and projection. On the other hand, Wild Fern is probably a little more nuanced, since it seems like there is a just bit more going on in terms of the notes involved. But these are both very similar, mainly lavender and oakmoss, and I doubt someone could tell the difference unless they were applied side by side, if then. Neither lasts very long on my skin but both are pleasant. They might both, and particularly the Trumper, be better viewed as great after shaves than all day colognes. Aside from what it smells like, English Fern (and Wild Fern) are interesting from an historical standpoint. Houbigant's Fougere Royale began the fougere fragrance family, now one of the largest. Modern representations are Brut, Clubman, Polo Green and the list goes on. Curious to know whether the current offering by Houbigant was faithful to the original, I learned in going through the reviews of that fragrance that the answer is 'no'. But at least one of the reviewers, who apparently had some experience with the original, suggested that the closest modern representation might be English Fern. Very interesting and probably true since Fougere Royale came out in 1882 and Trumper's Wild Fern came out in 1887. No doubt Trumper modeled his offering after the French one. And, as I say, English Fern, which itself came out in 1911, has almost the same profile as the Trumper cologne. Fun to connect the dots. Also fun to see just how much fougeres have changed; there is a big difference between English Fern and, say, Brut (or any other modern fougere for that matter, including the current Fougere Royale; I have a sample and indeed it smells nothing like either the Trumper or Penhaligon). How to summarize the difference between these original fougeres and the modern ones? At the risk of dumbing it down too much, the originals were much lighter and simpler. But enough history. Getting back to the fragrance, English Fern is a solid like for me but not a love given the longevity shortcomings.

English Fern is not what I expected at all...it is green, very green and clean. It is not soft and fern-y, but it does have the English gentleman thing going on for sure. This could have been called English Lavender and Fern... Considering this was created in 1911 (before household electricity was en vogue) it is pretty impressive! This scent begins with a lot of lavender and geraniums...very manly yet floral at the same time. Geraniums are dry and kinda spicy, and the lavender is powdery and woody green, very aromatic-very English. The heart smooths and warms with the addition of the cloves' dry sweetness. The body of this does get a little less soapy, as the cloves surpass the flowers, but then it is a spicy green-still not really ferny. The ultimate finish is very dry woody and earthy. Moss mostly, some sweet dry sandal and just an whisper of patchouli. This has the "greenness" of fern leaves, the warmth of fern and an earthy finish, like where a fern would grow, but really isn't all that much like the smell of an actual fern plant; but I still love it! Penhaligon's has described the fern with every possible imaginable note; except, ironically ferns themselves, interesting... Sillage: great Longevity: very good Overall: 3.5/5 This smells to me of a walk in the English countryside, perhaps even a horseback ride; then a shower outside in one of those old wooden showers with a natural homemade soap and then dried off with a linen towel and splash on some vintage eau de cologne and sit down to a dinner of bangers and mash and, perhaps a bit of plum pudding for dessert. ENGLAND, through and through...This is most likely what Heathcliffe from Wuthering Heights smelled like (and Catherine most likely Bluebell OR Lily and Spice...)-very masculine and simple, yet fine and clean in a very outdoorsy natural way. Over the wily, windy moors...

There are NO cloves in English Fern. The middle note is CLOVER. English Fern is a beautiful fougère. Initially there is a curious medicinal air. But that soon passes. For me it's like indulging in a deeply filled hot bath with an expensive soap. Lavender, geranium and clover make for an aura of soapy cleanliness and to me is reminiscent of chamomile. The oakmoss, patchouli and sandalwood add an unintrusive background earthiness. It does feel very Edwardian English. Long lasting and having good projection, I'd suggest light application in the first instance. English Fern is described as a scent for men and women. Curious then that the decal should include the words 'after-shave'. There is nothing effeminate here despite its appeal to men and women. Inspires plenty of interest when I wear it. And it isn't hard to discern why — being effortlessly classy even if in a slightly old-fashioned way. The longevity alone makes for a good choice as a daytime scent. I've also been known to apply it to my palms before lights-out finding it a perfect way to a good nights sleep. Reminds me possibly of D&G Pour Homme, but without the citrus. I've heard it rumoured it might be discontinued in 2020. I hope that's wrong. For a composition dating from 1890 to get withdrawn now would be a sort of cultural vandalism.

A nice out of the shower scent, simple and pleasant. For me it's a like, not a love. It's a basic "fougere" fragrance. Lots of cloves and geranium. Along the same line has something like Monsieur by Rogue Perfumery, but I think I prefer that one because this doesn't last long on me at all. Thing is as well, it's discontinued so it's fairly hard to get. I had a small partial bottle of this, but I saw a full boxed bottle in a charity shop for £60 so I thought I'd snap it up at that price. I wouldn't pay anything more than that to be honest though. I've got quite a few penhaligons so this was nice to add to the collection.

Clean, fresh, versatility .. .. English !! :) A good perfume suitable for spring, fresh atmosphere, English, aromatic ... is not among my favorites of Penhaligon's but not bad .. if you are looking for a very clean scent, reminiscent of the English countryside, the grass , the earth .. then you can play it safe with this. The Sillage is moderate, and longevity lasts about 8 hours on my skin. When I tried it on paper did not give me a very good impression .. but now that I've tried on the skin is a really good clean, fresh scent. Council for spring! Sillage: 6.5 / 10 Longevity: 7.5/10 Scent: 7/10 Overall: 7/10

Most of these notes are favourites of mine - I just wasnt expecting them to come together in a bottle called "English Fern". A slightly bitter note; geranium, keeps the lavender and clove fresh and safe from getting sharp or too sweet. Refreshing, light with an upcoming powdery whiff from sandal, and a grounding body from the lovely moss. This works well with my chemistry and makes an ideal scent after a hot day - be it from outer or inner high pressure. Id like to have this scent, the showerceam, the bodycream and a coctail to drink of it!

This was my first blind buy because Penhaligon's is such an English institution and "English Fern" sounded so classy. It indeed *is* very classy, but different from what i had expected (which was more of a grotto-like scent). The geranium combined with the lavender and oakmoss gives it the feel of an elegant London barbershop from a hundred years ago. I'm sorry it's been discontinued, and I'm happy I've not used much of my bottle, saving it for special summer days, even though its sillage and longevity are not quite what I'd like.

2 hours and phhhht! all gone. Lovely while it lasted, especially because of the sharp contrast between the expectation of ferns and the surprise of cloves suddenly slapped onto a lavender bouquet. Historically interesting (men wore this in 1911?), perfectly "nice", but utterly, utterly ordinary. And at this price point there are so many to choose from it's hard to imagine anyone choosing this over, say, Eau Sauvage, if it's the green lightness of ferns you're looking for.

I managed to get a 2ml sample last year, which I wore throughout my trip to Ireland, for which a found it to be the perfect companion. Green but not sharp, moist but not calone-aquatic, surprisingly soft and all-in-all magical. I long for a whole bottle, but it's discontinued :((( Impossible to buy one in my country, it seems. And Amazon doesn't ship to my country either.