Far NWest

I just received this today in the mail, I found out about phonecia and this fragrance searching for something that smelled like a skunk. I didn't see it available on the website so I sent an email asking how I could get a hold of this to try. David Falsberg the perfumer was quick to reply he had some 15ml bottles of the original batch in his wine cooler he could sell me. He sent an invoice and shipped it out right away, 2 days later it arrived (today). He was very nice he also included a 5ml roller ball so "I could skunk up on the go" and also a dabber sample of summer breeze a new release. So my first impressions of Far Nwest, what can I say, I just wore it to the gym, this is definitely something special he has created. I got a huge blast of the skunk right off the bat and got nervous for a minute about my choice for wearing this out blindly, it was actually quite nice, perhaps a bit challenging but it settled down very quickly to something herbaceous that almost reminded me of sweet basil. What I got for the remainder of the fragrance was reminiscent of camping trips my folks would take myself and my sister on as kids. Got some campfire that's extremely realistic, forest woodsy accords, definitely something animalic slightly musky? Oud? Going to have to wear it again for sure. Very very nice dry down. Really remarkable fragrance, I'd say that it's nearly a masterpiece, my only criticism being this is the kind of scent I would love to project much more. I'm sure it wouldn't be easy, David mentioned this fragrance is all naturals. It's definitely not a skin scent, but intimate, I could smell it but if he could find a way to amplify this so it filled a room, this would be epic. Overall I'm extremely happy with this, far surpassed my expectations especially how the skunk is masterfully blended in this scent which is so much more than that singular element that prompted me to want to try it. Edit: Having had this for a while now and wearing it a few times, This truly is a masterpiece, there's nothing quite like it. The sillage/projection is actually perfect. Everything about this scent is something special.

Fyi, my earlier review wasn't meant to be poetic or metaphorical. The accords in this perfume include a literal blend of concrete, rubber, and motor oil; fir, dirt, and dry leaves; and the skunk spray of a couple hours ago and several camp sites away. I was wearing this as I walked through my apartment building's garage after the first warm rain of the year, and the concrete, rubber, and motor oil mix was a much stronger version of the accord in the perfume. The rest is a north woods, late summer forest floor and a hint of skunk drifting in and out. This is not the skunk that lives under your house or was just hit by a car--it's that rough tomato vine and slightly sweet odor of skunk that's mostly past. Update: I've now been wearing this at least part of most days for a couple of weeks and it continues to surprise me. Longevity and sillage change a great deal with the weather--it's spring on the Great Lakes, so we've had snow, sleet, rain, and sunny warm weather. Sometimes when I think it's gone I get a surprise noseful. It also seems a little different in the dry down in different weather. On me, on more humid days, i start to get burned marshmallow mingled in. Not toasted marshmallow, but the smell of the blackened crust you get from letting your marshmallow catch fire and flame for a second before blowing out. Also, I couldn't help myself. I layered it a few times. It's actually very good with Lentheric Tweed; both their forest floors smells are amplified. Tweed's spicy notes show up more, and Far NWest's blackened marshmallow intensifies.

What a great scent ! Like a drive out in my back yard. Around MT RAINIER. What a smell . Skunk . If you like arso, norn, cape heartache . Give this a try. This is not for beginners , this is ART . But if you have ever taken a ride in the mountains or. Foot hills This is what you smell out your window ! Arso 10/10 - this will last till you shower Norn 10/10 - this will last till you shower Cape heartache 7.5/10 - a little softer, than norn or Arso , 7 hours. This is like arso or norn , till you shower. With more skunk ! Love it !!!!!!!!!!!! Arso you will say wow! Norn will make you say you are hunting at night in the dark forest . Cape heartache is a walk in the day time in the foothills of the blue mountains by a stawberry field . Walla Walla WA. USA This scent is the drive to all these places in the car or truck on the road. With the one that you wish you were with . ChadE

It smells exactly like stepping out of your car at the end of a hot day after you've pulled into a campground in Nicolet Forest in northern Wisconsin or near the White River in Arkansas. For me the heart of the scent is the smell of hot concrete and rubber tires cooling off as the sun goes down and a small breeze blows out of the forest at you. I put it on yesterday just to be reminded of summer. More prosaically, I do smell a bit of the skink and the evergreens--not the living needles but the dry scent of fallen branches and needles that have lost all their chlorophyll and turned brown. It's the smell of the forest floor--and yes, that includes skunl, because there's always a faint whiff of skunk somewhere! :-)

I love Far NWest. I introduced it to two young men at work, both of whom are outdoorsy, and neither of whom are frequent wearers of fragrance. They both loved it and each bought a small bottle. Yes all of the aforementioned notes are ther, and I, too get the warm roasted marshmallow scent. I love the back story. To me, it starts as warm sexy mechanic, then moves into a truck in the woods. So warm and gorgeous on a man, and I love to wear it too, because it is so very comforting and beautiful.

Hey Italian Pigeon Musk! I got a bottle from Falsberg, same great direct service, love this scent. He uses real skunk gland essence and then the rubbery, hot woods are so realistic they take me back to Rocky Mountain camping. Amazing drydown, very unique woody-sappy-burnt-rubbery skunky goodness. Just smells like the Rockies in August. The choya loban gives the burnt woods effect.

Yes, it smells like skunk. When I’d first tried this earlier in the year, the skunk didn’t strike me as being all that strong. Instead, I got more of a coniferous blend than anything else. With subsequent versions, the levels developed into what they are now, and the final result marks a tension between compelling and challenging; it’s pitched just right for the materials involved. In earlier versions, the spruce-like coniferous notes dominated, but now they harmonize with the distinct odor of the skunk to produce a unique twist on the dirty musk genre. A parallel might be drawn to Juniper Ridge’s Caruther’s Canyon in that Far NWest is essentially a dirty, forest floor scent, but whereas the former is literally “nature in a bottle,” Far NWest is more of an aesthetic composition, building a bridge between mimetic representation and creative, imaginative rendering. Perhaps the best way to describe the effect of this is too talk briefly about what a skunk actually smells like for those who’ve never had the (mis)fortune of smelling one. Contrary to what Warner Bros. might lead you to believe, the smell of a skunk isn’t all that offensive. It’s more intriguing than repulsive, drawing associations to rubbery, almost ammoniac scents; its very tenacious, and somewhat thick and oily smelling. It’s not barnyard, nor does it resemble human body smells, instead it leans more toward a synthetic, industrial type scent that you might expect to find in, let’s say, glue of some kind. It’s mixed here some underlying conifer notes that don’t stand out as particularly identifiable, but they do swing more toward blue/green wet pine and spruce type notes that you might expect to smell while trudging through forest close to the Pacific coastline. The coniferous notes harmonize with the rubbery notes of the skunk to produce a jarring, yet oddly energizing combination that stays fairly linear through its lifespan. Without question, it’s skunk—and anybody who’s experienced that scent will recognize it immediately—but here it is presented tastefully and without the kind of sensationalism that you might expect from such a unique material. This is the kind of scent that could be too easy to dismiss as a gimmick or a hook into the rest of the line. And while that’s largely what drew me into Phoenicia's world, Far NWest doesn’t rely on the skunk as a gimmick—instead, it’s tastefully handled and crafted in a manner than should be of interest to anyone who finds themselves drawn to animalics or dirty scents in general. This is hardly a versatile fragrance—but it’s one that you might find yourself reaching for whenever you need a touch of woodsy filth in your life.