Murkwood

Sampling Pineward Perfumes Murkwood, another dark, brooding, woody entry from this house of seemingly many such options. There are some similarities to the dark spicy pine resin aspect of Fanghorn II, but Murkwood has a funkier animalic quality to it. Listed notes are fir balsam, black hemlock, lapsang suchong, moss, incense, bitter myrrh. There’s a vague damp, dank, mossy quality to it that is more prominent than in some other offerings in the house or contemporary fragrances of a similar ilk. Whereas Fanghorn II brings to mind other entries like Dasein Winter Nights and Slumberhouse Norne, Murkwood has a more distinct character, something even dirtier, grittier, more boundary-pushing. I quite like it, overall, like the other entries, and I’m thinking more and more that I’ll need to do some side by side comparisons between some of these after I’ve sampled them all. Pricing is standard for the line, $135/80 for 37/17ml, not by any means cheap but this is an interesting fragrance, and while my tastes are a little more suited to Boreal or Fanghorn II, Murkwood is more unique while similarly being dense and strong. 8 out of 10

Murkwood is a dark and brooding scent...quite smoky and resinous with lots of incense. This is a dense, overgrown, shadowy, fantasy forest - it is well named, like one of Tolkien’s wildwoods. This isn’t a jaunty hike through the pines on a sunny day. As you sit by your campfire in the night, you cast nervous glances over your shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever is lurking in the gloom between the trees. Don’t let that fire go out... Sillage isn’t huge, I think. To me this is unisex. It was originally named Incense and Fir, and which is quite accurate although the name Murkwood is more evocative. I’ve seen this compared to Norne but they are not too much alike. Norne was spicier, heavy on the cloves and an assault on the olfactory system (I loved it, even though it was supposedly masculine. I never managed to get a bottle though). Murkwood is heavier on the incense and with lapsang souchong giving it some smokiness, but doesn’t punch you in the face. It will stain your clothes. And maybe your skin.

Person below me is right idk why I didn’t realize lol but I guess it’s more complex but seriously patchouli forward. I just sampled lutens Borneo and they smell nearly identical and that’s the king of patchouli so yeah. I love patchouli and these two I think are the best iterations of it . They’re chocolatey but supremely unsweetened yet warm and mouth watering despite the earthiness. I feel like an earthworm thriving in the richest soil on the planet Also... if you dislike these scents and aren’t familiar with any of the other really natural houses and this is your first time dabbling with something like this definitely hold on to the samples and return to them after some months. For me this was an instant love but there are others in this house that really puzzled me bc my nose couldn’t understand them. However people I knew found them pretty. I think when ur in this “hobby” your nose gets accustomed to certain approaches to perfumery and it might be more challenging to you than a complete novice.

Murkwood is THE dark forest scent for me. Very dark green, almost pitch black. It hides a mystery deep down inside. As far as the scent goes it smells exactly the way I imagined myself and wanted how could possibly Norne from Slumberhouse smell like. A dark, dense forest right after the storm. Some of the trees were hit by thunder and they broke. From a longer distance you sense the traces of humans and the fireside they made to warm up their chilled to the bone bodies. A fireside with a lot of pine inside it, all burning. That's how Murkwood smells on my skin. Just like Slumberhouse's Norne, Murkwood marks stains on clothes - the difference is in colour (Murkwood leaves grey-black stains and Norne leaves very dark green stains). Also - spraying it on the skin marks stains which actually dissapear after 12 hours or so. Longevity is around 13-14 hours on my skin. Sillage is big within first 3 hours, then the scent slowly sticks to the skin. I truly loved it, right away.

initially, very heavy conifer and herbal notes; smells quite medicinal at first, and reminds me of Vicks. it warms up as it dries, and evolves into a smell that makes me think of a fresh cut christmas tree. soon after, in addition to the conifer notes (which do mellow out over time while staying present), the amber starts to shine in a lovely combination that's quite new to me and very enjoyable to my surprise. when i first smelled this from the bottle, i was just a little bit put off, but it quickly grew on me once i tried it on my skin. i especially like it when the amber notes surface during the dry down. if you don't enjoy this fragrance at first, wait a few minutes and see how you like it. it really changes quite a bit over time. as others have mentioned, the color of the perfume is very dark green and will definitely show on clothes, so be mindful of that! any pigment disappeared once it settled on my skin, though.