Undergrowth 2020 Edition

I'm a big fan of fragrances that try and emulate something real world. So many houses are just "perfume" - smokey, sweet, fruity, green, etc. There's a lot of individuality out there but for the most part they are designed to make you smell "good" not necessarily smell like something in particular. There's a few exceptions, Maison Margiela replica being one that comes to mind. That series has a very real world, actual smells thing going on. 'By the fireplace' for example has the vibe of sitting by a smokey fire BUT it's a vibe that's mixed into the Fragrance not the whole composition. Similarly 'Jazz Club' smells faintly like a smokey cocktail and leather chairs mixed in with some of the usual sweetness and smoke. Both Fine fragrances and absolutely nothing wrong with the way they're made or what they smell like. Rook Perfumes 'Undergrowth' achieves what so many other houses either fail to, or dare not do and smell EXACTLY like what it sets out to portray. It's Sunday and you're going to make a roast lamb dinner, there’s been a huge downpour. After it subsides you go into your garden to pick some mint leaves. You bend down to collect them and notice something in the grass. A strange insect of some sort maybe? You kneel down to look closer at it and a cool breeze blows past and you catch the smell of the damp earth and grass in between the mint leaves. That is EXACTLY what Undergrowth smells like and it's wonderful! I was immediately put off by mint in the notes when I first saw this but having taken the risk and gone with it I'm so glad I did. I find anything with mint can often be too “toothpaste” like. Not the case here, just a wonderful, natural, fresh mint plant. The mint doesn't hang around too long before either it becomes a deep earth/soil/outdoor/nature type of smell. If, like me, you love the smell of the earth after a rain storm or the smell of a forest in the damp autumn then this is for you.

I've been looking for quality mint notes for a while now, which is what made me sample this in the first place. I found the mint I'm looking for, sure, but Undergrowth is much more than that. The opening is damp and intoxicating; I feel like I'm digging through my garden, repotting the mint that's grown out of control. I'm only catching faint whiffs of the iris, though the mandarin orange brings in more freshness to balance the earth. Wearing Undergrowth feels, quite literally, like a walk in the park. I slowly venture off the path and explore the quieter wilderness. As the patchouli and vetiver peek through, I'm in a different place entirely from where I started: the undergrowth has finally arrived. Over the summer, I went hiking on the Antrim coast after a week of storms. Undergrowth smells just like that: a rainy and wild Irish summer. This is an incredibly photorealistic scent and my favorite from Rook; I can easily see it becoming one of my favorite greens. I've been layering it with Lush's Junk or Diptyque's Philosykos to add some extra fruit and herb notes, and I would 100% recommend it.

Undergrowth is probably the best summer fragrance in my collection. It opens with a crisp, natural mint note blended with green, grassy tones—like crushing fresh mint leaves between your fingers and smelling that cool, earthy freshness. There’s none of the sharp, synthetic “toothpaste” or chewing gum mint here. Instead, it feels like lying on a damp, sunlit lawn, with the scent of crushed grass and a hint of moist soil surrounding you. On my skin, the scent is fairly linear: refreshing mint stays throughout, gradually softening into a clean, musky drydown that sits close to the skin. It's cool and calming—perfect for hot weather. Longevity is solid for a mint-based fragrance: about half a day on skin, and nearly a daytime when sprayed on clothes. The projection is moderate and non-intrusive, making it great for office wear. One thing to note: you might notice some natural sediment in the bottle. That’s completely normal for Rook fragrances and part of the brand’s artisanal charm.

Wonderful stuff. I dont consider this a fresh scent but more cool and leafy one. I love the mint note and it works really well here with the grass and vetiver. I'm so pleased the mint really lasts ages in this. I've got to admit I really thought there was galbanum present but doesn't appear to be the case. A little sweetness care of the orange no doubt. That soft natural sweetness wains with time. All this abundant greenery is firmly rooted in the soil tinture and patch. The soil and patch are not surprisingly more obvious further down the time line as the mint starts to wain a little. If you love 'green' or 'herbally' scents then you must try this. Many of these types of scent don't hang around long with green notes being top notes. For me this is a modern, classic unisex scent. 2020 Undergrowth has good longevity and not bad sillage in this cool room.

This one’s a winner for me. I’ve been looking for something in the wheelhouse since I started collecting and have struggled to find any this quite like this. Generally these damp woods type fragrances end up just being a cedar with some eugenol and synthetic oak moss. The problem is that the woody aspect doesn’t ever quite smell like living trees and by nature of the aroma chemical smells like burning or freshly cut wood. I even found Norne from Slumberhouse guilty of this. This is not the case here. This is a photorealistic wet forrest with a touch of added mint for wearablility. It so beautifully captures wet soil and leaves and I can’t for the life of me think of a fragrance that does the fresh rain smell better than this. I chose this over a bottle of Flora and Fauna from Rogue if that gives you an idea of how good I think this is.