Fireside Intense

An absolutely holographic fireside scent that dazzles in its accuracy. Once again Laurie Erickson has outdone herself with attention to detail. For such a complex blend of notes, it's truly amazing how perfectly she manages to blend all the elements to achieve her vision. To me, this smells more like the smoldering embers of the campfire than the fire in full blaze, but it's not as scary as that might sound. If I pay close attention, I can delineate notes of guaiac wood, castoreum and oud, over lain on a sandalwood and cedar base and surrounded in oak moss. There are other notes aplenty, these are just the stand outs to me. But only if I really concentrate, because as I said, the patently obsessive blending done here really makes this scent something quite different to the sum of its parts. If you love woody scents and real smoke, don't hesitate to try this. Although perhaps sample it first, as it is quite uncompromising straight up and it takes a few wears to reconcile oneself with all that is going on here. Another true winner from SSS in my book. It's quickly becoming one of my favorite houses. Pure, naturally composed, classy, unique & for a kicker (as I've mentioned previously), it's all the work of a totally awesome woman in Ms. Erickson!

'Intense' is right! The projection of this fragrance is astonishing. I wore it to work and decided it was too strong, so I went to wash it off. Even after scrubbing it for some time, it still projected enough that I worried it would bother my colleagues... The beginning is a campfire cookout, complete with almost barbecue notes. The woodsmoke is very true to life. After about ten minutes, the food-y scent fades away and it becomes a more urbane, leathery smoke fragrance. However, there's still an odd, feral note in the background - maybe the oud? - that makes it distinctive and interesting. While it's not inexpensive, the strength of this fragrance is so high that I'd only ever wear a very small amount at any time, so it's not a bad value. The option of amping it up to something alarmingly strong is occasionally useful as well. I'd tried a sample of a scent I didn't like - UNUM 'But Not Today' - and could not get it to scrub off no matter how hard I tried. I'd applied another scent over it, but the UNUM smell overwhelmed it. A bit of this fragrance, however, covered it up without a problem.

Oh yes. Utterly real campfire with great reeking dollops of resins and woodsmoke, not incense smoke, but the smell of real logs and the real outdoors. Luckily for me it's all flora not fauna, I don't get much of the civet (or any whiffs of BBQ meat) so all animals are safely far from the flames. The woods accords in this are gorgeously done, full of detail and complexity - definitely not the one-note synth-pine or 'generic wood' you'd get in cheaper things - this smells of real cedar and cypress and birch and guaiac, all blazing away together like the most luxurious and decadent pyre ever built. It's no-compromise, there is nothing manufactured-fragrant like incense or spice in there to sweeten things up, but there's nothing industrial and harsh like the rubber in City on Fire either. Comparisons on this page are correct - this is the most upmarket sort of camping you can imagine - right at the highest high end of 'rough natural' style perfumery. Mmmmmmmm.

Fireside Intense opens up with an extremely compelling leathery, smoky, burnt accord that just as easily conjures up the mental image of a campfire as it does a prehistoric tar pit. It's thick, smoldering and aggressively smoky, like tripping and landing face first in La Brea right before the meteor breaks the earth's atmosphere. Eventually it dries down to a smoky, masculine woody fragrance that is engaging yet still very wearable and unique. Leather and birch stay around for the drydown, while the savory meaty aspects of the opening recede a bit (thankfully), revealing a surprisingly nice dry multi-wood vibe like wonderwood but amped way way up. Highly recommended! 8/10

Just by reading it I knew I had to compare this to Naomi Goodsir's Bois d'Ascese because I'm sooo close to purchasing that one. Unfortunately it's not as intense or intriguing as the said fragrance (It's like smelling your clothes after a bonfire vs. smelling the bonfire itself), although I have to say it's more complex; the feeling of burnt woods is much more natural & organic with added hints of leather and surrounding forest. If anyone found Bois d'Ascese hard to stomach or too monotonous, this is the perfect substitute. It's also one of my favorites from the Studio!