Fiona

I’m having a looooovely relationship with Fiona. She’s unbelievably complex, changes by the hour, and then—just when I thought she was done with me—I heat up and she blooms again, as only natural perfumery comprised of top-shelf ingredients can do. I mean this quite literally: 12 hours after 2 small sprays, some of which got into my shirt, I worked out. On getting hot and sweaty, a trainer on the second floor (!!) of the open-plan studio said, “someone smells REALLY good in here.” I smiled and said inside, privately, “That’s my girl, Fiona.” On my skin, the trio of ouds emerge first with a tangy, chewy assertiveness countered by a fruity, almost smoky leathery accord, itself Animalic but never outlandishly so... Then the flowers bloom on me, and like the great perfume loves of my life (think of Guerlain’s floral accords), they are so happy together it’s hard to isolate just one... I don’t smell this parfum; I breathe it. She’s just beautiful. This is what perfumery once was and is again. I’m in love.

this is one of my favorite perfumes, rich, complex, deep, animalic but not skanky in anyway, its beautiful, James is a very talented perfumer who I believe will only get better with more experience as this is still a relatively new venture. anyone into natural perfumery with no love for " mall fragrances " should 100% try this and the other he has produced, in my opinion they are at the same level as Prin, ALD & Auphorie to name a few. I know Fiona 2 is currently macerating and I cant wait for it. keep em coming James

Seeing someone write they didn’t like Fiona because it felt familiar is why you should never listen to these reviews and smell for yourself. There isn’t anything else in HISTORY that smells like this, and while it’s not the always desired “beast mode” nonsense it does have a very strong presence. In my opinion this is the single greatest composition ever created. Can’t speak for any other version than Batch 1 but I hear they are all pretty similar. If you ever come across it GRAB IT with confidence

Lucky to have gotten the #6 batch after eyeing Friona for many years. Straight off the sprayer you get a well blended heavy oud with that gourmandish white flowers feeling, it feels very animalic without being able to pick-up any specific animalics except for what i think is goat-hair, it has a cheesy roughness that doesn't go away. it lasts good hours on skin but it stays close to skin for something that has this many animalics & oud... which allows me to wear it outdoors without offending anyone.

Even though it has all the animalic ingredients it’s not shanky or challenging at least to my nose.Florals,vanilla and oakmoss plays an important role with animalic ingredients.Its same level as prin,bortnikoff and Russian Adam’s blends.As James moved away from making perfumes this will be hard to come by.Batch 5 was my favorite as it had a ton of Mysore sandalwood which made Fiona being more creamy in nature.Enjoy

The ouds used here are beautiful because of the simple fact that James is using authentic Oud. The quality and beauty of the composition really shines through his use of naturals! I bought a bottle 5 minutes after I tested it. That's how awesome this is! Definitely not for amateur noses.

This smells sooooo great! It is hard to explain. You need to get a sniff to understand. Unlike anything I have smelled and lasts all day.

Oh, Fiona. I wanted to like you. I really, really did. Your animalics are so smooth, so deep, so divine. But alas, your florals are instantly headache-inducing, and overall you smell like a pretty little Head Shop, and I've smelled this smell so many times before.

I just bought this and am a little underwhelmed. I expected that it would stick to the skin better with all the animal ingredients, I do like how it smells, but I was expecting more.

I love animalics in perfume; a perfume imbued with the alchemy of civet or castoreum, even the use of costus root (big love), gives it a sensuousness and a pulse. it can be a little furry, a little skanky, a little ripe. They can make floral accords truly bloom all fleshy and vibrant. I believe it takes a talented, skilled perfumer to make the most out of animalic materials and accords by now how much—or how little to use, when to use it, and where to use. James Barry, on the other hand, decides that it's necessary to put nearly every animalic at his disposal into Fiona—even employing the natural perfumer's beloved goat hair tincture—but what this does is cancel out all the nuances each has to offer, and renders them all brown, blurry, and somewhat fetid. There's some competition between these animalics, and all the while, they have muffled the floral materials, with even the ylang ylang barely able to gasp at the surface of this miasma. Then there's no less than three different ouds, because you know, OUD, that's what these iconoclastic perfumers love, spraying their wad on oud and proclaiming it a masterpiece. Indiscriminately blending an amalgam of great and rare materials by no means guarantees a great perfume.

Animalics are smooth alright, that's because they are barely there at all. Its an exotic floral with the ylang & champaca sticking out, id rather smell Oud Loukoum by Bortnikoff, his ouds burst through the formula, its not just minimum plantation oud from an online supplier everyone else goes to that is willing to ship to USA This is how to effectively showcase every animalic ingredient in a perfume! = wait.. no, forget showcasing them, just use them in trace amounts and show off a big yellow floral absolute from an online supplier instead! :) The exclusive painting that comes with the limited edition is godawful anyway, and he wants 2k for it! no joke

OMG this is beautiful, booming floral oud, stinky and sweet. I would consider buying this if I didn't already have a heap of Bortnikoff and ALDs already, and having said that, this works well on its own. The lotus and floral elements really work well with the oud -- five stars!

This surprised me by how good it is. It's amazing that with all of the animalic ingredients it actually works and smells well balanced. It's warm, cozy, and smells really good. Definitely one of the most complex fragrances that uses challenging ingredients that smells amazing.