Thousand Lakes

Skinny Dip (Top): birch leaf, vegetal accord, black currant, mineral accord and rhubarb. Sauna Session (Base): warm woods, musk, smoke, leather and steam Sometimes the descriptions of fragrances by the houses themselves are not entirely realistic and the impression they give is wrong. That is not the case with this fragrance. “Running naked through newly cut grass, surrounded by silver birch trees. Jumping into the cold, black lake without a moment’s hesitation. A delicious shock of the freezing water. Goosebumps all over. Rushing back into the steaming heat of the sauna. Fire and smoke. Fresh birch leaves sizzle on the hot stones. The scent of warm skin. Oh, the nostalgia!” (From the brands website) I am Finnish and spent my childhood living in the countryside, by the sea, in Finland, and that is exactly the image that comes to mind when I smell it, although a lake is a sea to me. I can smell large leaves on birch trees and birch branches in the sauna bring a soothing aroma as the liquid evaporates from them. Blackcurrant bushes and rhubarb grew in my grandparents' garden and were eaten straight from the bush. Those aromas here are very realistic and delicious. As the scent develops, it transforms into the atmosphere of a wood-burning sauna: gentle steam and smoke from burning wood, salty skin after swimming. The scent is unique and intense, but at the same time surprisingly easy and beautiful. The smoke is something that is not familiar from any previous scent, although I love that note. The whole composition is special and makes you want to smell your wrist again and again. The scent is addictive and I would say sensual in its own way. I recommend Thousand Lakes to anyone who has memories of this all, and if you don't, you can use this splendid scent to try to sense a piece of beautiful Finnish tradition. This is all this in the same time: unique, artistic, pleasant, interesting and above all the idea of scent is brilliant. Thank you for reading, I hope my review was helpful. I would appreciate a lot if you want to follow me on IG and/or YouTube (English subtitles): @ninamariahperfumes It gives me a lot of motivation to write more. 🤗

This fragrance is so incredibly easy to love and it's very unique and it ain't like anything else in my collection. The musk in the drydown kind of reminds me a little bit of a softer and more calm version of the musk in a fragrance from Serge Lutens and I think that it's L'Orpheline I'm thinking about... but Thousand Lakes is truly original and I absolutely love it! On their website Visiteur describes it like this: "Running naked through newly cut grass, surrounded by silver birch trees. Jumping into the cold, black lake without a moment’s hesitation. A delicious shock of the freezing water. Goosebumps all over. Rushing back into the steaming heat of the sauna. Fire and smoke. Fresh birch leaves sizzle on the hot stones. The scent of warm skin. Oh, the nostalgia!" I really love that description and I can definitely sense the birch trees, the cold, black lake, the birch leaves and then the warm woodiness from the sauna. I get the smokyness, but I wouldn't call this a smoky fragrance. The smoke is more like something that gives this wonderful fragrance a little more edge, while it's still very easy to wear. In the beginning it's fruity thanks to the black currant and rhubarb and it also has a wonderful mix of birch leaves and woodyness. Then later during the day it softens and the fruityness calms down, leaving more room for the part of the fragrances that I find very relaxing, calming and absolutely fantastic, when it gets more woody, musky, a little bit smoky and leathery. I am definitely going to order a bottle of this one. It's a ******* masterpiece!

Smells like a hot sauna with dried birch leaves in it.

Smoky zone, leather, like something more complex from Beaufort but toned down.

This one should be called 'I Miss Finland'. Boy do I miss it, and I'm not even Finnish. The fragrance opens with crisp clean freshness, watery note of melting snow, then it gets warm and woody, as if you just stepped in out of the cold and turned the sauna on, inhaling the smell of pine and birch planks, hot stones, clean towels, rising steam. And then yeah, all hot and sweaty you kick the door open, run naked across the clearing and down the pier and jump into the lake. It's a perfect olfactory recreation of this exact memory: visiting friends in Finland, staying in the lake cottage, drinking the purest, tastiest water in the world and purging every anxious, every unhappy thought right out of your body with a good whack of cold water to super hot sauna stones, hearty barbecue, lager and laughter. Man, I miss the land of thousand lakes. (Cries in her Lapin Kulta, sends virtual hugs to Janne Rainer Vuorenmaa, clicks Shop now).