Country

Although perhaps not marketed as such, Country is one of a trilogy of fragrances referencing and celebrating the natural beauty of Wales - the land, the forestry that sits on it and its coastline. The other fragrances being Forest and Coast. The first thing you notice straight off the bat is the greenness. This is a pea green scent – think the smell of the pods of garden peas, runner beans, sugar snap peas with the smell of freshly cut grass, etc. I particularly like the daffodil (narcissus) element – a lovely olfactory and symbolic nod to the national emblem of Wales. As it develops it sweetens and the aquatic and woodsy elements come in. The aquatic notes referencing how wet Wales is and its abundance of lakes and rivers. This is less sweet than the other two and has a lovely fresh, outdoorsy feel about it. For me, of the three, it’s a photo finish between this one and Forest as the best. This is probably the most ‘leftfield’ of the three. I give the latter the nod as it’s got the most obvious ‘Wow!’ factor – it hits you from the off. Country, on the other hand, needs a little more time and a little more reflection to ‘get it’ but it’s still a fine fragrance. A solid 9/10 and already a signature fragrance. Absolutely love it. Whether the nose, Louise Smith, decides to expand her horizons further towards two of Wales’ other natural features – Coal and Slate – we will just have to wait and see! But if these three wonderful fragrances are anything to go by then the wait will be worth it.

I think I was expecting a photorealistic countryside scent from Country, but it’s actually a very wearable perfume! Of course, it does conjure up exactly what you’d expect it to. It’s very fresh and aquatic (I was instantly reminded of the aquatic notes in Nosferatu by Heretic), but it’s accompanied by a lovely sweetness from the floral notes. The daffodil especially does come through in an intriguing way! You really feel like you’re getting the whole flower here, stem and all, but the greenness never becomes too overwhelming. It’s a very light scent and fantastic for spring.