Six Scents, Series One No. 3 – The Spirit of Woods – It really is… (Monday, June 12th, 2011 New Fragrance Listing)

_{Photo - Wikipedia - Eucalyptus - Kerri Forest - SW Australia}

I like collaborations. Good things can come when talented people work together sparking and inspiring each other.

One of the most exciting collaborations in the perfume niche world has been the Six Scents line.

Six Scents is an initiative of three partners: Symrise, the global supplier of flavours and fragrances, creative agency Metaproject and designer fashion boutique Seven New York. The idea is that each year this group will pair cutting edge artists/designers with celebrated perfumers to create new, exciting scents, with a portion of the sales going to charity. The charity of choice for Series One was Designers against AIDS, for Series Two it was the Pro-Natura International, and for Series 3 the charity is War Child International.

Well, there it is in a nutshell – the back story. I was talking to someone about the line and they said it was very ‘gimmicky’. Hmm – had to think about that for a minute. I mean, so much of perfume is gimmicky from packaging, to flacons, to sampling that I don’t see it as a real issue. The charity angle is nice, but really, if you want to support a charity, find one and write a cheque out to them. You’ll get a tax receipt too. No, the juice, like the cheese, has to stand alone, and for me quite a few of Six Scents do. My current fave is No. 3 from Series One called The Spirit of Woods.

For this frag, COSMIC WONDER Light Source was paired with Philippe Paparella. COSMIC WONDER Light Source is a fashion project, initiated by artist/designer Yukinori Maeda that explores the different aspects of light and how they can be worked into clothing. For example, they position sunlight and mirrors in a particular way so they create a specific effect when you walk in front of them – very, very avant-garde.

Philippe Paparella is a French perfumer who studied at ISIPCA in Versailles and has lived in Indonesia and China for close to a decade.

According to the booklet in the box, the scent was “Inspired by the designers memory of a scent experienced during a walk through an eucalyptus forest…”
I’ve never walked through a eucalyptus forest, but after smelling this I may need to buy some walking shoes.

The Spirit of Woods opens very fresh and very green with a hit of green grass and fig leaves. Soon it gets all piney from cypress and elemi, which amps up the pine and adds a freshness with a citrus note. Coriander adds spice as well as warmth and a slight nuttiness. Vetiver keeps it green, while cedar and hinoki make it woody and almost camphourous like eucalyptus is. Amber at the base gives it warmth and depth.

This is not burning wood or smoky wood, it is a green forest or woods, with smells of green leaves, twigs and sap, that gets earthier and more resinous as it dries down. Very smooth and very intimate it is totally unique and totally FBW.

I wore this today while running around town doing chores and every once in a while I would catch a delicious whiff of it. I must say, I’m pretty pleased with myself.

By the way, each scent in the Six Scents line is a limited edition with only 2000 bottles produced and each one is numbered. Mine is 1407.

Six Scents, Series One No. 3 – The Spirit of Woods is listed in our Decant Store. Decants are $5.00 for 1 ml.