Launched in December 2012, Harricana is the result of a collaboration between Canadian ecoluxe designer Mariouche Gagné and Canadian perfumer Isabelle Michaud. The fragrance was inspired by Gagné’s work remodelling fur coats. She takes old fur coats and gives them a new life, as pillow covers, hats, gloves, bags, boots, jewellery, and more, creating sustainable fashion for her Harricana label. So, when Gagné was looking to produce the first scent for Harricana, she turned to talented Canadian perfumer Isabelle Michaud.

Harricana opens with nose-tingling bergamot followed by intensely green and slightly musky galbanum. Spinach leaf plays up the galbanum by adding a vegetal green element, while basil contributes an herbal anise note. A note of balsam fir adds a different shade of green, while calamus root gives it a spicy warmth. As it blooms, orris root gives it the smell of violets – a nod to the past when violet bunches were sold in the markets of Paris, and women would pin them to their furs – along with a woodiness. Green tea picks up on the galbanum, extending that green note to the heart. Jasmine, exotic and heady, joins the mix and gives it floral depth. It all rests on a warm woody base of vetiver, oakmoss, sandalwood, cedarwood, labdanum and opoponax. Stunning. Musk gives it an anilmalic note that’s evocative of fur.

On developing the scent with Gagné, Michaud says: She wanted it outdoorsy like a walk in the woods or in the tundra, somewhat of a native Indian character, very close to nature, such as the DNA of her brand.”

And that is exactly what the drydown of Harricana smells like a walk in the woods. What’s noticeable in Harricana is the lack of sweet and floral notes – which is refreshing. Harricana smells of nature: green, woodsy and animalic but nature-tamed, refined, sophisticated and polished. It stays close to the skin like being wrapped in a luxurious fur coat.

Notes: Bergamot, galbanum, spinach leaf, balsam fir, basil, calamus root, orris butter, green tea accord, jasmine, vetiver, sandalwood, cedarwood, oakmoss, labdanum and opoponax resins, musk.