Inspired by perfume notes that we enjoy from the landscape around us, a walk through a forest or shady spot in a garden lead us to explore fern or fougere notes.
The Fougere fragrance family is inspired by the "imagined' notes of ferns, deeper green or mossy, woody notes and is a generally a more masculine fragrance family.
The Fougere is a diverse group that focusses on the blend of a citrus top note, frequently bergamot, an aromatic heart of lavender, and a touch of rose which can also be replaced by the more herbal rosiness of geranium, balanced with deeper notes of oakmoss, vetiver and coumarin ( a warm hay like note found in tonka beans) These are the classic notes that combine in a fougere or fern like fragrance.
After the trend of heavy and animal fragrances, Napoleon I started the tendency for Eaux de Cologne, a much lighter and fresher genre of fragrance. In fact our Artillery No 1 Le Premiere, is named for him as he was known to adore the fresh bergamot and neroli notes of a good Eaux de Cologne.
A little later as part of the same evolution, the fern family revolutionised masculine perfumery and the name fougère was given to the genre.
The most iconic and first fougere scent to be created was Houbigant’s Fougere Royale in 1882, still available today although a little re-worked it has never gone out of style.
Other fougere’s include Yohi Homme by Yohi Yamamoto a rounded and beautiful scent by perfumer Jean Nate. Try also Histoires de Parfum’s 1725 Casanova as the name suggests a dandy of a scent. Today’s fougeres include more rugged images with Guy Laroche Drakkar Noir or Davidoff Cool Water.
Our own collection features various fragrances with classic fougere notes, gender nuetral scents that add this wonderful depth of green, mossy freshness to your perfume wardrobe.
Explore Artillery No 4 Vetiver, featuring vetiver blended with bergamot and lavender. Artillery No 6 Patchouli Spice with notes of patchouli, cardomon and lavender. Precious One bordering on a chypre but with notes of oakmoss and vetiver conjuring up a soft woody mossy note, and our Fern Home Fragrance inspired by the mossy, woody and earthy scent of a shadowy forest.
Our Walk in the Woods sample set is also a good place to start to explore this most complex and mossy group of scents.
