Dark Forest
Based on your responses to our LavenderandSpice.com Quiz, you are most likely to find a scent that matches your personality and desires from the scents of the dark, mysterious forest.
What Is Dark Forest?
In 1882, Houbigant released perfumer Paul Parquet’s Fougère Royale, creating a new class of perfumes, fougères (fern in French), intended to evoke the romantic decay of the old growth forest, the aromatic, rich scents of the countryside, and the sublimated eroticism of the walled garden.
Perfumes in this category will have a backbone of coumarin, which smells like new mown hay, with a sweetness and powdery depth. Most will have some form of moss note, now provided primarily by synthetics due to allergies to the atranol in the high levels of oakmoss used until recent decades. Patchouli, mushroom, and clary sage are often used to achieve an earthy depth. Originally designed for men, the fougère usually had rose and geranium in the heart with a bergamot, lavender, aromatic herb opening.
There is an important difference between damp woods scents and archetypical fougère scents. Damp woods that are not aiming for fougère often limit or skip the coumarin, restrain the floral notes, and perhaps even drop the citrus opening. This leaves scents with some earthy spices, vetiver, patchouli, mushroom, moss, trees, and musk. These are close cousins in the Dark Forest family, and distinct enough to see if you could wear some from either branch.
Why Dark Forest Is a Good Fit for You
Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn are all earth signs, which ground those under these signs to the rich soil of the dark forest. While practical, individuals born under these signs are able to tap into a hedonistic side. Scorpio, which is a water sign, often leads individuals born under this sign to focus on the darkness, on birth and death, which is central to the rich scent of the forest floor and the scent of mown hay.
Fougères and other dark forest scents require a seriousness and earnestness to appreciate and understand how the earthy base notes support brighter emotions, consistent with a focus on setting ground rules before launching into a promising relationship, perhaps with a dense chocolate cake or a snifter of complex, nutty liqueur. Those wearing dark forest scents are equally comfortable spending a vacation at home in the garden or on a grand tour of Europe, finishing the day with an Old fashioned (a Scotch Old fashioned with strong peat notes would fit) and an earthy, bright glass of Pinot Noir.
We selected the Top 10 Dark Forest scents to help get you on your way to trying on something from this alluring fragrance category. This includes some scents from our fougère list and additional fragrances that don’t follow that style but capture the earthy, mossy notes of the dark woods.
Top 10 Dark Forest Scents
1) Caron Number 3/Le 3ème Homme/The Third Man
Released in 1985, named to honor the performance of Orson Welles in the movie of the same name, this scent is transgressive in the way that the late 19th and early 20th century hits were. Men should smell of flowers, the depth and fruitiness of rose along with the indolic, full and waxy jasmin. The carnation is joyfully present with its spice to support that facet of the rose. A well-executed vanilla adds delightful depth and sophistication to any base; a lazy sketch ruins the whole piece. In our mind, relying only on a lavender/geranium accord to carry the whole composition is a missed opportunity. Why not save the aromatic citrus for a standard cologne? Number 3 (only the third men’s scent from Caron) misses no opportunities. This has the aromatic, sharp citrus opening, a spiced and mildly erotic floral heart, ending with a gentile, powdered base. This is a scent that can be worn regardless of gender because it has considered and moved beyond the gender norms of its time (and now) intentionally.
Top Notes: Lavender, Rosemary, Anise, Bergamot
Heart Notes: Geranium, Jasmin, Rose, Fern, Carnation
Base notes: Amber, Musk, Moss, Cedarwood, Patchouli, Tonka, Vanilla
2) Tom Ford Patchouli Absolu
Patchouli comes out guns blazing, covered in moss and herbs, smelling of the rotting earth you just want to roll around in. The slightly smoky, soft wood heart softens the patchouli a bit as you head towards a powdery, musky, leather heavy on the aromachemicals. This is one of the Tom Ford scents that brings the dark and funky to a new audience, just as Black Orchid expands the universe of those who appreciate a gourmand.
Top Notes: Bay leaf, Rosemary, Moss
Heart Notes: Patchouli, Guaiac wood, Cypriol, Violet wood, Cashmere wood
Base notes: Tonka bean, Amber, Musk, Leather
The fougère list would be not be complete without its namesake. The 2010 reboot of the brand is satisfying if not overwhelming given the hype that it must overcome. Taken on its own, the scent is a solid accomplishment, with a bold opening led by bergamot and clary stage that balances floral, herbal and spice through to the restrained drydown. Certainly worth the experience given the history and a good scent on its own.
Top Notes: Lavender, Bergamot, Clary sage, Spikenard, Petitgrain
Heart Notes: Geranium, Heliotrope, Rose, Orchid, Carnation
Base Notes: Oakmoss, Tonka, Musk, Vanilla, Hay
A dark forest scent that evolved apart from the fougère trend, the cologne was introduced in 1912 and was said to be worn by the James Bond character. This 2018 reboot as an EDP comes after reformulation of the EDT in recent decades. This drops almost straight into dark, musky, mossy forest from the very beginning. The cumin does wonders lifting the musk and moss up early. If you are interested, try both the EDT and EDP before buying as whole bottle as many reviewers are disappointed with the EDP, complain about IFRA longing for the original, and are satisfied with the EDT.
Top Notes: Cumin, Coriander, Blackcurrants
Heart Notes: Jasmine, Muguet
Base notes: Sandalwood, Musk, Moss
Encre Noire, or ‘black ink,’ released in 2006, has a gothic reputation that is surprising for such an austere composition. It does not have the moss or mushroom driving other scents in this category, but is more than earthy enough due to the vetiver. The cypress opening provides a unique terpenic/resinous wood note. The blend of the cleaner, brighter, spicy and freshly bitter citrus of the Haitian vetiver with the rooty, woody, smoky balsamic vetiver Bourbon creates the tension that drives this winner. This vetiver blend is intense, but much smoother and less smoky than could be achieved with vetiver from Java and any number of smoke materials. Underneath, the Iso E Super and a blend of modern musks, likely Cashmeran from the name, create a dry, soft, and not sweet skin scent that blends delightfully with the finishing notes of the vetiver. Flankers like the Encre Noire Sport retain the same strong vetiver presence while brightening up the opening with more citrus.
Top Notes: Cypress wood
Heart Notes: Haitian vetiver, Vetiver bourbon
Base notes: Musk, Cashmere wood
6) Santa Maria Novella Patchouli
This is a classic combination of the lighter rose, narcotic jasmine and intense, medicinal patchouli resting in a bed of moss and dry wood. The rosewood note accounts for the citrus and terpenic note that many reviewers experience at the opening. It plays a similar role in the opening that coriander does in other compositions in this list. The camphor from the intensity of the central patchouli note probably plays more of a role in the medicinal blast that people note. The patchouli is dark, smoky, earthy, intense, but it is the lack of a retreat to amber, vanilla, or cistus that makes this character stand out. The sandalwood is a relatively neutral wood not and the moss only serves to accentuate the earthiness of the patchouli.
Top Notes: Rose
Heart Notes: Jasmine, Rosewood
Base Notes: Patchouli, Sandalwood, Oakmoss
7) Frederic Malle Bois d’Orage
Perfumer PIerre Bourdon, of Green Irish Tweed fame, developed this scent as an aggressive exploration of woods, greens, and earth. It opens with a sharp pepper note that sets up the tension between woods and green well. The combination of angelica, galbanum, and cedar is not unlike Creed’s Royal Oud. Instead of oud, Bois d’Orage uses patchouli and oakmoss to build a sensual and earthy base for the cedar. We listed this as #2 in our Top 10 Cedar Perfumes right below Creed’s Royal Oud. This is where the walk through a dark, damp forest comes in and wraps its arms around you. The nutmeg lends a nice spice note in the heart that makes the eventual woody, ambery dry down less pedestrian.
Notes: Pimento, Galbanum, Angelica seeds, Bay Rhum, Nutmeg, Incense, Cedar, Patchouli, Oakmoss, Karanal
This is musky, dark, wet northern forest in a bottle, and a much more affordable bottle than some of the others on this list. This starts off very bright, continuing through the heart, before dropping rapidly into a wet, mossy musk.
Top Notes: Bitter orange, Elemi, Bergamot, Grapefruit
Heart Notes: Juniper berry, Pink pepper, Cedarwood
Base Notes: Patchouli, Vetiver, Benzoin, Oakmoss
Resinous, earthy, complex, with a strangely beguiling dried fruit note in the heart. The brightness of pine and frankincense open instead of the usual citrus. Their character is much more resin than brightness. The vetiver is dark and heavy, not so much as Encre Noir, but enough to evoke the dampness of the forest sheltered by the evergreen trees. The spice notes are there in the drydown, but reserved.
Notes: Pine needles, Vetiver, Sap, Laurel, Fir balsam, Frankincense, Candied fruit, Spice
10) Rogue Perfumery Fougère L'Aube
Rogue Perfumery’s brand depends on not following IFRA restrictions on the levels or use of many materials, most notably oakmoss in this genre, but also rose. IFRA guidelines are voluntary in the United States, but most large perfume houses prefer to have a single formulation that can be sold in Europe in compliance with the guidelines. So, buyer beware, this may have levels of ingredients that could lead either to an allergic reaction or sensitization. Most of these restrictions are for skin reactions and seem reasonable. Arguments, and conspiracy theories, generally fall in areas where lack of strong evidence has led IFRA to be more cautious than some would like. After all that, the higher oakmoss levels and high quality natural ingredients combined with deft, but loud application of aromachemicals makes for a scent that tickles the nose of nostalgia while performing well today.
Notes: Lavender, Green Citrus, Galbanum, Geranium, Hay, Moroccan Rose, Amber, Camphor, Sandalwood, Oakmoss, Costus