We are in mud season here in Poodlesville. The rains are moving through on schedule the trees are nearly full of leaves while the dead wood is being broken up to be burned in the fire pit. There is a smell to this time of the year. Mud is sharper than moist soil. Conversely the green is softer. Breaking up damp wood releases this wet woodiness. It is an odd accord and it is one which you might not expect to make a fragrance around. Amouage Bracken Woman shows there is a perfume within.
Christopher Chong
One of the reasons I have consistently enjoyed Christopher Chong’s creative direction for Amouage is this ability to find beauty from things like mud season. Mr. Chong is one of the premiere perfume creative directors because he truly does think “out of the box” followed by working with perfumers who bring that vision to fruition. For Bracken Woman he works with two of his more recent collaborators as Dorothee Piot and Karine Vinchon-Spehner return as the perfumers.
Dorothee Piot
Bracken Man which came out previously was a Fougere, capitalization intentional. Bracken Woman pulls back on the intensity while still providing an alternative interpretation of green. From a very green opening Bracken Woman segues through leather which in conjunction with some florals form a wet mud accord to my nose. Before ending with my damp wood by the fire pit.
Karine Vinchon-Spehner
The perfumers open with a much softer green opening reminiscent of new leaves. Galbanum, violet leaves, and fern form the green which have a pinch of berries to remind one of the early fruit growing on runners underneath the green. Early in the transition to the heart a smoky slightly unrefined leather accord sets the stage for the mud. Narcissus provides an indolic modulation which begins the transition from animalic to sharp earthiness. Lily adds back the green while chamomile attenuates the overall effect. The base is my favorite part of Bracken Woman as the perfumers use birch, vetiver, and patchouli to form a damp wood accord. When I am breaking up the dead branches there is an expansive woodiness form the particles being captured in the air which is contrasted by the heavy dampness of the large pieces I’m stacking up. The perfumers capture this as the birch evokes the solid wood while the vetiver is the airier woods. Patchouli adds a lighter version of wet earth for this final phase of Bracken Woman.
Bracken Woman has 24 hour longevity and average sillage.
I’ve had my sample of Bracken Woman for a couple of months. I was so intrigued by this “mud season” perfume I wanted to compare it to the actual thing. I also always enjoy spending extra time with an Amouage release; Bracken Woman was one which paid back that time. As for how close it is to the smells of my backyard right now; I am thrilled to have mud season all year round.
Disclosure: This review is based on a sample provided by Amouage.
–Mark Behnke
Oh my! Just tried a sample of this. I’m at the point in my collecting that I’m looking for challenging and different. This delivered both, but I’m not sure what I think yet. There is something vegetal in the opening notes, definitely funky, but funk that draws you in. I grew up in the country, and a dairy barn does that for me–the undertone of cow manure is stinky, yeah, but there’s something hypnotic about it. By no means does this fragrance smell like cow manure–I’m just saying that there’s some funk or mung that anchors this, makes it exciting. DIor Poison is the same way–got some stank in it that keeps you coming back–because we’re mammals. 90 minutes later, Bracken has dried down. NOw, it it is an intense floral, sweet, but with almost none of the typical amber or vanilla. It has a different anchoring note, something sharp, that I do not appreciate–not yet. I like to give new and different a little time. This is my first Amouage fragrance.