The Fort & Manle scents are incredible, but if one criticism can be levied at them, it’s that they’re not very “accessible.” They’re dramatic and memorable, but not necessarily everyday crowd-pleasing scents. Right?
Well, there actually are a few in the box that gainsay that. Two in particular, which are closely aligned in scent. Both are scented stories about gardens.
Impressions de Giverny was inspired by Le Jardin à Giverny; as the Fort & Manle site puts it, it is intended to be “[a]n olfactive journey of Monet’s vision for a Japanese garden in the heart of Normandy.” And it is without a doubt delightful, as well as being a scent that I could happily wear every day.
It is literally a fruity floral, but it defies the conventions of the description. As the story of a very specific garden both Eastern and Western, its elements are balanced between East and West. And the balance extends even further: under the fruits and flowers are greenery and earth.
The listed notes are yuzu, bergamot, red apple, magnolia, rose, tuberose, osmanthus, orange blossom, fig leaf, coriander, tulip, neroli, mango, ylang, ambergris, benzoin, musk. See what I mean? Fruity floral, green and earthy. It starts as florals, light and delicate, and moves into fruit, bright and delicious. It intrigues me that of the florals, the one that stands out most distinctly is the almost syrupy sweetness of osmanthus. The first fruits are the citrus, bergamot and yuzu, but the sweet piney edge of mango shows up a little later. This is the play of light and sweet over deep and aromatic. Note that both the fruits and flowers used are on the sweet and light side, so this could be overwhelming, if it weren’t for the solid base. A bit later on…ah, THERE’S the apple, with woody, almost cedarlike notes that I suspect are fig leaf and coriander. There isn’t a single bad or harsh note in this; it’s lovely, and everything blends beautifully. It’s distinctive but not overpowering. There is actually not a thing about this scent I could criticize, other than the fact that I wish it had a bit more sillage.
So, Garden No. 2, a more conventional garden than Monet’s…under the watchful eye of its steadfast guardian, the garden gnome. This one is decidedly the sister scent of Giverny; they share many notes. Gnome’s include the following: cedar, musk, Sicilian bergamot, coriander, yuzu, pink pepper, lily of the valley, mango, rose, violet leaf, ambergris, amber. Striking similarities, but where Giverny is predominantly fruity-floral, the Gnome veers into earthier, more herbal territory.
And my own confession: at first I wasn’t sure I was down with the Gnome. One of the notes in this is sharp, almost piercing at the opening; it’s on the whole a more herbal and less floral scent than Giverny. I frowned a bit at it on first wearing, thinking this might be the one F & M I wasn’t crazy about. Happily, it grew on me, no pun intended. That sharp scent offsets the other elements, and pulls the story of the scent together. It makes sense that Confessions of a Garden Gnome would be the earthier garden scent; it’s the garden perceived at ground level, as a garden gnome would experience it. Which is really quite brilliant.
These two are the F & M scents that for me have garnered the most comments and compliments; they’re less dramatic than the others, and perhaps more conventional in composition than some of the others, but they are still unusual and memorable. If I were to recommend a “starter” scent for someone less intrepid about scents, it would be one of these. Giverny might be my very favorite in terms of sheer versatility alone. Both are unisex, like the other offerings, with Giverny being perhaps a bit more on the feminine side of the spectrum and Gnome a bit more on the masculine. That is of course highly subjective.
Wearing a garden is a beautiful idea, and these are both beautiful interpretations of that idea.
I’m not done with these yet. I still have Bojnokoff, Maduro, Amber Absolutely, Forty Thieves, and the big daddy of them all, Süleyman Le Magnifique, to review. On the non-F & M samples, I haven’t talked about the rather weird Functional Fragrance yet, and…am I missing something else? We’ll see.
Maryam Payne, Writer & Editor 