January 2, 2013
New Niche Perfume Review: The Vagabond Prince Enchanted Forest + Once Upon A Time Fairytale Draw
Fairytales have returned to the popular zeitgeist with their own modern twist; dueling versions of Snow White at the multiplex and ‘Once Upon A Time’ and ‘Grimm’ on your flat screen. The appeal of these tales, even with a touch of modern ambiguity added, is they are simple tales where the good guys prevail over the bad guys and our heroes live happily ever after. The setting of these is also fairly simple too and is often summed up as “palace and woods”. With the latest release by Master Perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour for The Vagabond Prince I am further reminded that it is not just woods these clashes between good and evil take place in, they are places where magic is evident. The new fragrance is called Enchanted Forest and it is truly a magical fragrance by one of our best fragrant storytellers. The story of Enchanted Forest is almost a fairytale in itself.
The Mighty Duchaufour's Labo
Once upon a time the husband and wife team of Zoran and Elena Knezhevich, founders of Fragrantica.com, wanted to make a perfume which reminded them of their family’s travels from Eastern Europe to the US. They traveled to the magical perfumed city of Grasse to find a master magician of olfaction The Mighty Bertrand. As Princess Elena and The Vagabond Prince Zoran told him their tale he began to imagine the contents of his eventual potion.
Bottle & Art Designed by Princess Elena
The wily wizard had been working with blackcurrant and wanted to center a perfume around it. He believed that pairing it with the smells of the forest would bring the two halves of their journey together in one bottle. After working tirelessly for about a year The Mighty Bertrand presented his work to his patrons. Upon sniffing it they were so happy they couldn’t keep this magical elixir to themselves and so they shared it amongst their perfume loving subjects and they all lived happily ever after.
Blackcurrant Bush
Enchanted Forest is a fascinating study of the use of blackcurrant by M. Duchaufour. Blackcurrant is often used in high concentrations to add a strong berry component to many fruity florals and often it is a note which tips a fragrance from sweet to saccharine. In Enchanted Forest by using a combination of CO2 extracted black currant with an absolute of blackcurrant buds he creates a cassis accord that feels like you have stumbled over a bush of ripe to bursting blackcurrants growing on the forest path. M. Duchaufour claims this “is the only perfume I know of that is built around blackcurrant as the sole raw material”. While I am not sure if that is true his goal was to create a cassis accord and he has done so. That accord is the magic in the heart of this Enchanted Forest.
This perfumed forest walk begins with a frisson of aldehydes and pink pepper; these are the bony-fingered come hither notes. As you approach there is a bottle of rum waiting next to a blackcurrant bush as you get a hint of the leaves and flowers. You pick up the bottle and swig it deeply and then you realize you are in a glade of blackcurrant bushes surrounding you there is a sense of green growing luscious berry all around. You have to leave to return to the forest path but the scent lingers on your clothes as the smells of the forest surround you: the fir trees, the animals who have been here before you, the decay of all living things returning to the earth. Fir balsam absolute, castoreum, patchouli and musk do the bulk of the lifting for this accord.
Enchanted Forest has above average longevity and above average sillage.
I am happy to say that like all fairytales this story has a very happy ending as Enchanted Forest is a perfumed tale I will want to experience ever after.
Disclosure: this review was based on a sample provided by The Vagabond Prince
Thanks to The Vagabond Prince we have two carded 1.5mL samples of Enchanted Forest perfume to give away. To be eligible leave a comment on your favorite fairytale or character in a fairy tale. The draw ends on January 6, 2012.
We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.
-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor
I have a little book of Japanese fairy tales, and my favorite among them is Momotaro (The Little Peach Boy).
My first childhood favorite was probably the little mermaid, most identified-with was Belle, but my most favorite was Ronia from Ronia the Robber’s Daughter. Not sure if the book by Astrid Lindgren really counts as a fairy tale though.
The packaging looks very enchanted Eastern-European forest! I like how cohesive everything is. Also like the idea of a blackcurrant ‘soliflore’ mingled with an evergreen forest!
Oh – I would love to try this! Peter Pan might be my favorite fairy tale.
I have a sample so no need to enter me
Pinocchio would be the fairy tale I associate with Enchanted Forest
Because I would be lying to say I thought this was any good and my nose is long enough
Just got word that enchanted forest will be sold in the US towards the end of January on the vagabondprince website and at Luckyscent and MiN
$180 for 100ml
I enjoy black currant as a note and am curious to see how it is treated as the star in a fragrance. The packaging on this is just exquisite, and I am one who loves that sort of thing.
I love any fairy tale with Baba Yaga in it!
What little girl doesn’t love the Cinderella fairy tale? That was one of my first memories. Would love to try this. Thanks!
I always liked Oscar Wilde’s selfish giant with his beautiful garden.
My favorite fairy tale is Beauty and the Beast, but my favorite character is the cat in boots.
I have already tried Enchanted Forest and it’s wonderful. Blackcurrant lovers have to adore it.
One of my favorite characters from a fairy tale would be the Pied Piper. That tale did not have a very happy ending.
I’m mad for Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and her wonderful red shoes along the yellow brick road to reach the emerald city!
I like the sick endings of many of the Grimm’s tales – my favourites include the toes hacked off by the step sisters to get their feet in the glass slippers and the vengeful cinderella who has her step sisters and step mother dragged by the stage coach after she marries the prince and has all the power in the relationship. good gory. I have to say the men are all baboons in these stories -absent dads and wispy princes – the action belongs to the ladies who are mostly duking it out and toiling and shedding blood.
My favorite is Cinderella. Would love to try this perfume, thank you!
My favorite fairytale is Rapunzel. I was fascinated by the length and strength of those tresses! I’d love to try this perfume. Thank you for the generous giveaway.
Favorite fairytale is Little Red Riding Hood, it still seems very strange to me. Thanks for the draw.
I recall loving, not really a fairytale, more of a folktale, called “The Mirror of Matsuyama,” in which a girl is bequeathed a precious mirror by her dying mother; when she looks into it, morning and evening, she thinks her mother is there for solace and advice.
I meant to add, this fragrance sounds wonderful, and the packaging is truly magical.
My favorite is The Princess and the Pea. She was/is my hero because her sensitivity made her royalty. Whether anybody beliieves or not…it is there.
An epic failure.
Its an anti-Bertrand perfume.
Like Serge’s l’eau.
Its a mess.
Absolutely no complexity. Muddled.
No smooth rendition between notes & accords.
Reminds me of when I get stuck in sand when I go off roading. Agonizing.
Complexity is not an opinion, nor is harmony of transition between top, middle and base. Not all perfumes are intended to be complex, nor should they be. But it’s clear when Enchanted Forest was intended to be complex but failed miserably. Then there’s the muddled transition.
Don’t get me wrong. I love B. Duchafour. Heck I own 15 of his creations but it’s like a mangled walrus freeing itself from quicksand. It’s not a graceful sight.