The Fog Cowers Extrait de Parfum: A Poetic Chypre with a Hazy Tuberose and Hyacinth Sheen

When I began working on this composition well over a year ago, I knew what I wanted to achieve in perhaps vaguely than how I have approached other compositions in the past. I knew I wanted to feature tuberose with an accord that features the sweet, bubble-gummy aspects with the minty facets serving as an undertone, backed up by the dewy depth of hyacinth.

Additionally, I wanted to use a traditional chypre structure…well, I began with more of a traditional fougére structure that evolved into a chypre when I decided that the lavender absolute was not working and that labdanum would play better with the rich, deep mysterious undertones that I was seeking.

Speaking of those rich, deep and mysterious undertones, I had a feeling that I wanted to evoke, one that I felt while reading the third of T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets, “The Dry Salvages.” And as I am always obligated to point out, that is fellow St. Louisan T.S. Eliot. In that poem, there was a snippet, “…into the wind’s tail, where the fog cowers? Like the past, to have no destination. For a haul that will not bear examination.”

I imagined an opening within a dense forest where the fog cowers, a place difficult to reach, thick with undergrowth, rich with moss and surrounded by proud coniferous trees. It is seen through a gauzy veil of fog, experienced not directly, but through this filter.

So I created the tuberose accord that I sought, heavy with methyl anthranilate, the grapey sweetness that is a main culprit in the bubble gum nature of tuberose. It of course also contains benzyl benzoate, which gives it the minty texture, with just a microdose of wintergreen methyl salicylate. That is combined with methyl tuberate and evened out with the lactonic, peachy gamma decalactone and just a hint if dimethyl benzyl carbinyl butyrate, one of my favorite materials, a stone fruit note that is outstanding in many accords, but especially so in this one.

The hyacinth note is similar to a jasmine accord in its use of benzyl acetate, benzyl alcohol, hexyl cinnamaldehyde, phenyl ethyl alcohol and eugenol. However, its dewy green freshness comes from cis 3 hexanol, which is rich and a very deep green. There is also a sweet, wine note of damascene beta that serves both floral notes well.

Finally, the green note of linden blossom absolute is the bridge between the florals and the first of two notes that really add a juxtaposition that sets this perfume apart: fir balsam absolute. It’s rich, sappy nature is apparent from the first spray and on through the drydown. It’s not a needle, Douglas fir note. It’s a freshly cut tree sap note, one that pairs outstandingly with labdanum absolute and benzoin absolute to fit into a traditional chypre structure, along with oakmoss absolute, but to give it a fresh, nuanced reimaging that stays within the genre but pushes the borders.

To give the spice that a chypre requires, I used West Indies bay leaf essential oil, something that you might find in a bay rum, but a material heavy in clovey eugenol. One that keeps the sappy, resinous notes from becoming overpowering. That spice is enhanced and bridged to the oakmoss note by the piquant green leather of isobutyl quinoline and to the resinous notes by styrax essential oil, a balsamic note that has just a touch of cinnamon.

Finally, the fog. I used a combination of musks to help give this a fuzzy, warm and seamless feel. One is isomuscone, an ideal musk for chypres and fougéres, with some powdery and animalic undertones but overall more of a vibe than a note. This is counterbalanced with ethylene brassylate, a musk that elevates floral notes but rounds the edges, preventing them from being piercing and helping to mix them evenly into the blend.

That final composition is one that was well worth the nearly 18 months of development that went into it. I have used the chypre structure many times, but this is the closest I have ever come (and may ever come) to a classical structure. However, it is distinctly my own because I wanted to create something that feels unique but entirely wearable.

This Scent Notes column was a long time coming, as I got a little bogged down by life, but I have been thrilled to hear all the amazing feedback from those who have worn it and loved it. I am proud to have shared this creation, which has become a personal favorite of mine to wear.