Fog & Ferns: Amouage Bracken Man giveaway!

Tom haz a Summer Code.  It is I, Musette, who will yap at you today.

photo stolen: terra galleria

It has rained – and rained HARD – for the past week.  In between the torrential downpours the sun pops out and temps soar into the mid 90s, causing plants to leap up with Jurassic aplomb.   The overnight rains, with stunning lightning and thunder (that terrify the dog) create a fantasyworld of fog and mist for my 6a wake up.  I live in the middle of nowhere, at the Back of Beyond, East of the Sun and West of the Moon.  No real traffic, no ‘civilization’ noise, not even ‘in town’ (3p on a Tuesday you can fire an ICBM down the main street and not hit a soul).  Nature is very much right. in. my. face.  And the whole world around me is greener and wetter than it has any right to be in August.  Everywhere I look there are puddles and ponds and dripping treelines and dripping bushes and ferns and grey and Green.  Green & black hummingbirds flit amongst my sodden plum bushes, guarding their food sources.   The sun is currently behind the next incoming rain cloud – and now is a perfect time to talk about Bracken Man.

Bracken Man (named in honor of Christopher Chong’s beloved dog) is a fascinating aromatic fougere that I shouldn’t like because it’s woody, green, lemony-clove-y.  But I do.  Because it’s woody, green, lemony-clove-y done very, very well.    Let’s start with the lemony-clove-y part:  no one could’ve told me that I would like those two notes together – then again, I didn’t think lemon and dark chocolate were an appropriate pairing, either.  Until I tried it. (thanks, J, for sending me that chocolate bar all those years ago!).    Luckily I didn’t have the notes so I was unable to form an opinion prior to spritzing.  First spritz, the citrus & woods leap out, like the sun…and I was all ‘oh, okay.  It’s woody’.  Then before I can even get that opinion formed in my head there’s a hint of clove, patchouli & a hint of  cypress (which, to my nose, always has that chiaroscuro sunny/sour smell) – not enough to overwhelm the citrus, just enough to tip it a little off-balance, to keep it from becoming a run-of-the-mill masculine fougere.   About 10 minutes into the spritz, the clove does a little tippy tap dance on my skin…juuust a leeetle.  Clove is one of those OMG notes – there are a couple of scents unabashedly clove (L’Origan, I’m looking at you, girl) but unless it’s paired deftly it can be way overwhelming, like getting stuck in the oven with the ham.   This is not that.  You have to get really close in, get your nose way up in there, to identify the clove note.  Without it, though, it wouldn’t be nearly as interesting a scent.

It’s labeled ‘Man’ but it’s soft and elegant enough that I don’t feel like I’m wearing my dad’s Polo (if you came of age in the 80s you know whereof I speak – omg.  SO MUCH POLO!)  This can be worn by anyone – and beautifully so.  I wore it when I went out yesterday and all 3 places I visited, people asked ‘wow.  you smell GREAT! what are you wearing?’

I was not expecting to like it as much as I do, since I’m not a huge fan of fougeres in general.  But I really, really LIKE this!  And I want to share with you, to see if you like it, too!  If you love fougere, drop me a comment telling me your faves.  If you dislove fourgere :-D, drop me a comment telling me your least-faves.  I’ll pull two commenters for the two Amouages carded samples that were sent to me.