As I finish this post up, here, we’ve done the winter to summer time change over Saturday night into Sunday morning. I am hugely discombobulated. Not only is my brain in a bit of a muddle, once I was up and doing early AM stuff I realised my shoulders were all tight and uncomfortable and my right ankle was complaining. No idea why all of this decided to pop up at the same time. Because we weren’t there last night.
It’s pretty much properly spring now. It’s been sunny. The tulips are up and starting to bloom. The daphne is still blooming and spewing beauty all over the garden. It’s now actually comfortable to be outside for periods without a coat. I am anticipating the lily of the valley making themselves known – and if they don’t I’ll visit the garden centre and buy more. Doing that is within the allowed spending parameters.
Anyway, I talked about the Ffern perfume concept a few months ago when I signed up and received my first perfume, Winter/Winter Solstice here. A number of Posse commenters had also signed up at various times and talked about their experiences.
I was not taken with the Winter fragrance and returned my bottle (you receive a box with another sealed bottle containing the perfume, a sample to try, and some bits and pieces – tea bag, Xmas ornament, etc). I used my Winter sample and pretty promptly reboxed everything else and sent it back to Ffern.
The process is that if you don’t keep a fragrance your payment moves along in the system to cover the next release.
I recently received the Spring 2025 / Vernal Equinox release. I opened the box, spritzed on a bit from the sample, and promptly logged into the return portal to initiate the return and ask for my money to be released back to me as I don’t see the point of continuing to receive fragrances based on my two recent experiences.
There are other things I could throw £90 at or indeed just let it return to my current account and percolate.
The notes for the Spring perfume are as follows: blue gum eucalyptus, peppermint, bergamot rind, lemon rind, violet leaf, rose de mai, jonquil daffodil, ylang ylang, lavender, jasmine sambac, orris, vetiver root and red cedar.
I like the smell of citrus rinds as much as I like the smell of citrus. You get something less juicy and more defined. I love ylang, jasmine and orris. Vetiver, cedar and lavender are not my favourite notes.
The reason I returned Spring and gave up on this concept is that both fragrances I’ve tried have been wan and fairly banal. Given how much many perfumes cost now I can’t see a reason to throw any money at all at anything that isn’t pretty outstanding.
What is this like on me? Well, it smells like lemon drop hard candies. If you haven’t ever had the experience, these are very sweet, gently lemony and unless you get really properly made ones utterly forgettable.
This sits quietly on my skin and doesn’t develop a great deal. And as with the Winter fragrance not relating to the smell of winter, I don’t really ‘get’ how this relates to the Vernal Equinox. I’m perplexed by the notes list regarding spring and certainly, as noted above, this does not jibe with my sense of spring smells.
So, farewell. And I look forward to the refund.
If your world is springing, how’s that developing? If you’re still wintering, I hope it’s not too mad and cold.
Pics: Pexels
I can’t believe I’m saying this but: I’M GLAD IT’S GETTING COLD AGAIN! Reason? My daffodils are starting to bloom and the one thing that can take them out quickly is… extreme heat. 78F in late March is EXTREME!
Other than that, we’re having a lovely beginning to Spring! Still too chilly to be outside in early morning without (at least) a thick hoodie, then it’s okay come noon, then back to chilly. And that suits me – and the daffodils – just fine!
My daughter subscribes to FFERN. This is the 3rd one she’s gotten. She has kept the last two and she loves this one. She is very happy that she has finally found her replacement for Hiram Green Dilettante.
She is not that into perfumes and likes her perfumes gentle except when she doesn’t. I had a sample of the original Montale Black Aoud, that dark gothic rose. She loved it! Around that time, she got me to buy her black leather almost over the knee spike heel boots that she always wore with Black Aoud – the “gentle” lamb has a tigress in her.
We’re getting spring here. It goes from hot to cold, and the past few days have been rainy, in a perfect way: light rain from about midnight to 5 or six AM. Just enough to water things and lull you to sleep but not enough to cause burn-scarred hills to come down.
As for lemon candies, I love them. If I want a scent that replicates them I am sure Demeter has something that can be had for $15.
That’s it! Demeter does that kind of thing and you don’t have to think about the cost if it comes over you that you ‘need’ to smell of lemon drops.
I would like to try the spring one. It’s the business model that is a complete nonstarter for me. I don’t have time in my life for returns.
It will probably sound silly but it didn’t occur to me when I entered into this that I wouldn’t like the fragrances. Something tied to seasons sounded really attractive. It’s a great concept just really mediocre execution.
Well, this line sounds totally missable — thanks for taking the hit so we don’t have to! We’ve had a not-terrible winter (compared to past winters) and spring is busting out all over, daffodils blooming in my walled garden and tulips close behind. Most of the plants I put in last summer seem to have survived, may have lost a couple. The garden is definitely a happy place for me and in another month I’ll be out there enjoying it.
now that I’m past trying it I’m sort of more curious about the reactions to the perfumes. I’m sure I looked before buying in but I have this feeling this has very much ended up being a fashion insider thing with almost nothing to do with the perfume world. some of my standard tulips have opened. waiting on the parrot style. the buds (is that what you call them with tulips) look positive prehistoric.
We’ve had some above average temperatures in the last few days — really gorgeous — and the famous cherry blossoms are at peak bloom. The Ffern Vernal Equinox has some notes in the list that I like a lot, but not all of them. Stll, how disappointing that it just ended up banal and like a sticky piece of lemon candy. Yuck. I’d rather spend my money elsewhere too!
I feel like spring sort of really sprung this year rather than creeping up. It’s still quite chilly in the morning but the days are definitely warming up. Yup, lemon drops. Head-shaking.
Oofffff…. Mint of any description in fragrance is a hard no from me. Even AA Herba Fresca has too much mint.
Eucalyptus seems to be having a moment at the minute. I’m not sure about smelling of cold sweets.
I can’t remember who the perfumer(s) are for Ffern. Your description is bang on, wan is exactly what they are.
As I’ve said before I was on the ledger & gave them a year. Nothing grabbed me but I was less organised than you. It was the year the DH had his first treatment & I just let it slide.
This just does nothing for me. I can’t recall saying about a fragrance recently bar the other Ffern. Most stuff even if I don’t like it at least can be interesting. Sigh. And for £90. Just no.
I just checked the perfumers Francois Robert & Elodie Durand. Good names. All naturals eye roll & sustainable. I remember approving of the mycelium cardboard packaging