Landscape Scents - Bosc Bravanariz 2017

this scent (and brand) is something special..it is truely nature in a bottle
and the brand breaths this as well...a company that loves nature and wants to share this with us
even just getting the tester in a very nice decorated carton is a treat
roll it on, close your eyes and get lost in nature...love it love it love it

Forgive me for that sloppy title-rhyme. Without humor, I simply can't deal with all the upcoming bans on natural ingredients. Now is probably the best time to stock up on real oakmoss scents. Anyway, I did it and count Bosc among my newest achievements.

Fresh on the skin, Bosc is actually fresh, orange-fresh. But just for a second. Green herbaceous, lots of juniper, soon a bit pungent with a hint of acetone. However, not exhausting to my nose. After around 30 seconds, sharper and more dry. Not dusty like many pinewood fragrances, rather clearer and lighter.
The base is leveling off quickly. Juniper and oak moss, smoky and glowing in dry pleasure. Excellent! You don't need anything more for an exciting full-day companion, who even still continues to crackle at night.
By the way, Bosc doesn't mean "bush" as I suspected, but "forest". This fits better. But as so often, the truth lies in between. And while we're at marketing: I have a fitting story that is much longer than the description of the fragrance.

Actually, it was all planned differently: Juniper Ridge has new solid fragrances and where can you test them? In Berlin, for example, and I happened to be there. Wildhoodstore is the name of the shop, friendly people behind the counter. Of course, perfume is not their core business, but the exchange was as fun as it was interesting. I talked about my natural scent impressions and alternatives to JR, in return they told me that in fact almost only lumberjack-shirted hipster guys buy the JR fragrances. When I inquired about other colognes or test quantities for passaround packages, they rummaged in their storage and summoned the Discovery Kit from Bravanariz. A young Calatonian brand that wants to bring its natural perfumes to the market. Wildhoodstore hesitated with the placement in the shop, in my opinion rightfully so: A discovery kit for 85€, without simple pre-tests because of the missing spray possibility (rollerball-pens!) ... hmm. Especially since one rarely finds all three fragrances convincing in the normal case. They still let me apply the fragrances - I suppose because they didn't believe in selling them - and Bosc accompanied me so charmingly for 24 hours that I enquired directly on the website how much to pay to own some myself. And lo and behold, the pens are also sold individually. I couldn't help but dump my detailed opinion directly into the purchase note input field, also praising the fragrances for their quality, as after more than two years of intensive natural fragrance tests, I am confident that I have sufficient competence in this area. Ernesto's answer came promptly: Yes, they would share a lot of my views and thank you very much for the feedback, and if I'd possibly want either the (high) postage for free or rather the free upgrade to the discovery kit? And so the fragrance trio of Muga, Cala and Bosc soon arrived here, after some breathtaking days of delay due to a neighbour having priorities other than perfume (how could you ;)). Together with a notebook with colored herb drawings, a printed shopping bag, a personal letter and two unfinished bases for planned perfumes with the request for my German straight-forward feedback. I have only tested one of the two and am already fascinated, may be put directly into the bottle and then to me, only a fixative would probably improve it. Oak moss in, as Ernesto emphasizes with a wink and a certain pride, IFRA-standard breaking concentration. Here I can directly cry tears of joy about the scent and tears of mourning about the coming EU prohibitions at the same time. After a lively email exchange I am happy about this great contact, which is still more direct and authentic with indie perfumers like these. And I'm also looking forward to the test of the second base.

Recommendation - both the perfume and the brand!

SUMMARY
Very unique & peculiar. Green-mossy/peppery/resinous with rosemary and pine. Very natural in effect. Old-school sauna vibes. The drydown gets better. Dark and definitely does not come across as "nice/friendly" in its aura. Respect for the naturalness, but not my thing, though better than Olfactory Digressions - Avet.

LONG BLAHBLAH
Bosc ("forest" in Catalan according to Google or the homepage ;)) actually smells like a forest. Not like the romanticized, soothing coniferous forest of Cipresso di Toscana or the fresh-peppery forest walk of Wakening Woods of Scandinavia. But rather like a raw, unembellished, dark forest where no one has maintained the paths and that doesn’t really welcome you, even though it’s not hostile. Green-mossy, peppery, resinous, with rosemary and pine that give it a herbal-bitter dimension.
What stands out immediately: VERY natural. As natural as I have experienced in almost no other fragrance. Where most forest interpretations smell of modern chemistry and the result smells like "forest from the lab", Bosc feels like someone actually filled forest air into a bottle.
The sauna vibes are clearly there. Old-school sauna. Similar association to the drydown of Cipresso di Toscana with its balsamic sauna calm, only that it feels soothing and inviting there. Here it feels more like the sauna is in an abandoned cabin in the dark forest, and you wonder if you are really alone :P
The drydown gets better, the resinous-mossy aspect gains a bit more warmth and accessibility. But the fundamentally dark, decidedly unfriendly aura remains. This is not a fragrance that smiles. This is a fragrance that stares at you and waits for you to explain yourself.

Longevity is OK, the resinous base remains.

Sillage is subtle, rather close to the skin and dark.

I cannot assess the bottle/sprayer, as only a sample/refill is available. Pictures of bottles can be misleading in both directions!

The price is "OK" to "good" for today, especially for such a small, independent brand with excellent raw materials.

CONCLUSION
VERY unique, extremely natural dark-resinous forest scent with rosemary, pine, moss, and pepper. Old-school sauna vibes, the drydown gets better, but decidedly dark and unfriendly in its aura. Respect for the uncompromising naturalness, but the forest does not welcome me and I prefer to stay outside.