Norwegian Wood Folie à Plusieurs 2019

This is not actually the scent I ordered from Folie À Plusieurs...I double-checked my receipt a dozen times in the past few days just because I always assume I am the one who is mistaken or wrong... but you know what? I’m okay with receiving what I got, and regardless of what I ordered, I like this a lot. Maybe more than I would have liked the one I actually wanted! Norwegian Wood is inspired by the Haruki Murakami novel of the same name, but I read that so long ago that I don’t recall a thing about it, so that’s not going to factor into my thoughts. So. While I do love the scent of a heavily wooded hinterland or an ominous evergreen Mirkwood Forest midnight--basically, a syrupy resinous coniferous balsamic dirge of a scent (think Norne from Slumberhouse or Dasein Winter Nights) this is…not that. Or, well, it’s sort of that, but remove all those associations with darkness, shadows, and the macabre. Rather than the Huntsman chasing a terrified Snow White into the gloomy woods, this is instead the contentment of Snow White in a sun-dappled forest glade, surrounded by woodland creatures, a soft trembling faun on her lap, and a little bluebird perched on her finger. It’s the scent of weathered branches and leaves fluttering in the breeze, sticky sap and damp creeping moss, the faint sweetness of wildflowers crushed under your feet, the rosy golden musk of a sunbeam on your skin; it’s all of that, but it’s not overly sentimental or twee. It's the sheer, gauzy summer halo of a winter haunted forest emerging from a deep sleeping curse.