Sylvan Song 2014

Sylvan Song by Grossmith
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8.1 / 10 21 Ratings
Sylvan Song is a popular perfume by Grossmith for women and was released in 2014. The scent is floral-fresh. It is still in production.
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Main accords

Floral
Fresh
Green
Spicy
Sweet

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes Top Notes
BergamotBergamot
Heart Notes Heart Notes
JasmineJasmine RoseRose Ylang-ylangYlang-ylang
Base Notes Base Notes
Gaiac woodGaiac wood MuskMusk BenzoinBenzoin PatchouliPatchouli Tonka beanTonka bean VetiverVetiver
Ratings
Scent
8.121 Ratings
Longevity
7.519 Ratings
Sillage
6.919 Ratings
Bottle
8.229 Ratings
Submitted by Michael, last update on 12.10.2019.
Interesting Facts
This fragrance is exclusively available at Fortnum & Mason.

Reviews

2 in-depth fragrance descriptions
10
Bottle
7
Sillage
9
Longevity
9
Scent
Duftsucht

105 Reviews
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Duftsucht
Duftsucht
Top Review 13  
Sunspots on the forest floor

Although I have worn Sylvan Song many times now, I was afraid of a comment until now. It is a fragrance that eludes simple categorization. A border crosser between the scent worlds, so to speak. The start is actually classic: fresh green bergamot lets me assume that Sylvan Song could become a rather bright, flowery scent. But almost immediately dark spices become noticeable and warm earthy patchouli blows to my nose. In the next few minutes, flowers join in and a clear soft jasmine comes to the fore. You have to imagine the scent as if you were sitting in a clearing in an old dark deep forest, a light wind blows different smells into your nose. From the clearing it blows the scent of flowers, but then it changes direction and carries the scents of the forest. Earthy, woody and resinous notes - and the woodruff, which grows on the light edge of the forest, contributes its green spice. You sit on a thick tree stump and when you move, resins are released that mix with the other smells of the forest and clearing.
Musk, which is so prominent in the pyramid, can't be clearly smelled for me - and fortunately it doesn't go in this light-sticky musk direction, which is so popular in perfumes at the moment, but is a dark, withdrawn variant.
Sylvan Song is not a cheerful summery forest and flowery scent, he is reserved and at times almost a touch gloomy. A little like sunrays, which only laboriously penetrate through dense leaves to the ground. But there they throw a fascinating play of light and shadow onto the warm and spicy scented earth. It's also interesting that Sylvan Song is definitely a forest scent for me, although it's hardly green and doesn't play with elements like fir or excessive resin.
I went to London for a short vacation - and wanted to bring a Grossmith fragrance as a souvenir. And although I'm sure that either Shem el Nessim, Golden Chypre or Betrothal will move in with me at some point, my choice fell on Sylvan Song after all. One reason is a pragmatic one, because unlike the others, Sylvan Song is available exclusively from Fortnum and Mason. And a second is that this fragrance, which is not only out of Grossmith's range but is also otherwise unadapted, proves to be somewhat bulky and unusual in its unadapted nature and immediately fascinated me. I am happy that I now have the opportunity to wear the fragrance through the seasons, I could imagine that in late autumn and winter it shows completely new and surprising facets.
6 Comments
10
Bottle
7
Sillage
7
Longevity
8.5
Scent
Yatagan

80 Reviews
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Yatagan
Yatagan
Top Review 44  
Trans-Sylvanian Chants
Uncommented fragrances No. 119

Sylvan Song fascinated me right away, even if not completely for himself, and when commenting on this fragrance, there is no way around an examination of powerful images.
I have written extensively enough about forest scents and also about the Germans' confrontation with their favourite subject, the forest. Since Sylvan Song means forest song, the bottle with its label shimmers green and Grossmith's fragrance was due for a green one, I immediately associate it with dark green tree shadows. You don't need a talent for synthesis to do this; just take a look at the picture above.
And yet there are still some things that do not fit together! The ingredients listed point in a different direction: bergamot (light white), jasmine and ylang ylang (white), rose (rosé) and then a base that could hardly be darker (patch: woody, earthy; vetiver: grassy, earthy; benzoin: dark resinous, chocolaty). Why should something green come out of it?

It seems to me that a fougère-like chord is being redefined here in a different and original way. Since 1882 ("Fougère Royale" by Houbigant), the dark green fougère chord is created by combining lavender, coumarin, bergamot, geranium and moss. Unfortunately there is nothing of this in here, so that one could say that I smell something here, but definitely no fougère. This is certainly true, but the combination of light flowers (e.g. jasmine) and very dark, partly earthy tones (e.g. patch, benzoin) leads to a similar impression. Not for nothing Grossmith called this fragrance Sylvan Song.

The overall result is on the one hand floral (especially after you have worked your way through to the heart note) and on the other hand quite somber without being disturbing. To me, the woodland song seems melancholic, melancholy, a bit old-fashioned, by no means modern, deliberately nostalgic. A beautiful fragrance!
30 Comments

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