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Replica

Soul of the Forest Maison Margiela 2016

7.6 / 10 321 Ratings

A popular perfume by Maison Margiela for women and men, released in 2016. The scent is woody-green. It is being marketed by L'Oréal.
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Main accords

Woody

Green

Resinous

Spicy

Earthy

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Blackcurrant bud Pimento

Pimento

Moss

Heart Notes

Fir balsam

Cistus concrete

Plant juice

Base Notes

Atlas cedar

Indonesian patchouli

Frankincense

Perfumer

Quentin Bisch

Videos

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Ratings

Scent

7.6321 Ratings

Longevity

6.9267 Ratings

Sillage

6.5263 Ratings

Bottle

7.6260 Ratings

Value for money

6.7112 Ratings

Submitted by multiple users, last update on 11/17/2025.

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the Replica collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Perfumer's Choice Nº3 Jean-Marie

Let Me Play The Lion

Incenso Nobile

Enchanted Forest

Wakening Woods of Scandinavia

Waidmanns Heil

Reviews

17 in-depth fragrance descriptions

02/04/2019

7.5Scent 5Longevity 6Sillage

Itchynose
41 Reviews

Itchynose

2

A fleeting soul

The first few seconds of Soul Of The Forest paint a vivid picture of water soaked woods after heavy rain. There is dew on the grass, earthy damp soil and wet green leaves keeping this timber themed scent friendly, soft and watery. There is even a sweetness in the air from maple sap dripping onto moist patchouli.

Sadly this beautiful image is fleeting. As if the forest floor was hit by sun rays that managed to find their way through the vegetation, the scent quickly evaporates before our eyes bringing the pleasant experience to an early end. One of the most evocative creations from Margiela, but also one of the most short lived.

11/04/2025

9Scent 6Longevity 6Sillage

Nikowieso
11 Reviews

Nikowieso

1

Memories of a hike through a forest full of diversity in the montains

The smell of a rich and deep forests - here and there are limestone rocks that fell from higher up the mountain and landed right in the middle of a clearing of a buzzing forest. A rock that quickly gets covered in moss and turns into a habitat for all sorts of animals and plants. The soils is dry but moist full of the pine needles and moss that retain the moisture and every time you step on it, you smell the spice of needles with a mossy green. The scent does not have much to develop and has a quite linear profile into but is yet still rich in every aspect. A perfect scent for someone that likes to hike!

12/07/2016

8Scent 7Longevity 5Sillage

loewenherz
917 Reviews

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loewenherz

Top Review 35

'I wish I had a river I could skate away on...'

it is said by the wonderful Joni Mitchell, one of the great songwriters of the last century. With 'River', she created a modern, immortal winter classic forty-five years ago. 'I wish I had a river I could skate away on...' - the song tells how loneliness feels even lonelier when no one else is alone - and the longing to escape it by simply gliding away on a river.

And I imagine myself gliding over the smooth, crunching, blue-glossy ice surface of this frozen river - into the unknown, away from the city and the lights. Into a serious and completely silent winter forest, where nothing exists except for the caw of a crow. And then the stars shimmer between the tall firs in the pale blue evening sky - comforting like the greeting of a still distant, new home.

All of this - the frozen river and the winter forest, the loneliness and the longing and the distant hint of something comforting - can be found in Martin Margiela's Soul of The Forest, the calm and contemplative scent of a cold forest: fir, bark, and patchouli - resinous and wintry and still. And I can feel the bare ice beneath the skates as I glide away - away, finally far away - into a lonely and cold winter night.

Conclusion, once again in the infinitely beautiful words of Joni Mitchell:
'I wish I had a river so long. I would teach my feet to fly -
oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on...'

06/29/2018

7.5Scent 6Longevity 8Sillage

Stanze
105 Reviews

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Stanze

Top Review 27

Smelling Something Nice

Maison Martin Margiela means something to me in that I once met Mr. Margiela in Normandy. He did not buy the castle I was guarding, but another castle in Belgium. (And once again, it was my fault.) That's the short version of the story. Of course, I found it impressive to guide someone who has his own Wikipedia article in several languages. He was nice and quite unremarkable. Experience shows that you can't tell the richest people by their money.

With this fragrance, he will have nothing to do, except that the fashion house, from which he withdrew years ago, still bears his name. Nevertheless, I was curious about the scents from his house.

I still remember the forest well from my childhood in the Harz. Therefore, I always think that I must like the smell of the forest.

Enthusiastically, I tried the perfume today after work and was immediately terribly disappointed. The top note meant nothing to me, and when it (quickly) disappeared, I smelled licorice. There is absolutely no licorice in it. It must have been another deceptive scent. I sprayed again and did not wait to see when the scent would disappear. Then, while the woody scents came to the forefront, especially the cedar, the incense lay like a wet sack over everything. With good will, it smelled of damp earth and rotting wood.

Then I let the family tester M. smell it. He stated that I needed to spray again. I sprayed again and now smelled forest instead of licorice. I had made the perfume smell nice. M claimed there was no licorice, it smelled great of cedar, and he would let himself be sprayed later too. The more intense components for me are: the fir balsam, the cedar, and unfortunately the incense. I usually perceive incense on me as a bit sweaty or cloying, at least something that starts with "sw" (dizzy, heavy, swaying). Others obviously do not smell it that way, but find it "great," even on me. Otherwise, I think I should just leave incense scents alone, but when you always get such positive feedback... Sighing in the woods.

The scent lasts a few hours, and I find the projection quite decent. A pretty significant cloud of incense. Unlike many people, I think that incense does not smell like smoke, but rather like incense. In my teenage years, I used to like burning incense (I was a hippie), actually, it’s more of a glowing, and it doesn’t really smoke much (yes, altar boys claim otherwise, but I had no church at home). I associate smoke with a wood fire, food cooked by Jamie Oliver, or a house fire for that matter. Smoke that triggers a smoke detector. The attempt to burn paper in a wood stove or damp leaves on also damp branches. Incense, on the other hand, is more about the incense than the smoke, meaning: resinous.

Compared to "Falling Trees" by Régime des Fleurs, I found Soul of the Forest less woody and more "sw," but Soul of the Forest costs significantly less and you don’t have to go through customs when you buy the perfume. Maybe I will be convinced by Soul of the Forest if I just test it often enough.

In my opinion, Soul of the Forest is not for summer, more for men and rather something for evenings and leisure. But everyone has to know that for themselves. For all I care, women can wear it to work in summer, and I will not drag them under a shower.

10/25/2020

10Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

MiriamHa
70 Reviews

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MiriamHa

Top Review 34

What Matters in the End...

In the last eight years on Parfumo and beyond, I’ve noticed that no matter how much one tests, there comes a point when one focuses on the essentials. Over the years, I have tested hundreds of fragrances, far more than I have noted here. Some I found so insignificant that it wasn’t worth writing them down, while others were so convincing that I didn’t need to write them down. Currently, my collection consists of 11 fragrances and 14 decants; I haven’t updated this here either, as I know that decants can sometimes disappear quite quickly. So every day I have the choice between 25 fragrances, and I must say, I even find that too much. Why? Because I believe I could get by with just 5 fragrances to cover what is essentially the core. Sure, sometimes one comes in that you’ve missed for a long time, and another one goes out that you’re no longer in the mood for. But the essence remains, at least in my eyes, that less is definitely more. For me, there are four important categories: festive fragrances, incense, forest, amber. Of course, within the categories, there are several beauties; for example, I recently replaced "Ambre Précieux" with "Peau d‘Ambre." Not forever, but simply because I believe there shouldn’t be multiple amber fragrances side by side. Just as, fundamentally, there only needs to be one from each of my categories. That one can be exchanged as desired, of course. But I’m no longer participating in this madness of 30, 40, 100 fragrances. I am slowly working on using up my fragrances and not replacing them. There are few that are allowed to stay. One of them is "Soul of the Forest." Why? Because it smells like the forest as I know and love it. During my student days, I would get up every morning at 6 a.m. to take a run through the forest. I loved it, especially in winter. When the trees smell frosty cool and majestic, when nature can pause time in picturesque dignity. When firs shine in full splendor and squirrels bury their last supplies, when robins sing on snowy branches, when one decorates the home with mistletoe. A few sprays and I am exactly where I love to be. In the soul of the forest.

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