Exploring Deep Field Aromatics

As part of my 2025 fragrance exploration, I have been making it a focus to check out independent brands both made in the US and internationally. I’ve tried quite a few so far (and will eventually get around to doing some more reviews) but wanted to jump into this set since I’ve been looking forward to it for some time.

Founded in 2019, Deep Field Aromatics is a Chicago-based brand featuring the natural creations of indie perfumer Russell Weiss. The brand — named after the Hubble Deep Field — aims to look back through time at the thousands of years old perfuming tradition while embracing modern methods of extraction of scent molecules that push us closer to replicating the scent of living plants.

The brand currently offers groups of alcohol-based (spray bottle) and oil-based (roll-on) fragrances. For those unfamiliar, oil-based tend to sit very close to the skin as intimate wear scents with little projection. However, these tend to last quite some time. Alcohol-based tend to have better projection via evaporation, but also can be short-lived.

I recently picked up the Forest and Earth sample set, featuring seven fragrances (plus an extra bonus that was included at no charge). I’m a big fan of earthy/conifer/dirt/stone/moss kind of fragrances, so this set was a bit of a no-brainer.

The set arrived in a nice little branded box with the samples split into small bags separating the alcohol and oil based. Overall, I thought the set was really solid, and I walked away loving half the whole set and will share some of my initial thoughts on them below. I will give things star ratings out of 5 based on what personally resonated with me.

Note: All thoughts here are my own. This is not sponsored and I paid for these samples with my own money. Please do not take my picks for purchase as blind buy endorsements — sample everything before you buy! That is much of the fun anyway!

Alcohol-Based Fragrances

Cave Art / ★★★★★ - On initial spray, I got a burst of amaro with a sweet herbal accord that pretty quickly settles to a somewhat sweet, resinous, amber with a faint background conifer note. As the fragrance continues to dry down and develop over time, cedar and burnt incense come to the front, almost reminscent of the burnt ashes of an incense stick/cone after they’ve finished burning. The evolution of this one is quite beautiful to me. A unique take on incense that feels ancient and primative (fitting for the name). This is a buy for me.

Jade Fir / ★★★★☆ - This conifer chypre-style fragrance is supposedly Deep Field’s best-selling fragrance, and I can see why. It is well-blended, and despite having the typical conifer/citrus combo that can often smell crisp and cool, there are notes here like clary sage, ambrette, etc that help soften and smooth out the blend so it feels a bit warmer. A sophisticated conifer scent option. I enjoy this one quite a bit, but I already have quite a few conifer-forward scents (some from Pineward & Pine from Stora Skuggan) and this isn’t quite different enough from those to warrant a purchase from me, though I may stick it on my gift wishlist due to the price point being so accessible. This might be the most universally wearable option from this kit, however, which makes sense given its popularity!

Vellichor / ★★★★☆ - Fresh tobacco, vetiver, cedar, yerba tea. This fragrance is supposed to evoke the scent of old parchment and books in a wood-paneled study. The scent opens with a pretty strong fresh tobacco scent (not burned tobacco — I’m talking fresh pipe tobacco) and then the vetiver and yerba mate poke through as it dries down. Once it fully settles, the cedar pushes into the mix more, which brings the whole image together. This is quite nice and really unique to me. Often, tobacco fragrances can be pretty intense and sometimes cloying, but not this one. For me, this is at its best once it fully dries down. Like going into a grandfather’s study. This one is probably a little bit more on the ‘challenging wear’ side of things, since at least to me there seems to be a bit of a whiff of varnish mixed with pencil shavings in the background that can make it slightly chemical-y, but on a cool, damp day I think this would be amazing to wear. Would buy.

Dirtbag / ★★★★★ - On initial spray, I did not care for this, since I typically am not a huge fan of cocoa-forward fragrances. This — at least at first — reminded me of Ummagumma/Corpse Reviver from FZOTIC, which both make use of this cocoa/chocolate note that I tend not to love. However, despite the cocoa, coffee, rum, and burnt sugar notes, this fragrance veers out of straight gourmand territory and ends up in a spicier and woodier place for me on dry down. As the initial cloud of cocoa fades and dries down, the fragrance becomes more balanced overall as various woods and hay push through. After an hour or so, the cocoa pretty much disappears, leaving behind what could be described as ‘fragrant earth’ as a base. While not *completely* unlike anything I’ve ever smelled, I really loved the development of this particular execution, and would most definitely own a bottle. A great one to curl up with under a blanket and read a book.

Oil-Based Fragrances

Note: overall, most of these oil-based options were a pass for me since they wear extremely intimate on my skin. This is my personal preference and is just inherently how roll-on oil-based fragrances tend to be, so nothing against them! If you are familiar with and use roll-ons, you are likely already familiar with this difference.

Desert Flowers / ★★★★★ - This opens with a blast of tamarind candy dipped in Tajin. There is the tamarind, a fresh chili note, and some citrus tartness. As it dries down, it develops more into an earthy, dry desert plant sort of smell (desert flower haha). Really beautiful scent! The only thing keeping me from buying this right now is the fact that it is a rollerball oil only. If it were available as an alcohol-based spray that projected a bit more, I’d buy it today! Even though I won’t buy it as-is, I can’t even dock any stars because it’s just that nice to me.

Viridian / ★★★★☆ - Opening with a blast of fresh spruce needles, plus citrus and a little bit of ginger. This is crisp and cool! Really easy to wear and quite realistic with the spruce notes. However, it’s a little too simple for me and, once again, overlaps with quite a few other conifer-forward things I own. If you try Jade Fir but want something a little more conifer-forward and linear, this would be the one to try. I do like this one, but of the two I would likely lean toward Jade Fir for the better projection and a bit more originality in the blend.

Santalum Aurum / ★★★☆☆ - This one is a sandalwood & vanilla fragrance, but I barely get much of anything out of it myself. I tried smelling from the vial, putting on paper, and putting on skin. All I got was a very very faint whiff of a really nice sandalwood/vanilla/amber blend. It’s possible that the compounds in this one are just things I am not sensitive to, of course, and what I smelled seemed quite nice, but to me, it’s just way too faint to even really discuss further. Your mileage may vary, of course!

Ochre / ★★★☆☆ - Vetiver and cypriol + tobacco, patchouli, and a handful of spices. This one reminds me a bit too much of some old school fragrances from the 1980s-1990s and just brought up some weird scent memories for me. For some reason this blend just isn’t for me, personally. On my skin a lot of the spices and apple get overpowered by the vetiver & cypriol notes, which makes it a bit irritating to me. However, if you like that style of fragrance, this may resonate with you!

Wrapping things up…

Overall, I was quite impressed with this selection from Deep Field and would happily add Cave Art, Dirtbag, and Vellichor to my colllection. I’d love to add Desert Flowers should it ever get released as an alcohol-based option, and Jade Fir is one I wouldn’t mind as a gift but would be too repetative in my collection to buy outright.

The bottles for purchase are quite small — the alcohol-based bottles are only 15 ml — so it’s fairly affordable to pick up multiple options. The discovery kit/samples are relatively affordable as well, though unlike some other houses there is no FB discount with discovery set purchase.

Reposted from my personal substack account. You can see the original post here.