Doubs

It has been two years since I walked a few stages of the Burren Way with my friend in Ireland. This 114 km long long-distance hiking trail first follows the Irish Atlantic coast, past the famous Cliffs of Moher. Then it leads further inland into the so-called Burren area in County Clare. Burren' is derived from the Irish word 'Boirean': 'big rock'. The landscape here is unique - there is hardly any grass or soil but instead stone slabs everywhere. I love this barren landscape because it is so different from anything you know from Germany. Nature has adapted to these conditions. At first sight hardly anything seems to grow, but if you take a closer look, you will discover the most different flowers between the stones. For tourists there is in this area beside the famous Poulnabrone-Dolmen also a few medieval stone ring fortresses to see.

In this area we were on our way, only on foot and with our luggage on our backs. In one of our B&Bs I discovered a flyer of the Burren Perfumery. At that time I was just a newcomer to Parfumo and started to get involved with perfume at every opportunity. When I saw a sign for this perfumery in our next day's stage, I asked my friend to make a detour there - about 1.5 kilometres away. Thus, a total of 3 additional kilometres on our hike, which is not insignificant, on an 18-kilometre day stage.

In the Burren Perfumery we could watch a small film about the plants of the Burren and of course there was a shop with the offered cosmetics. The company manufactures its products without parabens, genetically modified ingredients or animal testing. A friendly employee introduced us to the individual perfumes and let us all sniff on test strips. The fragrance that captivated me the most was 'Winter Woods' and I had it sprayed right on my wrist. I found it to be floral and spicy: this was due to the iris, a little streaked with cedar. The small company also had a cute café where we strengthened ourselves for the further kilometres of our hike. During this time the scent developed on my wrist. The flowery iris disappeared and made more and more room for the woody cedar note. While at the beginning I felt it was rather unisex, it gradually became too harsh and masculine for me. That's why I decided not to buy it when we ordered it and sent it by parcel post to Germany, but instead opted for the fresh 'Spring Harvest', a light fragrance that didn't do much wrong. I couldn't leave this place without buying a single bottle! My friend, on the other hand, was somewhat overwhelmed by the various fragrances tested and ordered only a hand cream for his mother. I only took one sample from Winter Woods

Back in Germany I took a little spray of the fragrance every now and then during the next days and weeks. He continued to fascinate me and somehow made me think of gnarled, bare trees in a cold snowy landscape: calm, clear nature. I thought about ordering him after all, but unfortunately he always moved too quickly to the male base, which I didn't like about myself. Finally I made a plan: I would order the fragrance online and give it to my friend. He likes perfume to be woody and he would go well with it! It was the same after all and he was very happy about my gift. And I was happy to smell the perfume on him - all the way through the fragrance. The wooden base suits him well. Winter Woods' finally became his signature fragrance and in the meantime he has ordered it from the company's online shop. Every now and then, when I feel like it, I steal a little of the perfume for myself and enjoy the heart note. The scent doesn't last that long on the skin, but when my friend sprays it on in the morning, I notice it on his shirt in the evening.

We like to remember our holidays in Burren and our common love for 'Winter Woods' is still alive today. This side trip was really worth it!