Bois Marocain

It’s not often in perfumery that you come across a fragrance capturing the scent of a real forest — especially from a designer brand. In this case, it’s a Moroccan forest, and the composition is built around Atlas cedar, native to that region.

Atlas cedar’s aroma is reminiscent of sandalwood, but drier, with woody notes and hints of incense. The perfumer behind Bois Marocain understood the brief perfectly and chose to simply broaden the olfactory range of cedarwood oil.

The fresh, resinous coniferous side is highlighted with 3% elemi oil and 1.5% olibanum, while pepper and nutmeg bring a woody spiciness. The dusty cedarwood character is reinforced with an equal amount of Virginia cedarwood oil (18%). A realistic green-camphor forest nuance comes from 6% patchouli and 2% cypress, while 1.7% vetiver draws attention to the roots. The main sandalwood facet, softening the whole composition like barely solidified resin, is created by classic sandalwood molecules — 3.5% Bacdanol and 2% Ebanol.

Unfortunately, all this naturalness comes at a cost — technical performance. I can’t say the fragrance is fleeting, but it’s undeniably quiet and will stay close to the wearer’s skin.

Olfactory profile: spicy, woody, green.
Concentration: parfum.