“Aren’t you ferny?”
Wearing and studying Penhaligon’s English Fern for a week has been an interesting and eye opening experience. The English Fern is an Eau De Toilette and is best worn right after a shower or after freshening up. It screams freshness coming out of the bottle and leaves you with a confirmation of cleanliness. The sharp green/ferny/leafy scent is cheerful with a touch of English class.
A little about Penhaligon’s. Penhaligon’s is an English perfume house founded by William Henry Penhaligon in the 1860s. William Henry Penhaligon was court barber and perfumer to Queen Victoria. The flagship store is in Covent Garden, London, UK. Penhaligon’s is now owned by Puig. The English Fern was first released in 1911 making it over a century old!
The English Fern has a very green quality. The fragrance transitions from a sharp, fresh green to a more dark, herby green during the course of an hour. The packaging as you can see is quite green. It even comes with a green bow (sometimes a thread) around the neck of the bottle!
Monday
My first day wearing the English Fern. I put it on right after shaving and instantly felt the fresh effects of the ferny toilet water. The English Fern is very sharp and yells “Geranium!” coming out of the bottle. It’s been a while since i’ve worn anything, but deodorant, and it felt different. The green freshness really woke me up and got me ready for the day!
By the time I was off to work though, the English Fern had long left my senses and couldn’t be smelled by anyone (including me).
Tuesday
I biked to work and hence got to put the English Fern on while in the office.
Comment of the day: “Aren’t you ferny!”
Wednesday-Thursday-Friday
I was getting accustomed to the sharp ‘ferny freshness’ every morning, even though the fragrance only lasted at most an hour. At times I’d frantically smell my wrist to sniff a hint of sandalwood and pachouli.
Friday Night
Apart from the daily dose, I wore the English Fern to a party. It added to the glow that comes with dressing up and looking great. The fragrance didn’t last the evening but I did carry the ‘just washed feeling’ all the way to the party.
140 Character Review
A sharp Eau De Toilette that plays the part. Very fresh, green, and elegant. Will keep you feeling clean till you leave the building.
Composition
Being an Eau De Toilette Penhaligon’s English Fern is probably composed of 10%-12% by volume of aroma chemicals or aroma ingredients and around 70% alcohol. By aroma ingredients I am referring to essential oils, aroma chemicals, natural extracts or anything that contributes to the fragrance of the English Fern. The low volume of aroma ingredients in combination with the high volume of alcohol explains the short lived lifecycle of the English Fern. Alcohol being both volatile and an effective carrier of aroma molecules gives the English Fern its clean, just out of the wash, characteristics.
The aroma ingredients include geranium and lavender top notes, a clover middle note, and patchouli, sandalwood, and oak moss base notes. The volatile top notes carried by the alcohol are the first ones we experience. The light green, leafy, or “ferny” smell can be attributed to the geranium (and maybe the pachouli), while the light soapy, or fresh/morning flowery fragrance can be attributed to the lavender. In my experience the clover didn’t quite express itself which is not surprising given the volatility of the English Fern.
The base notes hang on the skin for about half a day and are barely noticeable. The dark green or mossy smell that hangs on the skin after the freshness of the top notes can be attributed to the oak moss and pachouli. The creamy, slightly woody and sweet smell comes from sandalwood.
The dominating top notes and the fact that the primary carrier is alcohol result in the base notes being over powered and over looked by everyone, including the wearer. Which basically means that one is rarely treated to the sandalwood or pachouli, unless you are generous with the amount of the English Fern you wear every morning… very very generous. The base notes add a relative amount of smoothness to the fragrance preventing the top notes from aggressively presenting themselves to the wearer.
To conclude
The English Fern is a true Eau De Toilette. It freshens your morning and only lasts an hour at best. It’s a fairly simple composition and is focussed on one purpose — giving you that clean and green feeling after you hop out of the shower and are ready to head out for the day. As long as you are looking for the sharp smell of geranium and lavender (but mostly geranium) first thing in the morning, Penhaligon’s English Fern might just be the right choice for you. When’s the last time you went to a barber shop?
Quality tags
Sharp. Not rough around the edges. Short lived.
