Early fall is the hardest stretch of the year to dress for, and the hardest to smell right in. You need a jacket at seven and you're carrying it by noon. Summer citrus starts to smell thin, and the heavy winter bottles still feel like too much at two in the afternoon.
These four handle that swing. They run in order from the warmest afternoon to the first long night.
Bvlgari Tygar Extrait
Tygar is a summer fragrance. The Extrait is the version that works in October.
Bvlgari built the original Le Gemme Tygar on grapefruit and ambergris. The Extrait keeps that pair and adds amber and Peru balsam underneath. The grapefruit still comes in first and loud, but the drydown carries more warmth and weight than the Eau de Parfum does.
That's why it leads off. At noon you get the citrus. By dinner the balsam has taken over, and it still fits. Not many fragrances work at both ends of an early fall day.
Our version: Wolf Laurel (Bvlgari Tygar Extrait). It has grapefruit up top, with ambergris and balsam underneath.
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Creed Spice and Wood
If October has a smell, it's closer to this than to anything with pumpkin on the label.
Spice and Wood opens on bergamot, lemon and apple, but don't let the apple fool you. The opening is sharp and spicy, with a sour edge faintly reminiscent of apple cider vinegar, in a good way. The clove and pepper arrive fast. Angelica and birch come in behind them, and it dries down to iris, cedar and oakmoss.
It's also one of the less famous Creeds. Everybody has smelled Aventus. Far fewer people have smelled this, and the ones who have don't forget that opening.
Our version: Pilot Mountain (Creed Spice and Wood). It opens on green apple and lemon, moves to clove and pimento over white birch, and finishes on cedar and iris.
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Memo Paris Russian Leather
This is the first cold morning.
Memo Paris built Russian Leather around a Siberian forest. Pine needle and mint hit first, cold and sharp, with basil, rosemary, lavender and clary sage right behind. Underneath sit leather, guaiac wood, patchouli, nutmeg and tonka. Tobacco isn't on the note list, but I smell it clearly.
On paper it reads like a winter fragrance. It's at its best right now, though, when you can see your breath for the first time since spring and the woods already smell half like this.
Our version: Woodbooger (Memo Paris Russian Leather), from our Haints collection. Pine needle and mint open it cold and green, a lavender, rosemary and sage heart follows, and it settles into leather.
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Parfums de Marly Layton Exclusif
Then the sun goes down earlier than you're ready for, and you want something with weight.
Layton Exclusif is the darker take on PDM's Layton. Almond, mandarin and bergamot open it. The heart is rose, geranium and gardenia with a streak of civet, and the base is oud, coffee, vanilla, sandalwood, guaiac wood and patchouli. Layton is the one you wear to the office. Exclusif is smoky, a little animalic, and the one you wear to dinner.
It's the heaviest face on the mountain, and the only one I save for evening this time of year.
Our version: Kuwohi (Parfums de Marly Layton Exclusif) is built for the same after-dark job.
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Try the whole mountain
Wolf Laurel (Bvlgari Tygar Extrait), Pilot Mountain (Creed Spice and Wood) and Kuwohi (Parfums de Marly Layton Exclusif) are $29 for 15 mL, $49 for 30 mL, or $19 for a 5 mL travel spray. Woodbooger (Memo Paris Russian Leather) is part of the Haints collection and comes in 30 mL only, at $55. All four come as 2 mL samples for $10, so the whole mountain costs $40 to try.
Maison Appalachia is not affiliated with, endorsed by, licensed by, or connected to Bvlgari, Creed, Memo Paris, or Parfums de Marly. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Any reference to another fragrance is made solely to describe our scent profile.