Arbolé Arbolé

Took me a second to make the connection, but this is definitely similar to Shalimar. I gave this to my wife blind and she also came up with the same connection (Shalimar is one of her favourites). Must be the patchouli combination with sandalwood and some amber. It’s not as potent and polarizing as Shalimar and not as incense like, it’s easier to wear.

First of first, there is definitely a Rose scent in the dry-down, or something caused a tender rose tea effect. I'm curious why it's not in the note pyramid. On rod: a pure sweet body of coumarin, also a paper-woody hint of patchouli. On hand: typical sweet "ambery" coumarin and patchouli, though I don't know how to tell the equally sweet tonka and patchouli apart. It also has a cloudy waxy-fatty hint floating somewhere. The scent slightly moves towards a soft even tender side, almost rosy but not a rose yet, then, the dry-down is totally rose tea!!!

My husband and I sampled this along w/ the whole Hiram Green collection yesterday. At 1st quick sniff I knew it was a huge no way for me. As I was captured by the exotic charms of Moon Bloom my husband kept smelling Arbole. After I finally took the time to stop smelling Moon Bloom (hard thing to do) I asked him why are you still focused on Arbole? He said it smells like something I remember but I can't place it. Then I asked him is it a food? He said no. I asked him is it a plant or flower? He said no. Then I asked him is it a place? and he said yes but I can't remember where. So I reluctantly stopped smelling Moon Bloom and gave Arbole another sniff. I said well it reminds me of the old piano we had in church. Older women covered in powder played it at our church services. He said yes that is it! It smells like an old damp church (churches are often cold and damp) the wood of the pews, the oil they use to care for the piano and the fragrance powders of mature women from the 70's and 80's. That is what this fragrance smelled like to both of us. Interesting so say the least but neither of us want to smell like that.

Having studied a little Lorca in college, I appreciate the connection here between poetry and perfume. Hiram Green's perfumes are consistently creative and high quality. The fact that they are made from all-natural ingredients is just a bonus. Arbolé (named just once according to my sample!) is more than just a tree-like scent. I expected it to simply be green and woody, but instead, it features a masterful use of patchouli, complemented by tonka bean and vanilla, with some woodiness in the background. Despite its relative simplicity and short list of notes, Arbolé is a multifaceted scent that oscillates between being earthy, dry, creamy, lush, smoky, sweet, spicy, boozy - the list goes on. Arbolé opens with an incredibly aromatic tonka bean note, softly spicy, nutty, creamy and sweet, reminiscent of Play-Doh - beautiful and comforting in equal measure. It is rare to find tonka bean featured so prominently, and especially as a top note. The patchouli follows, initially dusty and dry. The patchouli note is quite unusual here - it is not the distinctive hippie-herbal patchouli that every fragrance fan knows and loves - instead, it is greener than usual and somewhat metamorphic - it becomes increasingly lush as it develops. It marries beautifully with the tonka bean, the sweet spiciness of the latter complementing it wonderfully. A heliotrope-like note emerges, perhaps how the tonka bean smells to me as it develops, adding a hazy, powdery element to Arbolé. There is a hint of gourmand about this scent here - the vanilla-almond is almost chocolate-like, which also marries well with the patchouli. As it progresses on my skin, a woody-vanilla accord develops in the background. It is a little boozy, just the right amount of sweet, and the woody notes add depth. There is some smokiness at this stage, with an incense-like note adding colour, complementing what remains of the earthy patchouli. It fades to a smooth vanilla-amber skin scent with tonka bean remaining until the end. Sillage and longevity are moderate, and it is a transeasonal, daytime scent. An unusual, multifaceted scent that can best be summarised as patchouli-tonka bean, Arbolé is different to what I expected, and so much more interesting for that. It features oriental and chypre facets, but cannot quite be placed in either category. "Tree-like" isn't the first descriptor that comes to mind when smelling Arbolé, but it certainly applies at times. Perfectly unisex too. More wearable art from Hiram Green. 4/5.

Powderbomb. Just a cloud of playdoh baby powder, immediate and everlasting. It's devastating how un-green this smells given how stunning the bottle is. I did try to layer this over Soft Woods by Libertine to mellow out the sharpness from the fir and juniper. Unfortunately the powder in this is overwhelming, and completely suffocates everything else.