L’Artisan Parfumeur – Il Était Un Bois – Back Into The Woods

L’Artisan Parfumeur has disappeared from Australian shores. I believe their distribution deals fell through a couple of years ago, and now, sadly, they no longer feature on our niche fragrance store shelves. It’s a shame because although they’ve fallen far from their halcyon days, I still rate the brand, and they still produce the occasional gem. Their 2024 release, Il Était Un Bois, marketed as a walk through a forest, falls into this category.

Curious and odd, Il Était Un Bois riffs on the grainy, cereal-like woodiness seen in scents such as L’Eau Papier from Diptyque and Un Jardin à Cythère from Hermès. Caroline Dumar uses a buckwheat note to create this granular, cereal-like quality in the opening. There’s an unusual, malty, quirky effect to the buckwheat, but it’s never off-putting, and it only tiptoes on the edge of being a gourmand. The brand describes the buckwheat note as sweet, but it’s not. If there’s anything sweet here, it’s the mild malty facet. Instead, I’d describe it as earthy and gritty. 

Once the fragrance kicks into gear, it starts to live up to its moniker. Vetiver and cedar take the reins. It smells somewhat more natural than the Diptyque and Hermès. The cedarwood and possibly guaiac wood (not listed) impart a balsamic, creamy sense to the dry down. The vetiver smells earthy and perhaps a touch herbal. It made me think of Basilica from Milano Fragranze, though it is more herbal and smoky than this L’Artisan. 

Il Était Un Bois gets a thumbs up from me, and at times, as the brand puts forward, it does feel like a walk through a forest. However, the buckwheat accord, which holds through to the end, gives the impression of a stroll through a pastoral or farmland setting. Whatever images it may conjure, it fits nicely into their, at times, eccentric portfolio. Indeed, L’Artisan is no stranger to wacky woodland escapades, with Mechant Loup and Fou d’Absinthe making up part of their archives. And when the discussion turns to strange woody gourmand fragrances, one cannot overlook Bois Farine. Considering these fragrances, Il Était Un Bois feels like a return to the brand’s foundations.

Perhaps, except for Bana Banana, none of the modern L’Artisan fragrances seem to make much of an impression. This forest scent has dropped, but no one’s around to smell it. Maybe the best thing to do is to spin it positively and declare it a good thing that the brand hasn’t given in to the influencer marketing sphere. This perfume would be too quiet and introspective for that crowd anyway. Finally, despite the apparent difficulty with sampling, there are enough quality releases from the brand that I’ll always go out of my way to try anything launched by L’Artisan Parfumeur.

Have you tried this one? What are your modern L’Artisan (say post-2015) picks? Mine are Bana Banana (I like this one more than I should) and Iris de Gris from their vegetable series.

Other than the first photo (https://www.artisanparfumeur.com/us/en_US/), all images are mine.

I purchased the sample.

Here are some more photos that remind me of Il Était Un Bois.