Parfums Dusita – Issara Extrait de Parfum

I have no problem admitting I’m a newbie to the fragrance scene.  The truth is what it is.  (That said I would put my love of scent equal to those long in the establishment.)  When I try a new fragrance, I try to get a sense of what the fragrance means to me personally and then convey that to you in the clearest way I possibly can.  I also, out of obligation and respect for the community at large, try to think about what olfactory group a fragrance most appropriately fits in.  I am struggling on an appropriate olfactory group with Issara and this is not a bad thing.

Please excuse my “newbie confusion”  but when I see sites referring to Issara as an aromatic fougere, it baffles me.  My newbie understanding of this category tells me there should be lavender to meet the fougere descriptive.  I see no lavender in the fragrance notes nor do I experience it with the wearing of this fragrance.  So in the truest sense, this is not “your Mother’s fougere”; what it does is modernize the concept of fougere and brings the wearer to a new sense of what a modern fougere can be.

Issara opens on me with lightly herbal pine and tobacco.  The combination of the pine and tobacco is reminiscent of a the freshness of a field of dewy green tobacco leaves adjacent to a pine forest.  Next I get a somewhat seasonal change courtesy of the coumarin which brings with it the grassy, hay-like scent it’s known for – also being the center of a traditional fougere.  An ambery musk combines with the oakmoss and in this combination, the musk softens the often bitter oakmoss.  Oakmoss can go horribly wrong in a fragrance but here it is handled with such delicacy it adds a warm intimacy.  I get the bourbon vetiver in combination with the woods (traditionally fougere) which further bring this juice to a smooth drydown.

For me, Issara has a mild projection and wears into a skin scent after roughly 6 hours with another 3-4 hours of wear.  Issara has taken the fougere to a new level; it is modern, it is fresh, and it is warm and approachable at the same time.    

Notes

Pine, sage, coumarin, bourbon vetiver, tobacco, musk, amber, oakmoss, woods