Fougère Royale 
Houbigant (1882)

This is THE fougere scent. An updated version of the one that started it all, and still best in class for the category. If you like fougeres, or green scents in general, and enjoy classic perfumery ... smell this.

What is great about the 2010 update by nose Rodrigo Flores-Roux of this legendary fragrance is the suggestions of chamomile and lilac that prop the geranium and rose.

However, what I do love the most in this (and in other fougeres) is this synergy that is created through the pairing of lavender and clary sage. In fact, there needs to be more love for clary sage; it often fades into the mix as a supporting note and more of modifier, but when it is dosed just right, it somewhat unctuous, damp tobacco/hay effect. It is the mythical ‘fern’ note that is the summation of all the above elements.

While the sillage is rather intimate for most of the wearing experience, the longevity is impressive for a fougère—nuzzling my hand and wrist, seven hours in I detect dusky traces of oakmoss, patchouli, and tonka/coumarin (as it was famously used in the original).

Green fresh lake in the jungle with woods around and autumn leaves everywhere and you just dived a minute ago in the lake. This is an example of a typically deep masculine fougere. An unmistakable elegant masculine fragrance. It does smell like YSL's Jazz to me. Mature and evoking rugged elegance, it is a welcome addition to round out the much sweeter fragrances popular today.

The bright, vivid opening of bergamot and lavender, tinged with chamomile, leads to an aromatic phase that persists over a few hours. It is fresh, delightfully reminiscent of high-quality soap, yet retains surprising crisp dryness. The dry down is uber masculine oakmoss with a hint of tonka bean that makes a scent which still manages to be both fresh and maturely refined at the same time. Perfect for formal occasions and a late night encounter. A manly green fougere. Well worth a try.

Fougère Royale (2010) is the ur-fougere reinvented for the post-IFRA world, fashioned together by Rodrigo Flores-Roux in the early years of the luxe-niche era as Houbigant sought to move upmarket.

If the word of those who knew the original well can be trusted, it's more polished now than it was in its classic form, though it's hard to say that this blend feels properly modern. It's to Rodrigo Flores-Roux's credit that this revamp of the classic formula belongs to no particular cultural moment: a fougere that straddles a century, but stands outside of time.

And it is that very same timelessness that I so admire about it and makes it my personal favorite of what we might call the Fougere Revival of the past decade or so (2010 saw the emergence of both Fougère Royale 2.0 and Sartorial, signifying the arrival of this new movement, which would carry over into stuff like Bracken Man and the Tom Ford retro-fougeres, which now may possibly work its way back into some true mass-market, mainstream releases if Beau de Jour turns out to be a true smash).

Appropriately, Fougère Royale feels closer to the original brief of the fougere form than most entries in the genre, insofar as it really does feel fern-like. It's fresh, herbal, and dark, with a smooth lavender heart. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, just gives it a new set of tires and puts it back on the road once again, and does so with aplomb.