Sonoma Scent Studio: Encens Tranquille and Winter Woods

Like I promised yesterday, I'm testing out two more fragrances from American perfume house Sonoma Scent Studio.

ENCENS TRANQUILLE: ironically, the Sonoma Scent Studio Encens Tranquille plays out like a more straight-forward version of Annick Goutal Encens Flamboyant. Funny, eh? That the Tranquille is more direct and how-do-you-do than the Flamboyant?

Both are built around the scent of Balsam Fir (one of the most popular Christmas tree pines), and while the Goutal is all about subtle and restrained charm, Sonoma Scent Studio announces its intentions and then barrels down its pine tree path, picking up dust, moss and smoke throughout its drydown (the oakmoss kind of takes over at the end, so you'll need to appreciate oakmoss if you're going to like Encense Tranquille).

The Goutal Encens Flamboyant is the more accomplished of the two fragrances, if we're to compare them side by side, but that's no reason to ignore Tranquille as it displays a lively, direct nature that makes it a no-brainer for casual, dressed-down, daily life. And should perfumer Laurie Erickson tweak (i.e improve) this one the way she did her Ambre Noir, Encens Tranquille might just get better with age.

WINTER WOODS: the smell of a sugared pine forest permeated with chimney smoke. There's a definite pine-needle aspect that cuts through the smoke, yet it's underscored and smoothed out by a sweet vanilla base.

Erickson states on her site that Winter Woods is meant to be a kinder, gentler version of her Fireside Intense, and she succeeded absolutely in creating just that. The smoke in Winter Woods is the same smoke that can be found in Fireside Intense (including a touch of the salty peat moss), but the volume is turned down and then balanced with the Balsam Fir of Encens Tranquille along with an edible gourmand note.

Like Ambre Noir, Winter Woods wants to sing in the powdery range, but the lower tones of the drydown hold it back from soaring into soprano territory until it reaches the homestretch -- it then lets loose a wash of powdery-vanilla notes over its fading center of smoke and woods.

A cozy, cashmere-soft blanket of a woodsy fragrance that turns too sweet for my taste, but I'll readily admit that the majority of amber/powder fans will consider this sweetness a feature rather than a bug.