Fig is a fragrance note known for its sweet, verdant, fresh nature. Evocative of a Mediterranean getaway, it works amazingly well in both the heat and cold. It also happens to be one of my most beloved notes. Here are five favorites (which are all completely genderless, by the way).
Father Figure by Phlur was my gateway to fig in fragrance. It’s a scent that feels like an extension of me, gelling so naturally with my body chemistry that it doesn’t seem like a “perfume” at all. Lush, cool, fruity, and crisp, it smells like the sweetened air of an orchard as you wander through the greenery. Other notes include cassis, sandalwood, orris root, and vanilla madagascar. This one has a perfumer in common with Glossier You (Frank Voelkl), something I picked up on at first sniff. While the two don’t smell similar necessarily, they are definitely cousins.
In This World by Liis – where do I begin. This is a luxury Scandinavian spa, bottled. Fig is a heart note, surrounded by blood orange, eucalyptus, violet, lavender, tonka wood, and sage. It has an ethereal quality to it – I think it’s the minty eucalyptus – and I’m reminded of the silvery coolness of a forest in twilight whenever I wear this. The fig note in here is ripe and green, cushioned by the notes that swirl around it. Pure serenity.
James by Rosie Jane is a unique marriage of creamy white gardenia and luscious, juicy fig, with a touch of amber. I picture the ripe purple flesh of the fruit drizzled in golden honey, surrounded by an abundance of white petals. When I first smelled this one, it felt like magic – like an enchanted garden in deep summer when the flowers are so potent they seem to be singing. The harmony of the heady gardenia with fruity fig creates something I promise you have not smelled before.
My fourth pick is House of Bo’s Casa Blanca, a revelation of a fragrance that has changed the way I perceive notes. Smoky fig is accompanied by white suede, copal (a resin from tropical trees), bourbon vanilla, tobacco, and oud. This is a fragrance that expanded my mind – before this, I’d never even smelled this scent profile before. No florals. No sweetness. Just the minerality of fresh figs growing near the sea. Perhaps someone smoked an expensive cigar here, hours ago, where you stand on the balcony overlooking the Mediterranean above the green trees. The lingering smokiness is not unpleasant at all, though–in fact, it smells divine.
