Felt
Hendley Perfumes (2019)

I've had my bottle of Felt for about a year now. When I first received it, I liked it, but wasn't head over heels about it. I broke it out a few weeks ago and was immediately mad over it! It has macerated into one of the best smelling coniferous fragrances I've smelled. What a masterful blend by Hans Hendley...truly stunning! There are many notes in this perfume, but the true sign of a master perfumer is how he or she brings those notes together and Hans Hendley has hit a home run with Felt, IMO. I like cardamom, but it can overwhelm me if it is too far out in front. I love opopponax, frankincense, nutmeg, sandalwood, and admire rose, benzoin, and patchouli depending on how pronounced they are in the overall mix. Musk is also wonderful when used by a great perfumer. All I can say is that Hans really hit all the marks with Felt, at least for me. What a wonderful fragrance and a favorite now that it has really hit it's stride. I couldn't enjoy it more...10/10 for me. Bravo Hans Hendley!

Hendley Perfumes Felt was part of the 2019 Laboratory Series and recently given a broader release on the website (along with 2020's Cola). It's resinous and spicy and slightly animalic, a slightly sweeter cousin of my favorite of the main collection, Fume, albeit not as smoky and dark. Felt features a robust resinous mix (opoponax, fir balsam, frankincense, benzoin) with cardamom, nutmeg, rose, sandalwood, patchouli, and musk. There's some brightness and sweetness that complement the still-present barbecue vibe, but the fir balsam and sandalwood also foster a woody sense. So it's a less dark, less piney, brighter, sweeter departure from Fume, and a very interesting resinous fragrance in its own right. Overall, it's quite compelling, and I suspect that the other elements (rose, patchouli) combine with the slight sweetness of perhaps the benzoin, the smoothness of the musk, to be really make the whole blend fit together and feel quite easy to wear.

Felt is EDP concentration, performs well (comparably to Cola, but not as well as Fume), priced at $160/105/55 for 50/30/15ml, in line with the current pricing for the rest of the line, all of which has been created by perfumer/owner Hans Hendley. Along with Cola, Felt merits attention and I'd certainly recommend that fans of resinous fragrances get their noses on both. Also, both Felt and Cola have interesting complexity and are fun for amber fans, but are also accessible, I suspect, to everyone, even those who dabble mainly it the designer world, particularly since neither is especially animalic (though Felt certainly leans that way more than Cola). I look forward to getting bottles of both when they're restocked.

8 out of 10

I received a tiny sample from a BN friend. Wow! So lovely, masculine but very approachable so unisex in the end. I think the cardamom/nutmeg///fir balsam/frankincense synergy created the olfactory magic I'm smelling. I need a larger amount! Where to find is my question? Love...