Find Me in the Dark
Jousset Parfums (2021)

Review of Part 2 as well as a comparison to Part 1 and Part 3 of this series.

This is outstanding. If you love earthy and animalic perfumes, sample this. I think I have found my holy grail Earthy perfume, after trying many others. One of the best buys for me ever, and one of the best releases for 2022. The perfumer really captured the vision he was pursuing in this. It does smell like you are deep in the forest, hunting animals, with soil on your clothes. It also smells like a cold, moldy basement, or living in a cabin in the woods.
It starts off with a strong earthy smell, quite pungent, only to be backed up shortly after by honey, sage, fir, and moss. The special ingredient here, which in my opinion makes the whole composition better and elevates this above all other Earthy perfumes, is the strong use of Costus root. The costus here is prominent , giving off a strong animalic smell of fur. It envelops the pungent earthy accord and gives off a powerful impression of nature, being in the woods. There is also a noticeable smoky quality to the perfume, which I assume comes from the use of Nagarmotha and Vetiver. Besides all these, the use of honey is an exceptional choice as it balances out the earthyness and the bitterness of the other notes. A perfume that is really complete start to finish, natural smelling and evocative, challenging and unique. For me, a holy grail for earthy perfumes.

EDIT: now that I have tried all three perfumes from the series, I can say that part 2 is my favorite. It is the darkest and most animalistic, while smelling more natural than part 3 Dark, which is quite a major let down compared to the first two.

Part 1 is the brightest of them. The soil accord is strong, but here instead of costus there is a strong chocolaty-patchouli note, as well as some grape and fir. Very beautiful and evocative of the outdoors, but for me, it lacks tha animalic bite of the costus root. Still good.

Part 2 I just described

Part 3 is quite a let down. The soil accord here is accompanied by a latex sort of leather accord, after starting off with some dried fruit accords. Is an earthy-leather perfume that smells a bit synthetic and not pleasant. Seems less thought through, without a clear idea of what it wants to be, more like a hazardous use of accords. Very hard to compare to the first two. Big pass.