Fjerne
Slumberhouse (2020)

Fjerne is a fragrance that includes some of the highest quality materials out there. The tonka and honey notes are most prevalent, together they create this odd illusion of sunscreen or coconut notes. There are powdery-musky undertones with hints of styrax in the dry down which lends itself will to the overall creamy and beige...late late summer and early fall feels of Fjerne. Not the best from Slumberhouse...perhaps one of the most underrated.

Josh Lobb was a spot-on and co-incidentally released almost in the same time a perfume with new Chanel in-house nose, Olivier Polge. I'm talking about le Lion de Chanel.

Fjerne is vibrant yet linear on my skin. I could be easily named as an "ode to labdanum" but it's got a bit more. Coconut shrims, a wee bit of powder, smooth milky touch.

It can be worn all year round, but I think it shines in the summer and it fits very well paired with shorts and t-shirt when worn to the beach. Yeah, it's got summery vibes to me. A little bit of sun lotion, a little bit of hot sand. Interesting for sure.

Eventually I might want a bottle but I quite don't understand the higher price compared to others from the line. I'm wondering if Fjerne stays as a permanent addidition to the Slumberhouse lineup. We'll see, time will tell.

Pop off the cap, what’s this? Perfect summer scent....Coconut? Tanning Spray? No.....yes...! No... 🧐...Cocoa butter! Yes, that’s it. Buttery, creamy, cocoa butter...
My kids: Dad, I like your “perfume”, it smells like “coconut sun spray” ....My wife: “Woah, you wreak! 🤣 Smells like “one of those...” (I took the words out of her mouth...and answered for her) “Hippy Shop?” Yes! Smells like those shops.....that smell in the air. When asked do you smell coconut? She replied: “No.”
The next day, I tell her to close her eyes and smell the nozzle followed by the question, what do you smell? Her response: “Coconut” 😂

Anectodal breakdown:

Fjerne resembles coconut in the immediate opening until sprayed on skin, followed by what appears to be cocoa (butter), creamy (Mysore?) sandalwood, and a musky-bold but high quality patchouli. A close friend (naylor the G.O.A.T.) who is an avid Slumberhouse connoisseur also detects labdanum, wheat, and birch, which I can certainly agree with.

Conjured thoughts of summer ending and fall closely approaching. Warm days and cool nights. Love it.

This one was released amidst a veil of obscurity. To me it was primarily a cocoa butter opening that transitioned to a patchouli/amber dominated dry-down. The notes that were later (briefly) shared by Josh are as follows:

milk, honey, hazelnut, cedar, musk, wheat, amber, sandalwood, patchouli, feuilletine, tonka, carob, vanilla, cistus, styrax

Slumberhouse Fjerne is a limited-edition release from 2020 that I had to find on the secondary market as I was a little slow to buy it the first time. It's very interesting and probably more agreeable than most of the relatively daring house offerings, a sweet, resinous, floral, and musky blend that has a bit of a play doh accord that's specifically reminiscent of the undertones of Tom Ford Lavender Extreme, albeit without the sharp lavender.

The notes are not formally described but my guess would be something along the lines of opoponax, labdanum, sandalwood, tonka, musk, and then perhaps a white floral of some kind. It's quite comforting, sweet but not saccharine, with powdery and musky touches that nevertheless blend in well, along with sort of play doh accord that I quite enjoy but that I realize may be distracting to some.

It performs well but certainly not as well as most of the darker juices in the line (Norne, Jeke, Ore, Sova, etc.). I believe Fjerne's retail pricing was around the same as other entries in the line, mostly recently $180 for 30ml and in extrait concentration.

Increasingly it's the case that ALL Slumberhouse fragrances feel like limited editions in that the demand is high, the batches are relatively small, and the batches take some time to produce, but I do not believe that Fjerne is making a return, so enjoy it if you have it. Otherwise, the brand is sold through its house website as well as great boutiques like Fumerie and Luckyscent.

7 out of 10

Notes, as provided by the perfumer:
milk, honey, hazelnut, cedar, musk, wheat, amber, sandalwood, patchouli, feuilletine, tonka, carob, vanilla, cistus, styrax

Fjerne is clearly based on a boatload of good tonka, but it isn't nearly as heavy as that implies. It's thick and rich, but also weightless...like an elephant floating in orbit. I don't know exactly how this is achieved, but it's very cool.

Speaking of which, it literally does smell cool...a very light, bright evergreen along the lines of the effect in Grev. A reference I get for the effect is Fazzolari's Feu Secret (but add a ton of tonka). The icy-rich feel is similar...cool, woody, mineralic, green, sweet.

As to the much discussed "grain" notes. Yes...they read to me as "malted" in this context. The very top end is straight up malted milk balls, and then it goes more toward cold Ovaltine, followed by malted milk ice cream (Tilamook makes a good one, try it...or if you've been to Milk Bar in NYC, it's like that cereal-milk soft serve they make)...all against that cool/outdoorsy/mineral green backdrop. That cold malted-milk tonka effect really defines the scent to me. It's just so pleasing and inviting in a pure, innocent, childlike way. I see why this feels nostalgic to many reviewers, and if that was the intended artistic effect...bravo.