Synthetic Nature / Synthetic Jungle
Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle (2021)

This is an old school vibe fragrance. I've smelled this before, I just can't think of what fragrance it smells like. I definitely got the jasmine and lily of the valley right away. This seems like something an older woman would wear. Very classy woman who is well established. This one is just not for me. Again, these Frederic Malle fragrances have quality ingredients.

I was born in the wrong period. I should've been born in 50s, or perhaps the 60s, so that I could've thoroughly enjoyed the green perfume craze of the 1970s. I love green perfumes - whether it's galbanum, vetiver, grasses, herbs, etc. - I have a bias and a natural fondness for them. I would've worn No. 19 and Private Collection to death. I would've missed the launch of Vent Vert, but it would've been a lot easier to track down a bottle in great condition (and of a good formulation) much more so than it is today. But I wasn't born at a time to appreciate the perfumes in that period as new, and instead I was born of a time when I could appreciate Malle instead. Synthetic Jungle is not the first time Malle has harkened back to perfumes of yesteryear. Musc Ravageur of the brand's launch was an ode to Shalimar, more or less as an example, so when one of my favorite brands of the 21st century said that their new perfume drew from the 70s green classics of No. 19 - probably my favorite Chanel - and Private Collection it was all that I could do to not be overly gleeful in anticipation... and then I read the press blurb and became confused.

Using words like "modern" and "old", "natural" and "synthetic", "hyper realistic" and "fantastical", the blurb juxtaposes descriptive antonyms so close to each other that you get the feeling that Malle is intentionally trying to confuse us, or perhaps ask us a question without ever really driving at one. When you smell Synthetic Jungle, this is certainly confirmed. If you thought No. 19 and Private Collection were tours de force in greenness, buckle-up and hold onto your hats. I was right to be confused by Malle's description because definitely upon the first 30 minutes to an hour of the perfume, and not to spoil the plot but throughout the remaining life of the perfume as well, the descriptors of "old", "natural", and "hyper realistic" do not apply. "Modern", "synthetic", and "fantastical" certainly do. We've all seen that sci-fi movie - take your pick of which one because there is a massive number of them - where we, the audience, are far in the future of human civilization where technology has exploded past its current state, we've explored the outer reaches of space, and for some reason or another "plants" have to be grown in these almost-comically scientific environments: the jungle of the far future is instead some massive greenhouse-type enclosure of glass or some other perfectly clear material, perfectly hygienic white structures holding it in place, the sounds and visuals of unfathomable technology whirling away to keep these plants at their most optimum state, the plants themselves are some mixture of the familiar and the extraterrestrial - so hyper-saturated in color (at least on our 4K televisions screens) that they look unnatural to an impossible degree. That is what Synthetic Jungle smells like.

Whereas No. 19 and Private Collection could somewhat get away with calling themselves vaguely naturalistic in their hyper-greenness by presenting a palpable texture - call it powderiness if you will - Synthetic Jungle does not give its greenness a palpable texture. There is a shine and a gloss to it that is smoother than glass and equally impenetrable. According to Malle this is an effect of a synthetic material meant to smell of black currant. I can believe that because 1) there is a fruitiness to the galbanum that is not so much the taste or smell of fruit but the color of fruit; I can see the purple of the black currant, but I can't really taste or smell it - if that makes sense (probably not, sorry); it's like light is being bent through a glass prism to give you the purple spectrum wave. And 2) this slightly sour fruitiness has no naturalness to it at all, so I have no problem believing it is 100% synthetic. The lily, hyacinth, and jasmine heart presents more naturalistically thanks to having the textural effects that the galbanum top did not, but that line between natural and synthetic is incredibly blurry. One thing to be said though is that it is very pretty: stylishly and beautifully blended, and colorful. The moss and patchouli base is very quiet but keeps to the theme. It's a load of rubbish but for some reason the first thought to enter my head was the smell you get from a desktop PC tower after you've turned it off from hours of running; the moss and patchouli notes don't olfactorily smell like very warm metals and plastics, but there is a quiet heat and steam to the base that made me think of this for some reason.

This is a very bold perfume in its vision and composition. It's meant to challenge. The highly polarized reception to it is a strong indicator of this fact. The green perfumes of the 70s were more emotional and heartfelt, intending to connect you with nature by bending your perception of it a bit. Synthetic Jungle is a sci-fi epic meant to distort your perception of nature to the point where you think you might be going insane. It took many wears for me to finally come to grips with it, and to have an understanding of what it was making me smell, think, and feel. You must give it time and plenty of attempts, and, even then, there is no guarantee you'll be won over. It certainly won me. (This review was posted from The Matrix.)

love my weird new greens like this and bandit supreme and 2016 jules

A fantastic disco-era chypre crafted from 21st century synthetics, a master class in technical precision and emotional evocation. This is my youth spent in elephant-leg jeans, halter tops, and Famolare High Ups, reading celebrity magazines, wishing I was old enough for Studio 54 then CBGB, tapping my foot for the liberated Girl Boss life that surely was right around the corner once I graduated from a good college. An encapsulation if not the exact smell, then definitely the spirit of every floral chypre that was popular during the 1970s.

Humid foliage, gargantuan monstera leaves, Victoria amazonica, ferns that reach the heavens, and intensely fragrant pearly white flowers: this is what I envision with Synthetic Jungle. It's an alternate dimension where muguet grow gigantic bells that you could crawl into, they droop over and drop condensation that splashes on your head and you start feeling indistinguishable from the botany enveloping you.

Bluebells carpet the forest floor, a distant flute is heard, much like that which is heard in Edgar Froese's "Epsilon in Malaysian Pale." I can almost taste it all, especially the black currant, I feel its tartness in the back of my throat, making my mouth water. Boxwood hedges form a maze, with peculiar climbing vines weaving in and out, with showy pitchers that upon closer inspection, look to be carnivorous, insects entranced by their honeydew, blissfully drowning in ecstasy. Crunchy wet umbellifers crushed and dirty, a mosaic of feathery, parsley-like leaves of varying shades of green, a garden gone feral.

It begs the question of natural vs synthetic and how it's all a matter of perception and experience. Does our insatiable need to identify what we smell rely primarily on a posteriori epistemology or are there other parts in motion? This fragrance feels like those "other parts" in motion. The real and the imaginary are not so easily delineated when beholding the alchemy of scent. Synthetic Jungle escorts the nose into a space of beauty and puzzlement where the idea of naturalism is rendered supernatural.

Like Wingie, I had high expectations for this fragrance as I enjoy green fragrances. It definitely is one of the greenest fragrances I have encountered, however, there is a note, possibly hyacinth, that makes it feel a bit too harsh and pushes it into the white floral territory. If it had a different direction and went into a tomato stem note direction instead, I would have preferred it.

In comparison to Diptyque's L'Ombre Dans Leau, I prefer the latter as it feels more realistic, lush, and watery. Nevertheless, Synthetic Jungle has impressive performance, especially for a green fragrance. Furthermore, the name suits the fragrance well, as you do get a synthetic interpretation of lily of the valley. Overall, it smells like "fresh crushed green peppers", as Wingie points out, but with some rough edges that make the entire composition feel a bit artificial or synthetic.

Being synthetic is not necessarily bad, but if you were hoping for a green fragrance like L'Ombre Dans Leau, you may be disappointed.