Fougère Family

Origins of the Name

This olfactory family (in Japanese) began with Fougère Royale (Paul Parquet), released by Houbigant in 1882, and takes its name from that perfume.
Fougère means “fern-like” in French. Since ferns have no scent, however, it is said to be an imaginary fragrance (in fact, there are many different ferns, and they do have distinctive scents). Interestingly, Fougère Royale, reformulated for modern times in 2010 because of oakmoss restrictions by Rodrigo Flores-Roux and Roja Dove, has become a chypre (in Japanese) scent.

If God had given ferns a scent, they would smell like Fougère Royale.

Paul Parquet

The Components of a Fougère

It is chiefly made from herbal materials such as oakmoss, lavender, and geranium, with the addition of coumarin. The way geranium smells in the top notes (in Japanese) is also said to be a defining factor in a fougère.
Besides geranium and lavender, aromatic notes such as rosemary, thyme, chamomile, and citrus are used in the top notes. Alongside oakmoss and coumarin, the base notes (in Japanese) use vetiver (in Japanese) and leather notes (in Japanese).

Most are marketed to men, and because they sell well, fougères are still frequently created in the men’s fragrance category. However, they are also said to lack interest because so many smell similar. Recently, therefore, perfumes with slightly altered structures have appeared as new types of fougère. Incidentally, Guerlain’s Jicky is a fougère for women.

The keywords are traditional, masculine (dandyish), and sophisticated.

When you wear a fougère, you connect with a great olfactory tradition. Fougère perfumes are certainly masculine, with a scent that feels reassuring and sexy to those nearby. That is why, when it matters, you will want to be a man like a fougère. And ladies, you will certainly want to confide your troubles to someone who is like a fougère perfume.

From Penhaligon’s official blog

Representative Fougères

Fougère Royale (Houbigant, 1882, Paul Parquet)
Jicky (Guerlain, 1889, Aimé Guerlain)
Tuscany per Uomo (Aramis, 1984)
Eternity for Men (Calvin Klein, 1990, Carlos Benaïm)
Platinum Égoïste (Chanel, 1993, Jacques Polge)
Blue Jeans (Versace, 1994)
Z Zegna (Ermenegildo Zegna, 2005, Antoine Lie, Olivier Gillotin, Pierre Negrin)
Fou d’Absinthe (L’Artisan Parfumeur, 2006, Olivia Giacobetti)
Géranium pour Monsieur (Frédéric Malle, 2009, Dominique Ropion): created as a new type of fougère to challenge conventional men’s perfumes.
Sartorial (Penhaligon’s, 2010, Bertrand Duchaufour)
Eros (Versace, 2012, Aurélien Guichard)
Intoxicated (Kilian, 2014, Calice Becker): a new type of fougère. The key is the coolness of cardamom rather than the herbal quality of geranium.
Sauvage (Dior, 2015, François Demachy)
Eau de Minthé (Diptyque, 2019, Fabrice Pellegrin): mint and rose oxide give it a modern fougère character.
Lavender Extreme (Tom Ford, 2019, Olivier Gillotin)
Gris Clair (Serge Lutens, 2019, Christopher Sheldrake)
L’Eau de Paille (Serge Lutens, 2019, Christopher Sheldrake)
Cypress & Grapevine (Jo Malone, 2020, Sophie Labbé)
H24 (Hermès, 2021, Christine Nagel): brings an element of surprise by using sage instead of the lavender that everyone uses.