The short film that the Brothers Quay made to promote the new Comme des Garçons fragrance, Wonderwood, opens with the words "Someone who loved wood more than words can say...", and Comme des Garçons describes the fragrance as a "positive overdose of woods, woody notes and synthetic wood construction (wood gone mad)". They're not kidding. Have they not yet made the fragrance that screamed WOOD loud enough to suit you? Then do try Wonderwood.

Wonderwood was developed by perfumer Antoine Lie, and it includes all the wood notes a wood freak could ask for, plus some spices to liven things up: Madagascan pepper, bergamot, incense, nutmeg, cristalon (a floral fruity note with rosy, plum and apple nuances), cashmeran, gaiacwood, cedar, caraway, javanol (sandalwood), sandalwood, vetiver, patchouli and oudh. What is smells like, mostly, is — you guessed it — wood...

How unlucky for perfume lovers to live in an era when Mysore sandalwood has disappeared from fragrances. Let’s hope the over-harvested and endangered sandalwood trees of India are truly being protected and propagated for future generations. According to Serge Lutens P.R., the company bought its stash of Mysore sandalwood before stringent trade regulations went into effect, and it’s this “legal” Mysore sandalwood that supposedly enriches the Lutens perfume of the same name.

Santal de Mysore was developed by perfumer Christopher Sheldrake and released in 2001. I never smelled “original” Santal de Mysore so I don’t know how it compares to the new, surely reformulated, fragrance. Today’s Santal de Mysore contains, apart from Mysore sandalwood, “spices,” cumin, styrax balsam and “caramelized” Siamese benzoin.

Santal de Mysore starts off smelling edible, with a nougat-y and coconut-cream sweetness emanating from a faint "wood" note...

When I heard that Bath & Body Works would be releasing a fragrance called “Twilight Woods,” and that this fragrance would evoke “a romantic walk in enchanted woods,” I imagined a blend of pine and cedar, a few drops of resin, and an ozonic note hinting at an oncoming snowstorm. When I later saw the list of notes, I realized that it would actually be a woodsy-fruity gourmand, with “top notes of Juicy Berry, Sparkling Mandarin, and hint of Coconut, heart notes of Creamy Frangipani, Soft Mimosa, Wet Honeysuckle, Wild Freesia, and Apricot Nectar, and basenotes of Oud Wood, Skin Musk Captive, Vanilla Milk, and Warm Woods.”

Twilight Woods is the newest addition to Bath & Body Works’ Signature Collection line, in keeping with the recent string of more complex, “abstract” fragrances (such as P.S. I Love You, as opposed to yet another Cucumber Melon type). It was developed by perfumers Harry Fremont, Jane Konnyu, and Honorine Blanc. This fragrance could just as easily have been named "Twilight Orchard," because a ripe apricot note runs throughout its development...

The last time I wore Bois de Rose perfume was on a summertime New Mexico vacation with my friend Susan. I vividly remember our Bois de Rose-scented holiday adventures. After we checked into our rooms at a Taos inn, the owner, while delivering fresh towels, assumed we had switched rooms — SURELY, no man would have so many toiletry items lined up on the bathroom counter mere minutes after arrival. (I especially remember one of those toiletries. It was the Stone Age of self-tanners, and over breakfast one morning, Susan asked me, bluntly, as she looked at my brown kneecaps, grungy ankles and striped calves: "What's wrong with your legs?" I offered ridiculous excuses...

French niche line Honoré des Prés debuted last year with five certified organic perfumes, all (Chaman’s Party, Bonté’s Bloom, Nu Green, Sexy Angelic) save one (Honoré’s Trip) from perfumer Olivia Giacobetti. As I've said here before, I don't really care personally about the synthetic vs. natural debate — to the extent that it is a debate — but it's been nice to see more and more choice for consumers on the naturals front over the past few years, and of course anything from Olivia Giacobetti is going to get my attention.

My early favorite of the five: Chaman's Party, the woody-vetiver entry, of course. I have to note as an aside that the brand's Ecocert status doesn't stop them from issuing the same sort of breathless PR-speak as everybody else; Chaman's Party is described as an "explosive perfume due to its top-secret ingredients with aphrodisiac properties". I don't know about all that, but it's a wonderful vetiver, and like the recent Turtle Vetiver Exercise No. 1 from LesNez, I'd call it a must-try for vetiver enthusiasts...

Halle by Halle Berry is the debut fragrance from the very popular actress, launching this month under licensing arrangements with Coty. According to Ms. Berry...

[Before my fragrance] I was mixing other brands that shall remain nameless to make my own scent with fig and mimosa. With Halle, I added olibanum, which is an African root, which brings spice to the fragrance, and sandalwood, which smooths everything out and makes it yummy. It’s very sensual, very natural, very much reflective of the outdoors.*

The two nameless fragrances are rumored to be from L'Artisan Parfumeur; if that's accurate, they'd presumably be Premier Figuier and Mimosa Pour Moi? Olibanum is another word for frankincense, which as any seasoned perfumista knows is a tree resin and not a root, but we needn't split hairs: Halle is darned good for a celebrity fragrance, especially given the price — Halle is geared towards "mid tier" and mass market stores, so you'll find it at Kohl's and Sears instead of Nordstrom and Saks.

Halle opens FRUITY and SWEET (and yes, I'm screaming on purpose), as is very nearly requisite for a celebrity fragrance...

The word "oud" — when relating to perfume — always makes me think of...MONTALE. Montale has won the oud wars in the West by creating more oud-centered fragrances than any company in sight (or smell). When I heard that Le Labo was releasing an oud perfume, I thought: "Poor Le Labo — you haven't a chance!"

Le Labo launches Oud 27 this month; it's Le Labo's first global launch since 2006. (Oud 27 will not be associated with one city — you can buy it at all Le Labo boutiques.) Le Labo divulges only a few components of Oud 27: incense, cedar, patchouli, saffron, gaiac wood and oud...

Brooklyn is a unisex fragrance from perfumer Laurent LeGuernec, and is pegged as a woody oriental. Overall, it's a much fresher scent than you might expect from that designation (the notes: grapefruit, cardamom, cypress wood, geranium, juniper berry, cedar, leather and guaiacwood). The opening is crisp, bright grapefruit, and a burst of cypress joins in shortly, along with a fair dash of spice. It's slightly green, and the juniper berry lends a sort of gin-cocktail vibe in the early stages...

Tom Ford, of course, has already done oud (aka oudh aka agarwood aka aloeswood), with M7, created under his direction for Yves Saint Laurent and introduced in 2002. You might expect Oud Wood to be the edgy, niche house version of M7, but that would be hard to pull off seeing as how M7 was already pretty darned edgy...

Comptoir Sud Pacifique launched L'Eau du Gouverneur in 1993 under the name L'Homme — a clue, perhaps, that it isn't one of the sweet fruity vanillas that now comprise much of the Comptoir Sud Pacifique line. If, like me, you're a woman who prefers dry to sweet (see: the best [fragrances] for borrowing), you might find much to love among Comptoir Sud Pacifique men's offerings*, which are quite different in character than the women's and which can be found at very reasonable prices.

The notes for L'Eau du Gouverneur include verbena, bergamot, lemon, clary sage, allspice, nutmeg, black pepper, clove, cedar, vetiver and musk. If that sounds like a dense, heavy spice-fest, think again: like many of the Comptoir Sud Pacifique fragrances, L'Eau du Gouverneur is more transparent than not...