Comme des Garcons Series Luxe: Patchouli
EDP · 2007
Comme des Garçons
Acquired
Bearberry
Note Profile
About
Bearberry is a tart red berry note with forest floor underneath it. The one source that describes its smell calls it fresh and fruity with a bright tangy sweetness, sitting over a subtle earthiness, and separately calls the raw fruit dry and astringent. It is a minor note and it is rarely used.
Scent Profile
Bearberry is a tart red berry, bright and fruity like sun-ripened fruit, with a tangy sourness running through it. A forest-floor earthy note sits underneath the whole time, even as the fruit turns sweeter. Left on skin it softens into something rounder and a little sweet, like berry sugar rather than fresh fruit, with faint green and woody notes from the forest floor beneath it.
ScentWheel
Breadthmedium
EnvelopeHeart · ~5h lasting
Family
Fruity
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
ScentArt
Seen in
Tap a perfume to see where Bearberry sits in it. The rest of the picture goes grey
Origin
The fruit of Arctostaphylos, a dwarf shrub of Arctic, subarctic and alpine ground, most often A. uva-ursi. The genus name is Greek for bear plus bunch of grapes. It is not the same plant as the published Arbutus (Madrona, Bearberry Tree) note, which is Arbutus menziesii, a tall evergreen tree of the North American Pacific coast that carries bearberry as one of several US common names. The two share an English name and nothing else. No commercial essential oil or absolute of Arctostaphylos berry was found. The extracts sold under this name are cosmetic leaf extracts, used for their skin effect rather than their odour.
Usage in Perfumery
Named as a heart note by the one trade source, added for fruitiness in both floral and woody compositions. Its own source concedes the note is less common than mainstream fruits. Fragrantica records 3 placements. Parfumo records none.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Bearberry
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Bearberry appears prominently.
