Boy, Manuel Cross wasn’t messing around when he made Fougère L’Aube. Modelled after the first fougère ever to be made, the original Fougère Royale by Houbigant, Fougère L’Aube heralds a triumphant return to the unapologetically masculine roots of the fougère concept – the fresh, bitter aroma created by the marriage of lavender, oakmoss, and labdanum, given aromatic interest by way of minty geranium leaf and the sting of camphor.
Fougère L’Aube is much more than a simple re-tread using great raw materials and real oakmoss, however. True to its name – which means ‘fougère of the dawn’ – this scent opens with a burst of sparkling lemon and lavender, for a sunny ‘garrigue’ effect that’s much brighter than the traditional fougère opening led by bergamot. The bitter green galbanum and dry hay soon move in to darken the foresty shadows, though, and with the cool rosy-minty sting of geranium in the background, the oft-cited reference to the scent of ferns (fougère meaning ‘fern’ in French) for once makes perfect sense. This is really old school, masculine canon – strictly for lovers of classic fougères like Azzaro Pour Homme, Brut, and crisp green scents such as Green Irish Tweed.
