Fragrance for All Seasons: Ffern

Made in tightly controlled small batches, sourced sustainably and created in conjunction with the seasons, Ffern is the new counterbalance fragrance to mass-produced perfume. Yet its heritage stretches back to the first nose in the business, French chemist Joseph Robert, who lived and worked in the perfume capital of Grasse, the great-great-grandfather to fourth-generation perfumier François Robert who today puts the artisan back into the olfactory with Ffern.

Everything about Ffern seems to rally against consumerism, mass production and the cosmetic giants who dominate the industry. Even the way in which you can get your hands on a bottle of Ffern perfume is an interesting look at purchase power. To be in line for Ffern, one must first sign up to a ledger which shows your interest in receiving a bottle from the next batch; equally, it lets Ffern know the batch size: the supply being directly correlated to the demand. You’ll then receive one bottle of perfume for every season of the year, released at the equinox and the solstice. The only glitch is Ffern’s growing popularity – join the waiting list to be for a chance of getting into next season’s ledger.  

This sense of anticipation allows you time to appreciate their unique and steadfast production and uncompromising values when it comes to sourcing the finest and purest ingredients from the little-known to the common, including ginger root, blue gum eucalyptus and black tang seaweed. The range of top, mid and base notes come in a staggering array and contribute to a variety of descriptors from floral to forest floor, peach to pine with clove, camphor and citrus in between.

As you might imagine, sustainability is at the forefront of Ffern’s business model, not just in the rigorous sourcing of natural, organic and vegan ingredients for the perfumes but also with regards to the perfume bottle, which has a paper tube dispenser rather than plastic; a mushroom root material that acts as bottle trays, and packaging that generates zero landfill. 

Based in Somerset, this nature-inspired perfume company are on an eco-mission to return perfume to its original recipe. François Robert, along with Elodie Durande, alumni of the school of perfumery in Montpellier, return to the traditional process of extracting perfume oil from natural ingredients to make Ffern’s delicious scents. Just as Joseph Robert learnt to do in Grasse, and his son Henri who went on to become the head nose at Chanel, the olfactory skills are passed down through each generation. With perfume pedigree running in the family, Durnade’s finely tuned nose and a desire to be plastic-free, organic and as sustainable as possible, Ffern is clearly the future of fragrance.