School at the country where I grew up when I was growing up meant ten years in the same building, mostly with the same classmates from the first grade and until the graduation.
Starting from the fifth grade several times a year each class for a week was responsible for tidying up school common areas – wiping, sweeping, washing and taking out garbage.
The best chore was to be a coat room keys keeper. Since we didn’t have lockers all outerwear had to be hanged in a coat room. Usually students weren’t allowed to leave during a school day unless a teacher came with a class or sent a note. But somebody had to be “on the post” with keys in case a student needed to leave. The great part about it was that it would give you an official permission not to attend classes that day. Only students with good grades were trusted with that important mission. I was an “A” student.
A coat room was a nice place to “work” not only because of skipping classes but also because you were getting a chance to meet everybody while being in charge. Everybody. Even from those classes two-three year older who usually do not notice you. And also it allowed you some freedom: your friends would join you either after running their choirs instead of returning to a class room or during breaks. Because it was a perfect place to hang out, to play hide and seek between rows of jackets or to talk about your feelings (and perfumes) with your first love.
The second best assignment was to wax parquet in corridors. It also had to be done while everybody was in class rooms studying. I always imagined doing it Cinderella’s way (click and watch for 10 seconds – I couldn’t embed it to start on the right time but for those who can’t watch a clip on youtube there is a static picture above) but in reality it was just one floor brush with a strap for your foot and tubes of floor wax/polish. It was made of turpentine (pine resin), paraffin, ceresin wax and beeswax.
My school was many-many years ago but the first time I smelled Forest Walk, the latest perfume from Sonoma Scent Studo, I was immediately transported back to that school corridor. I know that it’s a complex perfume, it’s built with many great ingredients (notes include Black hemlock absolute, fir absolute, Western red cedar, oakwood absolute, galbanum resin, jasmine sambac absolute, violet, olibanum, labdanum absolute, natural oakmoss absolute, aged Indian patchouli, New Caledonia sandalwood, orris, benzoin and earthy notes). But for me Forest Walk smells of happy times of sanctioned skipped classes, pine-smelling floor wax and the imaginary pas de deux with that handsome classmate.
I haven’t conjured a forest out of this perfume but I still enjoyed the walk I’ve got from it.
For real reviews read Gaia‘s (The Non-Blonde) and Mark‘s (Ca Fleure Bon) posts.
I got my sample with a purchase from Sonoma Scent Studio at First Artisan Fragrance Salon in San Francisco.
Undina's Looking Glass 
U – Thanks for the scent memory. I love it when a fragrance can take us to a very special and particular time in our lives. And it is no surprise that you were an A student! Steve
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Thank you, Steve.
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Is that the school in the picture? It looks exactly like a country seat or town hall. It must have been wonderful.
Portia xx
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Yes, it’s my school building. It was really nice and well-kept. Though “in my time” :) stairs were in much better condition.
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This is such a lovely memory, Undina! And I relate very strongly to it, as my school went from kindergarden to 12th grade!
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Thank you, Arielle!
School and higher education systems are very different in the U.S. It took me some time to figure out how it worked here and to build parallels with what I knew from “my previous life”.
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I loved reading this, Undina. Isn’t it fascinating how a perfume can feel so personal, or say something to us that’s different from what the perfumer was going for?
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Thank you, Dionne. I was hesitant a little to write about this perfume because I didn’t want to do it a disservice with wrong associations – it’s a very intresting scent and I think many people will like it and smell the way Laurie Erickson intended it to smell.
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Oooohhh, we called it мастика and used it to polish the floors at home. I remember the Summer days and the large room in our apartment ;) seemed so endless!
I enjoyed reading about your school. We did not have anyone on duty in the locker room, nor anyone polished the floors that way, ours were lacquered. But the best place to work was the library…. especially during the time when everyone was bringing back the textbooks… mmmmm great memories. The boys would come and help me with heavy piles of textbooks, you see……
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It’s the opposite for me: floors at home were lacquered so they didn’t require polishing. But our school was one of those exemplary schools so it had to be perfect all the time.
With the library we had a system where books were distributed to classes and returned the same way so I do not remember any special tasks related to that. But our school was a smaller one – around a thousand students in all grades, by my estimate.
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I am not sure how big my school was, it was most certainly loaded beyond capacity when I was there, and it was also an exemplary school! Tee hee!
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You floor me, Undina (no pun intended) with your natural and easy story-telling. I never expect understatment from you, and yet when you write these stories, I discover that it is exactly what you do so splendidly. I just read the post you linked to about Diorella and your first love and, combined with this post, your life opens up before me and makes me smile with its soft and sweet recollections.
I will make it a point to try Forest Walk because of your post. (And because it’s a Sonoma Scent Studio perfume!)
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Thank you, Suzanne, you are very kind – as always.
I want to suggest something… When you try Forest Walk, if you think it’s too concentrated you might want to try diluting it (if you happen to have perfume alcohol). I’m actually thinking about buying a purse spray and making it twice less concentrated.
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That’s a beautiful school you went to. I was on coat room duty a couple of times when I was in elementary school. We didn’t get a chance to skip classes, but being the “Keeper of the Keys” always made me feel like I had some sort of importance.
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Exactly! I remember taking that duty very seriously. We were helping kids (first-third grades) to find their jackets and shoes.
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I agree with all the other comments; I love reading your stories, and then the perfumes come along so elegantly and naturally. I think I can understand, too, why you would want to make sure that people know Forest Walk is complex. I have had experiences where a scent reminds me so strongly of one thing that it is all I can really smell, even though I know other things are there.
Great “not a review”! ;)
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Thank you, Natalie. It would have been easier if it had been a 2-3 years old release with many actual reviews out there. But I hope people will still want to try it even if they read my story first :)
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Beautiful memories – and happy ones. I enjoyed this.
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Thank you, J.
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I love when perfumes call up a very specific memory that wasn’t built into the formula. And I love your description of the coat room, the thrill of being selected for this special assignment, that moment when a child can take charge of a special place, with special privileges.
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I’m glad I have readers with whom I can share those memories and who can relate one way or the other.
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Forest Walk is one of the few SSS creations I haven’t tried yet. Your description and memories are intriguing and relatable. I will get a sample today! Laurie Erickson’s gems are my current favorites, I have bought 4 fbs this summer! I feel so naughty! My husband and I went through a whole sample vial of Tabac Aurea yesterday… If I try Forest Walk, I fear for my credit card!
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To be fair I should point out that SSS’s perfumes have a really good price/quality ratio (for those perfumes that work for you). I wonder which four are your favorites?
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My first love was Lieu de Reves, quickly followed by Champagne de Bois and Wood Violet. Then my husband ordered Jour Ensoleille because we both fell hard for the sample – enclosed with the second,order – so much. I did also get a small spray of the Nostalgie, which may result in a fb. My latest samplings are Sienna Musc and Tabac Aurea, the latter having reached ”must-have fb” status in the last 24 hours. So I’m guessing if I dip into Forest Walk, I’ll be in trouble (or in love, as I see it)!! By the way, if you’ve sampled Tabac, don’t you think it’s a cousin of DK’s Chaos?
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I tried all SSS’s perfumes and I like most of them – either as perfumes to wear or at least as sleep scents. I cannot compare it to Chaos since I’m not familiar with that perfume.
Wood Violet and Sienna Musc are among my favorites as well. My main “complaint” with Laurie’s perfumes is that they are… too strong for me :) I constantly find myself wishing they were less concentrated.
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It’s always so fascintaing to hear about your life growing up in your home country. I could read a book about it. It’s so interesting to read how different your life was in comparison to mine. I was milk monitor at middle school which just meant getting in early and sorting out the milk allocation for each class. No polishing floors or taking out the garbage – we had it easy!
It’s great that Forest Walk brings back such a specific and pleasurable memory for you.
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Oh! We used to have milk duty as well. I liked it because I could drink any amount of milk I wanted (and I loved milk).
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