Hi there Crew, I was trawling Surrender To Chance recently and a name caught my attention. Midnight Birch by Dr Squatch. Come ON! What a name and what a house title. Obviously I read the name slightly wrong and it was MUCH naughtier but being fair the name still holds when PGd. So, of course, a 3ml decant jumped into my cart and made it all the way to checkout.

As the Northern Hemisphere heads towards Autumn I thought you might like something that works for the days heat and the cool of the evenings. This should fit the bill perfectly. Before you read further though. This is an affordable fragrance that sits around the US$60 mark. I don’t want you expecting it to smell like a Le Galion, Hermès or an Amouage. It’s not playing in that ballpark. What I will say though is that expensive doesn’t always equal good and affordable can smell very good. When looking at the scoreboard smelling good is the important bit, right?

Midnight Birch by Dr Squatch

Dr Squelch gives these featured accords:
Vanilla, Lavender, Cedarwood, Crisp Air, Fresh Cut Birch, Warm Musk, Amber

Alright, first spritz is a very lightly salted fresh breeze off the sea and into the forest. This is not a new genre of fragrance and it’s full of that generic scratchy amber woods. It smells like a mens gym locker room in the 1990s. I remember this scent so vividly. It’s kind of soapy and dark woodsy with a really clean water vibe. In South Korea the bathhouses still have a version of this scent.

The woods smell really pine like to me and then I started thinking about the Norsca deodorant a few of us used to wear. There are definitely some references in Midnight Birch.

Seriously old fashioned masculine. A real barbershop scent. I’d love to smell it on a woman. It would be SO subversive. Like a regular suited gent wearing Fracas or La Vie set Belle. In fact I’m going to give it to my goddaughter and see if she will rock it.

No, it doesn’t smell expensive, or luxurious. It smells clean, fresh and well cared for. Midnight Birch smells like someone wants to smell good in a traditional way, without fanfare or ceremony. The question is, would I choose it over the rest of my scents to wear? Probably not. I’m not a snob but this isn’t the way I want to smell. It would feel like I’m an imposter and that is not how I live.

Could it be for you?
Portia xx