Let me start this review with the fact that I know exactly what the Kingston Ferry terminal smells like; I’m all too familiar with PNW ferries. And before I even heard about Olympic Orchids and many other indie perfume brands, I had fantasized about having a perfume that smelled like ferry terminals (and oddly I’ve always thought Dior Fahrenheit smells sort of like the Seattle Ferry terminal).
Kingston Ferry opens with something like motor oil and really dry woods. The flowers and plants in this fragrance are dry, bitter and herbal – astringent. The heart is dry woods, like cedar chips and dry evergreen needles. The scent eventually dries down to a smooth sandalwood and saline. The scent captures that openness yet isolation of the area. It smells rugged, slightly wild and uninhabited.
I’m not one of those people that really cares too much about authenticity (if something is good, it’s good even if it isn’t “authentic”) but let me tell you, Kingston Ferry smells like the Kingston Ferry Terminal. This may not be the ferries your familiar with or your coast, but man, this smells exactly like Kingston Ferry to me.
Notes listed include madrone, rhododendron, heather, flowers, cedar leaves and sea-weathered woods. Launch date 2010. PERFUMER – Elley Covey
Give Kingston Ferry a try if you like dry, woodsy scents. Or if you like perfumes like Juniper Ridge Siskiyou, L’Occitane Cade, Ayala Moriel Orcas and/or Maria Candida Gentile Finisterre.
Projection and longevity are above average.
The 1 oz bottle retails for $50 at Olympic Orchids. Samples are also available for purchase.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – Rural Washington ferries in summer – dry woods and salt. Smells like the place that it’s named after. I can’t complain 🙂
Want more reviews? Try…
Basenotes – Member reviews
*Sample purchased by me. Logo from Blackbird. Photograph is mine. It’s not the terminal. It’s Port Townsend, WA.
i WOULD laugh at this idea, except Ellen KNOWS the PNW… and is very talented. There is something very magical and definitely fun to ride the ferry system in the Seattle area… although i have been on the Vashon Ferry more than Kingston, but i think they all have a similar vibe. It’s a bit of old world nostalgia, of modern commutes (feel free to bring your car) and of avoiding those modern commutes altogether (bring your bike! catch a bus at the terminal.)
Also the scent of escapism- “let’s get out of the city for the weekend!”
a great review loaded with memories!!
I KNOW.
It’s almost absurd and seriously, it anyone else did it, it would have been a mess. But, she knows what’s up so it works.
Yeah, Vashon has a similar vibe, that remote “escape” vibe.
Ugh, I’m really going to miss the beauty of this area….
Hey Victoria,
I LOVE that you know what the Kingston Ferry should smell like and that you can verify for us. A fragrance I already really like just jolted ahead 10 places in the fave lineup.
Thanks for the Link-Love too.
Portia xx
Loved the APJ review!