Beauty Care: TRNP The Path Perfume Review

TRNP The Path Eau de Parfum lived up to its description; it was indeed cool, dark, and earthy with lots of greenery in the beginning, some smokiness and depth from the vetiver, and then lots of woods. It was never that animalic or pungent, despite the inclusion of oud, so those who may be wary of oud shouldn’t fear. I find that the vetiver and fir/spruce are most visible initially, then cedar, labdanum, and sandalwood as it moved to the drydown.

The Path Notes

It is described as “an adventure story of contrary motion, set in a cool green land of ancient forests and earthly power.” The notes are listed as: “Fir Needle, Black Spruce, Elemi, Texas Cedarwood, Styrax absolute, Labdanum, Mysore Sandalwood, Haitian Vetiver and Vietnamese Oud.”

What does The Path Smell Like?

It opened with lush, dark greenery shrouded in vetiver with slightly lemony tones. There was a dark, smoky, and earthy quality even in the very first moments of the fragrance’s wear. Despite the darker quality to the feel of the notes, it was cooler, not quite crisp, but evening on a chilly day with very little wind, just a stillness that was cool and somber. It was woody and almost menthol-like at times with the fir and spruce facets strengthening and more distinctive after 20 minutes of development on my skin.

Over the first two hours, the vetiver became more subdued and less assertive, which allowed for the perfume to become slightly sweet and spiced, woodier, and smoother with cooler green-ish notes that were more blurred but still quite noticeable. The drydown appeared after six hours and was a smooth woody mix of cedar and sandalwood, with a little smokiness and sap-like sweetness.

Longevity

It lasted for four hours until it was a skin-scent and about 12 hours before it was quite difficult to detect on my skin. The sillage and projection were moderate with the sillage dropping faster than the projection within the first hour of wear.

Personal Notes

I am particular about the use of vetiver in fragrance due to how it translates on my skin, seemingly a little amplified, so this was a little too heavy on the vetiver for my preference!

These are more subjective feelings based on what I like (or don’t like) in a perfume as well as considering the fragrance against other perfumes I own and love.

Testing Methodology

For testing, I used 1/3 of a 0.7ml sample vial dabbed to the underside and topside of my wrist area. I used an unscented moisturizer prior to applying the scent as I found scent did not hold well here otherwise.

I purchased my sample in January 2022; fragrances are known to be reformulated over their lifetime, so be mindful of when a review was made, e.g. a review from 2010 may not reflect what the same-named perfume smells like in 2022.

Availability

The Path is available for $230/30ml.

If possible, I highly recommend trying a fragrance before purchasing a full bottle because fragrance can wear differently just because of skin chemistry. Skin chemistry can effect not just the longevity of a fragrance but also what notes are prominent or hidden.

The Path Samples

We recommend the following retailers for purchasing decanted samples (typically 0.7ml to 2ml in size). This is a fuller list, so individual availability may depend on inventory.