Into the Green: Anjali Perfumes Iconic Island by Anjali Vandemark, 2024

I went in expecting coconuts. Iconic Island had other plans. Anjali Vandemark steers the Anjali Perfumes compass away from tropics and straight into a green cathedral, the kind where light filters through tall trees and the air tastes like chlorophyll. If you think “green” means polite, prepare to be corrected. This one is verdant with bite.

On my skin, the opening is all crushed leaves and sap, a vivid breath that feels like snapping a twig between your fingers. There is a quick sparkle that reads citrus-adjacent, not sweet, just enough lift to make the greenery feel alive. Two minutes later the temperature drops, and a cool tree-shade effect settles in, almost meditative. I kept thinking of the hush you get under evergreens, where the ground is soft, damp, and a little mossy.

The heart rides a clean woody line, airy rather than heavy, with a resinous thread that nudges, not nags. No syrup, no sticky florals, no coconut detour. Iconic Island keeps its promises with a modern green-and-wood accord that wears like a linen shirt you forgot to iron and decided you liked better that way. There is a faint peppery prickle on my wrist that I loved, the sort of detail you only notice after the first hour, when the pace slows and the composition shows its spine.

Drydown is serene, skin-close woods and a whisper of moss, an evergreen impression that lingers without turning forest-thick. Longevity on me was a workday and then some, sillage a steady arm’s length that never clobbered the room. I wore it to a morning edit session and, not kidding, it made me want to ditch my laptop and find a park bench.

This feels genderless, season-agnostic, and refreshingly un-perfume-y in the best way. If your nose craves green without the bitterness, woods without the weight, Anjali Perfumes Iconic Island is a smart 2024 pick. It reads confident and contemplative, like someone who hikes alone and never posts about it. Sample it when you need a reset, when your day wants oxygen, when the city feels too loud and you want your pulse to match the trees.