Lost Tribe
ASH v3
The Story
ASH v3 is the current formula of Ash from Lost Tribe, the New York house Mathew Schmuelian started in 2022. The brand calls it a rare release for them, holding virtually no florals, and states the base carries a tincture of bakhoor from Sultan Qaboos.
Smoky
Charred wood and rising embers
The dry, charred scent of burning wood, smoldering incense, and lingering ash, sometimes tarry, sometimes wispy and gray. It feels brooding and atmospheric, conjuring a dying fire and a cool current of air carrying its last breath.
Woody
Dry grain of cut timber
The smell of cedar shavings, sandalwood, and dry vetiver roots, a sanded, resinous warmth with a faint pencil-box rasp. It feels grounded and composed, the quiet backbone that makes a scent read as serious and lasting.
Earthy
Damp soil after the rain
The mineral smell of wet ground, root vegetables pulled from the dirt, and beets turned over in a garden. Cool, raw, and faintly bitter, it grounds a fragrance with the dark, humid breath of the forest floor.
Fresh Spicy
Cool bite of cracked pepper
The crisp, tingling lift of pink pepper, cardamom, and ginger, peppery and almost effervescent rather than warm. It adds a bright, faceted sparkle and a clean prickle that feels modern, airy, and invigorating.
Balsamic
Warm resin and sweet amber
A warm, syrupy richness of tree resins and golden amber, soft and slightly sweet with a vanillic, almost honeyed glow. It feels enveloping and slow, settling into the skin like candlelight, comforting and faintly sacred.
Oud
Dark resinous wood with depth
A dense, resinous wood that smells warm and slightly medicinal, with a leathery, animal-tinged smokiness and a sweet, almost barnyard funk underneath. It feels ancient and brooding, wrapping the skin in something thick and quietly powerful.
Choya Ral
Sacred smoke curling from resin and embers
What it is
In perfumery, incense usually means olibanum, the oleo-gum-resin of Boswellia trees from Oman, Somalia and Ethiopia. The bark is slashed, weeps a milky exudate that hardens into amber tears, and these are steam-distilled to an essential oil or solvent-extracted to an absolute; blends often add labdanum and styrax.
How it smells
Cool, dry and resinous, with a sharp citrus-pine lift over smoky, peppery warmth. There is a clean church-air quality: balsamic, slightly soapy, faintly green. It opens bright and turpentine-fresh, then settles into a meditative, ashen-sweet woodiness that lingers close to the skin.
In perfumery
A heart-to-base material prized for its contemplative, smoky-resinous character. It cools florals, sharpens woods and lends ritual gravity to oriental and chypre accords. It defines the great church-incense scents and the cold, mineral incense of many a meditative niche composition.
Good to know
Frankincense was among antiquity's costliest imports, carried along ancient Arabian caravan routes to temples across the Mediterranean and beyond. Wild Boswellia stands are now threatened by over-tapping, grazing and climate stress, prompting growing interest in sustainable harvesting and tapping quotas.
Jack Pine
Resinous forest air, sharp and bracing
What it is
Pine in perfumery usually means the essential oil steam-distilled from the needles and young twigs of conifers in the Pinus genus, most often Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris, grown across Siberia, Scandinavia and the Balkans. The oil is rich in monoterpenes such as alpha-pinene drawn straight from the foliage.
How it smells
Fresh, dry and resinous with a green, balsamic coolness and a faint camphor-turpentine bite. The opening is bracing and outdoorsy, like cold forest air, sappy and slightly medicinal. As it fades it grows softer and sweeter, leaving a clean coniferous warmth rather than the initial sharpness.
In perfumery
A top note that delivers instant evergreen freshness and a rugged, open-air character. It anchors woody-forest accords, masculine fougeres and clean functional scents, pairing with lavender, cedar, fir and fresh musks. Its crisp coniferous lift defines the brisk alpine spirit of Pino Silvestre.
Good to know
The bracing scent of pine became shorthand for cleanliness in the twentieth century, when pine oil's natural disinfectant power made it the smell of scrubbed floors and household cleaners. That association still tugs at the nose, lending pine a paradoxical mix of wild forest and tidy hygiene.
Bergamot
Sparkling citrus light with a bittersweet edge
What it is
Bergamot is a small citrus fruit, Citrus bergamia, grown almost entirely along the Calabrian coast of southern Italy. The aromatic oil sits in glands in the rind of the unripe green-yellow fruit and is cold-pressed mechanically from the peel rather than distilled, preserving its fresh brightness.
How it smells
Bright, zesty and green, a sweet citrus sparkle softened by a floral, almost tea-like smoothness. Underneath runs a faintly bitter, balsamic warmth that sets it apart from lemon or orange. It flashes lively on opening, then fades quickly into a soft, slightly spicy hum.
In perfumery
The classic top note, bergamot adds freshness and lift while blending sharp citrus into the heart. It defines eau de cologne and the fougère family, harmonizing with lavender, neroli and oakmoss. It opens countless modern fresh-floral compositions, and its oil gives Earl Grey tea its scent.
Good to know
Natural bergamot oil contains bergapten, a furocoumarin that makes skin highly sensitive to sunlight and can cause burns. IFRA caps how much expressed bergamot oil a leave-on product may carry, so perfumers either dose within that limit or reach for a furocoumarin-free (FCF) grade.
Black Pepper
Dry heat that prickles and sharpens
What it is
The dried unripe berry of Piper nigrum, a tropical climbing vine grown in India, Vietnam, Indonesia and Madagascar. Green peppercorns are sun-dried until black and wrinkled, then steam-distilled to an essential oil; a cleaner, more diffusive material is obtained instead by CO2 extraction.
How it smells
Sharp, dry and warm-spicy with a crisp peppery bite that tingles the nose, wrapped in a fresh terpenic, woody-resinous tone and a faint citrus lift. The distilled oil reads bright and airy; the CO2 extract is rounder, warmer and closer to a freshly cracked peppercorn.
In perfumery
A top note adding lift, sparkle and a spicy snap to fresh, woody and fougere compositions, and a foil for rose, vetiver and amber in the heart. Some compositions build an entire scent around its dry, radiant crackle over cedar and woods.
Good to know
The prickly heat of whole pepper comes largely from piperine, a non-volatile compound that does not carry into the distilled oil, so black pepper essential oil smells aromatic but is not pungent on the tongue. Pepper was once so valued it served as currency and rent.
Brown Ambergris
Sea-aged whale gold breathing warm salt air
What it is
Ambergris is a waxy substance formed in the gut of the sperm whale, thought to coat the indigestible squid beaks it swallows. Produced by perhaps one percent of whales, it is expelled and drifts for years at sea, oxidizing under sun and salt before washing ashore as lumps.
How it smells
Fresh ambergris is fecal and marine; aged, it turns sweet, animalic and softly mineral. The scent is warm and skin-like, with tobacco, dry seaweed, old wood and a salty, faintly sweet musk. It reads less as a sharp odor than as warmth, diffusion and breath.
In perfumery
A prized base note and fixative, it lends warmth, diffusion and a luminous skin effect while slowing evaporation of lighter materials. Its bulk constituent is the near-odorless triterpene ambrein, whose oxidation products ambroxide and ambrinol carry the scent. Most fragrances now use synthetics like Ambroxan; rare real tinctures appear in bespoke work and vintage chypre and oriental compositions.
Good to know
Though salvageable in some countries, ambergris is illegal to collect, possess or sell in the United States, protected as a sperm-whale product under marine-mammal and endangered-species law; India bans possession and sale as well, while Australia restricts only its commercial import and export. Single boulder-sized finds have sold elsewhere for hundreds of thousands of dollars, earning the nickname floating gold.
Siam Wood
Smoldering rosewood from the arid Gran Chaco
What it is
Guaiac wood oil comes from Bulnesia sarmientoi, a slow-growing hardwood of the Gran Chaco across Paraguay, Argentina and Bolivia. Chipped heartwood and sawdust are steam-distilled into a pale amber, waxy oil that solidifies at room temperature and melts close to skin warmth.
How it smells
Warm, smoky and balsamic, like a smoldering ember rather than open flame. A soft, sweet woodiness carries a distinct tea-rose facet, with powdery, peppery and faintly tar-like nuances. It dries down rounded and quietly creamy, blurring the line between wood and gentle incense.
In perfumery
A base note valued as much for fixative power as for scent, extending and grounding a blend. It rounds rough woods and smoky leathers, pairing with rose, vetiver and tobacco. Its hushed smokiness threads through many modern niche woody and oud-style compositions.
Good to know
Bulnesia sarmientoi has been on CITES Appendix II since 2010, so logs, extracts and oil need permits as overharvesting threatens the species. Sold as Argentine lignum vitae, it is a substitute for true lignum vitae, the closely related Guaiacum genus listed by CITES decades earlier.
Cedar Wood
Dry pencil shavings and sun-warmed timber
What it is
An essential oil steam-distilled from the wood, shavings and sawdust of several conifers. Main sources are Virginia cedar and Texas cedar, both junipers, plus the true Atlas and Himalayan cedars of the Cedrus genus. The fragrant oil concentrates in the heartwood and sawmill byproduct.
How it smells
Dry, woody and warm, the archetype of freshly sharpened pencils and a cedar closet. Virginia cedar is pencil-like and balsamic; Atlas cedar is softer, sweeter, almost honeyed-resinous. Across types runs a clean, slightly smoky, faintly camphoraceous tone that dries to a smooth, sappy warmth.
In perfumery
A versatile heart-to-base note giving dry woody structure, lift and a backbone for other materials. It pairs with vetiver, sandalwood, rose, citrus and incense. Cedar shapes the smoky drydown of woody-floral builds and countless modern woody-amber bases.
Good to know
The cedar of pencils and storage chests is usually botanically a juniper, not a true Cedrus. Cedar-derived molecules like Cedramber and cedryl acetate run through a great many contemporary woody fragrances, alongside wholly synthetic woody-ambers such as Iso E Super, making cedarwood one of perfumery's most quietly ubiquitous building blocks.
Yakusugi Wood
A made-up wood that smells of warm skin
What it is
A fantasy note with no botanical source: no cashmere tree exists. The scent is the synthetic molecule Cashmeran, chemically DPMI, made around 1970 by John Hall at IFF. It is a polycyclic ketone built entirely through laboratory chemistry, a solid melting near room temperature.
How it smells
Soft, diffusive and warm, sitting between woody and musky. Dry blond wood and clean white musk are wrapped in spicy, balsamic, faintly vanillic warmth, with an old-paper and pine-resin edge. In trace amounts it reads salty and abstract, like sun-warmed skin.
In perfumery
A workhorse base note prized for radiance and long wear, lending a velvety wool-like haze that smooths sharp edges and stretches a composition. It pairs with amber, iris, rose and white musks, and anchors Donna Karan Black Cashmere alongside countless modern woody-musk scents.
Good to know
Brands often dress Cashmeran up as Cashmere Wood, Cashmere Musk or Blond Woods on note pyramids to sound natural, though no such plant exists. It is so self-sufficient that perfumers use it as a near-finished accord alone, blurring the line between molecule and material.
Lavender
Cool herbal blue from a sunlit hillside
What it is
Lavender is a woody Mediterranean shrub in the mint family, mainly Lavandula angustifolia, grown across Provence and Bulgaria. The flowering tops are cut at peak bloom and steam-distilled, the purple spikes yielding a pale essential oil; solvent extraction of the flowers gives a darker, richer absolute.
How it smells
Clean, herbal and aromatic, with a cool camphor lift over soft floral sweetness. The opening is sharp, green, almost minty; the dry-down warms into hay, faint vanilla and a powdery, slightly fruity calm. True angustifolia smells rounder and sweeter than the harsher lavandin hybrid.
In perfumery
A top-to-heart note and the backbone of the fougere family, pairing with oakmoss, coumarin and tonka in barbershop accords. It also softens citrus colognes and bright florals. It anchors the great pioneering aromatic fougeres and countless aromatic masculine scents.
Good to know
Provence lavender fields draw millions of visitors, yet much commercial oil is actually lavandin, a sterile hybrid yielding far more per hectare. A spreading bacterial disease, phytoplasma decline spread by sap-sucking planthoppers, has pushed true angustifolia plantings higher into cooler mountain altitudes.
Nootka
Dry evergreen breath of the Mediterranean coast
What it is
Cypress oil comes from Cupressus sempervirens, the columnar Mediterranean evergreen lining hills from Italy to the Levant. Fresh needles, twigs and small branches are steam-distilled, ideally in autumn when oil content peaks, yielding a pale yellow to greenish oil at roughly one percent of the plant weight.
How it smells
It opens crisp and terpenic, brighter and drier than pine, with a faint camphor edge. The heart turns clean and woody-green, less sweet than cedar, threaded with a smoky-mineral coolness. The drydown settles into resinous, slightly herbaceous wood, airy rather than heavy.
In perfumery
A top-to-heart modifier prized for dry structure and lift. It sharpens citrus openings, builds coniferous and fougere accords, and lends austere backbone to chypres and aldehydic florals. Some woody compositions place it front and center, and it threads through many incense and forest compositions.
Good to know
Across the Mediterranean and Persia the tall, slender cypress has long symbolized mourning and eternity, planted in cemeteries because its rot-resistant wood seemed to outlast death. Ancient Egyptians carved that durable timber into sarcophagi, and the scent still reads as solemn and meditative.
Merauke Oud
Wild green oud from the last frontier
What it is
Oud distilled from wild Gyrinops and Aquilaria filaria trees in the rainforests of Papua and West New Guinea, a region only tapped for agarwood since the late 1990s. Its dense, lignin-heavy heartwood demands long water soaks and high-temperature steam distillation to surrender its oil.
How it smells
Raw, green and untamed, among the most feral of regional ouds. A wet, after-rain mud and forest-floor opening gives way to fermented herbal funk, mushroom, dark coffee and cacao, with vaporous, almost metallic edges. Less sweet than Cambodian, less fecal than Hindi, but vivid and primal.
In perfumery
A connoisseur material distilled in tiny batches by artisanal oud houses, rather than used in commercial scent. Storied single-origin distillations from densely resinated Gyrinops are near-mythic among oud-heads for their green, tart, wild character.
Good to know
Papua agarwood comes from a young, tightly quota-managed supply, with oil yields often a fraction of a percent, which is why genuine distillate is scarce and costly. Aquilaria and Gyrinops are CITES-listed. Anything labeled Papua oud in an affordable mass fragrance is a synthetic accord, never the real oil.
Vetiver
Cool damp earth pulled from tangled roots
What it is
Vetiver is a tall tropical bunchgrass, Chrysopogon zizanioides, native to India and now grown mainly in Haiti and Java; Réunion's famed Bourbon oil has become scarce. The prized part is its dense network of fibrous underground roots, which are dug up, washed, dried, and steam-distilled into a thick amber-brown essential oil.
How it smells
Cool, damp earth and freshly cut grass over a woody, rooty base. Haitian oil reads smooth, bright, and faintly hazelnut-sweet; Java leans darker, smokier and more leathery. Beneath sit dry cedar, grapefruit-like bitterness, and a persistent green minerality that lingers for hours as it dries down.
In perfumery
A base note valued for tenacity, grounding earthiness, and natural fixative power. It anchors chypres and fougères, pairing with citrus, leather, and tobacco. Many vetiver soliflores are built around it, while its smokier, ashier side is showcased beside cypress and cedar.
Good to know
Haiti supplies roughly half the world's vetiver oil, most of it grown by smallholder farmers. The same deep roots that perfume a bottle are planted on hillsides worldwide as living barriers, gripping soil against erosion and stabilizing slopes where little else will hold.
Frankincense
Sacred smoke distilled from desert tree tears
What it is
Frankincense, or olibanum, is the dried gum resin of Boswellia trees, with Boswellia sacra of Oman, Yemen and Somalia among the most prized. The bark is scored and weeps a milky sap that hardens over weeks into golden tears, later steam-distilled or solvent-extracted for perfumery.
How it smells
Fresh, resinous and luminous, with a clean coniferous-citrus brightness from alpha-pinene and limonene over a dry, balsamic woody base. It carries a cool, peppery, almost lemony lift, then settles into the warm, dusty incense smoke familiar from churches and temples.
In perfumery
Used in heart and base, it adds a meditative, smoky resinous spine and a soaring transparency. It pairs with myrrh, rose, oud and labdanum, and lifts heavy oriental accords. It centers many incense-built compositions and defines the cathedral-incense theme.
Good to know
Frankincense has been traded for thousands of years and once moved along Arabian incense routes as one of antiquity's costliest imports. Wild Boswellia populations are now declining from over-tapping, drought and grazing, raising real concern over the long-term sustainability of the harvest.
Mitti Attar
First rain hitting hot dust and stone
What it is
Petrichor is not a material but a smell with a name: the scent of rain falling on dry ground. Australian scientists Isabel Joy Bear and Richard Thomas coined the word in Nature in 1964, tracing it to plant oils that collect on clay and stone through a dry spell. Perfumers rebuild it from synthetics.
How it smells
Damp and earthy, with the green sweetness of soil turned over and a cool wet-stone edge behind it. There is a mushroomy, almost beetroot depth from geosmin, a faint metallic tang like warm tarmac catching the first drops, and a clean ozonic lift over the top.
In perfumery
A top and heart effect that gives a composition weather and place. It softens mineral and aquatic accords, gives vetiver and patchouli somewhere to sit, and turns a dry woody structure damp. Used heavily it can read as cellar or mushroom, so most perfumers keep it to a trace.
Good to know
The word joins the Greek petra, stone, to ichor, the fluid said to run in the veins of the gods. High-speed imaging at MIT in 2015 showed why the smell travels: a drop landing on porous ground traps a bubble of air that fizzes upward, flinging scent-carrying aerosols into the breeze.
Bakhoor Sultan
Sacred smoke curling from resin and embers
What it is
In perfumery, incense usually means olibanum, the oleo-gum-resin of Boswellia trees from Oman, Somalia and Ethiopia. The bark is slashed, weeps a milky exudate that hardens into amber tears, and these are steam-distilled to an essential oil or solvent-extracted to an absolute; blends often add labdanum and styrax.
How it smells
Cool, dry and resinous, with a sharp citrus-pine lift over smoky, peppery warmth. There is a clean church-air quality: balsamic, slightly soapy, faintly green. It opens bright and turpentine-fresh, then settles into a meditative, ashen-sweet woodiness that lingers close to the skin.
In perfumery
A heart-to-base material prized for its contemplative, smoky-resinous character. It cools florals, sharpens woods and lends ritual gravity to oriental and chypre accords. It defines the great church-incense scents and the cold, mineral incense of many a meditative niche composition.
Good to know
Frankincense was among antiquity's costliest imports, carried along ancient Arabian caravan routes to temples across the Mediterranean and beyond. Wild Boswellia stands are now threatened by over-tapping, grazing and climate stress, prompting growing interest in sustainable harvesting and tapping quotas.
Indonesian Sandalwood
Soft creamy wood with a spiced edge
What it is
Sandalwood from Santalum album grown in eastern Indonesia, chiefly the islands of Timor and Sumba, hence the trade name Timor sandalwood. The fragrance lives in the heartwood and roots of the slow-growing semi-parasitic tree, which are ground and steam- or water-distilled into a pale viscous oil.
How it smells
Soft, creamy and milky-woody, warm and balsamic with a faint sour-green and spicy edge. Indonesian oil runs drier and slightly sharper than the legendary Mysore Indian type, yet shares the same smooth, lasting, buttery sandalwood heart that seems to build on skin rather than fade.
In perfumery
A foundational base note and fixative valued for radiance and a velvety finish that smooths sharp materials. It pairs with rose, jasmine, oud, vanilla and spices. The wood carries oriental and woody-floral structures and underpins many sandalwood-forward classics.
Good to know
As Indian Mysore sandalwood became scarce and export-restricted, Indonesian and Australian Santalum album sources rose to fill demand. The species is identical to Mysore, so origin, soil and tree age, rather than botany, account for the prized differences in oil quality between regions.
Fragrance Character
Black pepper and jack pine open sharp and resinous, with smoke arriving almost immediately over a thin thread of bergamot. The woods that follow are dry rather than creamy, cedar and Yakusugi against a cool lavender. It settles slowly onto vetiver, frankincense and damp mitti earth, with sandalwood showing late on warm skin. Reactions to it divide sharply.
Longevity
how long it stays on skin
This gauge reads the expected wear time, how many hours the fragrance keeps speaking on skin before it fades. A marker near the low end means a few fleeting hours, while a marker pushed to the far end promises a scent still present from morning into night.
Sillage
the size of its scent trail
This reads how far the fragrance reaches beyond you and the trail it leaves behind. Low sits soft against the skin, an intimate whisper noticed only up close; high climbs through moderate and strong toward enormous, filling a room and lingering in the air after you have left it.
Experimental
For the bold and curious
Unconventional, boundary-pushing scents for someone who wants to provoke a reaction and stand apart. Suited to artistic, challenging compositions: inky tar, rubber, fermented fruit, metallic or animalic facets that defy easy liking. On this wheel a glowing coin means it rewards the adventurous nose, a dim one means it plays things safe.
Office
Polished but never overpowering
Close-quarters professional settings where a scent should be noticed only by those near you. Suited to restrained, clean compositions with modest projection: tidy citrus, soft musk, pale woods that read competent and considerate. On this wheel a glowing coin means it works in shared workspaces, a dim one means it carries too far.
Evening
After dark, turned up
Dinners, drinks, and nights out when a fragrance can deepen and project with confidence. Suited to richer, warmer compositions: ambers, resins, smoky woods, or plush florals that bloom under low light. On this wheel a glowing coin means the scent comes alive after sundown, a dim one means it stays better suited to daytime.
Romantic
Close enough to be felt
Intimate moments and date nights meant to draw someone nearer. Suited to warm, sensual compositions that hum against skin: creamy florals, vanilla, soft musk, a touch of spice or amber that invites closeness. On this wheel a glowing coin means it sets an alluring mood, a dim one means it leans more practical than seductive.
Formal
Refined for the occasion that matters
Weddings, ceremonies, galas, and dressed-up affairs that call for composure and elegance. Suited to polished, structured scents with quiet authority: smooth woods, refined florals, soft leather, nothing loud or playful. On this wheel a glowing coin means it carries the right gravitas, a dim one means it feels too casual for the room.
Casual
Easy comfort for unhurried days
Everyday wear with no agenda: errands, coffee, friends, a slow weekend. Suited to soft, approachable scents that feel clean and natural, like fresh citrus, light woods, or a gentle skin warmth. On this wheel a glowing coin means the fragrance fits these laid-back moments, a dim one means it asks for more.
Day to Night
where its mood naturally falls
This slider reads the hour the fragrance was made for. A marker to the left leans luminous and bright, easy in daylight and open air; slide it right and the character turns deeper and warmer, the kind of presence that belongs to evening and candlelit rooms.
Winter
Warmth that carries through cold air
Cold air mutes and slows a fragrance, so winter rewards the dense and the warm: resins, smoke, vanilla, leather, and ambered spice that radiate heat against the chill. The bar shows how strongly this particular scent holds up and glows in cold weather.
Spring
Fresh blooms in mild, rising warmth
Mild, humid air lifts lighter compositions beautifully, so spring favors dewy florals, green stems, soft powder, and transparent citrus that feel alive rather than heavy. The bar shows how well this particular scent matches that fresh, gently warming season.
Summer
Bright and airy in real heat
Heat amplifies and projects scent hard, so summer calls for cool, crisp, breathable things: sharp citrus, salty marine air, aromatic herbs, and watery freshness that refresh instead of cloy. The bar shows how comfortably this particular scent wears in real warmth.
Fall
Spiced warmth for cooling days
As temperatures drop, richer materials read clearly without smothering, so autumn suits dry woods, warm spice, tobacco, amber, and golden fruit that feel cozy and contemplative. The bar shows how naturally this particular scent settles into crisp, cooling days.
Best Worn
Cold months and open air suit it best, afternoon into evening, worn casually rather than to close quarters. For people who already know they like smoke, dry wood and pepper.
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The Vibe
The Nose
Mathew Schmuelian
In-house perfumer
Self-taught founder and perfumer of Lost Tribe, who moved from collecting artisanal naturals to macerating his own musks in 2022; his first release, Hope You Like It, ran to about sixteen bottles. He composed Lost Tribe Sultry Sambac, Lost Tribe Smoky Bear and Lost Tribe Prince of Persia.
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The Maison
Lost Tribe
Small tribe, real musk, no compromises, poured while stock of the originals lasts.
Lost Tribe makes fragrance that feels lived in and loud, the kind that arrives before you do and lingers after you leave. There is a maximalist streak running through the whole house, from sun drunk tropical fruit to resin thick vanilla to rare oud built on aged Kinam.
- Known for
- Maximalist naturals, aged Kinam
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