Anat Fritz
Anat Fritz (2006)

Anat Fritz' original fragrance is indeed one hidden gem for anyone into minimalistic woody-aromatic compositions. It opens with an extremely vivid lavender accord, immediately joined by sharp-ish and rough woody notes. It stays quite linear for a while to then introduce a very dry patch-vetiver base enriched by a dollop of unsweetened sandalwood.

Masculine, dry, minimalistic but with a lot of presence. Simple and great.

Anat Fritz (original) opens on skin with a fresh breeze of aromatic wild lavender that soon joins a very sharp natural cedar and raw grassy vetiver in the heart to create the dominant overall accord that runs through its relatively linear development. The heart accord is dirtied slightly by the deft use of patchouli in the base coupling with just the faintest hint of relatively dry sandalwood, never calling attention to itself. Projection is quite strong and longevity is near equally outstanding.

After being completely wowed by the new Anat Fritz release, Tzora, I had to get my hands on a sample of this original release from the Anat Fritz house bearing her namesake (composed by Anat herself). Anat Fritz (original) has been pretty thoroughly either ignored (count myself a guilty party) or maligned by reviewers since its release years ago, but now having sampled it I am quite disappointed in myself for not giving this a sniff a lot earlier as it is a perfect fit for my preferences. I am 100% certain that to my nose the original version is masterpiece caliber stuff and unlike Tzora that is so skillfully restrained and remaining well in the mainstream, Anat Fritz (original) is rough, earthy, aromatic, powerful and distinctive. Both scents are near equally appealing but in polar opposite ways. I award extra points for Anat utilizing the lavender here (a note I generally dislike) in a way that it complements the sharp cedar perfectly by focusing on its aromatic qualities and spurning its powdery facets frequently featured by most. If I had one small gripe it would be that the only bottle available is a splash bottle. I guess in the grand scheme of things that is pretty unimportant, but it should at least be mentioned... The long and the short of it is Anat Fritz (original) is an outstanding "masculine" leaning release that will appeal to cedar,lavender and vetiver lovers who want to make a strong statement, earning an extremely strong "masterpiece" rating of 5 stars out of 5.

*Please note that the original version of the scent (that is reviewed here) has been re-worked in June 2012. The new version tones down the lavender focus, making the scent a more balanced earthy composition (source is Anat Fritz herself). I have not sniffed the new version as yet so I can only pass on how Anat describes it. Also of note: It appears pre-reworked bottles of Anat Fritz (original) are still on the market before inventory at certain locations switches over to the re-worked version (as I purchased my bottle in December 2012 at the sole US distributor and it was the pre-rework version still).

Edit 7/19/13: I have now tried the re-worked version of Anat Fritz called "Classical," and it does indeed tone down the aromatic lavender just as Anat indicated when I first wrote the review. That said, I don't really get more of an earthy feel to the re-worked fragrance, but rather more of a focus on the natural smelling cedar. The overall composition comes off as a bit more polished, but still keeps a lot of the untamed nature that I loved so much in the original formula the review is based on. I guess the most important question is does this re-work improve on the original? My feeling is it depends on what you are looking for... If you want an absolute rugged and wild edge to your compositions then the original is going to most likely appeal more to you... If you want a *bit* more refinement and less aromatics then the re-work should be more to your tastes. The main aspects of the original composition are still very much in-tact with the rework, and I personally love both efforts equally.

Excellent. Smells very grassy and a bit sharp and definitely masculine . I'd consider getting a bottle but not at the luckyscent price.

It is quite good. Smells more woody than grassy on me. There is a hint of freshness in it though. Reminds me of toned down Encre Noir which to me smells very harsh, too harsh. But here the harshness of vetiver and cedar is properly balanced by sandalwood which gives a very pleasant overall outcome. It is that type of wood scent that I constantly seek and so far have found only in Sequoia by CDG, freshly cut, sticky, resinous lumber. There is also a bit of lavender (i like lavender) and a hint (maybe an illusion) of smoke. Definitely unisex.

Someone had suggested this to me. At first I thought they were crazy. This is a highly grassy and herbal scent, a crystalline clear grass which is almost transparent that's a mixture of sharp lavender and patchouli. I honestly think this is unisex. Excellent sillage and potency. I don't like it enough to get a bottle for everyday wear but it's quite good.