Goldfield & Banks: Silky Woods
Goldfield & Banks has a reputation for fragrances inspired by the natural beauty of Australia’s rice landscapes, and Silky Woods captures this well. It is a beautifully blended composition, a refined take on woodsy vanilla. As its name suggests, the fragrance is smooth, flowing, and well balanced, an elegant interpretation of vanilla with a delicate suede accent.
Wearing Silky Woods is like sipping a lightly spiced vanilla chai in a quiet, café. Smooth, comforting, and familiar, yet just enough depth to keep you intrigued. The vanilla wraps around you like warmth from the cup, while the woody undertones add a soft elegance.
The Notes:
Top notes: Cinnamon
Heart notes: Suede, Oud, Jasmine, Ylang-Ylang
Base notes: Vanilla, Musk, Sandalwood, Tobacco
The Scent
★★★★★ (5/5)
From its opening Silky Woods presents as luxurious and well-crafted.. The vanilla is immediately prominent, rich, creamy, and slightly resinous but never cloying or overtly sweet. Instead, it maintains a sophisticated warmth, bolstered by the gentle presence of the woods and a subtle, suede-like softness.
This is not a “typical” vanilla scent, though it carries the hallmarks of the note, warmth, sweetness, and depth it feels elevated and nuanced. The woody elements provide a grounding effect, ensuring that Silky Woods never veers into the overly gourmand territory, despite a slightly dessert-like drydown.
As it settles, Silky Woods retains a level of restraint that sets it apart from overtly edible vanillas. The light suede note adds an interesting texture to the composition just enough to give it a velvety, skin-like feel, rather than an outright leather accord. It is warm and enveloping, the woods are refined and subtle, keeping the vanilla its centre.
Performance
★★★★☆ (3.5/5)
Given this is a perfume concentrate performance is its most limiting factor. I found it lasted a circa 3 hours on my skin before and after that the dry down was no longer distinguishable on my skin.
Silky Woods is fairly versatile, though with some seasonal limitations. Given its warmth and density, it feels most at home in autumn and winter. On cooler spring days, it can still work, though as I wore it on a warmer (by. UK standards) early spring afternoon, it felt a little out of sync with the season. In hot weather, vanilla can become a bit oppressive on my skin, and I suspect that would be the case here, though some might be able to pull it off year-round.
In terms of gender, Silky Woods leans feminine, at least in my experience, though I can see it wearing differently on others depending on skin chemistry. The balance of smooth woods and creamy vanilla doesn’t scream overt femininity, but there’s a softness here that might make it feel more traditionally aligned with feminine-leaning preferences. Of course I refer here to perfume traditions relating to fragrance - if you like it you wear it.
Price
★★★★☆ (4/5)
For a composition so well crafted, it is a well-priced fragrance. It is by no means inexpensive but in the UK for 100ml this retails at circa £150 - £180, in Europe around €200 - €220 and $220 - $250 in the US. I believe it is around $300 AUS.
Final thoughts
Goldfield & Banks have done an excellent job with Silky Woods the craftsmanship is evident, and the blending is seamless. It is a well-thought-out, beautifully executed fragrance that could easily become a signature scent if you’re fond of this profile.
However, in a crowded field of vanilla-forward fragrances, it doesn’t quite differentiate itself enough for me to justify adding another scent in this profile to my collection. While undeniably gorgeous, it ultimately doesn’t work with my skin chemistry in a way that feels distinct enough from other woodsy vanillas that I own. That said if I’d got to this one first…
Still, this is a solid, elegant, and well-made fragrance that speaks to the quality of the house..
