Cathedral

[BorealBacchante]

Got this one as a frimp, and I’m very glad I did. It’s the kind of thing I’d eventually want to test anyway...but I am over the moon that I really do love it and not just the idea of it. I’ve never been in a church that burns incense! (I’ve hardly been in a church at all since I was in the single digits of age, and those were punishingly Calvinist, so...) 
 

In the imp I get earth and intense cedar. 
Wet, mostly cedar but the incense is now wafting and warming everything up.

Recently dry, I get a creamy vanilla smell. I see others mentioning plastic or tobacco. I could see why but I haven’t found a perfect comparison yet. This phase is very vanilla to me and creamy. Suddenly smells like the 1980’s rather than a timeless cathedral, but the cathedral is still there. Perhaps it makes me think of purity, youth, a ruffle of lace? Communion dress? My own intensely frilly Christmas service dress? An unbelievably airy Shetland lace shawl...something like that, in this cathedral. 
Much later it again smells old and austere, something lovingly tucked away in a box of made of a wood I don’t know the name of. 
 

Lives up to description, but is much more multifaceted and interesting that non-BPAL “church incense” frags I’ve tried. Because this is more of a scent (that you might pick up or have an article smell like through use or storage) than a perfume (intended to be worn by a person) this is exactly the kind of thing I like to wear. It doesn’t scream “perfume” when people smell it, but it does smell like something real. I love that.
 

A bottle for me, I think. 

Edited September 15, 2020 by BorealBacchante

[fairybites]

Weirdly, when wet it resembled dirt. Now about an hour after drying I'm getting the rotting wood and incense. It's not the worst smelling wood blend I've tried, I can be picky with wood notes, but it's just not heavy enough on the incense for my taste. Does match the ancient church description really well though, so I'll give it that!

[Luna Fatale]

In the Imp: Sweet resins

 

On the Skin: Just like sweet fancy rocks of incense that would be placed in a censer. Reminds me of the Copal I buy for my magickal workings. 💕 It starts as a clean scent. I don't smell smoke in this. After a bit of drying down, I smell some polished wood. I like it but wish some smokiness was apparent (maybe if I layer it over a smokey CocoaPink body butter it will do it for me!)

 

After awhile, some smoke comes through. Oh, I love that! Now I'm convinced I'd want a full bottle. 🖤 This seems like it would be a great room scent as well.

[wordortwo]

When I first received this imp, I was expecting the smoky mid-mass Catholic Church incense I remember from childhood. This is not that. It is incense, but it is not smoldering. Perhaps that is what's meant by "pure resins." It also smells a bit like worn, polished woods, and a bit of pine sap peeks through (perhaps that is frankincense). Polished and murky at the same time. I find it quite dry, which I like.

 

ETA: There is also a musty-woody quality, maybe cedar, which I actually really like. Gives it a big nostalgic atmospheric vibes. To sum up... Clean incense smoke, chewy resins, once-polished pews worn by warm bodies.

Edited November 24, 2023 by wordortwo
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[Lecter]

Incense! Wood, cedar? Frankincense for sure. I did enjoy this scent but not enough to keep it.