Larmes du Désert

Sharp, clean, spare, ascetic aromatic that's much lighter and airier than many incense-resin scents. If you stumbled into a thicket of thorny scrubby desert bushes, flailed around a little with a stick till the sap flowed, then set fire to a few twigs, this is the sort of smell you'd make. For sniffers accustomed to more spice-rich, rounded, luxey fragrances in its class, then, this one might seem a bit too austere, maybe even thin, maybe even a little harsh. There's no gentle cinnamon warmth or peppery poke to shade in more shadows among the desert dunes here: Larmes du Desert is pure, minimal, deeply fragrant resins and not much else. Not gentle golden-mellow resins either: the very herbal, almost-bitter poke of cypress is leading the charge, with sweeter benzoin far off in the distance, making the fragrance even sharper and sparer overall. All that adds up to an unusually dry and restrained scent with plenty of imaginary breezy 'empty space' in the middle - this, like Wazamba, is one of the few woody-incenses you could easily wear no matter how high the heat or humidity. It has the kind of nearly medicinal, clean, almost antiseptic/cleansing character which doesn't cloy even when you're sweating up a tropical storm in the armpit zone yourself. I (a woman) find it perfectly wearable but it's definitely on the butcher side of unisex. Those who want their orientals sweet and luxurious probably won't like this; it's a spartan dry hike through the dunes of the Empty Quarter, not a five-star stay in the Burj al Dubai*. Sillage is big for the first half hour, then shrinks really dramatically - so much so I thought it had disappeared altogether after no more than 3hrs and was getting ready to rage about poor performance for the price. However - it does cling on and projects longer & stronger on fabric than skin, and in fact it's still there, pumping out occasional wafts on the breeze, up to 6-8h on me. In my view massively overpriced at full retail, but a truly beautiful scent absolutely worth scooping up if you get a good discount / swap / deal elsewhere. For me, a risky blind buy which paid off big-time. (* regardless of the flashy gold flakes in the juice! A fun gimmick but nothing more, imho. Box and presentation very beautiful, though, I'll give them that. )

"Larmes du Désert" is a dry, woody, resinous, and balsamic fragrance. All the amber, resins, and incense all make a fantastic warming and calming scent, that feels and smells great. I get the cypress in the opening, as a sharp green contrast to all the dark and dense notes. It keeps the heaviest part of the fragrance lively. I get a licorice note in the background, but not at all prominent. It has very little sweetness to it. This as all about the balsamic and resinous notes, backed up with the dry wood and cypress. Although it's got a syrupy-like amber note, it's not a sweet amber. Along with the resins, the amber makes the scent alluring and addicting. There is No citruses here. There is a slight sharpness from the cypress, but no citrus. It wouldn't make sense to put citrus in this either. A date or dried fruit note would make sense if you wanted that style of fragrance. But no citrus. Towards the dry-down, the woods starts to dominate more and more. But still balsamic, ambery, and resinous underneath. The bottle is gorgeous. I could do without the gold flakes. But it's not a negative. I do wish it projected slightly more (but not a lot more). It's not a fragrance i would want to be "beast mode", but a moderate+ projection would have been nice. Longevity is not a problem. These are all long lasting ingredients. Personal score: 9.5/10. I love it, and i've worn it a lot lately. It's intoxicating and alluring in it's way. At first sniff, i didn't like this fragrance much. It's not at all sweet, and very balsamic. But, i gave it a wear. And as the day went on i quickly came around, and now i've worn it 4 out of the last 5 days. Happy to own a bottle, and i will buy it again if i ever run out.

With a couple of sprays on a warmish day, this seems an incomplete fragrance to my nose - although performance is pretty good. There is a farmyard (not fecal) note which I don't personally pick-up, but those around me do. I guess it is the patchouli blending in with the woods and amber creating this. I then tried four sprays on a different, cooler occasion, and the fragrance simply came to life. I could pick up the dry resinous notes immediately, and there was a sweetness in the drydown that really brought the whole fragrance together. My daughter could still smell a bit of the farmyard, but she too picked up on the sweet note, and overall she found it really pleasant. This certainly is a fragrance that is driven by skin chemistry and the outside temperature. It is also one that needs a number of wearings to fully appreciate, and the wearer will need to experiment with different spray amounts to find what is right for them. The presentation is lovely, though I feel that Atelier des Ors needs to pay attention to the overall quality of their bottles. I now have five of their fragrances, and while they all look fabulous with their bottle design and gold leaf "snow globe" effect, the bottom of two of my bottles aren't completely flat. Sure, they still stand up and can be displayed, but when you're buying into the image quality of these fragrances, you expect more attention to detail.

This fragrance is phenomenal, as is this house. I bought my first a few days ago, this is mt second purchase from the house out of 4 in total, all purchased in one week. This is pretty unique and the complete Drydown is nothing like the opening or the mid, they are completely different animals, all of them amazingly gorgeous. It plays indeed on the light and dark, and over 3-4 episodes, which lasts as long as 18-24 hours. Incense and smokey, with the cypress up top, and ends up with an Ambery,smokey and Patchouli long Drydown. Glorious. I'd wear it anytime anyway, and aI'd say more masculine than feminine, highly recommended, might be a little unsafe as a blind buy if at RRP, even discounted might be risky, but well worth it :). The longer deep Drydown is my favourite and well worth the wait. Recommended and not to pass up on, God bless. UPDATE: after about a month of wearing this 3 others from their offering, I find that their projection to start off with is quiete acceptable, then gradually goes down to a skin scent pretty quick, but the skin scent/bubble does last a good 8-12 hours, not sure if it's my skin chemistry or something in their DNA, none the less, apart from Lune Feline I got them all about 50% discounted so that removed the longevity being an issue Vs Pricepoint. Just thought I'd add this for future buyers :)

Strong/enormous votes on projection are simply wrong. It's intimate projector, period (unless you overspray it). Scent itself is great (fantastic resinous, woody incense scent), but I'm underwhelmed because I can't smell it at all on me. //Edit 26.05.23: So I picked up half of a bottle in good price and will see if I will want to keep it or not, because despite intimate sillage I still like this scent a lot. //Edit 27.05.23: After two global wearings when I oversprayed it (8-10 sprays) I finally got reasonable performance; longevity will be around 5-6h in my case and and I can catch occasional whiffs which are delightful. I guess when you really like the scent itself you have to life with it! //Edit 28.06.23: Oh, what an irony - it became my favourite incense scent and I got rid of f.e. Encens Suave (new batches suck) and Tiger's Nest (not my cup of tea). It also looks I don't have to overspray to have great wearing experience. I must say that black collection from Atelier des Ors is something I appreciate overall (got Cuir Sacre and will get Bois Sikar too). //Edit 23.11.23: If you like Larmes du Desert I advice you to try Autumn in Lhoka hima jomo - fantastic incense and birch tar (don't be scared) and much more. Quite different take on incense and probably will be my new favourite one after just two global wearings.

Atelier des Ors Larmes du Desert is a 2015 release my very first try from this house, and it’s instantly a sweet, resinous, slightly spicy and even seemingly slightly fruity mix that’s both fun and a bit intriguing. The resinous quality leans toward incense, albeit not heavily smoky, with some contribution from guaiac wood, and some punchy, spicy bits from cypress and patchouli, but I feel like I’m missing something sweet in the mix, or perhaps the benzoin is just that sweet in this case. It’s an easy winner for fans of resinous fragrances, especially those that like their fragrances to lean more toward incense or sweet instead of animalic. It’s not at all an animalic amber, in my opinion, even if there are spicier and woodier aspects of it, and in total, it’s decently sweet on my skin, which I love. It performs reasonably well, albeit slightly less than I would’ve expected, given the prominence of resins in the description and note breakdown, but surely still satisfactory. It comes in EDP concentration and is sold at $275 for 100ml at Luckyscent. Overall, I love it, and would love to have a bottle. 8 out of 10

Grabbed a decant, spritzed and "holy grail time!" I've got bottles of TF Sahara Noir, Guerlain's Ensense, Andy Tauer, Heeley, and I've tried a few others--but this just hits the spot. I looked at my decant and thought, "full bottle." This has the acrid "churchy" smoke that I love, with a bit of...not sweetness exactly, but some kind of counter to the bitter-acrid-smoke coming through, most likely the amber, and an "oudh" feel that sexes it up (I find incense sexy). It's just a pure incense, neither cold, nor too warming with amber (sometimes skewing vanilla)--this is just right. I love it. I'm also enjoying the cedar (one of my favorite scents when done right) and very slight patch. This is unisex, and as a woman, it works with my skin, but some may find it a bit more masculine, but it depends on your style, your chemistry. I am on my way to search out a bottle. Incense fans really need to try this--I know so many of us are on that quest for "The One"--and, well, this is the one "Right Now."

Beautiful ambery incensy oriental. The presentation is ultra luxorious and pleasure to look at. Atelier des Ors bottles are real gem and the golden flakes may sound just as a snoby gimmick (which they are), but in combination with the golden color of the juice it feels like a magic potion. The smell itself is high quality amber with piny incense (not smoky, more like unlit luban). It reminds me a lot Amouage's Jubilation XXV. I only wish projection and duration was a bit amped up, but Amouage suffers of the same drawback, perhaps it is not easy to make this type of perfume a beast mode frag. There are no challenging notes, very crowd pleasing, expensive smelling and well blended high quality oriental is what you get. The price tag is high, but if you are a fan of incense orientals, you wear things like LADDM or Amouage, you cannot go wrong with this royal jewel.

A real winner for me it mixes some of my favorite sets of notes in sweet resins, green fir notes and incense. This one is kind of like Tom Ford Vert D'Encens but far less dark and has a warmer and tiny bit sweet much more "open" kind of smell. If it was music the Tom Ford would be a deep thumping bass track, whereas this is more dynamic and brightly toned. It is different than something like CdG Zagorsk and Kyoto too which have this cypress and incense type of mix, by nature of its heavy use of sweet resins. Recommended for anyone that loves forest scents. This is poorly named imho, unless the "tears"/Larmes are trees on the edge the desert (I dunno what the thinking is here) or perhaps the resins are the tears that drop from trees and resins invoke the sahara? Anyway, presentation is rather stunning but the juice is the star here. Beautiful fragrance.

#1354 in my "Tour de Fragrance" I'm a fan of Atelier des Ors. Greats scents. I got this for a girlfriend a couple of years ago and she loved it. Smells amazing on her so finally got a bottle for myself. It immediately puts me in mind of Aesop's "HWYL", Comme de Garcons "Wonderwood", and the very strong patchouli note conjures Nobile 1942 "Patchouli Nobile." I'd add in Franck Boclet "Ashes" except for the strong clove note in that one. You gotta be cray-cray not to love any of these scents. This one is long lasting, moderate projecting. Smells better on the skin that on the test paper. Unisex and sexy. Works in any setting, any weather.

After my first spray of this, I instantly loved it, but I also really like incense and resins. I wasn't expecting it to be SO incensey, which isn't a bad thing, but that's definitely dominant over the cypress and woods for me. There's a subtle warmth and earthiness under it that keeps the incense from being too shrill (though definitely give it a few minutes to calm down after spraying). It seems like it would project a lot, seems like it would last, but I haven't worn it around. On a side note, something not being your taste doesn't make it trash. It's okay to just say "I didn't like it," without being insulting.

This is stunning and like nothing else that I have ever smelled. Miles from any scent at the department store. The moment I put some of my sample on the test strip I said, "Oh my god" and started searching for a bottle online. On my skin, however, this becomes quite masculine. The cyprus and incense, though beautiful, are just not feminine enough for my tastes (though I tend to go for quite powdery unisex scents, so YMMV). The vibe is decidedly Middle Eastern and quite timeless. I can imagine three generations of tall, dark, and handsome men wearing this quite happily.

This is absolutely delicious. Warm and spicy, full of baking smells and spices. Will give a lift to your nose - and your mood. The incense adds a touch of ceremony to the cozy, just baked, carrot cake of the background smell. It had me reaching for an Espresso to drink with it. As it dries becomes a bit more flakes of newly broken cinnamon sticks, less baked good, and ends in a warm woody smell. Projection is strong for first 40 minutes or so and it sits as a skin scent on me for 6 or more hours. Totally gorgeous - on my Christmas list.

This is defiantly a unique smell guys. Very smoky and warm resinous scent. I feel it's something a luxurious gentleman would wear somewhere over seas. It's got a certain vibe to it. I will be including this in a giveaway lot on my YouTube channel down the road and probably won't be picking up a full bottle just Bc of the price to love ratio just isn't there for me, but over all it's a unique scent that I believe is worth looking in to. Scent 7.5/10 Longevity 8/10 Uniqueness 8.5/10

Larmes du Desert is my first from this house and it is beautiful. It is very "niche", created with little effort made to appeal to the masses. That isn’t to say that it is off-putting or offensive. Indeed it is finely crafted and beautiful. It smells like dry desert woods, sunbaked rocks, and vaguely honeyed resins wafting on the breeze. Overall, it is a parched, golden scent. It is very long lasting and has decent sillage. Unisex.

The scent is very nice - notes of (golden) amber, cedar, cypress, wood, myrrh and personally for my nose tons of olibanum. The gold flakes inside the bottle give a nice visual effect but to be honest there is no olfactory advance when doing this. I agree with mirador - this is definately in the direction of Amouage as they also use a lot of olibanum for their fragrances as well.

I find the dominant note of Larmes du Désert is honey, with the subnote cypress. It smells sweet and clean to me; it is absolutely delightful. This is the first time I've felt compelled to make a review, because this fragrance evidently smells very different to/on me than to most other reviewers. I have only a small sample—perhaps it is mislabeled!

A great cheaper replacement for Armani - Bois d Encens which is my favourite frag ever

Purified L' Air du Desert Marocain

Thanks to a blogger friend, I was able to test a few Atelier des Ors offerings(thank you!). Here are my thoughts on Larmes du Désert: As its name indicates, Larmes du Désert is all about resins. Olibanum, myrrh, labdanum and benzoin all make an appearance, but most of the time, they're seamlessly interwoven into each other and merely show a certain facet from time to time. The fragrance opens with the bracingly cool and stony smoke of olibanum, flankered by the musty sizzles of myrrh and the aromatic woody freshness of cypress. However, Larmes du Désert does not feel as aloof or austere as Avignon or L'Eau Trois for example. Because there is this mild balsamic and fleshly warmth of labdanum and cinnamon-tinged benzoin that soften the overall harshness of incense. There is also a discreet plum-like sweetness lurking in the background, although I don't know where it stems from. As a result, Larmes du Désert is like a fantasy painting of desert, where one can admire the tawny landscape but doesn't have to endure the hardship of an actual desert. Like most Atelier des Ors perfumes, Larmes du Désert is largely linear during its 10-hour longevity, although the sillage is rather soft except for the moderately projecting first hour. While I personally prefer an incense fragrance with a more stark constrast between its coldness and warmth, Larmes du Désert is nontheless very enjoyable and solid. Its strength actually comes from the unification of the cold incense and warm amber and its smooth execution. If you happen to be looking for an elegant and verstaile incense fragrance, Larmes du Désert might well worth a try.

I’m a incense fan and Larmes du Desert is, at forefront, a woody, ambery, patchouli incence perfume. The addition of cypress tree/leaves gives the scent a nice, unexpected twist for an incense scent, fresh, aromatic, green twist! This is the type of perfume that will not appeal to masses, not because it’s very unique or niche or challenging/strange, but because most people will not want to smell like the inside of an Orthodox Church. Which Larmes du Desert reminds me of and I am saying this in a good way! I’m not the most religious person, but I find this type of smell very spiritual, meditative and calming. Hope I am making sense with my association! If I could get access to it, I would definitely consider adding a (gorgeous) bottle to my collection, because it’s different than other incense dominant perfumes that I have and I really enjoy the connection that this brought to my mind with Divinity!

First impression: older generation chypre-amber type of perfume that has all the spices and flowers through a blender (look at the notes of old Poison by Dior ot Magie Noir by Lancome, for example), very punchy. Then it develops in a totally unexpected way. It brings memories of a Russian Banya / sauna. Imagine: hot steam room made of wood, you rub yourself with honey (the sweetness of this perfume cannot be explain only by bezoin), and you add a drop of cypress or pine tree essential oil (patchouli is also recognizable in here). It should be called "tears of a forest", not "tears of a desert." I like it more 30 minutes after spraying vs the beginning. Dina_France (YouTube perfume reviews)

What a nice, warm, spicy amber! Unisex - leaning masculine, as most of AdO that I've tried so far. My first thought: Ambre Impérial Van Cleef & Arpels. My second thought: Fendi Theorema. Ah, yes; that peppery amber... Hot spice for cool people. Very golden, very warm and peppery and yes - very noticeable cypress. Individual notes are not often so easy to discern, but here they easily stand out on their own. Nice. I'm testing from a fresh manufacturer's sample and I'm not impressed by the longevity, which also seems to be a common trait for the brand's offerings. The presentation is always top-notch with those, I have to admit. Whoever is mourning after Fendi Theorema, should try this out.

Extremely dry and pure incense based scent! I got little of other notes - just this church like, screechingly dry scent of other times. It evoked feelings of spirituality, very alluring yet somehow disturbing and weird. "Larmes du Desert" stays extremely close to skin, but clings strongly - for 12 hours and survived a shower! If dry and a bit scary incense based scents is your thing - this is surely worth a try, though I can't say it has a good price/performance ratio...

Very warm, spicy incense with touches of wood and something a little green - probably the cypress. It was a hair away from leaning barbecue smoke upon first spray, but luckily that didn’t last. This leans more toward the incense side than the woods side, but it does dry to this enveloping concoction of cedar and guaiac which I prefer. I wish it were more woody instead of incensy, but that’s just my preference. This is a solid “like”. 7.5/10

It's hard not to compare this to Attaquer le Soleil by ELdO, the first cistus/labdanum perfume I smelled. Atelier des Ors is more labdanum and less cistus -- more resinous. I get some sage as well. It does indeed remind me of the desert, of oily leaves under a beating sun, releasing their scent in the hot dry air. The drydown is warm and a little earthy. The flecks of gold leaf in the liquid are a fun touch.

Gorgeous; heat & incense-soaked cypress woods. Becomes a touch sweeter as the scent progresses, but only a touch. Very much 'a desert forest in high noon' feel, however contradictory that may be. Wears best in autumn/winter, I would say autumn moreso because I think a bit of heat amplifies the scent's dimensionality. Definitely full-bottle worthy, I think I will purchase to enjoy for next year.

Not much to add to the other reviews. I think the notes voted on by members is fairly accurate. I might say that it is much more woody than incensey. Nice. Somewhat dark. Fairly strong and long-lasting. That said, I have plenty of other scents that smell a lot like this so I cannot say its anything special. Noting magical and nothing that "wows" me. Glad I tried it, but I won't be buying it.

Shades of gold, an orange sunset over a Colorado Mountain, the soul of a Tiger, the heat of a fire, Sacral Energy = a scent visualization. A smooth, golden resinous amber fragrance. My favorite amber fragrance- unisex. I wish it projected more - however makes it safe for office environment. Stay Golden Pony Boy!

Super Masculine amber, smoke & resinous fragrance. Quite warm & grabs your attention on the first spray. Not a projector but lasts pretty good time. Wearable pretty much all the time except the hotter months. Great Bottle as well

This is good stuff, resinous, dark and fresh/airy somehow. I'll be wearing the shit out of this for sure! A like 8.4/10

This review has been deleted because the site's owners are fascists.

I particularly liked this incense based perfume.

Opens with a very dark, moody amber, plus an a slightly animalic edge that makes me think of goat hair. Then it’s spicy, warm, and bright-brown; I would have guessed clove, but I think this interpretation of “incense” is just a very spicy version. I feel the dark-green cypress as a subtle aura around the amber-spice core; the effect is a little Christmassy in a Pier 1 Imports sort of way. There’s also a low-key patchouli note providing “subtle thiccness” in a steady, woodsy key. The far drydown is normal incense, mostly dry with only a bit of amber. This is the kind of niche Oriental I’ve smelled a bajillion variations of already, and I have to make an effort not to get jaded, because it really is a good thing; I don’t want to be unfair to things I’ve just happened to smell later. We’re in the Fuck Yeah school of perfume, a lot like Slumberhouse and Francesca Bianchi; very natural (or natural-feeling) materials, everything in the dark/sweet/spicy zone, everything packs a punch.

Buying a sample of this scent was a mistake. Not because it's a bad scent - it's not. It's because I'm a woman and this fragrance is leaning masculine to my nose. I shouldn't have relied only on Fragrantica's rating. I should have checked the "gender" votes on Fragrantica prior to the purchase and ordered a more feminine scent, like Choeur Des Anges, instead. It's not a bad scent. It's just not a scent profile I would wear. I wouldn't give it to my husband either. How does it smell? It's a big, bold, warm, woody and resinous scent with hints of incense and conifer. Drydown is nicer than the opening. The more it dries down, the more pleasant it becomes. I imagine a masculine, 25+, confident, experienced man wearing it. It may not be an office-friendly scent, I'm afraid. I'm sure that there are gentlemen whom this scent will suit and who will appreciate this scent more than me. If you're interested in a sample or a decant swap, please let me know.

A fairly typical incense affair. Larmes du Desert opens with a nice but straightforward incense which grows woodier and woodier over time. It is a very dry fragrance with the woods lending a certain 'ashy' feeling to the incense which I cannot say I am crazy about. I was hoping for more greenness from the cypress to cut through the wood and smoke, but ADO chose to blend in a darker, more resinous cypress note - which is perfectly understandable. The final composition is very well-blended, if a bit one-dimensional for me. There's not much about this which wows me, which is disappointing. There are other incense fragrances which appeal to me a tad more. It's very high-quality and smooth, but not a love. I like it, but not bottle-worthy. (dislike/indifferent/like, but not BW/like a lot, potentially BW/love, definitely BW/masterpiece)

I get a whiff of incence, but mostly I get incredible spicy notes; I was surprised to see that the notes did not correspond to what I was smelling on my wrist. It was lovely, if a bit heady, but I found it veered into masculine territory too much for my tastes.

Love the way it smells. Projection is minimal as is longevity. Most incense fragrances do not perform well on me. This is just another one to add to the pile.

I wanted to end the year, December 31st, with a review of a scent that I have been looking forward to wearing, and a scent that has a high Fragrantica rating. Unfortunately Larmes du Désert is not cooperating with me. Note-wise, this review isn’t going to make any sense but it’s important that I’m honest: I’m picking up on a moldy fruit compote, like fortified wine that was left on the cold stove, forgotten for many days, and is going rancid. Also, I conjure a potpourri smell, reminding me of Cost Plus, the pseudo “world craft” store where everything feels like a cheap knockoff from China. And a certain smell—most likely piped in through the HVAC—permeates everything inside. Drydown brings out more benzoin and cypress, but the moldy fruit smell is still in the background. In any case, it’s not what I expected as I’m a big guaiac fan. Good performance so that’s a plus if this is working for you. My sample is a carded manufacturer spray sample from a Luckyscent discovery set. 2020 has been one of the most difficult years in history, so maybe it’s fitting that I need to wash my arm and remove all traces of Larmes du Désert.

Testing this today from a decanted sample sent by trabuquera, who has reviewed it far more thoroughly than I (see below). Many of my favourite notes are in Larmes du Desert (Tears of the Desert). If its price were not way above that of my blind buy limit, I may have been tempted. To my nose, LdD is a light, airy incense supported by dry, dusty (predominantly cedar) woods. Usually benzoin and amber impart a sweetness to perfumes on my skin, but there is barely a hint here. I am not sure why this perfume is called "Tears of the Desert"; it's a very dry, acrid scent, but perhaps the name is an allusion to the lack of water in the desert. Larmes du Desert has taken me back to my childhood. I am standing in my dad's workshop in early autumn, sun streaming through the windows and lighting the dust motes dancing in the air. I can smell sawdust and wood shavings, and there's a hint of smoke, from where the action of the tools has singed the wood. While LdD is intensely evocative and has been a journey into my past, I do not want to smell like this. Sillage is soft. I can't comment on longevity, as I scrubbed it off.

This was my first foray into Atelier Des Ors and my I’m disappointed. It’s very linear with a sweet, sour , tart and pungent vibe. Not sure when I’d ever be in this type of mood ( possibly to agitate those around me with this peculiar fragrance). The bottle is a beauty but unfortunately that’s where it ends. ***update** I gave this one another wear..... same peculiar aroma but with glitter. I had to change my shirt.

Un encens sec et piquant, c'est désagréable Aucune projection et tenue de 5 minutes...

Red Hots candy. Cinnamon and sugar shellac

[Larmes Du Désert] ⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️ My experience with this house is limited. I’ve owned Lune Feline and whilst it smelt good, it wasn’t overly exciting and has since left my collection. Larmes Du Désert is my second dipping of the toe. With Larmes Du Désert I was expecting something very dense and heavy. A smoke and amber beast maybe? Lune Feline was also a monster in terms of potency. Instead I was met with a pretty tame, spicy fragrance with resins and a super sweet fruity theme running parallel to resins and smoke. The first 30 seconds really has your attention. It is a pretty sweet raspberry/cranberry jammy fruitiness with some aromatic elements which is fine but not anticipated. After a couple of minutes it absolutely falls apart. It is this messy-woody-thing that doesn’t have a lot to say. Atelier Des Ors touts mysterious exoticism and the scent of the Arabian Peninsula with Larmes Du Desert (Tears of the Desert) containing ancient resins and spices inspired by the birthplace of perfumery in the Middle-East. The perfume seems aimless and I don’t get any great visions of far away lands rich in culture. It feels like three separate interpretations have been stitched together and are individually fighting for supremacy. To me it smells like a terrible version of Kerosene Broken Theories with similar dry tobacco and wood elements smashed with tart red fruits and incense. I also pick up on a large dose of trimofix which to me can turn fragrances slightly tinny and ruins the experience. This is possibly where I’m getting the tart nuances. I got the same experience from Tom Ford’s Tobacco Oud which marred an otherwise wonderful perfume. Everything this fragrance does, Broken Theories does much, much better and at a better price. P.S: Fragranica lists citrus in the base which highlights some naivety. Citrus cannot be a base material with all of the heavy elements. I see elsewhere that there’s no citrus listed but CISTUS Labdanum which features where the ‘citrus’ shouldn’t.

Larmes du Desert opens on my skin with waves of chewy, dark, toffee and cola-scented labdanum amber shot through with a drier ambered resin and cinnamon-scented benzoin. On top, layered in thick, heavy swathes, is myrrh laced with the nutty sweet refrains of sweet myrrh. Flickers of earthy patchouli, lemon-flecked olibanum (frankincense) resin, and lightly singed guaiac wood dance on the sidelines. It’s a gorgeous mix of sweet and dry, incense resins with amber ones, and bearing just enough shavings of foresty woods to keep it from being a pure resin fest. I love how well the notes play off one another. The incense resins have an innate woody side that parallels the three types of woods, and also a balsamic quality that works equally well with the amber resins. The latter have earthy and spicy tonalities that parallel the patchouli, while also giving depth to the overall composition. When the olibanum and myrrh begin to whisper their soft dustiness, it’s never so intense as to evoke the liturgical incense of a Catholic High Mass (or its often soapy purity). Instead, it’s just enough that — in conjunction with the utterly glorious labdanum — to make you think of the desert, albeit a perfect and purely idealized forest-covered desert that is warm, cozy, enveloping, and inviting, rather than one which is arid, scorched, sandy, and filled with dust storms. Larmes du Desert continues to grow smokier with greater waves of incense and singed woods as it develops. As a result, its amber turns extremely dry. If I had to break it down, I’d say roughly 60 to 65% of the bouquet at this point is made of the balsamic resins, 30-25% is the myrrh and sweet myrrh, and the remaining 10-5% is the frankincense woodiness. Larmes du Desert remains this way largely until its final hours when the last vestiges of the various types of incense finally fade away, leaving only a semi-sweet, semi-dry goldenness in its place. And aren't these art decò bottle to die for? IG @alexolympia6

Note to editors: The resin "myrrh" is mentioned in the description, but is not included in the "perfume pyramid" list of notes. About the fragrance: A variety of woods with a sweet guiac (maybe burned palo santo) leading the pack. A smoked and candied orange peel in the base further sweetens things up. To my nose, there may be honey/vanilla and benzoin in the "amber" accord. There is a nostalgic soapiness, as opposed to an incense smokiness, on my skin. I may have had some soap that smelled like this decades ago. For those that like churchy frankincense fragrances, this one is not of that particular variety, but inadvertently is in the same "familia". This is more of a woody-amber scent, pleasant, with some coniferous overtones, but as I mentioned earlier, with a soapy quality (I guess from the addition of the various resins). It verges into the category of a sports scent, as there is a "freshness" about it.

Just got a 1ml sample of this in my search for incense fragrances. To my nose I totally get a Carved Oud by Thameen meets incense with a touch of green cypress. Really nice! This is reaalllly nice if you're looking for incense. This is a woody dry incense fragrance of Oud Wood and Carved oud if you like those 2. I haven't read all the reviews to see if someone had mentioned this, but when you put it on your skin you'll definitely get the incense which is beautiful, but without a doubt it has that Carved Oud in the background. I asked my buddy who is a coworker what he thinks of it and if he thinks it smells feminine or not on my skin and he said it doesn't. Going to revisit this fragrance since I'm fighting a cold and a sinus thing to see its longevity and strength. This is a good one though.

For not a voted note outshines others, I assumed no one, including me, really knows what is this smell. On the introduction I read "the tradition of perfumes in the Middle East" and "the mysterious spiciness of incense", these are my two clues to this liquid. For the main accords I would choose "warm spicy". Among the notes my voting can only goes to guaiac wood, for the heartwarming sweetness, and labdanum, but it's absent. I can appreciate it speaks mystical language and remains mysterious there, but it's far more beautiful on paper, the exotic sugar fumes last all day, on my skin the sharp dessert-like sour taste is nowhere and turns out just like my Attaquer le Soleil Marquis de Sade, the labdanum. After days on paper it left an image of acid thing, still beautiful, mystical always.

If you're a fan of M. Micallef's Guaic Wood, then you'll likely be fond of this one. With that being said, they smell nothing alike. The reason i compared the 2 is because of the snug nature they both present. Larmes du Desert is a been there done that, Hot and Ready Baker's Crust of a fragrance. Amber-driven spicy aromas dominate the composition, which offers too little fruit and only a hint of patchouli. Smoky myrrh comes before a glowing woody finish that is absolutely along the lines of Ambre Orient. Given the light, lean body weight of this fragrance, i think this is suited perfectly for the spring time but of course it can be worn in the frigid months.

العطر أعتبره من أفضل إصدارات دار أتيليه ضمن هذا الكوليكشن الذهبي وهو إهداء لجميع محبي عطر Wazamba Parfum d'Empire وأيضا لمن يمنعهم من استخدام وازامبا ما يتمتع به من قوة شديدة سيكون عطر أتيليه خيارا جميلا نظرا لكونه أقل عنفوانا وربما يرجع السبب وراء ذلك إلى وجود أخشاب الغاياك الجميلة ضمن مكونات عطر أتيليه على حساب الراتينجات البخورية التي يعج بها عطر وازامبا وأظن هذا هو الفارق الأكبر بين العطرين وعلى الرغم "صراحة" من وجود تقارب بين العطرين لكنني أحب الإثنين لدرجة الاقتناء وأرى بينهما فروقا قد يهمشها غيري وبرأيي أن عطر أتيليه أسهل في الارتداء ومن الممكن أن يستخدم في المناسبات العادية على عكس وازمبا الذي أرشحه للأجواء الروحية والصلوات ودور العبادة دون غيرها.