Heresy

Heresy's opening captures that effervescent quality of frankincense as it is burning. It is a cold smoke, pepper, lemon and pine needle sharp, but no sooner than that does its cool feel collide with a waxy wood and a metallic violet. This continued sparkle softens into a dry cedar. It starts off sonorous, and within an hour or two, is a persistent, haunting whisper. This is one where my nose runs the surface of my skin savoring its elusive charm. It reminds me of when I paid a visit to Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac in Quebec, Canada. I attended a service there, and there was such an austere beauty to it, filling me with the beauty of ritual, custom, and devotion. It was a place of silence, peace, and prayer. I do see the irony in its name, but perhaps the heresy represents the wearer. To wear such a scent in the presence of others who can't grasp the subtle would be its own schism of sorts.

Oh. My. God. This is it! I’m not sure where it’s coming from but I definitely smell an oily/waxy/candlestick note in here that’s totally mesmerizing. Normally I’m hypersensitive to any sweet notes, but I can confidently say that that this is sweet in a comforting way rather than a headache-inducing way. Maybe I’m just a wh*re for incense but I consider this a masterpiece.

just absolutely divine. looking for a cathedral-esque, church incense type scent and found exactly that. beautiful - hope to make this my everyday or at least professional scent.

Heresy smells much like church incense, but it's sharper and darker. It feels like a distorted reflection of a church. Everything is skewed slightly out of balance, out of light, out of the familiar. Heresy has a strong, sharp opening. It feels smoky and stingy right away, but calms down to a more resinous and smooth fragrance after a short while. I smell so many more notes in this than what is mentioned. There is a faint dirty, slightly sweaty, burning sage type of note in the opening, and it lingers towards the heart of the fragrance. It removes the fragrance from the modern man made boundaries of spirituality, and back into nature, to ancient times and ancient, more intuitive ways, of spiritual practice. The combination of a modern church and the very roots of religion are what makes this fragrance super interesting. It's like it contains the entire history of man and God(s). The scent has an organic vibe. Strong, aromatic, woody, with a mix of both raw and burning resins. In the heart something softens, and blooms. There's a beautiful floral vibe, to my nose it smells like a cooling, calming mix of carnation and iris (even though it says violet leaf). The sharpness and the shadows disappear, and the scent suddenly feels welcoming and appealing. The church incense and the ancient sage is still present, but vaguer, and the floral feel brings a feminine touch to the overall masculine creation. It's like a modern God and an ancient Goddess comes together in this fragrance, in peace and unity, to remind us all of the beauty that lies at the core of every spiritual path. Man may have deemed alternative ways as heresy in the past, but all paths are a product of the same yearning for love and unity with the divine as the more traditional beliefs. All paths lead to Rome, rigth? Right. In the drydown Heresy softens even more into a softly smoky woody smell. The longevity is around 7-8 hours on my skin, and the strength is enourmous right away, but softens to a skin scent after around an hour or so. I like this fragrance, it's one of the more interesting takes on a church incense perfume, but my favourite from this brand is still Holy Stick.

Smells like incense for sure, but for me not in a churchy way, but in an esoteric store way. The smell is quite linear. The longevity and sillage is quite poor. After 10 minutes nobody else can smell it, it just quietly sits on skin, and after 2 hours it is completely gone. For that reason I think it's overpriced. I TESTED THREE CHURCH-LIKE PERFUMES: Avignon: Full on sacred cathedral, exactly as described. Not an everyday fragrance, but stunning for sure. Long lasting, quite strong sillage as well. I recommend to all churchy smell lovers. 10/10 Heeley - Cardinal: A priest uncle who went from the service to smoke and whiskey, maybe he is a little sleezy even. The scent is not overwhelming, but is long lasting. Chapel Factory - Heresy: One of those incense shops that also sells crystals and mandalas, definitely incensey but not in a churchy way for me. Most wearable from the three for daily wear. Poor longevity though.