Holy Stick

My goodness, this is stunning! Holy Stick is supposed to smell like Palo Santo wood, I suppose, with all its facets enhanced. Palo Santo is a unique wood that smells very soft and creamy, almost like coconut cream, and it also has a citrus like brightness and an aromatic edge that is reminiscent of mint or pine. This is a rich, soft, creamy and woody fragrance with lots of natural sweetness from resins and balsams. In the opening (it actually lingers quite a long time) it has the most amazingly beautiful cardamom note. It pairs so well with the sweet creaminess and creates a scent that reminds me slightly of a cardamom infused vanilla pudding. There is a faint green, aromatic woodiness in the background that keeps the scent from being totally gourmand. And it gives the scent this lovely incensy vibe. It's not really a smoky fragrance. It feels more like unlit incense, like raw resins and fresh Palo Santo wood, untouched by fire. This scent feels like a warm, enveloping, shamanic hug from Mother Earth. It's like the smell of an ancient ritual dedicated to the nurture and care for all living things. It's an intensely comforting and calming scent. A scent that makes you feel like you belong, like all good things are within reach, like Mother Earth will take care of you. The scent lasts over 9 hours on my skin and the sillage is medium. This is a beautiul scent. It makes me feel good. It makes me sense balance and flow. It gives a deep feeling that everything is fine, that we all are cared for and loved deeply. How can I not fall in love with such a fragrance? It gives us exactely what we all need after a year like 2020. Holy Stick is soul medicine in the form of a fragrance. <3

Holy Stick, Holy hell, this perfume is stunning. I received a sample and within 5 minutes of it being on my skin I knew I needed a FB. I definitely get the bubblegum-esque feel that others have mentioned in the opening but after a while that fades out completely and you're left with this deep herbal incense that fills your nose and makes you want to huff it again and again. This perfume reminds me spending time at one of my best friends houses as a teenager where her mum who was very into her natural remedies definitely had a smell in the house frequently that triggers this for me. Wearing this perfume all year round as well would be perfectly acceptable as the fragrance doesn't feel warm or cold but welcoming and like a hug from someone you know is there for you always. Definitely give this a try if you can because this one is special.

Probably the most adequate perfume name in the business - holy stick indeed! Beautiful and serene rather than loud and crowd pleasing. Imagine a wealthy person in a luxurious boutique spa hotel on meditation vacation in Bali...Quality of the ingredients comes through for sure. It’s a linear scent opening and dry down stay pretty much the same. I can detect delicate cherry scent throughout, palo santo, cardamom, cloves and some ambery notes, woody notes too for sure. This scent is creamy yet fresh if that makes sense. To me it is very very calming positive vibes inducing and I’d wear it all year round day/night. Good staying power and some projection, depends how much you spray people will smell you. Full bottle worthy if you don’t have a similar one in your collection. (Holy Stick does remind me of REHAB by Initio)

Lovely light scent that fits in well with my Tucson, Arizona surroundings during the winter months, particularly with that unburned Palo Santo heart. Not smoky, not resin-thick; just that creamy, airy wood note that feels more like polished sticks and desert shrines than smoldering embers. It reads as spiritual without being heavy, meditative without being dusty. When layered on Tucson’s winter backdrop of cholla silhouettes, cold mornings, and sharp blue sky, it becomes almost seamless. The fragrance itself is linear and stays light and translucent. The dry-down is smooth and the skin scent is very pleasant. I'm in a health care adjacent field and this perfume is perfect to wear in a clinical environmental. Very much full bottle worthy at that 100ml retail price.

I've revised my original review to a more positive one. Recalling Maria Candida Gentille's wonderful perfumes, Holy Stick presents a subtle blend of clean, resinous and woody fragrances which promote a sense of calm and well-being. It has the most delightful dry down: like entering a temple antechamber (or a health spa!) and anticipating a time of soothing calm. I was so pleased to rediscover this fragrance that I ordered a full bottle!