Idolatry

in my quest for a good incense perfume for the bleak winters, someone on tumblr recommended i check out chapel factory. the name itself on this one already drew me in, and this is definitely my favorite of the three i got samples of. it’s dark and alluring, which i guess makes sense for the title. it’s not as purely incense-y as i expected, but i still like this nonetheless. the praline note adds an unexpected but captivating sweetness to this that makes it really wearable, even for a gourmand hater for me. probably what a hot vampire lady would wear while lounging on her red velvet bedsheets while eating black cherries.

I love this perfume. I always personally find that incense perfumes never have the right balance between sweet and savory, but Idolatry does. It comes off very food-y and nutty in the beginning and turns smoky & incense-y on the dry down. Although i wear this all the time, it's definitely more of a winter fragrance.

This is insanely similar to Encens Suave but 10x better. It is literally the same dna but its more wearable. It has a sweet element that ES lacks, not like a cloying sweetness that takes over, it lingers in the background and makes the fragrance outstanding. Definitely getting a full bottle of this, its outstanding!

I have let my decant sit a few months and this went from good to great! The sweetness and depth is more apparent now! I do agree it’s a better version of Encens Suave!

Right off the bat, this fragrance smells very heavy and rich, without a doubt meant for the coldest winter days. Without looking at the notes, I get a deep, sappy, resinous amber and the balsam and patchouli. I know it's not listed as a note but there's what I interpret as the smell of Pine Needles poking through a good portion of the perfumes stay. However, the sweetness is immediately detectable too, nutty sweetness from the hazelnut and pistachio. None of the fragrances from this brand have the best longevity, there's no denying this is a nice scent though and great for Winter.

This is what I was hoping Vanille 44 by Le Labo would be. This has an effervescence that lightens up the vanilla and incense and gives it an interesting edge. Almost like a vanilla incense soda. I totally disagree with this being similar to Encens Sauve. They might have some shared notes but they smell entirely different.

I am just whelmed. Like flat cream soda with the safest incense possible. I expected something dark, but this pulls very sweet on me; it's kind of giving Twilight/wannabe goth teen. Another for the "sweet woods" subgenre; I suppose I'm tiring of it. It is moderately strong, without being headache-y. Reminds me of Nightcap by Orebella, without the spiciness.

This is wayyy more sweet than it is smoky. I can barely get any of the incense. It reminds me of the kind of old dusty fudge shop you find in small tourist cities.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this! It's incense with a vanilla nuttiness flickering in the background. I was in Italy this past November and as soon as I smelled Idolatry, I was transported back to a very specific night in Rome. After dinner, we decided to visit as many Basilicas as we could. I wish I remembered the name, but as we were about to walk through the cathedral doors, we were greeted by nuns selling baked goods to support the Basilica. That exact moment as I was walking through those doors, incense hitting me from the front and baked goods being sold behind me is the perfect description of Idolatry.

If the color black was a smell this would be it. There's something a bit "old architecture" about it. A decrepit old chapel with rotted pews, crumbling idols, and decayed incense. The local teen goths film paranormal investigations here. Yet it's got a sweet earthiness to it, and a hint of an industrial vibe. Pleasantly haunting and gives me a feeling of dark religious superstition, this fragrance is aptly named. Terrible and wonderful things happened in this old place of worship, and the cursed souls still roam around leaving their sinful aromas.

*Froths* nutty, chocolatey, cinnamony, sandlwoody, dusty, woody, smokey, incensey. This really really reminds me of a nuttier version of Reve d'Ossian. Same sort of fizzy incense in the air. After the fizzy opening calms down it heavily reminds me of a dusty ancient cathedral or church where there is a ton of dust covered lacquered woods. Wood benches, wood pews, incense particles settled on everything. I have Reve and this is so similiar but I want this too 😭

sweet incense with dirty woody patchouli. I actually really like this one. It's such a unique juxtaposition of dark and light in 1 scent. I tried this, holy stick and heresy; this is easily my favorite of the 3. Not an easy wear, but if you've got a unique personality/duality with a dark side and a light side i think this would suit you perfectly.

Rock myrrh in its musty resin aspect, with sweet praline that reads like a BBW body spray, nuts that come across like coconut and give it a bit of a sunscreen vibe. Weird. Church-y sunscreen. A nun on the beach? And dries down very sweet, too sweet for me.

Soft, velvety smoke raising from burned incense, vanilla, nuts. My kind of gourmand. Smells like sin.

Sickly sweet and incense, bizarre and not in a good way.