Freakincense

Right away this opens up with a peppery, incense-y and balsamic resinous woodiness that blend super well together. The lime does feel like it's 'there', but is very underplayed on my skin. Kind of like pepsi tbh - it's on the label, but you could probably fool me by just not having it there. If I had to describe the lime, it would be more akin to the white pith and not lime as you'd normally smell it in the juice or the zest. With my complaints of the missing lime made, I want to note that the incense and elemi is just beautiful together, a slightly sticky woodiness which gets added dimensions thanks to the insense. Something I really want to highlight too, is that the dry-down becomes a bit deeper in terms of the elemi and resin, as the vetiver starts to show up, and usually when I smell things like oud, it has two aspects to it; the deep, dark wood, and the damp, farty rotten-ness. This fragrance, in the drydown gets that deep, and dark woodiness without the fartiness of oud-heavy fragrances and instead, that dampness is replaced with a balsamic overtone. Theoretically, technicaly unisex, although it's a kind of woodiness I don't think will appeal to most women.

The opening is very sharp and spicy, there's something in it that reminds me of old-fashioned herbal medicines, like an impression of a XIXth century apothecary, but the smell is more refined. After 15-20 minutes opening notes are gone, and warm, very smoky and slightly 'scratchy' incense starts to grab the attention, and it's beautifully blended with elemi. The scent feels like it's straight out a medieval gothic cathedral, furnished with centuries old dark wood - but it's warm and kind of cozy, not cold - and it recalls impressions of the 'Eyes Wide Shut' masonic sex rituals in old mansion more than of a mass in church. There's something sensual about it. I love it. After around 6 hours the scent is still strong on my skin, and it developed into rich, woody blend of vetiver and patchouli. Scent is strong and noticeable, but far from overwhelming, it's long-lasting, but very intimate, it keeps very close to my skin, I don't feel it at all when my nose is further than 10 centimeters from my wrist, and I kind of like that - you must come very very close to feel it.

I often times think people see a bottle, packaging incense, and they associated with this deep wintry fragrance. This is in that same world of Serge lutens l’orphaline its cold skin like... a summer ghost. I’m someone who struggles to find summer fragrances because I love sticky Amber earthy deep, sensual things that get cloying in the summer and to me this is my perfect summer fragrance. The Violet is perfect. The incense is cold almost refreshing. A lot of people say they don’t get lime, but it kinda has that slight clean citrus frankincense. To me 10/10

#1766 in my “Tour de Fragrance” Given my addiction to incense scents it was inevitable that I’d give “Freakincense” a try, and I do enjoy it. I don’t run into lime and incense in combination very often, but when I do I find it refreshing. Sospiro “Dolce Sonata”, Daniel Josier “Quetzaly”, Polo "Blue Gold Blend”, Armaf "Ombre D’Or,” and especially Amouage “Lyric Man,” all work for me because of that combination. Lime lightens up an incense scent in a way that the more commonplace bergamot does not. This scent holds up till lunch on the skin. Silage is arm’s length for a couple of hours. So I find the quality okay, but not impressive, which is why I think the $200 price tag I’m seeing is excessive. This one should be $85-$100 range at most. So, it’s a nice scent, but not worth the price to me. Good Luck and Good Hunting!

Straight outta 1969. It's nearly identical to the little bottles of Frankincense the Body Shop (in the SF Bay Area) used to sell around Christmas. This means it's a good thing, although I doubt the Body Shop sold that many of them. You have to love frankincense for this one. It's a sharp scent, brittle almost, and not much like all those frankincense and myrrhe soaps you see online. "Church incense" doesn't really cover it as a description. Don't blind buy a whole bottle if you've never smelled just frankincense. I'd buy a whole bottle if the price was more reasonable.

Really pretty, moody fragrance. Super long lasting. It smells like the basement of an old wooden church, in a good way. I liked this the moment I sprayed it, but I fell in love with it about an hour in, when it started to warm up. I don't find it too sharp, but it's definitely intense. This could skew masculine or feminine; I think it's more about whether it fits your personality. It unfortunately gives me a bit of a headache (most incense fragrances do), but I might still revisit it every now and then.

Definitely masculine. Initialy citrus and pepper blasts the nose and then the other notes come into play like violet and incense that make it wearable, elemi however gives a hint of dill. This fragrance is very weirdly fresh/earthy and can truly be called niche but that also means it's not for everyone, test before buying.

Aromatic spicy opening with lime and pink pepper Rich ambery incense with sweet qualities

Imagine an old Nordic church nestled in the snow, bathed in the alien light of the aurora borealis, incense smoke steeped into every stone. Lime, tart and electric, bursts like a renegade star tumbling through the heavens, pink pepper, sharp and crackling, echoes the descent, otherworldly exile, announced by heavenly fanfare. Cashmeran, elemi, and labdanum, soft, smoky, and twining with resinous secrets, whisper a lullaby of fallen grace. From the dark stained glass window, a weathered abbess sighs and lights a lone beeswax candle, its sweet ritual glow a beacon for this wanderer in the night, whose wings, once ablaze with celestial fire, now cast no shadow at all.

Absolute labdanum bomb! I get a a spicy underwaft as well, a peppery second place to the very forward labdanum, which I find a pretty cheap and sharp ingredient if overused (ambery if toned down). Reminds me of a poor step brother of the old Gucci Homme, but less incensy. This scent is not for me, I like a more complex amber scent nuanced with a veriety of spices and resins. You may love this if you love labdanum. The 2ml sample trial did not project very well for me nor for very long (30 mins) but I got about 4h as a skin scent on the back of my hand indoors.

I got gifted a bottle of this. To me this is very masculine, it opens with a bright blast of citrus & spices with the woods in the background. As it dries down, the smoky and creamy musk at the base start to really stand out with the wood scent still being very prominent. The patchouli and incense combined with the smoky woodiness give this a dark & mysterious vibe as well. Overall, this is an amazing scent. Performance is good as well. 9/10.

smelled this at a perfume shop the gothic looking bottles are stunning scent wise very good, reminds me of a CDG incense scent leathery woody incense that lasts about an hour lacks some performance for the price point