Arome d'Egypte (a Spikenard perfume; Natural)

for me this starts off with cedar, peru balsam and labdanum. it's woody but the amber softens the bitterness of the cedar and warms it up a lot. also myrrh and olibanum get stronger as time goes on. this does have an ancient feel like the copy says. i really like this one- it's resiny and a bit woody with a hint of a resiny type of sweetness. probably also sweetness from the florals, but they remain subtle on me and more of a backdrop.

this is a heavy/bitter/woody scent of grandma's old drawer.. Totally awesome stuff! Flowers are there, but they are partly drowned in the overwhelmingly heavy base - frankincense, sandalwood and labdanum are incredibly strong here. Overall - a warm smokey oriental scent. I can only compare it to the waxy smokiness of DSH Essenza dell'Ibisco, but the later seems to be less edgy than Arome d'Egypte. This is not something I would wear in public (but who knows?)

Huge plumes of woodsy smoke, with a bit of old-book smell. It's musty, like a tomb. No joke, this scent reminds me of the smell of my late grandpa, who smoked and seemingly played checkers all day, every day... Not for me, but thank you for invoking fond memories of someone special. :)