Messe de Minuit

After the second day of wearing Messe de Minuit in the heatwave we've had here lately, I feel ready to wax lyrical about this beauty. This is a review of the current version, and I have never tried the vintage one, although thanks to a wonderful Fragrantican, a decant is on its way to me right now. (THANKS A MILLION, L! X X X) Let's start with the fact that I am a sucker for incense, frankincense being my absolute favourite. I have been looking for the perfect frankincense for a long time and now I think I have found it. What is the perfect frankincense like in perfume? Well...not like a church. I adore the smoke of burnt frankincense in churches. I could write an essay on the different phases of the fragrance, from the moment its cast on the embers all the way to residue in the air of ancient churches, but Luca Turin did it already in the Guide. It is a smell to die for (and you get a lot once you die, in case you are Catholic), but I am neither a church, nor dead, so I am not keen on wearing that sort of scent on my person. My ideal frankincense perfume is the fragrance of the pearls or frankincense essential oil, well blended with other herbal aromatic resins like in this case myrrh and not in the pyramid, but I guess there is a little benzoin hiding somewhere in MdM too. My other favourite way to deal with frankincense is mixing it with herbs and/or pine resins as in the case of Fille en Aiguilles/Lutens and L'Eau Trois/Dyptique. Messe de Minuit offers a third alternative: so ridiculously obvious that you wonder why it is not done left, right and centre: frankincense and citrusses! Of course! Frankincense has a multitude of different citrus facets to it, so it seems the most natural thing to do to marry it off with bergamot, orange, lemon, citron and petigrain. The effect is uplifting, ethereal, light, like a watercolour, very wearable even in extremely hot weather, although I can very well imagine it being breathtakingly beautiful (and very different) in the autumn or winter. I love both Fille en Aiguilles and L'Eau Trois, but Messe de Minuit is so far the most wearable rendition of frankincense for me, totally full bottle worthy. The vintage version must be very different from the current, as at the moment I have no connotations of graveyard, coffin, bookshop, etc.. I will let you know when my decant arrives if there is indeed a big difference. 9/10

I received a sample of this beauty from a fellow fragrantician, and I have to say that I have never smelled anything like this! WOW! When I put it on my skin, I wasn't expecting what I got. The first note I perceived was lemon zest, real enough that it made my mouth water. It actually made me thirsty, it was so sharp. After about a minute of warming up on the skin, the myrrh overtakes the lemon. The myrrh adds a sweet dimension to the background of lemon. As the fragrance goes on, the myrrh lingers and the citrus fades. It doesn't last extremely long on my skin. It lasts about 3-4 hours. I've never been to a Catholic church or an orthodox church (I was raised Southern Baptist...we didn't use any incense in church at all), so I can't vouch for it smelling like a church. I could have only wished for our church to smell like that. WOW! I absolutely adore this scent! I wear myrrh essential oil sometimes, and this is very myrrh-y. I will have to test again soon to hunt out the patchouli and cinnamon. I definitely can recommend this! Edit: Upon subsequent applications of this, I can definitely spot the patchouli. It is not in the foreground, instead it sits subtly in the background...giving off a slight warmth after about 30 minutes on my skin. I absolutely adore this fragrance, but on warmer days it disappears even quicker than the 3-4 hours. If this were less expensive, or the lasting power longer, I would buy this in a heartbeat. One of the most beautiful and unusual perfumes I have encountered.

Messe de minuit è affascinante e misterioso,un pò cupo e anche amarognolo. Ne sono state fatte tre varianti dal suo lancio, nel 1994. La prima bottiglia aveva la scatola verde ,il tappo oro e l'etichetta rotonda. Il suo aroma è amaro,incensato,molto aromatico ma anche addolcito da miele,ma è quello che più racchiude l'odore di muffa e di catacomba suggestivo che rende il nome alla fragranza. Questa versione è quella che odora meglio di umidità e muffa. La seconda edizione aveva scatola rossa,tappo oro ed etichetta quadrata. E' la versione più amara e più cupa,si sente l'atmosfera umida e antica che ricorda sotterranei medievali,cupe segrete,antri delle streghe e cerimonie notturne dal fascino remoto ed è piu acre rispetto alla prima. Questa è la versione più amara. La terza edizione,cioè quella attuale,ha scatola bianca ,tappo argento e etichetta quadrata.E' una versione meno amara e meno scura ma ugualmente piacevole. Fra i profumi di incenso che ricreano sensazioni medievali e gotiche,questo è il mio preferito perchè amaro,acre e austero. Questa versione è dove l'incenso si sente di più ed è piu dolce. La messa di mezzanotte non è necessariamente una messa cattolica, è più un riferimento a una cerimonia magica medievale nei sotterranei di un antico castello,nelle cupe segrete,in una notte fredda e nebbiosa,in un'epoca remota.... Quello che evoca un profumo è del tutto soggettivo.

I got a sample of this and decided I had to get a full bottle. Located in the USA, I had a terrible time finding it and then - Essenza Nobile! This German etailer with an Italian name has a web site in English and will ship to the USA (a model of the international economy). They have a wide selection of niche fragrances including quite a few that I can't find anywhere in North America. Oh yes this is supposed to be about Etro Messe de Minuit. What an exhilarating scent. It is among the finest evokers of smoking incense I have smelled, paired with irresistably delicious candied mixed citrus, honey, and cinnamon top and middle notes. Later it has lots of frankincense (coniferous peppery balsamic lemony anisic) and myrrh (humus earthy bitter sweet musty) of course, together with a smoky note to evoke the burning, and some patchouli that blends in nicely. I have no Catholic Mass associations with this since I was raised vaguely Protestant and am now a confirmed atheist, so you might react differently if this reminds of something you love or hate or are bored by or feel guilty about. Even to me it smells devotional at the same time as being drop dead gorgeous. Cardinal Woolsey and Mother Superior meet Pretty Woman (Roberts and Roberts and Gere oh my).

Holy incense! This one is really perfect. Blend of citruses and incense really gives a Christmasy feel. I'm a lover of stronger perfumes. This one surprised me, because it is simultaneously smoky and joyful, heavy and light, serious and frivolous. I should note that I tried two versions of MdM: the second edition of EDC and EDT. There were some differences - EDC seems more fresh than EDT in the beginning. You get a citrusy blast at first sniff, whereas in EDT you can feel myrrh and patchouli at the beginning. EDT lasted a bit longer (~7 hrs) in comparison to EDC (~5.5 hrs). If I had to choose, I'd choose EDC - this is a very unique composition, as I mentioned earlier, with rich range of notes from sour to smoky and more complex development with plot twists. You wear it and it grabs your attention every 20 minutes. Also what I wanted to mention - this is completely a daytime perfume for me, I can't imagine wearing it at night, well maybe unless the Christmas Eve, the special night full of miracles and heavenly touch, though it's the longest night in the year. But for the rest of the year I'd prefer to wear it on sunny day in snowy winter - contrasting weather for contrasting perfume.