Piedra de Sol

Piedra de Sol is the scent of Easter morning in an Italian duomo. Normally the church is cold, but on Easter it is a bit stuffy, packed with the warm bodies of church-goers, pink and purple decorations, and thousands of glowing candles. I can even picture the faded frescoes of Michelangelo. The scent reminds me of Italy in general--walking through the cobblestone streets of Venezia to begin the foggy morning with a croissant and cioccolata. Oh how this perfume makes me miss Italy! Copal (a cousin of frankincense and a resin I burn at home on occasion) is the strongest note, as I smell its subtle sweetness, making this church incense perfume seem much brighter than others I have sampled. There is a beautiful harmony and balance in the notes. This perfume smells completely true to the resins. It may contain synthetics, but I don't get the annoying iso-e-super effect that other incense perfumes have. I keep saying it--Avignon and frankly any of the CdG incense series is way overrated. THIS IS IT for church incense with an other-worldliness. I erred on the side of caution and bought a sample, but this would have been worthy of a blind-buy.

I really enjoy PdS for its strangeness. The bright, clear incense notes smell true and beautiful but what keeps drawing me back (for hours and hours on my skin) is the strange oiliness that dangerously rocks the boat without capsizing it. It's like the pristine resins were delicately distilled and then poured into stale sunflower seed oil. This would obviously turn some people off, but that dirtiness is precisely what makes it, to me, remarkable. A beautiful and pleasurable experience is lovely, but if it leaves you feeling just slightly ashamed, well, then it becomes memorable.

Too light for me. I have never smelled copal but have read that it is resinous. It must be the softest resin ever as it sits very close to the skin. Even with that being said the olibanum must have been toned way down as it is usually heavy in most scents such as the Dev Series by Olympic Orchids and TF Amber Absolute. At over 100 bucks for 1 oz I just don't see many folks buying this one.

Hampster wood shavings anyone? I mean that in the most complimentary way possible but here lies my beef with Sunstone: When I reach for wood frags, I don't want wood chips; I WANT A LUMBERYARD!! This perfume is waaaaaay too light for my likings. Piedra wastes no time going from the opening to the drydown(45 minutes). Total duration is about 1hr and 15min. I don't wanna summarily dismiss this as a forgettable fragrance because I do believe there is real value here. The woodsy notes aren't overbearing and giving its light nature, I think it's possible that Fuegia's new offering would be better suited for a woman's body chemistry. Update: @drkool_phd....You wrote more about me than the actual fragrance. Sounds like you want to meet me in real life, just let me know.

The previous review needs to be taken with a grain of salt. First of all, this fragrance lasts a lot longer than an hour and fifteen minutes. In fact, I could easily smell it on myself after 12 hours. Also, it smells nothing like the cedar bedding in hamster cages. The previous reviewer complained that it goes from top notes to drydown in only 45 minutes, which is a description I can't agree with. It's pretty linear in my opinion. This perfume is brilliant and unique. I've burned copal resin, but I'm not entirely sure what the absolute smells like. I have smelled plenty of frankincense and myrrh, and I smell more of the latter here. However, there's an otherworldliness to this perfume that must have to do with the copal note.