Encens Divin

As so far this perfume it's nowhere to be found - in perfume shops and web supliers at least - I asked for help to get any kind of sample. A good french friend sent me a plastic envelope with half a dozen sprays of Encens Divin inside. A lot better than a paper strip. This has not been really a test but it was good enough for me to understand that Encens Divin is really divine. It's a bit "Montalish" - that's means "good" for me - with a very nice "menáge à trois" between the rose, the amber and the oud/woody notes. It's an Oriental Spicy "Oudish" fragrance, and a real good one. For me it's a winner and maybe (just maybe) it may be considered an unisex fragrance although a bit - or several bits - to gourmand. The opening is quite pepperish but it's an enchanting one with the delicacy of the red pepper smothing the black pepper strenght. The heart notes still reveal the enduring pepper notes but a magnific rose makes a superb entrance (Taif rose?) together with the strong two different cedar notes and the smoky amber probably due to labdanun and frankincense existing notes. You can already smell the high quality peaceful oud scent. The evolution is slow enough for you to perceive it. The bottom notes do prepare the long final dry down with an enduring strong sweet amber (it's not only the labdanun and incense any longer; amber and/or amberwood do provide a divine omnipresent sweet and smooth amber background ambience). The rose note does persist for quite a long time and the oud scent becomes stronger as well. There is a sweet smoky aura (tolu, benzoin, vanilla?) around this strong notes. The woody notes also become smoother as the ceder surrenders part of its strenght to the magnific oud, amber wood and amber scents. After opening the envelope, I converted it into a flat open paper to let the dry down fully develop itself. The oud and amber scents do persist till the fragrance becomes a faint skin (plastic envelope) scent. It lasted for 15 hours but this longevity mark has been fooled by the conditions of my empiric test. I may risk an opinion of a skin longevity between 8 and 10 hours. Projection has been above average and quite constant in the first 3 hours. Sillage is average and I rated it as 5~6 feet for the first 3 hours. Again I may have been fooled for not having tested it on skin. When using it on the skin, I forecast the fragrance projection to die after 6 hours and then becoming a skin scent. I first tested Thierry Mugler's Muse the same way and my assumptions were very acurate. Final thoughts: This is a very fine fragrance. It's really a pleaser and a not to miss fragrance for oriental scents lovers. The componments quality must be very high as the perfume does really smell expensive and classy. Performance is above average. Even considering the limitations I had for this empiric test I would globally rate this fragrance with 9/10.

This fragrance is spectacularly good. Truly a gem among a line that is very overlooked in truth. Many brands have these 'private' or 'exclusive' collections and I often thought it was a cash grab or something they must be seen to do, due to the success of TF, Chanel, or Dior's popular privee exclucifs. Namely D&G and Hugo Boss, companies who have fairly established mainstream lines but can't quite drum up the interest in their posh ones...At least that's how it appears to me. I'd say Gucci suffer from this only to a lesser extent, with their 'The alchemist's garden' line framed a bit more cleverly with packaging etc... Anyway...I'd seen a few of these before and tried the Ambre Tigre (which I subsequently tired again and loved despite being hard to get hyped about yet ANOTHER Amber) but an extensive session with all of them gives a picture of a really accomplished and well thought out line which achieves that most difficult thing, perfumery familiarity and skill but avoid cliches and do something new. Are they massively innovative? No... but they do enough and the quality of blend is evident in nearly all of these offerings comparible with Guerlain or something in the fact that they are not made with the intention of quick, easy impact, a leather one, a rose one, etc... So here's the incense one! haha No but seriously as much as I gravitate towards 'incense' I'm actually a bit weary of it's tropes so it's nice to get something like this which avoids them. Opens with a light airness of spice, immediately warm and a light cinnamon edge from tolu balsam and a dense labdanum, this alone sounds like a cliche but it's somehow dry with woods and more sweetness of vanilla which builds and builds until you are left with a base of it. Despite this bezoin/vanilla/labdanum this scent doesn't come off like an amber, it's light and ethereal, wafted smoke and bite from incense but presented with restraint. I thought it was great. Has the magic touch and my seal of approval for sure.

I was lucky enough to have been gifted a bottle of this beautiful creation in late November 2018. I have to admit that the L’Atelier de Givenchy line completely avoided my radar prior to this but I have to say that it completely mesmerised me from the very first spray. I’d often think to myself how incredible it could be if a single fragrance could encompass the beauty of both Dior Privèe’s Oud Ispahan and Ambre Nuit, both of which I absolutely adore, own and often layer together and I think I’ve found it here. Here in the UK, on a chilly autumn evening, going into winter, I easily get 7-8 hours longevity on my skin, with a good 3-4 hours quality sillage and it stays on my clothes for a good couple of days afterwards with a very comforting combination of a boozy rose/amber/incense vibe that I personally find just incredible. I wouldn’t say that it changes a great deal during its longevity but the opening is certainly brighter and the dry down is just pure decadent quality but by no means is this fragrance linear either. If you’re a fan of these rich oriental spicy fragrances then I urge you to seek this out, if only for a spray in store: I’m pretty sure you won’t be disappointed! I can understand that at this price point, a lot of people will be deterred but the quality of both the blending and the ingredients are truly top-notch and a little really does go a very long way. Three sprays in the morning for me and I’m set for the day. EDIT: I’m currently on holiday in Mauritius and brought this with me to try in the heat. It’s currently 32 degrees and it’s not standing up to well in the heat and humidity. The top notes become a bit confused after 15 minutes and the heart/dry down quite muddled but still very pleasant nonetheless. Sadly, this heat doesn’t allow the fragrance to shine but in fairness, I’m hard pressed to think of a fragrance that would. I’ll still get 2-3 hours of longevity, although on my skin, the sillage is destroyed after an hour.

The opening was a slightly spicy resinous vanilla that reminded me of Ambre Tigré. Rose notes along with wood and incense followed soon afterwards. After a while, amber and treacle (molasses) notes came into play. A very nice olfactory experience. Though I did enjoy Ambre Tigré by Givenchy, I would recommend saving your money and purchase Encens Divin instead as this is Ambre Tigré with a lot more depth. Projection is around 6ft (2m) and is still noticable after 10 hours. Can easily be worn for any occasion - professional, leisure and intimate. During my first day of wearing Encens Divin, I received a few unsolicited compliments from co-workers. Full bottle and signature scent worthy for both men and women. 10/10

i randomly found this scent being offered in a swap and knew i had to try it. it's just absolutely gorgeous. a warm, slightly woody labdanum heavy incense. i am trying it in late autumn and it's just perfect for the season. enveloping and warm, it opens with incense woods and some peppery notes. after about 5-10 minutes on the skin i think i get hints of cedar. the rose never gets very strong, but is probably most prominent after several hours. truly gorgeous.