Encens Mythique D'Orient

Scent I have tried many so-called aquatic fragrances in the hope that they would genuinely remind me of the sea. Not one came close. If anything, they remind me of artificial melon flavour. The ambergris in Encens Mythique is the dark saltiness I was craving. This is no pool party for clean-cut poster children, this is the real deal, meditative and complex, as if standing on the rocky shore of a northern sea at dusk. Expect leviathans. The ambergris really comes out in the second half of the fragrance; at the beginning, the main scent is a luminous rose. After a few hours, the tentacles of the ambergris begin to lace around and finally overwhelm it. There is a rare and inedible sweetness at the heart of every phase of this fragrance which saves it from being a Lovecraftian horror, and transforms the experience to one of beauty and elegance. The tone is one of mystery and majesty. Say you are in the country; in some high land of lakes. Take almost any path you please, and ten to one it carries you down in a dale, and leaves you there by a pool in the stream. There is magic in it. Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries- stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region. Should you ever be athirst in the great American desert, try this experiment, if your caravan happen to be supplied with a metaphysical professor. Yes, as every one knows, meditation and water are wedded for ever . - Herman Melville, Moby-Dick Performance Unlike other perfumes, Encens Mythique does not open with a blast, especially if you use the splash bottle option (which I highly recommend). Instead, the strength of what you smell on first sniff is about what you will get for the next 1-3 hours, after which it will soften a little and carry on tirelessly for another 6+. Since it does not open with a direct slap to the nose, many people seem to panic. That accounts for the the weak juice reviews you read here, which I can say from my experience are nonsense. People can convince themselves of anything when it comes to the realm of fragrance. I bought EMDO from a brick-and-mortar store in Canada. It is one of the few perfumes I get compliments on. It does not really radiate at one steady rate, but arrives at the nose of oneself and others in ethereal drifts. This is another characteristic which I deem excellent which likely throws others into a panic. When wearing EMDO, accept the ebb and flow; trust that in a few moments, your rose and ambergris will return to you of their own free will. Overall Gorgeous, high-quality, long-lasting. Nothing like it. Edit: I love this more and more. The downside (or upside, from a Marie Kondo perspective) is that most of the other fragrances I have (and the vast majority of what I sample) just do not measure up anymore. The new bar any fragrance must meet for me is: is it worth NOT wearing EMDO for a day?

Usually I love those balsamic, oriental ambers. This is anything but. I have lived right on the Pacific coast most of my life (literally the ocean is across the street and I can see it from my window), and this perfume reminds me of the salty air on a summer afternoon. The ambergris sparkles and shimmers the way the ocean water glistens off of a dancing whale's back. I have had the pleasure of going whale watching on a small boat and have been totally surrounded by dancing whales. At times I think the ambergris in this perfume is so good that I imagine it smells just like a whale's breath, when it exhales and sprays a fine mist of salt water. How magical! The perfume does not seem to match the pyramid. I think the translucent ambergris is the highlight of the perfume, and there may be a lot of synthetic notes surrounding it, giving it an ethereal feel. When I first spray, it smells vaguely floral and pleasantly sweet. As it developed the ambergris became dominant to the point of seemingly eradicating every other note. It is salty and just slightly barnyard-fecal but very easy to olfactorilly embrace. Because the initial scent is so sheer, it seemed that sillage would not be great. I simply maintain patience and resist the urge to sniff my wrists up close. The scent of ambergris floats up to my nose all day long, easily 12 hours, so my body heat really amps it up. I also receive compliments when I wear it, so I know people around me can smell it--and it's nice! Thank you again to my pal for this sweet, twinkling sea treasure! Update: I had to buy a bottle. I wore it again recently. The next day I smelled the sweater I was wearing, and I thought I was going to die from pure pleasure. This stuff is worth every single penny. Just wanted to add that they used real ambergris here. Ambergris was burned for incense in ancient times, and this is the Encens they are referring to. It’s “Mythical” because it originates from whales in a way we are still not 100% sure of today. If you’re looking for church incense or a headshop, this is not a good choice, but it’s the best example of natural ambergris I’ve ever smelled. A perfumer once told me that ambergris is the “easiest note to recreate synthetically”. From my experience that’s totally false. I have to wonder if he’s ever smelled the real thing. There are a great many fragrances containing “ambergris” as a note, the vast majority being synthetic, and I have never smelled a fragrance with synthetic ambergris that smelled anything like the real thing. Another fragrance containing natural ambergris is Driftwood by Mirus.

Encens Mythique D'Orient is Thierry Wasser at his most sexual. For indeed, it is not the mere collection of exotic notes one has come to expect from creations with a Middle Eastern theme. You may be led in that direction by glancing over its note breakdown, and you would be forgiven for it. Encens Mythique D'Orient Itself would forgive you for it. It is also not a scent for naive amateurs to offer their vulgar noses in the hopes of putting to the test their ability to identify individual notes. Many have tried, all have failed. A few, it is said, have died trying. They will be forgiven for it. Encens Mythique D'Orient Itself will forgive them for it. Nay, this chef-d'œuvre is much more than that. You see, Encens Mythique D'Orient isn't a perfume in the traditional or conventional sense. It is not a boring creation whose notes all stand idly in line like inmates preparing for a head count, or disciplined children before being led into the classroom that will shatter their hopes and dreams. Instead, Encens Mythique D'Orient's notes blend together like the bodies of an intoxicated young couple making love for the first time. However, we as the puny smellers of this Beast are not the witnesses of any normal love-making; no. God forbid Encens Mythique D'Orient ever be compared to such a mundane act. We are witnessing a couple whose coital embrace is as old as the Universe. And just when we think we have finally understood Encens Mythique D'Orient, cracked Its code, just as the tiny slit into the Beast's world we have been peering through expands ever so slightly, we realize how wrong we were. And Encens Mythique D'Orient overwhelms us again. We were not forgiven. For only then do we realize that we are not looking at a couple. How simple of us to ever think so... In spite of our inability to fathom the very thought, Encens Mythique D'Orient reveals a World in which all members of the Human Race have been copulating with each other since Creation itself. Simultaneously. And finally, as we begin to question our very existence, as our worldview collapses, we realize that we too are part of the Universal Orgy that is Encens Mythique D'Orient's blend of notes. So yeah, worth the price.

I had to review this since I recently discovered it (I know I know... I'm wayyyyyy late to this party)... Leave it to me to fall in love with a newly discontinued beauty... And before you say either A) it was discontinued AGES ago or B) The Absolus Orient version took its place, A) I realize that and B) THAT one just got the Guerlain axe just like... 2 weeks ago.... Which is TRAGIC because THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PERFUMES I'VE EVER WORN.... I am not equipped to describe this because I'm too emotionally involved... I wouldn't describe it as incensey AT ALL.... it may have some frankincense but it's dosed very elegantly and, thankfully, there's NO SMOKE... The rose is there but it's more like.... A perfume trick to make you think of a rose without necessarily actually smelling one... I know that makes no sense but neither does this gorgeous perfume... Then... There's AMBERGRIS... People will argue to the last breath whether it's ACTUALLY ambergris or some synthetic version, but I've seen more than one interview with Thierry Wasser talk about a specific trip to New Zealand just to pick up a chunk of the real deal which he claims to have used in this (as well as Ambre Eternel) perfume... And it's stunning... I have never encountered an animalic scent like this... I LOVE very strong and prominent animalics in my fragrances: Amouage Gold Man; Paco Rabanne La Nuit; Patou JOY extrait; Diaghilev by Roja; Furyo by Jacques Bogart; Salome by Papillon; Musc Tonkin by Parfum d'Empire; Bal à Versailles... But this is totally unlike ANY of those... I'm not saying better or worse, but a very new animalic sensation blended PERFECTLY with every other note to carry you off to a magic place in your own mind... A beautiful and serene place... I haven't felt this kind of power from a scent in many many years... I hope you can wear it even just one time... It will feel like reading a great book while you can detect it on your skin. ENJOY IT!

Dear God, have I pulled a 180 on this one! Months ago, a fragrance friend sent me a small decant of Encens Mythique d’Orient. I dabbed a little on my wrists but quickly concluded it was nothing special, leaning more toward dislike than neutral. I’d also gotten a decant of Songe d’un Bois d’Été at the same time. That left me transfixed—so I blame Songe for my casting aside Encens Mythique! Anyway, I’ve been on a dark rose kick lately, traveling from Rose de Nuit, Nombre Noir, Rose Barbare, Velvet Rose & Oud (you get the picture) over the past several weeks. Then I remembered that little decant of Encens Mythique, a scent memory of dusty rose. Again, I dug it out, dabbed on my wrists, but now—heavenly. Masterful, even. This scent is difficult to describe. It’s truly a unique experience. Sure, I could say there’s a dark, dusty rose shrouding a hint of incense, then saturated with ambergris. But that doesn’t really do the perfume justice. More than its smell, Encens Mythique is about texture. You know that feeling you have when going to sleep or awakening in the morning? Your mind is hazy as you straddle states of consciousness. Encens Mythique is a little like that. Not literally, of course—but it’s as though these notes have become abstract and unreachable, like you have retained a small fragment of a dream but understand you’ll never recall it in full. Everything here is cloaked in an ambergris fog, granting the composition an unusual musky texture. Encens Mythique exists in a cloud around you rather than on the skin. Long ago, I heard someone describe wearing the scent as an immersive sensation of static electricity. Absolutely. So, yeah. Beautiful—and that’s a serious understatement. My collection will soon welcome a full bottle.

كثيرة هي العطور و كثيرة هي النوتات و كثيرة هي الدور و بين هذا و ذاك نبقى نحن من نتأرجح بين كل ما ذكرت و يبقى الملل العدو الأكبر لنا ما يجعلنا دائما نبحث عن الجديد و الغوص في بحر هذا العالم الكبير الذي ليس له حدود وصلتني بعض العينات لعطور بعضها امتلكها و بعضها لأول مرة أجربها و من بينها عينة لعطر غيرلاني من مجموعة صحاري الشرق و بالضبط بخور الشرق الاوسطوري encens mythique d'orient جلست في البهو بعد وجبة الغداء و اعددت فنجان قهوى اخدت العينة رشيت منها على ورق التستر ما هذا العطر ما هذه الافتتاحية المتفجرة ملأت المكان بشكل غريب و بسرعة فائقة انتظرت هدوء هذا الوحش الذي اكتسح المكان و بعد لحظات هدأ الوحش و أصبح ناعما زهريا مع الزعفران بعبيره الاخاد مع حضور قوي للعنبر بشكل بخوري أقل ما يمكن وصفه بالراااااااااااائع كثيرة هي العطور التي نسمع عنها بالفخمة هذا العطر سيغير مفاهيم الفخامة عندك نوتة العنبر في أحلى صورها طبيعية بشكل لا يصدق جودة المكونات على أعلى مستوى من النقاء العطر يستقر على قاعدة بخورية غاية في الجمال تلازمه طول الوقت كم كنت خائفا أن تتلاشى مع الوقت لكنها لحسن الحظ بقيت ملازمة للعطر طول مراحله العطر إذا وضعه آدم سينضم للامراء الذين عاشوا في القصور في الماضي لما يحمل العطر من فخامة يحيطك بها من كل الجوانب و يعطيك احساس بالسيطرة على المكان و لمن من هم حولك و إذا تعطرت به حواء كن على يقين أن آدم لن يقاوم هذا السحر الفاتن و سيهيم عشقا فيها بسبب عطرها الذي لا يقاوم و الذي لا يمكن أن تضعه إلا البرانسيسات أو الأميرات في عهد السلطان سليمان هكذا عشت اللحظات مع هذا العطر الذي أقل ما يمكن القول عنه السحر و الفخامة في احلى صورها ارفع القبعة لغيرلان هكذا يوظف العنبر و الا فلا لأن الكثير فشل في توظيفه و يبقى الزعفران هو كلمة السر في جمال و سحر العطور عملها طوم فورد في خلطه مع العود و هاهي جيرلان تعملها مع العنبر إلى لقاء آخر مع عطر آخر مودتي

These are the most impressive reviews I've ever read on this site. With that said, I hate synthetic ambergris in large quantities, but always imagined I'd like the real thing. Here's to exploration, because thanks to all your reviews, now I get to find out. I'll be buying some samples of this, which are surprisingly well priced on eBay - cheaper by the ML in fact, than buying a full bottle! (After a $10 eBay coupon, I got 10x 1ml samples of this for only $15! Even before the coupon, that's only $2.5/ml) Update: One spray, and INSTANTLY I saw what all the fuss was about! This is AMAZING! Dark and resinous and mineral and aquatic, all at the same time. This isn't abrasive or obnoxious like synthetic ambergris at all! This is everything you could ever ask for in terms of a journey for your nose and it's one of the most intriguing scents I've experienced to date. This deserves more wearing and I'll be back to review this scent more later! Update #2: I seem to be in the same boat with half the other reviewers. Every time I wear this scent, I'm tempted to come back to this review, I just don't feel that I can adequately do this scent justice. It truly is an intriguing marvel for the fragrance enthusiast. I absolutely suggest picking up a sample of this, especially if they're still available at the price I got mine for.

One of the most intriguing, beautiful, sensual and masterful perfumes in recent memory. It's less of a perfume than it is a mental vacation. An aromatic frankincense, with its authentic citrusy-sharpness, leavened delicately with another aromatic (menthol? eucalyptus? camphor?) descends into a lush, erotic rose, dusted with saffron. All the while that hypnotic, authentic, salty, melancholy ambergris just transports you to a hidden, primeval beach in the Middle East. Better wear your Burqa! I know of no other fragrance which employs ambergris to this lavish extent. If there IS an olfactory aphrodesiac, ambergris is IT. A post-er above says it smells like man-parts. No, dahling, that's SL MKK you're thinking of; Um.... I'd say it's lady-parts I am smelling here, spicy, tigery, oceanic and musky: this perfume is probably the ultimate boudoir/lovemaking fragrance I can imagine. At the risk of being crude, I think EMdO, in far drydown, smells like the most expensive, hard-to-get p****y on the planet. Very expensive, as we know, and increasingly hard to locate, ENCENS MYTHIQUE is an incredible Arabic dreamscape. A modern masterpiece.

Picture yourself sitting across from an impeccably dressed woman. She comes from money. Old money. She's highly educated, exudes sophistication, and a cool but proud demeanour permeates any environment she finds herself in. Her gaze is confidant and slightly intimidating, but yet when she laughs the room brightens, and all heads turn. You can't believe you're in the company of this individual, and yet she sits before you, warmly engaging, and on occasion she flirtatiously places her hand on yours as she laughs at one of your anecdotes. Picture that, and you get a hint of what Encens Mythique offers. This is high class in a bottle. Achingly beautiful! There is absolutely no point in me breaking it down note by note, other than to tip my hat to what is (in my humble opinion) such an adept and masterful execution of ambergris. The salty animalic nature is there, but nestled amidst the other constituents with such impeccable balance. Perfection!

This feels very fresh when first sprayed on, it's like you have soaked rose petals in water left it for a while and then sprayed it on your skin. It's not overwhelming as the incense quickly follows which smells like white musk and then I can pick up the ambergris. The ambergris smells slightly sweet and salty. The scent is very ethereal and feels watery on the skin as you have a light shimmering effect of light rose, incense and ambergris. It smells very plush and is so well balanced, no note feels bold or overwhelming. Everything is light and airy, imagine a breeze coming your way with a sweet, salty rose just caressing your senses. After a while you can pick up other notes within the mystical like breeze of a scent like saffron and Patchouli. All this is tightly weaved in a ethereal fashion smelling very classy and plush, you could imagine a Arabian princess wearing this. A very beautiful fragrance and worthy of praise.

Update: Well this one has transformed. I retested and instead of incense I got a rich, sort of oudy tinged rose. It's actually quite subtle. On me it's soft, alluring and gentle. It hangs on forever, but not strongly. Instead I keep getting wiffs of a slightly spicy rose with incense throughout the day. I bought a bottle on sale from Notino. I won't wear this when I want STRONG perfume, but when I want an elegant, grown up fragrance. Original: Dang. Dang. Dang. :( My incense amping skin strikes again. I got a sample of this because the notes are right up my alley. But on my skin it's just dry incense. :( No rose, no ambergris, nothing. I just get a dry sort of church incense. Don't get me wrong, I like incense, and have some incense scents but I was hoping that finally a rose and incense perfume would balance well on me. The search continues. If you struggle with incense at all definitely test this before purchase.

I think Thierry Wasser is my fairy godmother-he's created a fragrance that is full of all my favourite notes that evolve perfectly on my skin. This is rich, smooth and creamy all the way through. The rose note is there but understated, adding a hint of floral without being overly feminine. Despite being a traditional attar of rose, incense and woody notes, its actually not a heady scent, its quite light and I think thats due to neroli-I can't identify it precisely but I think that keeps fresh. The patchouli is not particularly strong thankfully. In the drydown there is a lovely powdery note but its kept from being too sweet by smoke and spice. This is a gorgeous fragrance-its very definitely unisex and longevity is amazing. Its a warm fragrance, probably best for autumn and winter. I think the name makes it sound as though its one of those enormous bombastic church incense fragrances, but its not at all.

Um, wow. I know I’m a Guerlain fangirl, but this is transcendent even for them. There is a soft, cushiony aldehydic opening—aldehydes unlike any I’ve encountered—followed by a sumptuousness of rose, incense, and a note so completely enveloping and interesting it can only be genuine ambergris or a highly competent imposter of divine whale excrement. It straddles the line between powdery and oily in a masterful way. I mean, really. I know I can get overly flowery, but this transcends gender and earthly bounds alike. Rose, ambergris and incense: land, sea and sky. It makes me think of how incense was originally meant as a visual prayer, a vessel of our fondest hopes and desires trailing up to heaven in the hope it might please the deity who encounters it. 16 hours later one tiny sample spray is still wafting up rose, saffron, and deep, dreamy ambergris.

The olfactive pyramid doesn't mention the very prominent heart note of sweet apricot... It practically unites the whole scent, in fact. I think there is a whispered ghost-note of cinnamon in the takeoff, and a myrrh note in the base. There is something in this perfume that I find amazingly addictive... I can feel my braincells just worshipping this curious, exotic, "faraway" smell. I admire the way the scent has a heady, oily, nigh-opaque heft, in keeping with Arabic attars... but the composition is so flawless, seamless, head-to-toe, that you get the French Guerlain-ness of it. I sprang for a bottle of the original 2011 EDP. It almost behaves like an extraît... it leaves an oily sheen on your skin that does not evaporate, and has a massive tenacity... You can smell it on your clothing days later. I wonder how the newer formula differs? Anyone know?

Encens Mythique d’Orient is not just a fragrance to me — it is a sacred veil I chose to wear from the moment it was released in 2012. From the luminous sparkle of aldehydes, saffron and rose, to the vibrant heart of pink pepper, vetiver and patchouli, and the almost endless trail of incense, ambergris and woods, it unfolds like a timeless ritual. This perfume had an intensity and opulence that felt truly rare, a richness that lingered on clothes for months. When I wear it, I feel protected. As if nothing harsh can reach me. And if someone does approach, they do so with softness. This perfume commands presence not by shouting, but by radiating something quiet and unmistakable. I know it’s not for everyone. And that’s perfectly fine — I wouldn’t want the whole world to wear it. Its beauty is in how rare, and how personal, it feels.

Each time I’ve worn Encens Mythique I think I should pen a review. And when I try and do it I feel I don’t have the sophistication or vocabulary to do it justice. So here’s my amateur attempt: It’s F’ing gorgeous. This is everything I love about perfume. A deep rose with incense, and I can taste the ocean. I realize that must be the ambergris accord, and it’s done so well. I love this blend. Maintains stellar stamina for several hours. For the price, it should. This is one of the reasons Guerlain is my favorite commercial house. Sure their are duds in their lineup but they keep pushing forward, and then I discover this beautiful creation. I really need to stop falling in love with the expensive stuff, I can’t afford this bottle and it’s going to haunt me.

I am not only amazed by the extraordinary scent of this perfume but also by its incredible longevity on the skin. Yesterday, I sprayed very little on the back of my hand and I could still smell it today at 12 o'clock. (I have a very good nose but still!) The ambergris notes are simply magnificent! Ambre Nuit by Christian Dior also features an ambergris base note but it is less noticeable than in Encens Mytique d'Orient. It is one of those perfumes that remind you of the former glory of perfumery, when natural substances like musk, civet and ambergris were commonly used because they were not only more affordable but also part of the few fixatives that perfumers had, along with vetiver and orris root. I think I found my signature fragrance!

Here's an updated review after over 10 years of using this perfume. I would say Encens Mythique D'Orient is a masterpiece by Thierry Wasser. I am referring to the original version. This is a scent that lingers for days and I use just a little. The rose and incense standout. Years ago I wrote that this could easily become a signature scent and I still stand on that. Unfortunately, it has been discontinued. Guerlain truly offers some exquisite gems. In my opinion it's worth every cent I paid for it back then. I got the full boutique experience with a kind and knowledgeable associate. She helped me discover this gem which I am grateful for. It is warm, inviting and unforgettable which is how I feel when I am wearing this.

I adore Guerlain, but upon applying this the first time, I immediately thought, "I've smelled this before." Now on the next test (manufacturer carded sample), it hit me. This is a slightly weaker and perhaps(?) slightly more refined Rochas Femme. That's bound to irritate some who spent the multiple hundreds for a bottle of this (and what a beautiful bottle, might I add). But there is a definite similarity. Infact, more than a similarity, they could be close flankers. Femme might be less refined (i.e. more powerful), but honestly, if you can't afford this, try RF. You just might smell what I smell, and save yourself a car note! Undeniably gorgeous, and would have been a must-have if I didn't already own RF.

The FedEx truck arrived on this 94 degree summer day and my bottle of Encens Mythique D'Orient (EMO) felt at least 80 degrees warm. I sprayed it right away. The smoky, incense (as in frankincense) hit me right away and remained prominent on my skin. It is slightly sweetened by, what I think might be, the rose. It is heavenly! The scent of EMO stuck to my skin and provided me with hours of delight. A week later, it's still very strong on my clothing. It has become very incense. If you like the dry, woody, essence of Dune (Dior), you'll probably like this as well. Can't wait to smell the other layers when the weather cools down. I'm so happy to have finally completed this set of Déserts d'Orient.