Smudge

I selected this as a part of a Heretic discovery set, recommended by Hayden Anhedonia (Ethel Cain). She had described it as "coming home to the person you love most" and it "stinks so good". This perfume is an experience and is absolutely my favorite right now. My first impressions when sprayed, is the crackle of a campfire. As it sets, emits wood and dried flowers are intermixed with the flames. The evolution over time I can only describe this campfire of wood and flowers dying down as you are laying close to someone you deeply cherish. The scent just evokes a vision of my myself sitting closely to my partner sitting with our close friends around a campfire in the fall with the crunch of leaves and laughter. I absolutely love it and I wear it daily. I really can't wait until its cold and I am wearing it. If you enjoy incense/burning wood/dried flowers kind of smells, you will enjoy this a lot.

I’m originally from the Southwestern United States, and this instantly reminds me of home. The sage is photorealistic; first spray is sage and cedar, and strong smoke. It does smell exactly like a burning smudge stick. It reminds me of the desert at night, of dusty, dry air and campfire smoke. On me, it’s peppery, smokey sage for 3-4 hours, drying down a little sweeter with the patchouli. I love woody scents, and this is a super unique smokey addition to my collection. It’s not a safe blind buy and not for everyone. I consider it more masculine with the lack of sweetness, but honestly, I don’t think it has a gender. I feel like an ancient druid wearing this. I love it.

You walk past the magical herbs and wander to the back of the metaphysical store, almost in a trance as the oddity-filled shelves slowly begin to warp... My first time wearing this it smelled very strongly like liquid smoke and I didn't like it, but I gave it another go and was very glad I did. As it dries the smoke gives way to the patchouli and sage for a smell remniscent of incense. It lasts a very long time- I could still make it out on my wrists after 12 hours! I wouldn't wear this to work for fear of smelling like a dirty hippie but it has made its way into my regular rotation.

Sensational. Unique. Primal. Five stars. Smoky, resinous, ambery, bit of incense. Smells ancient, powerful, mysterious, and darkly sensual. Lasts for hours. To my nose it also smells 100% masculine. I bought it instantly after smelling it at a fragrance shop last week in Japan. Been wearing it ever since. I was over the moon about this fragrance before I even knew Heretic fragrance house only uses natural (non-synthetic) ingredients. My new signature scent. Awesome and daringly creative.

Nice custardy Labdanum forward scent with smoke, patch, and vanilla in key support roles. Thankfully I don't get any sage here as sage tends to come off a little b.o.-ish on my skin. Maaybe in the first millisecond of spraying there's something green there, but it isn't detectable at all after. I love Labdanum and sometimes wear the e.o. solo, so this was an easy purchase. Lasts forever, which is saying something considering this line is synthetic free!

I definitely get the witchy vibes intended, but to me it’s in the form of a strong desert atmosphere. It’s bone dry and bold, it smells like the ghosts of cigars outside an abandoned saloon, a hot desert wind at night around a fire. It’s praying for rain. It’s masculine to me, and it takes me to places I can almost remember visiting. Dries down to smell like incense; much subtler. Would be a delicious summer night fragrance.

Remember that scene in The Craft when the teenage girls, led by the angry goth Nancy, first explore the witchcraft store? This perfume smells like that. Incense, sage, patchouli, vanilla, and, though it's not listed in the description, I SWEAR I catch a hint of clove. I absolutely love it. The next thing will be to experiment with layering it with other scents.

i love this one, it really is unique. I've been looking for an incense-y, orthodox church perfume and this is the closest i've gotten. it's palo santo at first and then the dry down is more complex and beautiful, the myrrh really pops out and starts giving me church memories. this one and dirty violet are my top fave scents rn, bless u heretic

does smell like smudging sage. extremely nostalgic for me. love the minor floral of labdanum, and the creaminess of the vanilla and benzoin, both of which I'm always a sucker for. with the patchouli, cedar and myrrh, it reminds me of all the cool moms growing up in the pacific northwest. adore this scent!!!

Super aptly named because the moment the scent hit my senses i was brought back to my Iroquois grandpa smudging when I was a child. Super smoky, like if you bottled burning sage. The staying power of heretic always amazes me. I could still smell this on myself after 8 hours.

I enjoy this, but I also completely understand what one would not. To me, it smells like that first sip of lapsang souchang tea: bitter smokey yet enticing. Probably the sexiest of all my scents (I wear it on nights out).

As an old "goth" bat this is my signature scent for fall, winter. Smells like ren-fair incense stall combined with dark smoky goth club. I can see only minority of people who like this type of scent.

Alone, I find it extremely intense, but I've started to wear it along with Nest's Madagascar Vanilla oil, and it's beautifully warm, sweet and smoky

i LOVE this fragrance....i have been mourning the loss of norma kamali's incense for many moons; i've found my new love <3

A staple scent for me. Smells exactly like palo santo smudge sticks with some vanilla caviar. Perfection. They nailed it.

Myrhh is the standout in this. From the get-go anyway. I just sprayed heavily over my body and clothes. I get copper, palo santo and myrrh. It's strong. Like when I burn intense in the house, which I would have expected from the name. It's a freezing cold dry day and I'm sitting on the bus wearing a mask. All I can smell is fresh smoke. I'm loving it truly. It's been about 30 minutes, leather is opening. Very old leather. Used leather. Weird but I get a licorice undertone. No vanilla and I really hope that takes the show. Like all fragrances from heretic there is a strong booze base. I hope this one has longevity as the florals do not last on me. An hour in I'm getting vanilla. It is lovely overall bit time and time again I am left thinking heretic lacks that luxury depth. It's not a cheap perfume in AU. Perhaps in the state's it's marketed to a mid-range market. Midrange would suit it perfectly but for the price, there are others I would prefer spend my money on. Edit: a few hours in... Isn't this whiskey custard. I read custard and laughed but I can smell it. Definitely sits as one of their better scents. Lasting power seems to be a winner, is expect nothing less from the scent profile though... They're all long lasting scents usually. Edit: I had to do a second edit. Just picked up a jacket 2 days after wearing the fragrance. It's so strong and lingers all over my previously worn clothes. Impressed by longevity.

To be fair, I smelled this on my friend's arm a while ago, so it might be different if I were to smell it on myself and I'm going off of memory (which I know might not be the best lol), BUT! at first the scent completely shocked me, I was NOT expecting it to smell the way it did - it smelled SO strong, like old burning wood on a noticeably cold midsummers eve, it was super intense for me and it made me feel weirdly nostalgic but in a bad way, like, nostalgic of a bad memory I dont remember even having. But after a bit when it died down, I smelled it again and it was so sweet!? I typically wear sweet scents so that I liked, but it was shocking after the first impression. But at first I still wasn't very fond of it. Recently the same friend walked past me and I instantly commented on how good he smelled, and it was this perfume! Soo my opinion shifted again. It was sweet but also a little "dark", like a manly sweet that doesn't smell like cologne? It was sexy in a scary way kind of, I liked it. This perfume made me go through a whole rollercoaster of emotions, but that made it memorable and I love it now. Aside from the poeticness, it smells at first like sage and cedar the most to me, but after a while I think it's kind of like a "dirty" vanilla.

I ordered 4 samples of Heretic scents, and Smudge was the first. Initially I was offput by it--I'm still unfamiliar with many fragrance terms, but the first inhale felt chalky or powdery. As someone with a mother who often burns sage to "smudge" the house, I don't think this encapsulates that scent specifically, but there are merits to it regardless. When I wore it for a day, there was something about it. Not unappealing or repulsive, but something a little stale. It fits with the descriptions of an old building, dust, or a cluttered incense shop. This might become headachy to some, but the scent is subtle enough to not be so for me. I wasn't sure about it after I had trialed it. I liked it well enough, but it didn't immediately appeal to me. Smelling it now, I can appreciate the smokiness much more, and I don't detect that initial chalkiness I once did. It's warming on me. It's a little spooky, a little incense-y, and a lot smokey--the kind of scent you'd smell on someone walking past and would know that they're witchy.

I really, really, really like this scent. It is not something I would feel comfortable wearing in public, however. Where it shines is in the memories it evokes. It is only something to wear conservatively and if, literally only if, you have a similar memory or experience. It conveys, or really captures, the entire essence of meeting my now-husband and our romance; it is the story of how and why we eventually got engaged, the distances we traveled and the sights we experienced, the money we had to squander to make our dreams come true. This is not a safe blind buy. This is not for everyone. I would rate this as a "love love love" but I know, factually, this perfume would absolutely be inappropriate to wear at any other time than when I am in my home, completely alone, with my spouse--and no one else. It is so incredibly sexy and captivating but you have to have had the experience, in my very humble opinion, to appreciate it. Cannot wait to buy a full bottle. It is next on my list. I will savor it until the day I die.

I bought the 15 ml bottle. When I opened the box, I was immediately struck by the product. The color of the fragrance matched the sleek bottle perfectly—an ideal size for carrying around. The first spray reminded me of burning a large bundle of sage leaves and letting the flame burn for over ten seconds. Its pungent aroma may be off-putting to some, but I’ve grown to enjoy it—I regularly light sage in multiple spots to cleanse my space of lingering energy. As I traveled to the office, the sage haze faded almost unnoticed, giving way to a sweeter, cigar-like note infused with vanilla and wrapped in a wisp of juniper smoke. It felt as if I’d sealed myself in a safe, peaceful circle. With a cup of warm nut milk by my side—brightened by a pinch of lemon zest—I went about my daily tasks without feeling constrained. To my surprise, even six hours into a humid Hong Kong workday, that soft, milky-citrus veil still clung to my wrist, gently lifting my mood with every turn.

This smells like a spiritual shop, or a seance room in a haunted house attraction, or the way Halloween felt in the 90s-00s. This is a perfume I can imagine Nancy wearing in The Craft. I don’t get burnt tire or acid, but rather straight frankincense, patchouli, and benzoin. I also think the fear of this fragrance is a bit overblown - there’s nothing disturbing or off-putting about it. If you can handle the incense sticks section inside a home goods shop, you can probably handle this fragrance. It’s strong and it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. One spritz is all you’re going to want to use.

Woah this perfume packs a punch! When I spray it on my hand I could immediately smell it filling up the room after just one spritz. It smells very much like a new age store, the benzoin is strong and comes through along with the sage. It really smells smokey and like you are practicing a smudging ritual. As it dries down it slightly reminds me of a BBQ grill. It’s smokey, a little earthy, and herbally. Check it out if it is your vibe! For me it is not one I would personally wear, but it is an experience and just as described!

I get less of smudge sticks here and more custard initially. The opening is resinous and very sweet, like crème brûlée mid-torch. It eventually opens up to reveal the herbal, woody notes, slightly haunted by the ghost of burnt crème brûlée or whiskey by the fire. Here the promised smudge stick does indeed come through. This is a very nice offering overall. The jokes write themselves with this Goop-affiliated house, but I do tend to like their fragrances.

I fear this may be almost offensive to spray right before leaving the house to catch public transport. It initially gives 90s hippie witchy vibes and draws more attention than I'd like in a personal fragrance.. but I love the dry down, where it turns more ecclesiastical, the smoke softening and giving way for incense, myrrh, and a hint of sweetness.

Smells a lot like burning palo santo but a little bit sweeter, maybe like vanilla or honey mixed in with it. It's very strong, a little bit masc leaning, and projects very well. Overall, just very woody and warm and pleasant. Got this in a discovery set and am excited to try the other fragrances.

I definitely get the sage but this comes off Very cannabis-ey to me, which normally I hate but it actually grew on me by the end of the day. It's very sharp, very green, bitter. I've noticed with Heretic their green and woody scents have far better longevity than their sweeter scents.

had my coworker smell it on my arm blindly and she said i smelled like an apothecary. this scent is for the witches who crave something a little dark and magical. musty, herbal and burnt. i’m excited to wear this in the fall.

Catholic mass. An earthier and more frankincense forward version of Heretic's Coeur Noir. Intensely smokey but beautiful. Almost identical to funeral mass incense. Peppery, heavy, dark and dusty. Notable patchouli note.

Smudge is strong. I like it but I don't want it to radiate from my whole body so I have been enjoying adding a little bit to my Method Men Cedar & Cypress deodorant to make that a little more outstanding.

Burnt sage of course is the main note, but it's followed by vanilla, cream, and sweat. A little musty. Like if a fire tore through an herbalist's root cellar. Honestly I'm a fan.

The opening of this smells like bbq sauce. After a few minutes the woodiness comes forward and it becomes a sweeter earthier scent. Overall I quite like it.

A tasty woody smokiness. Not my fave but not offensive. A tiny bit of spice on the drydown but wish it was spicier.

All I get is creosote, with a whiff of tar and smoke. Oh well.

Pleasantly smokey. Evocative of deep forest rituals.

Hippie head shop. Slightly sweet, complex.

After the soft, mass-appealing woods of Scandalwood, we are bracing for a much more challenging and atmospheric experience with Heretic Parfums’ Smudge. The name immediately clues us into the intent: moving into the realm of ancient, ritualistic practice—specifically, the burning of sacred herbs like cedar and sage for spiritual cleansing and clearing negative energy. This concept launches us into a fragrance built on dry, resinous, and fiercely ceremonial aromatics. The essential question we need to answer is whether this incredibly specific, atmospheric concept—the smell of ceremonial smoke and desert herbs—can be successfully translated into a compelling, wearable personal fragrance, or if it remains purely an evocative, challenging piece of olfactory art. Let's take a deep breath and see if this smoky ritual finds a place on the skin. Opening: The opening is an immediate, intense introduction of aromatic, woody, and earthy notes. The primary accords I perceive are sage, cedar, patchouli, and myrrh, with the sage and cedar being the standout notes. Off the first spray, the sage is at the forefront of the fragrance with an intensely herbal and camphorous blast of aromatics, very reminiscent of the "medicinal" aroma created by a burning smudge stick. Behind the sage comes the cedar, contributing a dry, woody accord that blends seamlessly into the herbaceous core of the sage. Next up are the patchouli and myrrh. The patchouli here manifests as an earthy dustiness—not the smell of wet soil, but instead the sensation of dry dirt kicking up in a cloud of dust, so accurate that it actually made me sneeze a few times upon application. Lastly, the myrrh lingers in the background to provide a subtle balsamic quality. It's slightly sweet, but more importantly, it offers a necessary smokiness to breathe life into the "burning smudge stick" accord established by the sage and cedar. Dry Down: The dry down shifts to be aromatic, woody, and smoky. The primary notes now center on sage, labdanum, myrrh, and cedar, with the sage and myrrh the most prominent. The sage continues to be a highlight with the same camphorous and herbal aromatic accord. Meanwhile, the myrrh has taken a significant step forward, providing a much more intense and smoky version of itself, leaning into an almost church-like incense accord. When my wife smelled it, she immediately thought "Catholic church," which speaks to its powerful realism. This is supported by the labdanum, which has emerged alongside the myrrh to build upon the incense accord with additional rich smokiness. Finally, the cedar has moved to the background to provide a solid base of dry woodiness. Performance: The projection within the first hour is strong, easily reaching out about six feet. Sillage matches that, leaving an easily noticeable scent trail. After about 3–4 hours, the projection had died down to about three feet, and the scent trail, while noticeably lighter, was still perceptible. The projection then settled further, with the scent becoming a skin scent shortly after the 7-8 hour mark. When to Wear: Smudge is an aggressive fall/winter fragrance that is best suited for evening wear. It is an intensely smoky and aromatic experience that truly feels appropriate only as a particularly daring special occasion fragrance. It is far too heavy and dense for casual or formal use, and is definitely not an office-safe fragrance, unless your office is a metaphysical store. Blind Buy: Smudge is not a safe blind buy. However, if you find yourself strongly drawn to smoky, intense, and atmospheric fragrances, this one is absolutely worth sampling for its remarkable artistic quality. Final Verdict: Smudge ended up being a fascinating and very interesting fragrance to wear. I find it peculiar that "smoky" isn't overtly highlighted in the initial composition, because this fragrance dries down to be intensely smoky, staying impeccably true to the context of its name—the burning smudge stick. I can genuinely appreciate Smudge for its artistic quality; it is an incredible olfactory depiction of a spiritual ritual and an evocative piece of art. In terms of performance, it was on par with the other Heretic Parfums fragrances I've tried so far—not weak, but maintaining a moderate, wearable presence for at least a few hours. In conclusion, while I commend the artistry behind the composition, the ultimate scent profile—a burning smudge stick—is not necessarily something I want to smell like as a personal fragrance. For that reason, I won't be adding this to my personal collection. However, it is worth mentioning that it's the first Heretic Parfums fragrance I feel isn't overpriced. It's still expensive at $165 for 50ml, but the realism and artistry behind the fragrance make it worth it in my opinion. There's just nothing else that smells quite like it. Scent: 7/10 Longevity: 6/10 Sillage: 6/10 Versatility: Low Mass Appeal: Low Gender: Unisex, leaning masculine Value: Fair

All I smell is tobacco, some kind of cardamom, and the faintest base of sage for some earth (but not the interesting sage it draws its name from). Want it to be more interesting, but like most of their perfumes, the name is more exciting and the notes fall into a singular clump. I keep expecting something else to come out from it or play against it, but everything is muddled and loses its identity so all the notes are clumped all together, rather than playing together. It's not terrible, but I've seen this one from them over and over. It's almost one too many notes that causes a flat, smoky mess. I wanted more green and more incense with some surprise bit of play in the middle. I don't really get this from Smduge. The puff of smoke in the beginning is heavy but the scent is too soft and weak.

I tried this a little over a year ago and was very unimpressed, my feelings were so similar to how I felt in my Poltergeist review I never bothered writing anything on it. Now, I've softened. I see the appeal, even if the sage still reads too medicinal on the opening. There is depth here, not just smoke, but it is by no means heavy either, and I do struggle to find the oud. I really enjoy using my sample as a layering spritz to give mystique to more linear florals or gourmands (pairs really really well with Fou D'Absinthe) but I don't care for it on its own.

This scent is a bit too heavy on the oud and patchouli on my skin. I think oud + patchouli + sage is not my combination at all. Smudge is also one of the strongest Heretic scents, which might be a plus for some people. I can see where this fragrance got its name from, there is a definitive ritualistic quality to this scent. I bet this scent can ward off unwanted spirits :D However, I prefer smoother resinous and incense scents (Coeur Noir, Dragon's Blood, etc), this is too sharp for my taste.

I have been reaching for smoky, incense-y scents as the weather has cooled and was very excited to try this! Unfortunately it’s an amber bomb which doesn’t land for me. I was hoping for a woodier, earthier smell. In spite of that, it’s a really warm, smoky, enveloping kind of scent I was glad to try. If you’re an amber fan, this is a super interesting, sexy scent.

This didn't hit the mark for me - I like my greens fresher and my smokes woodier, but I can respect the vision. I wore this for a few days straight and after a couple days kept on picking up something minty fresh at about hour five.

Bummed it doesnt really smell like smudge. I was expecting hay like sweet grass and sage.

OMG...so, this has to be amongst the most putrid stuff I've ever attempted to wear. After spritzing a small amount from a sample onto my forearm/wrists, everyone in my home was gagging...both dogs, both cats and the husband. I cannot imagine how anyone could possibly wear this stuff, let alone enjoy it, or love it. Smells like someone sat near a burning fire pit, or campfire for hours then tried to shower with Heeley's Cardinal. I had to shower and scrub for quite sometime to get the odor off my skin. Awful. A complete fail, IMHO.

I wanted to like this scent so badly, it's right up my alley for smokey earthy scents. Unfortunately, all I smell is cow urine. Sweet, acidic cow urine with that pop of ammonia that burns the eyes. My boyfriend says it smells just like burning a sage bundle, but I get zero of that whether I sniff the bottle, spray a test strip, or spray on myself. It's all the same for me, and the same is urine. So disappointed; ended up giving away.

Hoooooo boi, this one smells like straight-up smoke. Smoke in a bottle. Smells like my husband's shirt after he grilled outside for an hour or two over some firewood, but more potent and nauseating. Not my favorite from this brand, to be sure. Not sure what occasion would call for this one unless you're trying to convince people you just smoked some burgers at a cookout.

I love the top notes of herbs like patchouli, sage, and something kind of mint-like, but unfortunately this one is just WAY too smoky for me. It smells more like "campfire" than "smudge" to me due to how heavy the smoke notes are. 4/10

I've been wearing this 10 mins. Very "Phish concert" circa the mid-1990s. It's not bad but so far a very literal interpretation of a smudge stick. For intense and masculine patchouli scents, I prefer the complexity of Monsieur.

It really has a burnt-out smoke and ashes smell. There's a difference between burning miscellany and burning incense, to me, this smells like the former. It would be my pleasure to sell or trade the bottle or decant.

An incense-y burning tire rolling thru a smoky, spiritual journey down the aisle of a medieval stonewall church.

A campfire surrounded by a drum circle of white guys with dreads.