Tenebrae 26

Wild zigzagging slalom ride through northern forests. Stunningly spare austere Nordic woods, cold, an icy blue on the nose as well as to the eye. Opens up with a wisp of smoke so sharp I almost thought 'bbq chips' but it passed in a moment to become a glorious pagan wild incense, cycling into a much warmer resiny incense with deep dry warm woods beneath. Lingering sap and toasty sawdust hangs on faintly for a little more. Stone love if it could sustain those wonderful phases, but in fact they hurtle past scarily quickly ... the zingy assault of the open lasts for maybe a quarter of an hour, each phase after that maybe an hour more, barely there by 4h in. A scent not strong enough to last the rugged journey it wants to take you on. About as expensive as your own private Norwegian forest reserve, too - and nearly impossible to find where I live. But I love every maddening moment of it. Will probably settle for some CDG HInoki or Aesop Hwyl instead, even though (I love them both) neither quite hits the heights of Tenebrae's high points... as both offer slightly better though still frustrating performance.

This is quite interesting. For the first few days of having the sample, I did not think of Tenebrae as anything impressive. But over time, I realized there is something special about Tenebrae. The soft, and ethereal nature of this scent belongs in the calm and meditative genre, kind of like CDG Kyoto or Aesop Hwyl or Diptyque Tam Dao. It reminds me not of a forest itself, but rather the viscous sweet mist emanating from a night forest. The scent is of something lightly wet, but also slightly thick. I think of the colors blue and green when I smell this fragrance. Unique green woods scent! It is wholly pleasant, and while I will probably go for the CDG Kyoto this time, I do have this scent on my potential FB list. UPDATE (05/12/2024): Bought a FB of this scent and after spraying it I detected some citrus as well. The scent is much more lovely. The versatility is also amazing. It's just nice! And pleasant! I love it! I wear this to sleep everyday lol

I blindbought so it was a bit of a gamble, but with a sale on curiosity won. Tenebrae arrived this morning and it is indeed pine, resins, incense and wood I can smell. I cannot find any fault with it, it reminds me most of Fille aux Aiguilles Lutens minus the dried fruit. It's not a sillage monster, but I don't care about that as long as I can smell it and it's holding its own after 8 hours of wear. To me it is this evocative dark forest they're talking about in the description and I've been in many a dark forest. It's a love, looking forward to Arcana Rosa still on the way :0) And the bottle will look nice in my curiosity cabinet too.

I was wandering through the Balenciaga Rosabotanica fields of luscious roses when I took a wrong turn and got lost. The roses disappeared and the foliage kept getting thicker, denser, and darker, as I arrived in this deep, dark, tranquil forest of Tenebrae. I obviously enjoy these modern botanical fragrances and Tenebrae reminded me of my beloved Escentric 03 as well. So for me, this is a dark woody aromatic, the main notes I get are vetiver, frankincense, licorice. Very shapeshifting, with a soft earthy dry down, sitting very close to the skin.

I have a sample for this fragrance but the sample smells very similar to the sample of Abyssae 33 that I have...😅 The colour of the liquid is the same as well (light blue). I got both from the official site. I'll try both scents somewhere at the same time when I get a chance next time. Update - 09/19/24 Ordered both samples (Tenebrae 26 & Abyssae 33) and tried them. They are indeed different scents but smell quite similar to my nose. Tenebrae is earthier though.

To me, a masterpiece. Dark floral, earthy, humid (by which Imean a crossover between a grassy and an aquatic vibe) incense. Deeply meditative and poetic, absolutely beautiful. Performance is disastrous. I have owned a bottle, but did not buy again because of this (and the price tag). Could buy again though. Edit : got myself a second FB after all

It starts off like a forest with some incense and settles into light and slightly sweet woods. I find this one very lovely, but I can understand if some people find it insufficiently complex; I on the other hand find it a very smooth and delicate blend of incense, amber, pine and woods. In this case, simpler is better.

lovely woody smell that reminds me of a dark enchanted forest, a reviewer below said that it reminds them of noir 29 by le labo which i love but i'd say this one is a lot more deep and sexy and earthy. love this but unfortunately they only sell them full sized and don't know if i'm ready to splurge

Worth buying! Fresh and earthy/woody, not sweet! Bought this after smelling it in the airport in Nice. It's great. Projection/longevity is surprisingly medium-low for notes that can have a 'monstrous' sillage, but honestly, that probably makes it easier to wear.

It smells like an essential oil sauna in a forest next to the sea. The blend is perfect and well made. However the performance is a disaster. Close to no projection and max 3h of longevity makes the price tag (~$300/250€ for 75ml) a big joke.

Smooth pine. Like a softer encre noire. I might be partial to this one since I grew up in pine forests but it's really nice. Perfect for fall. I'm not sure it's worth the price, though

A beautiful “winter forest” perfume with the worst longevity (1h max). Gorgeous bottle. Very similar to Hinoki (shower gel) from Le labo. Hinoki stays much longer on the skin.

Nice shady coniferous blend on the sharp side though.

Tenebrae is a piney, cedar-laden incense fragrance. I’d place it firmly in the churchy category, though it isn’t icy or austere; there’s a subtle sweetness from resins that rounds the edges. Olibanum feels especially prominent here. It carries both light and shadow at once, like an exit passage from Passage d’Enfer back into the world. You emerge from that corridor into a dim, enigmatic pine forest. Overall, I enjoyed it quite a bit. It isn’t entirely unique; there are many incense–cedar–pine compositions out there; but within this vein, it’s one of the more successful ones, largely because it smells natural and well-balanced. Tag(s): raw olibanum, pine, juniper, woods, resins

Very nice woody green fragrance. Definitely feels like walking through a forest, I get lots of the fir. I see other reviews describe it as dark/woody/earthy but on my skin it’s much fresher, I almost get a hint of citrus although I know that’s not in the notes. To me it’s almost like a very sophisticated, elegant Pine O Cleen (I personally love that smell but it’s not for everyone!) Unfortunately sillage and longevity were poor for me, completely disappeared by about three hours. Based on the performance I think it’s overpriced, but it is still nice.

Bought last year for $245 on Luckyscent and checked on this again out of curiosity. This is now running for $305. That’s almost a 25% price increase in 1 year. Crazy. Honestly with the price hikes I don’t think this scent is worth the $$$. There are easily other pine scents that do a great job of creating the same atmosphere as this that don’t cost an arm and a leg. At any rate, this is a nice piney incensey perfume. It’s rather light in composition though, doesnt smell heavy or resinous to me. Just smells like burning incense in a pine forest.

A bright incense laden offering, this perfume showcases the sunnier side of frankincense. Mixing the frankincense with plant resin, fir, tree sap and earthy notes the perfumer creates a radiant if somewhat familiar fragrance. Given the glut of incense based perfumes in the market this may seem a bit repetitive but give it a try. It does have its charms. Unlike other brooding balsamic beauties (Norne or Lavs) this one is more airier and cheerier. Nice blending, unisex with moderate to strong sillage, projection and longevity. Enjoy!

Deeply lovely, with a fresh, almost marine-like, coldness to it that could be falling snow on conifers. It's woodsy and piney without being overly masculine or stereotypical, and holds a transparency throughout, with a very photorealistic wood. Not a strong projector, and fades far too quickly, but maintains a whisper of something very blue and gauzy close to the skin. Gorgeous stuff.

This is a nice daytime perfume (good for the office because it is very soft). I put a lot on and it's still hard to smell (basically i used the whole luckyscent sample but still hard to smell). it's a light fragrant woody vs. hit you over the head with the wood/fir. not convinced that it's worth it for the money but i do like the scent.

Purchased a sample from Lucky Scent, as this fragrance sounded intriguing. Not going through all the scent details, as others have already listed. For me, the scent leans more masculine. It gives a sense of relaxation and peace. After dry down fragrance smells like a spa in a 7 star hotel. Nice, but not for $305/75ml.