Mandala

Masque Milano Mandala is the second perfume from the second act, the sample obtained during an introductory event with Alessandro Brun at the former King of Prussia location of Perfumology, soon to re-open in Old City Philadelphia. Mandala is a reference to the multicolored geometric creation of the same name from certain eastern religions, sometimes created with paint, sand, or textile, and they can be beautiful, artistic mixes of color and inspiration. The fragrance itself is predominantly a multifaceted incense scent, somewhat bright, somewhat spicy, subtly nuanced, not an overly loud winter beast type of incense scent, but an incense scent for all seasons. The nutmeg and angelica in the opening foster a fairly sharp effect, angelica itself being somewhat bitter, before drying down to a more harmonic, albeit even more spice-laden blend of cinnamon, clove, and cardamom, before drying down to a woody base. Overall, Mandala is yet another great creation from the minds at Masque Milano that is a bottle I’ll seriously need to consider buying, as I really love the complexity and intrigue of this composition. I’d especially recommend fans of incense fragrances to check out Mandala by ordering a spray sample from Perfumology, as the fragrance is distinct enough from other incense-dominant fragrances, given its varied note list, that it merits trying for uniqueness alone, even though the uniqueness is subtle, not a loud, in-your-face type of blast of resins along the lines of an Amber Absolute or Ambra Aurea. Like the other creations from this line, Mandala is created with care and subtlety. I find the performance very satisfactory, not like the aforementioned beasts but still robust and thoroughly enjoyable. At $158 for 35ml retail, despite beautiful presentation, it’s not cheap, so one really needs to love it to purchase it, but I imagine it would be an treasure for many incense fans in particular. 8 out of 10

Mandala from Italian House of Masque Milano was a blind buy based on the notes I read and it was love at first sniff when my box arrived. It is my 2nd favorite from their entire line. Mandala opens with very clear olibanum note accompanied with nutmeg which I love! It immediately transformers me to my memories when visited Oman and my nose came across olibanum smell for the first time. After initial strong 10 minutes, perfume settle a bit and notes of smokey but soft incense, cardamon and cedar starts coming on top which transforms the fragrance to more of “churchy/smoky” smell which I was hoping for to get and love since I was a kid visiting church. As the fragrance continues to develop on its journey, it became slightly salty with ambergris & oakmoss. I personally don’t like ambergris in perfumes but here it fits perfectly and it’s nothing overpowering nor harsh. It actually gives the fragrance more “air” and stabilize the loudness of incense & olibanum. Compared to other olibanum-based fragrances, Mandala is winner for me in terms of overall blend and longevity is very good (7-9 hours) – it actually last longer on me when used in cold weather. I think it’s unisex but leaning more masculine (mature & educated person) definitely more suitable for autumn & winter. Because it has incense, don’t expect strong “Interlude Man” smell, this is more about olibanum and incense here plays smoky role which is offset by powdery notes used in this amazing composition of Christian Carbonell. Bottle looks great, love the fact it’s 35ml bottle which makes it great for traveling and that Masque Milano gives appreciation to the composers of this liquid art and state their name on top of bottle (this house actually teach me to select perfume also by perfumers not just by notes or niche house.

موعدنا اليوم مع بساط سحري قد طوي وأدخل بعناية إلى زجاجة عطر. ماندالا: هي مجموعةٌ من الرُّموز التي استُعملها الهندوسيين والبوذيين للتعبير عن صورة الكون الميتافيزيقي. أي الأشياء التي لا تخضع لـقوانين الطبيعة. وكأن مصمم العطر أراد أن يضع له اسما يعبر عن كونه سيكون عطرا يغرد خارج السرب، بعيدا عن التوليفات النمطية المتداولة. العطر كما هو مدون يرتكز على البخور والصمغيات البخورية. بغض النظر عن كونها من نوعية فاخرة للغاية فالأهم هو القالب الغير نمطي الذي تم تقديم البخور من خلاله. فالبخور إن صح التعبير قد تم غسله وإعادة صياغته داخل عنبر الحوت الحيواني الرائع الذي أهيم به عشقا. والأكثر أهمية من ذلك، أنك لو كنت قد خمنت –ولك الحق- أننا أمام عطر شديد القوة والعمق وربما الحدة وبعض المرارة العنبرية الرائعة المعتادة. فنحن على موعد مع اتجاه مغاير تماما لهذا التخمين. فعنبر الحوت المستخدم تماما كأنما قد طفا على سطح المحيط لعشرات السنوات حتى تشبع باليود والملح البحري، بل والنوتة البحرية ككل. هل يمكنك أن تتخيل "البخور والصمغيات داخل قالب عنبري بحري مائي".. شيء مذهل، وسأعذر كل من لم يستطع تخيل ما وصل إليه العطر. فاليوم موعدنا مع المزيد من المفاجآت. فها هي نوتة زهرية حلوة المذاق ستضخ في قلب العطر. فالأنجيليك "الكرفس" صاحب العبق الحلو المغلف في نوتة خضراء بديعة قد امتزج بأخشاب صندل ميسوري لا مثيل له في الجمال كذلك المستخدم في عطر زيرجوف ريتشوود، مع القليل من جوزة الطيب اللاذعة الحلوة، والهيل القوي الذي يثير الشهية والانتباه، ليضاف للعطر نوتة أشبه بالنوتات الزهرية ولكنها لأزهار "ميتافيزيقية" لا وجود لها في الحقيقة. الثنائي التشيبري "راتينج اللابدانوم مع الأوكاموس" قد زادا العطر جمالا وروعة وأناقة، بحيث لم يعد فقط عطرا شرقيا روحيا. بل أصبح عطرا أنيقا ارتداؤه يشبه تماما ارتداء بدلة رسمية عصرية للمصمم الإيطالي الرائع كيتون. العطر أشبه ما يكون ببساط سحري سيحلق بمن يرتديه من أعلى سطح البحار والمحيطات صاعدا إلى عنان السماء برشاقة وخفة وسرعة انسيابية مذهلة. الأداء والجمال والتميز والنقاء: شيء مذهل

موعدنا اليوم مع بساط سحري قد طوي وأدخل بعناية إلى زجاجة عطر. ماندالا: هي مجموعةٌ من الرُّموز التي استُعملها الهندوسيين والبوذيين للتعبير عن صورة الكون الميتافيزيقي. أي الأشياء التي لا تخضع لـقوانين الطبيعة. وكأن مصمم العطر أراد أن يضع له اسما يعبر عن كونه سيكون عطرا يغرد خارج السرب، بعيدا عن التوليفات النمطية المتداولة. العطر كما هو مدون يرتكز على البخور والصمغيات البخورية. بغض النظر عن كونها من نوعية فاخرة للغاية فالأهم هو القالب الغير نمطي الذي تم تقديم البخور من خلاله. فالبخور إن صح التعبير قد تم غسله وإعادة صياغته داخل عنبر الحوت الحيواني الرائع الذي أهيم به عشقا. والأكثر أهمية من ذلك، أنك لو كنت قد خمنت –ولك الحق- أننا أمام عطر شديد القوة والعمق وربما الحدة وبعض المرارة العنبرية الرائعة المعتادة. فنحن على موعد مع اتجاه مغاير تماما لهذا التخمين. فعنبر الحوت المستخدم تماما كأنما قد طفا على سطح المحيط لعشرات السنوات حتى تشبع باليود والملح البحري، بل والنوتة البحرية ككل. هل يمكنك أن تتخيل "البخور والصمغيات داخل قالب عنبري بحري مائي".. شيء مذهل، وسأعذر كل من لم يستطع تخيل ما وصل إليه العطر. فاليوم موعدنا مع المزيد من المفاجآت. فها هي نوتة زهرية حلوة المذاق ستضخ في قلب العطر. فالأنجيليك "الكرفس" صاحب العبق الحلو المغلف في نوتة خضراء بديعة قد امتزج بأخشاب صندل ميسوري لا مثيل له في الجمال كذلك المستخدم في عطر زيرجوف ريتشوود، مع القليل من جوزة الطيب اللاذعة الحلوة، والهيل القوي الذي يثير الشهية والانتباه، ليضاف للعطر نوتة أشبه بالنوتات الزهرية ولكنها لأزهار "ميتافيزيقية" لا وجود لها في الحقيقة. الثنائي التشيبري "راتينج اللابدانوم مع الأوكاموس" قد زادا العطر جمالا وروعة وأناقة، بحيث لم يعد فقط عطرا شرقيا روحيا. بل أصبح عطرا أنيقا ارتداؤه يشبه تماما ارتداء بدلة رسمية عصرية للمصمم الإيطالي الرائع كيتون. العطر أشبه ما يكون ببساط سحري سيحلق بمن يرتديه من أعلى سطح البحار والمحيطات صاعدا إلى عنان السماء برشاقة وخفة وسرعة انسيابية مذهلة. الأداء والجمال والتميز والنقاء: شيء مذهل

ماندالا: هي مجموعةٌ من الرُّموز التي استُعملها الهندوسيون والبوذيون للتعبير عن صورة الكون الميتافيزيقي. أي الأشياء التي لا تخضع لـقوانين الطبيعة. وكأن مصمم العطر أراد أن يضع له اسما يعبر عن كونه سيكون عطرا يغرد خارج السرب، بعيدا عن التوليفات النمطية المتداولة. العطر كما هو مدون يرتكز على البخور والصمغيات البخورية. بغض النظر عن كونها من نوعية فاخرة للغاية فالأهم هو القالب الغير نمطي الذي تم تقديم البخور من خلاله. فالبخور إن صح التعبير قد تم غسله وإعادة صياغته داخل عنبر الحوت الحيواني الرائع الذي أهيم به عشقا. والأكثر أهمية من ذلك، أنك لو كنت قد خمنت –ولك الحق- أننا أمام عطر شديد القوة والعمق وربما الحدة وبعض المرارة العنبرية الرائعة المعتادة. فنحن على موعد مع اتجاه مغاير تماما لهذا التخمين. فعنبر الحوت المستخدم تماما كأنما قد طفا على سطح المحيط لعشرات السنوات حتى تشبع باليود والملح البحري، بل والنوتة البحرية ككل. هل يمكنك أن تتخيل "البخور والصمغيات داخل قالب عنبري بحري مائي".. شيء مذهل، وسأعذر كل من لم يستطع تخيل ما وصل إليه العطر. فاليوم موعدنا مع المزيد من المفاجآت. فها هي نوتة زهرية حلوة المذاق ستضخ في قلب العطر. فالأنجيليك "الكرفس" صاحب العبق الحلو المغلف في نوتة خضراء بديعة قد امتزج بأخشاب صندل ميسوري لا مثيل له في الجمال كذلك المستخدم في عطر زيرجوف ريتشوود، مع القليل من جوزة الطيب اللاذعة الحلوة، والهيل القوي الذي يثير الشهية والانتباه، ليضاف للعطر نوتة أشبه بالنوتات الزهرية ولكنها لأزهار "ميتافيزيقية" لا وجود لها في الحقيقة. الثنائي التشيبري "راتينج اللابدانوم مع الأوكاموس" قد زادا العطر جمالا وروعة وأناقة، بحيث لم يعد فقط عطرا شرقيا روحيا. بل أصبح عطرا أنيقا ارتداؤه يشبه تماما ارتداء بدلة رسمية عصرية للمصمم الإيطالي الرائع كيتون. العطر أشبه ما يكون ببساط سحري سيحلق بمن يرتديه من أعلى سطح البحار والمحيطات صاعدا إلى عنان السماء برشاقة وخفة وسرعة انسيابية مذهلة. الأداء والجمال والتميز والنقاء: شيء مذهل

WOW , Stunning Fragrance, Modern, Elegant, Unique, Airy, Spicy and Complex. Mandala , L'Attesa and Tango were on my radar, then I bought Mandala. I will buy L'Attesa and Tango next time. I bought it blind-buy after reading the positive comments and I watched reviews on YouTube with reasonable price. I fell in love with it at first sniff ! This is a Hidden Gem. It opens up with a bit strong fresh spicy, balsamic, Incense-y and spices notes in the background then dry down is warm spicy, resinous , ambery and woody . This perfume has a masterful Well-blended composition and There is a fruity gum vibe undertone in the dry down. Mandala is Spicy but It is very Smooth and similar to a Mystical Scent inside a bottle. I really enjoy it and I love it. I'm so happy that I have it in my collection. This is perfect for the all Seasons. Longevity is very good. Highly Recommend. Two Thumbs Up Bravo Masque Milano ! Rating : 9 / 10

Oh Mandala, the mystical circle of life, how it was a love at first sniff for me! A fizzy brightened incense with nuances of dried fruit and resins. Ooh, I know why I love it, smells like expensive champagne or an expensive sparkling wine:the fizziness, the light fruity touch, the resins of the barrels! It's so very fine, so very heady! Another image I got in my mind from smelling this perfume is a lady in a church. She is impeccably dressed, everything top notch, her light and gentle perfume intertwining with the incense of myrrh smell in the cathedral, conveying in the most light but heady concoction. I am yet to test the staying power and the sillage (which don't seem so good unfortunately) and I'll report later. But definitely FB and signature worthy.

a slightly sticky incense coated with nutmeg and angelica which evokes the memory of midnight mass on christmas eve, dries into a resinous slightly animalic spicy myrrh while maintaining the green freshness of the opening from the cardamom. i’m an incense lover, if you are too, this fragrance will without a shadow of a doubt invite itself into your favorites tab on your fragrantica profile. if you are concerned about the price, the quality matches what you pay for; beautiful presentation (not to mention an atomizer unlike any i’ve ever seen) , and beautiful scent from the master perfumer christian carbonnel, wonderful fragrance, will be purchasing a full bottle for the winter (or whenever the 90 degree heat ceases)

I first encountered Mandala at Perfumology, introduced to me very straightforwardly as a "challenging" scent. At the time, I was fairly new to the fragrance world, and it struck me as MESMERIZING, perhaps because I hadn't had much exposure to incense-y scents at the time. Nevertheless, Mandala captivated me. Like other reviewers, I don't get the stoic, meditative experience the brand insists upon. For me, this one is assertive (some might say screechy) but not aggressive (thanks cardamom), refined, and quite classically masculine. That last part makes it really fun to wear in a gender-bendy kind of way when I want to feel extra hunky.

Wow, this turned out to be better than expected (blind buy).Really, really bright and delightful and not at all as dark or church-y as I anticipated. On my skin I get very fruity, resinous insence. I don't get smokiness, this insence is not burning...I can understand why some people voted likeness to Erba Pura, it is spot on! But this is nowhere near as obnoxious as EP, Mandala is just so pretty and smooth. This is Erba Pura for people that don't like Erba Pura if that makes sense (I know it doesn't bit it's true)😄 Love! Suitable for both sexes without an issue. Edited to add: this turned out to be a big compliment getter.

Nếu ở đất nước nhiệt đới như VN thì sẽ liên tưởng ngay tới mùi trái cây: Ổi ruột đỏ, Ổi chín. Mở đầu bằng mùi hăng xanh, ngái của hoa bạch chỉ và đinh hương . Mùi trái cây được tạo ra và xuất hiện xuyên suốt bởi tổ hợp incense và các loại nhựa thơm olibanum, myrrh. Note hương chưa đốt (nhang)ở đây tươi mát, nhẹ nhàng chứ không phải loại nhang trầm nghi ngút khói như amouage interlude. Mùi hương: độc đáo, không biến chuyển quá nhiều. Hiệu năng: bám lâu, toả tốt Giá cả: OK Chai lọ (100ml):OK (box da đẹp, vòi xịt tốt) Không khuyến khích blind buy 8,5/10

A wonderful, spice, resins and incense scent. I have Reve d'ossian and that is a much drier and dusty scent. Both are gorgeous scents. I get as much spice as the resins. It's warm and lush. Just the right amount of spices. It reminds me of a spicey rice dessert. I'm really enjoying this one. Very unisex. I love spicy resin scents so yep I'm a bit biased. I keep thinking I can detect banana? The banana skin smell. It could be the angelica playing tricks. Interesting. There is nothing harsh in this. I get good longevity and sillage.

This one wears so effervescent and almost fruity on me. If you’re looking for the typical warm, balsamic, wintery amber, this is not it. The cardamom and green frankincense gives me a major guava peel impression in the opening, but the incense is always present, too. Dries down slightly warmer to myrrh and oakmoss with spices sprinkled in there. This is my most versatile amber/spicy/incensey fragrance, straight up unisex and can be worn all seasons and time. And it lasts and lasts, even after shower. What a gem!

Very bright ambery incense. Unique, well blended, uplifting perfume with great performance. One of my fav of the line. The incense note here to me is not at all smoky. Very bright. I get the olibanum a lot more than the myrrh, so this doesn’t initially strike me as a traditional incense, which was disappointing at first. But actually, it works really really well. I would let go of any expectations of the note breakdown and just experience this one blind. Beautiful.

One word: masterpiece! Not your usual incense fragrance. It accomplishes two things simultaneously: It is both deep and intoxicating (monstrous sillage) and almost fruity fresh. It's all year rounder, it's unique but not unpleasantly, try-hard unique, it just is. I would place it in the woody-herbal category, but again - there is this delicate, almost fruity sweetness to soften it. Easily one of my favorite Masque Milano perfumes.

A Fall day in Hangzhou - a mystical place of memory palaces, the incense burns. Time creeps up on you as it does on the temples and pagodas. There's a familiarity to it, the sweetness and sticky resins bring you back. You recognize yourself with him; do you know who you are without him? A walk in the garden, holding hands. Lemon blossoms and birds' calling. Only memories remain

I completely agree with the review by shroombutt a couple of reviews below me - this smells *absolutely* like a raw guava/guava peel; this is not as far as it sounds from an amber-influenced resin accord. Fantastic performance, yet it's not overly loud. Enjoyable and quirky.

A great fragrance, definitely masculine, highlighting an experienced, rich, educated man. A lovely scent of ambergris and incense, with a touch of nutmeg (luckily, not too much). Expensive, luxurious and classy - just the way I love it!

This frag is amazing, really high quality, complex stuff, ralistic olibanum with Frankincense and smooth sweetness.

I looove this for cold weather and my husband always says it smells amazing. One spray lasts all day.

A light hearted frankincense-spice perfumes, a good work crafted with a clear head and stable hands. Main Notes: frankincense, rosy starchy powder (sandalwood?), cinnamon In Short Fizzling, bubbly soda-water-like aldehyde-frankincense(?), decorated with a few different spice, quickly soft down to a rosy-starchy powder-like tone (sandalwood??), then gradually replaced by a puffy cinnamon. All on a synthetic, thin, "fresh" woody base. In Details The opening is very Tauer-esque (i.e. Incense Rose): it has the fizzling, bubbly character of orange soda water —— though there is nothing juicy here, the orange is more like dried tangerine . Then a roasted-ginger-powder kind of spice (cardamom?) played a cameo with frankincense, only to be replaced by a soft powder-like tone , which is dry, chalky, with a faint rosy hint. Then someone sprinkled cinnamon powders with great caution, so the scent has warmed up, but it never becoming too overwhelming or outshines the frankincense. I also sensed a tad bit of Aldehyde C12 (i.e. the plastic "incense" opening in Avignon by CdG), with its subtle cooling effect to balance the warmth from cinnamon. Another refreshing effect comes from a little bit of hidden sourness, smells like oxidized fruit core + watery green stem. Then warm and cozy cinnamon took over, but it never gets suffocating. Sour-sweet dry tangerine powder circles back a little, joins the puffy cinnamon. At the far end of the dry down, the skeleton in the closet has been exposed: a very synthetic base, it has a “fresh” thin woody tone, along with something sour and equally long lasting, smells so artificial it's almost nauseating.

Spiciness hit my nose as soon as I sprayed this, with angelica, olibanum and cloves making a really strong green and intense first impression. Eventually it settled into what I would call a scent experience, that features a cedar lined room with incense burning everywhere. There’s a door from this room leading directly into a field full of drying hay. Occasionally I left the room to go out to this hay field and that’s all I could smell, but soon I was back in the wood lined room smelling the very bright almost fruity incense that’s burning there. The incense and wood combo is very light and golden, and vibrates at a very high note. It’s not the smoky dark gothic incense in other perfumes, it’s yellow ambery, effervescent and light colored on an equally light wood. It’s quite pungent though despite the lightness of its character. There’s a lot of spice hanging in the air here as well. So it’s fruity, resinous, spicy and pungent. So, do I like this perfume? As an experience yes. I have a 5 ml decant and will enjoy it several more times. But would I use this fragrance to go out into the world and interact with other people? Probably not. There’s a certain intensity to this that I think others would find if not potentially objectionable at least mildly off putting. And I have to consider that when I spray it because it lasts well into the next day. The hay portion is definitely my favorite part of this but I find the fruity incense a little challenging. It’s interesting but I don’t know if I would call it good. This is probably not a safe blind buy for most people but it’s worthwhile to sample.

Very, VERY dark, very smoky, very moody. The notes listed will certainly brace you to expect a spice-and-resins powerhouse, which this definitely is, but may not prepare you for quote how unapologetically tough, hard and unyielding it is. So fiercely aromatic it creeps toward the acrid - on me in particular, the longer it wears, the deeper and almost-bitter it gets. (A super-muscular sort of labdanum maybe, or the pileup of cloves and smoked ambergris?) About 5h in it's still very much detectable on me and beginning to have that nearly burnt-rubber aroma of Montale Dark Aoud territory. Miles more nuanced and with gorgeous rich and rounded nutmeg and cinnamon, though. Yes, it's pretty butch, but not male-exclusive, in my view; the real question is not your gender, but just how rough and rowdy you want your spices & resins to be, because this one's an absolute brawler. Projection not giant, but uncompromisingly THERE and rock-solid for hours; longevity tough as old boots. Despite the name and the oriental-temple associations of the notes, this is most definitely NOT a scent of calm, aloof meditation for me - rather, of noisy, sweaty, chaotic rites full of clanging cymbals and blaring horns and maybe a bit of wrestling? In short: looks tough, plays rough, carries a big spicy stick.

A mystical and subtle incense based sweet woody aromatic scent. The perfume opens with notes of olibanum, nutmeg and angelica, and slowly reveals cardamom, cinnamon, labdanum and cedar before drying to powdery ambergris, sandalwood, myrrh and oakmoss. The unisex perfume with moderate sillage and good longevity, is a tribute to the beauty of a Tibetan monastery and it does radiate positive spiritual energy. If there’s a downside, it has a slight synthetic vibe in the drydown due to the calones used. All in all, it is extremely well constructed and radiates on your skin throughout its wear. Enjoy!

This one surprised me how much I like it, I bought it based on the notes which is definitely my style but the Fragrantica rating is quite low. Balsamic resinous cardamom and incense, what's not to like about that? Fizzy/Effervescent is a good way to think about this one, where the incense is a bright alive version more than a sombre take on it. It reminds me of Xerjoff in its styling a bit. Think of 1861 Zefiro but a much brighter version.

In the heat, the funky ambergris here really pops and immediately places Mandala in the "marine incense" genre. The incense-spice combo feels cool, fizzy and zesty, and I can see why some would feel reminded of guava. While not at all smoky, enjoyers of tangy and resinous notes joined by cinnamon and nutmeg will find this very agreeable, far less controversial than the comments would suggest.

Testing my sample; opens green and a touch bitter on my skin before veering into sweet and ambery incense that becomes an aspect of sweaty skin, which as usual must be the ambergris note on my skin. Leans bright despite the heaviness of the notes. Perfect for transitioning weather, spring or autumn. Definitely worth sampling.

帶著綠意和些許水氣的乳香 開出是有芭樂汁味道的乳香,當歸的綠意帶出了氣味中的涼感,有一些藥性寒涼的意象(比較不是薄荷或是草腥味的方向),我喜歡這個開出,多次想要出掉他,都因為前調太好聞最後還是留下來 中調是我比較有疑慮的部分,算是相對克制的焚香,辛香料有一些、焚香有一些、木質佔大多數,氣味雖然有面具家一貫的平衡風格,不過氣溫高一點的時候,我上身沒藥和龍涎香的苦鹹味會有一些到汗水味的level算是nono先不要 最後是溫潤的檀木,綠意始終伴隨,龍涎香的鹹味會退去不少,成為一個帶著體溫感的base,木質堅硬、帶著粉末感的味道會軟化、溫柔許多,不過我微微覺得有龍涎香的氣味聞到後來會有一些成熟感 持香擴散都是水準之上,然後噴頭十分好用

This isn't just "incense" but a photorealistic smell of Boswellia papyrifera resins heated & diffused before the burn! It's one of the most used & widely available varieties of frankincense with a signature sweet & buttery scent, whereas other varieties impart mostly citrusy, piny, & dry woody scents.

Amber smoky , linear yet exotic and different.you will notice floral notes mostly labdanum alongside with cardamom and sandal wood however sandal wood is not bold here. Its a well blended fragrance but imho is meant for cold nights. Scent:4/5 Lingevity:4.5/5 Projection:4/5 Age:+30 Occasion:Formal

I guess I was expecting a more spiritual, grounding incense. Perhaps my nose isn’t well trained but to me it comes off as a sharp, synthetic ambrox/amberwoods bomb. It does have some nice aspects I like, the fruitiness and incense is nice but it’s dominated by that harsh, grating texture.

The notes look so promising. I smell are woody notes and spices. Unisex. nfbw for me but I can see how others love this one. -

I waited forever to purchase a sizable sample of this fragrance, so I could wear it & experience it before deciding if it is FBW. I had extremely high expectations for this perfume after a few reviews sighted it as a "must have" incense fragrance. I'm unsure if my lofty hopes have let me down, or if it is the fragrance itself. Unfortunately for me, Mandala turned out to be one big "meh." While I enjoyed the initial frankincense and (I suppose) Angelica opening, the hope ended there as Mandala quickly settled into nothing more than a huge, harsh, spice bomb of cardamom, nutmeg, clove and cypher green. I wish this fragrance unveiled more smoky, traditional "incense" notes but sadly, it did not. A few hours in, my nose still feels bothered by creamy, spicy almost "gourmand" notes. I detect wafts of booziness (amber) but sadly, that's about it. Longevity is good and on me, Mandala wears as a close skin scent with mild & minimal silage. Nice enough I suppose but as a daily wear & total love, this is sadly a strong pass.

To all, thanks for the tip off to norlimbanol and amber extreme, wasn’t sure what to call the nose burning, ‘screechy’ too note that was smelling, synthetic makes sense. I think it turns up in all the scents I hate the most, though I think it’s probably responsible for the artfully applied solvent note in Durga’s Bowmaker. Otherwise, it just bugs me. Second note, there’s a thick buttery floral note in the middle of this perfume that I had accounted to iris, as it reminds me of lipstick but items not listed in the notes. Anyone else getting this and have I misidentified it? Thx. Overall I really like much about this scent, even if it came off a bit hot, but I can’t handle the lipstick scents that just remind me (and my wife) of our grandmothers. Not something I want to smell like. But all the gothic, spice, amber, incense, resiny qualities are enchanting. I would edit it and gladly wear the reformulation.

Chumbawamba below is right. This is definitely a synthetic Amber disguised as incense. Here’s how it works with Mandala. Traditional “amber” in perfumery is a blend of resins like labdanum, benzoin, and vanilla which are meant to evoke warmth, depth, and a touch of sweetness. But if you swap the vanilla emphasis for smoky or resinous notes like olibanum, myrrh, and elemi the composition shifts and the sweetness recedes leaving a mineral dryness smell reminiscent of TF Oud Minerale. My olfactory nerve translates Mandala's "amber" into a traditional bubble gum smell. For me it dominates the entire composition. I may layer Mandala with Purpose 50 one afternoon when I am home alone out of curiosity.

I think the horrible aroma chemical putting us all off is norlimbanol... Chris Maurice/Carbonnel and Julian Rasquinet slug loads of it into all of their perfumes and for me it almost always ruins it. There's nothing more screechy. When someone in public transport is wearing this sort of perfume it obnoxiously gasses everyone out. I feel like a certain sort of personality wants their perfume to do that, so this is for them. Up top this perfume has a very heavy passionfruit vibe, very synthetic smelling.

Not sure which I dislike more about this perfume: the heavy pseudo peppery woody musky ambergris note a.k.a. ambroxan, or the unpleasant long-lasting sourness. Totally agree with iris' and wst's reviews before me.

Whoa, Nelly! I thought from the notes this was a surefire like or love. However, trying this on skin, this is a screechy mess. There is something extremely harsh that singes my throat in here, like a gasoline exhaust flavored poison - I think it's the ambergris. I like ambergris in many fragrances but every once in a while it hits me like a punch in the throat. Like iris' review mentions, there's also a strange clash of sweet resins (incense, olibanum, myrrh) and sharp shrubbiness (angelica, oakmoss). Deep into the drydown I can see what this fragrance is trying to achieve. Everything mellows out and blends together, like a hazy ripple of wind through a field of tall grasses. However, for me it is much too little way too late - like a scene of serenity after the apocalypse.

I understand why people would require massive projection and longevity from niche fragrances. But, how far can we push this? I feel that this fragrance pushes it to the point of no return. The moment it hit my skin I realised that I had made a mistake. I could detect incense, olibanum, labdanum, and all the beautiful contemplative notes that are listed. However, there was also the assault of an aroma chemical which, most of the time, had managed to make my husband angry. So, I scrubbed this off but it lingered on my skin. I opened the window to exchange the air, and it stayed. This left me hopeless instead of feeling meditative. I rarely gave a harsh review on a fragrance. But this one is the one one should avoid.

@foreverine, I agree with every single word you said except "I understand why people would require massive projection and longevity from niche fragrances." I don't. Niche fragrances should be all about art and art's value can't be measured in such a simplistic way. Niche is becoming mainstream and the crowd needs "bang for bucks" so the market adjusts and starts using synthetic amber overdose in the base which then overpowers and ruins the harmony of these creations, leaving everything smell a little bit samey on top of everything. Of course there are exceptions to all of this, but I am disappointed how often I get disappointed in niche nowadays. And to the review: what she said. A scrubber with wasted potential.

This is another olibanum incense fragrance, my favorite kind. It’s pretty potent and features the olibanum note nicely in the opening, amped up from behind by a combination of muddy natural resins and synthetic, powerful woody amber. Dries down to that smokey vetiver scent that I guess isn’t vetiver at all but I recognize from CDG 2Man and many others. If it smelled as good in drydown as it does in the opening, I’d be sold. For a less insane use of these powerful woody/smokey notes try Armani Bois D’Encens. Also, this lasts like crazy long on both skin and fabric. We are talking nuclear annhilation by synthetic woody aroma chemicals. I still catch whiffs of dry, woody rubbing alcohol from my jacket a week later.

Challenging scent. There's a LOT going on here and it feels disharmonious. Cloves, nutmeg, ambergris, fruit, florals, wood, incense, herbs, spices, etc etc etc. It's too chaotic. There's a few moments where I noticed some positives during the evolution, but the overall experience is kind of a shit show. Final drydown is potent woody fixatives that smell fine at long distance, but not something I'm interested in exploring or experiencing beyond my decant. ×××××××××××××××××××××× Scent 30/100 Performance 80/100 ××××××××××××××××××××××

I agree with Delicoux there is a battle going on in this fragrance. I smell a lack of balance from start to finish. I think one of the main things imo is the Ambergris. I smell a saltiness that just detracts from the composition and I don't care for it. On top of everything else the cloves make this way to heavy for me to really get in to it.

forget everything you hoped to find in this perfume, if your hope was incense. because you will find only a slight smoke. opens with fruit notes and continues with metallic notes. a good classy perfume for men that does not justify this price. the notes are completely wrong in my opinion. excellent performances. but great disappointment

This is an interesting yet unbalanced smell. Resins, warm spices, salty ambergris, no cohesion or balance whatsoever. This is a really strange smell to say the least. Try before buying.

My body chemistry really amps up the Oud note. The frankincense comes through as it dries down. If you like Oud, you'll like this.

An Amber Xtreme (synthetic aromachemical) Overload Disguised as Incense Mandala by Masque Milano is supposed to be an incense-centered fragrance. The name evokes ritual, mysticism, temples—something meditative, contemplative, and refined. What I got instead was a full-force synthetic assault. From the first spray, it became clear: this isn’t an incense fragrance. It’s an Amber Xtreme bomb—an overpowering, cloying, aggressively synthetic woody-amber base aromachemical that dominates everything else. This Amber Xtreme is present in most MONTALE and some XERJOFF fragrances. The supposed incense, resins, and woods are buried under what feels like a chemical wall of sheer force. There’s no nuance, no evolution—just a brutally loud, sharp, and screechy drydown that physically made my eye twitch and gave me an immediate headache. Amber Xtreme is a powerful aroma chemical often used in modern perfumery to boost longevity and projection. It’s a woody-amber base molecule, but in high concentrations (like here), it can feel harsh, industrial, and to many—nauseating. Here, it feels like 80% of the formula. I couldn’t smell anything else. I’m a fan of incense and resinous fragrances, especially those that lean spiritual or meditative. (The holy grail is Gucci Pour Homme 2003) But this one veers into brutally synthetic territory with none of the softness or mystery that incense scents are known for. The thing is, most people like this aromachemical! Or at least don’t find it nauseating like i do, and i do detect it even when it’s used ever so slightly. It and norlimbanol and all similar amber woody aromachemicals. It makes the fragrance a NUCLEAR BEAST. For lovers of raw, overpowering synthetics, maybe this works. But if you’re sensitive to Amber Xtreme or appreciate complexity and subtlety—this is not for you. Masque Milano usually delivers high-quality, complex compositions. But Mandala was a massive disappointment. Not only does it mislead in name and profile, but it also ignores the balance and harmony that incense-based perfumery should celebrate. This is less Mandala, more demolition. Verdict: A warning for the sensitive-nosed. This is Amber Xtreme in religious robes—and the scent trail might follow you to the afterlife.

There are quite a few fragrances I love. There are even more fragrances I like, but this is the only one I hate. I really do hate it. I sprayed it while getting dressed in my closet and three days later I still can’t get the smell out. I sprayed it on my shirt and even after a couple of washings I still smell it. All the notes are notes I love, but in this fragrance they’re a disaster. I received this in a sampler pack with 4 other Masque Milano scents and I’m glad I was able to test it. I might have blind bought this one and would have regretted it immensely.

Maybe the worst scent I've ever smelled. Poorly done church incense and spoiled fruits.

Now this is an extension of his line, i can sense Masque's stamp. It is quite salty, with some incense & allot of washed ambergris. It has that myrrh cardamom mix going in with doses of sandalwood and lapdanum. It is quite incensy, yet spicy with some slight sweetness, and honestly i sense some aquatic scent! something like a sea breeze because of that salty note with some washed ambergris! and i believe it's the olibanum although i am not sure that it is the most dominant one cause i most likely smell the ambergris, the myrrh, and the incense. It begins quite a splash in the face and calms down a bit later on, but since it's myrrh, olibanum, cardamom, and ambergris i don't think it's going to be soft as it will remain loud and strong. I believe the character of this is quite strong, yet bold and charming! it could be the scent of "V" in movie "V for Vendetta". Later (20 minutes in) actually the scent went quite soapy yet salty with doses of ambergris. Slight myrrh, slight incense, lapdanum, cardamom, sandalwood, cedar, and oakmoss! no more cinnamon, no more cloves.