Relique D'Amour

What can I say about Relique d'Amour that hasn't already been said over and over? Yes, it's like stepping into an abandoned chapel in a rainy forest, crumbling stone walls coated in moss and the memory of centuries of burning incense, a bouquet of dewy lilies left - by what hand? - on a linseed oil-waxed altar, yes, yes. We're surely all picturing a different chapel, but we've been there; the comparison is cliché at this point. It's what the scent sets out to do, and it does it with great success (or does it? More on this later.) What else to say, then? I first tried Relique d'Amour in Oriza's boutique on a June morning, when I had found myself stuck overnight in Paris after a medical appointment (train issues, last-minute hotel, impromptu vacation, etc.) and decided to visit as many local parfumeries as I could in a few hours. The shop is small, sumptuously decorated, and it was completely empty when I arrived soon after it opened. It was almost eleven, I had on the most decent change of clothes I'd managed to purchase the night prior for a modest sum, I'd walked a while to get there, and the yearly heat wave which starts as early as May had me already drenched in sweat; of course I had no scent on since I intended to try quite a few, and I had never felt like such a frumpy, unsightly, smelly beast as I did walking into that gorgeous little boutique and approaching the tidily dressed, elegant, soft-spoken young woman holding the counter (who was nevertheless very lovely and helpful). Still, I was excited to be there: when I started getting serious about fragrances, there were two scents I was desperate to try - Fils de Joie by Serge Lutens (which I tried later that same day), and Relique d'Amour. I'm not sure what drew me to those originally, when they didn't particularly fit my usual tastes, but something about them called out to me. As neither were sold anywhere locally, I had been longing for them for quite some time. It was therefore with some trepidation that I requested to try this scent. My immediate reaction (which is more or less what I said in a message to a friend later that day) was: "oh, this is a masterpiece, but I'm not sure it's for me". It is indeed a cold, melancholic, thoughtful scent; my tastes typically lie squarely within "rich, warm and spicy", and I'd be hard pressed to find any friend who would think to describe me as cold or melancholic (perhaps thoughtful, on my good days). Still, when I purchased a set of samples, I selected two of Relique d'Amour. I found myself gravitating to those samples again and again over months. I more often wore Empire des Indes, Rêve d'Ossian and Le Régent, but each time I tried Relique I became more enamored with it. As my samples grew smaller, I noticed odd thoughts cropping up: a sour dread when I looked at the ever-lowering level, a "God, I don't know what I'll do when I run out of these"... I kept talking about this scent, describing it, as I did above, over and over. I kept repeating how it wasn't "for me", but I couldn't seem to get away from it. In October, I took a short trip to Normandy to a friend's family home. We went for a long hike down a forested valley where, by a river, the ruins of an old stone church stood. As we reached it, I gasped, turned to my friend with great despair, and exclaimed: "oh no! I forgot to put on Relique d'Amour!". At this point, it became quite obvious that I would need to purchase a full bottle. If the scent wasn't "for me", then I felt I would need to become the sort of person who would wear it - it is simply that beautiful. And yet I can't give it only praise, because I did get that full bottle. I had noticed already that Oriza Legrand seem to be using a different concentration or formula in their samples and in their full bottles. When I bought Empire des Indes, it was obvious that the scent was harsher, the alcohol much more present, and when I apply it after a shower it makes my skin burn and sometimes makes me sneeze, which no other fragrance has so far. Still, I chalked it up to something else: maybe it was just that the sprays were bigger, or the bottle was too new, or I was just mistaken somehow... But when both I and a friend of mine purchased full bottles of Relique d'Amour, my suspicions were confirmed: we both noticed it's just not what's in the samples. My friend says the perfume is thinner and the scent lasts a lot less. Furthermore, I think something is just missing. Maybe it's the linseed oil note - I can't seem to pick up on it from the full bottle, even when I spray more than I would from a sample. Either way, there's a smoothness, a cohesion that's not there anymore. It's harsher, more alcoholic, and a lot less unique; if this is what I had tried first, I would have been quite underwhelmed. Whenever I use one of my samples (I'm on my fifth), there is that perfect smell again that makes me smile instantly, the memories of rainy afternoons in art school when, passing through the stone courtyard, I would catch the scent of linseed oil coming from the oil painting classroom! The full bottle is a simulacrum of it, close enough that I could trick myself into thinking it's the right scent, that I somehow overhyped it for all these months. It's good, but it's not perfect. That dewy chapel nestled in a green valley, those ruins I so love to picture, I can't find them anymore... Until I use the sample again, and oh! How lucky we are, how lucky we all are, to live in a world with such small beauties, such discreet delights! Each day the sun rises, clouds overhead dance into new shapes, and, somewhere in a forest, rain falls on a forgotten chapel where someone once prayed for love.

2026 update : Relique d'amour has been reformulated after I purchased my bottle in 2018. The opening is the same, but the rest of the development is quite different. the concentration has been lowered, so the effect is quite different. The old fashion and melancholic notes are almost absent now, a vanilla note in the base pops out. The following review is from a bottle I bought in 2017. ----- I consider this perfume to be a masterpiece because of its melancholic and meditative beauty, as well as its uniqueness. It is not a projection and longevity beast, as many point out, but it would not be logic for this perfume to be so—just meditate on its name. Relique d'amour. Love, as life, is a fleeting thing... And that might be where their preciousness lies. According to Oriza L. Legrand, the formulation of this perfume, originally launched in 1900, was significantly revised for the 2012 version. The lily-of-the-valley notes were reportedly too intense in the original, and a note of incense was added; an ingredient that was not used in fragrances at that time in France. The narrative that accompanies the perfume absolutely fits with the olfactive evolution of the perfume: a rare thing! Another reason for me to highly respect this perfume. The opening notes of offer an accord that one readily associates with the damp stone of an old stone chapel, or even the mold of a crypt. The damp note is used in a restraint manner, which create a subtle evocation. This initial effect gives way to floral notes that are both green and peppery. Then, the opening note that was initially perceived as subterranean has transformed into an impression of turpentine or wax, undoubtedly thanks to the terpenes of the pine essence, which can be detected in the background. The backbone of this perfume, the lily that is reconstructed here (ily is one of the "mute flowers", that is, flowers from which no essence or absolute can be extracted. Fragrances that claim lily in their notes are always composed from the essence of other white flowers - jasmine, orange blossom, tuberose, for example - and synthetic compounds such as eugenol for the spicy notes, indole for the "white flowers" effect, linalool for the lily of the valley facet, etc.), is a rather soft lily accord that I associate with Easter lily, undoubtedly influenced by the religious reference of the perfume. To add to this association, the frankincense and myrrh in the composition are also soft, although very present. The frankincense gives the perfume its slightly soapy, dry but also cold quality. Interestingly, this perfume echoes the dichotomy of wet/corruption versus dry/aromatic/rot-proof discussed above. Frankincense and myrrh, aromatic saps that dry, solidify, and preserve themselves, were used among other materials in the mummification process in Egypt. Relique d'amour, a melancholic and soothing fragrance, may seem old-fashioned: I regularly think of my grandmother when I wear it, perhaps because of the myrrh, an ingredient often used in the past for its antiseptic properties and which, when it's pure solidified sap is burned, evokes the old and dusty wood of my grandparents' attic. This fragrance, which evokes solitude, silence and meditation, blends well with the skin, particularly at it's heart stage notes, in which jasmine and/or indolic tuberose have undoubtedly been used, paradoxically recalls the carnal part of existence. Unlike the power and tenacity promised by the first incarnation of the fragrance in the eraly 2)th century, the current reincarnation offers a light and relatively ephemeral trail that, in my opinion, gives it a precious value and perhaps also contributes to its association with spirituality. It is of course the masterful top notes (if the vaguely musty smell of damp abbey stones speaks to you) that contribute to the "artistic" character of this fragrance, but the overall effect is most beautiful and it succeeds in painting a convincing portrait of a certain atmosphere, in a certain place, at a certain time. An article published in 1910 in a newspaper named “Comœdia Illustré” mentions: “Relique d’amour is a bouquet of rare subtlety — like a precious souvenir dedicated to the deep cult of memory.”

Hello I’m back to share the epiphany I had that Relique d’Amour is the fragrance twin of one of my favorite poems of all time. Here it is. :-) Church Going Philip Larkin Once I am sure there's nothing going on I step inside, letting the door thud shut. Another church: matting, seats, and stone, And little books; sprawlings of flowers, cut For Sunday, brownish now; some brass and stuff Up at the holy end; the small neat organ; And a tense, musty, unignorable silence, Brewed God knows how long. Hatless, I take off My cycle-clips in awkward reverence, Move forward, run my hand around the font. From where I stand, the roof looks almost new- Cleaned or restored? Someone would know: I don't. Mounting the lectern, I peruse a few Hectoring large-scale verses, and pronounce "Here endeth" much more loudly than I'd meant. The echoes snigger briefly. Back at the door I sign the book, donate an Irish sixpence, Reflect the place was not worth stopping for. Yet stop I did: in fact I often do, And always end much at a loss like this, Wondering what to look for; wondering, too, When churches fall completely out of use What we shall turn them into, if we shall keep A few cathedrals chronically on show, Their parchment, plate, and pyx in locked cases, And let the rest rent-free to rain and sheep. Shall we avoid them as unlucky places? Or, after dark, will dubious women come To make their children touch a particular stone; Pick simples for a cancer; or on some Advised night see walking a dead one? Power of some sort or other will go on In games, in riddles, seemingly at random; But superstition, like belief, must die, And what remains when disbelief has gone? Grass, weedy pavement, brambles, buttress, sky, A shape less recognizable each week, A purpose more obscure. I wonder who Will be the last, the very last, to seek This place for what it was; one of the crew That tap and jot and know what rood-lofts were? Some ruin-bibber, randy for antique, Or Christmas-addict, counting on a whiff Of gown-and-bands and organ-pipes and myrrh? Or will he be my representative, Bored, uninformed, knowing the ghostly silt Dispersed, yet tending to this cross of ground Through suburb scrub because it held unspilt So long and equably what since is found Only in separation - marriage, and birth, And death, and thoughts of these - for whom was built This special shell? For, though I've no idea What this accoutred frowsty barn is worth, It pleases me to stand in silence here; A serious house on serious earth it is, In whose blent air all our compulsions meet, Are recognised, and robed as destinies. And that much never can be obsolete, Since someone will forever be surprising A hunger in himself to be more serious, And gravitating with it to this ground, Which, he once heard, was proper to grow wise in, If only that so many dead lie round.

The fragrance of an old chapel of a Cistercian abbey. Cold stone walls covered with damp moss. Waxed wood of the altar and old pews ornate with carvings. Linseed oil in lamps. Air smelling of incense and myrrh. But how fresh and spicy the smell of white royal lilies on this background! Subtle floral scent with green accents of leaves and powdery touches of yellow pollen. The beam of light breaks through the stained glass and illuminates this olfactory tumult of feelings varying from exaltation to humility and back. The silence which creates a sense of the divine call. This was the blurb presenting Relique when it was issued in 2012, adapting a formula of the very first 1900s. Why do I love it? Because it has the most interestingly weird Lutens's twist on white lily. At first sniff: olibanum! A white incense with a dusty and aloof very high church feeling. It is enriched by a HUGE dose of black pepper and very real and green pine note mixed with freshly crushed herbs and some floral notes, with the company of some aldehydes. I have to admit that this opening takes my breath away. IG @alexolympia6 The troop’s rear guard is quickly brought up by a tidal wave of dust and white incense: olibanum and opoponax infused with the dust of ages in a very old monastery filled with parchment scrolls. Black pepper is sprinkled all over the top of this ancient, olfactory tapestry, while underneath lurks the slow start of something floral. Suddenly, a wave of sweet, dewy, pollen-laden white lilies rolls over the intense cocktail of black pepper, dust motes, and dry, cold, white, slightly soapy High Church incense. Relique d’Amour is suddenly transformed into something very different, centered on a dewy, sometimes dry, sometimes metallic, lily infused with incense. To me, it’s unusual the way the traditionally indolent white flowers have had their syrupy sweetness and narcotic opulence dried out by cold incense. The combination of lilies blended with dust, sweet pollen, old wood, slightly honeyed, waxed wood, and undertones of soapiness feels like a complex set of astute blendings. Quite original.

This reminds me of my youth, when I used to attend the Catholic Church. I am no longer a Catholic, but those memories will always be beautiful and pleasant to me. There is an air of mysticism that a lot of people perhaps don’t see. Relique D’Amour captures that mysticism in such an utterly gorgeous way. This SMELLS like the mystic part of Catholicism. I wholeheartedly agree with what other reviewers say; this truly transports you to a beautiful chapel or church in the middle of the countryside. What’s beautiful about it is that it manages to capture everything about it. In the opening, you are still outside the chapel, approaching its doors. You can smell the pines and greenery in the cool air, and the old stones that make the chapel. As the perfume dries down and you enter the chapel, you smell the incensed air. Mind you, this perfume doesn’t smell directly of incense, or like the smoke of incense. It is more like incense that was long burned and whose scent lingers in the air. The memory of it. You can also smell some woodiness from the benches. And as it reaches it’s complete dry down and you’ve made it to the altar where you will kneel, you smell peppery and ethereal lilies, white and pure. Their clean and transparent scent will linger until you walk out of the church, until the perfume smells. This perfume is art, it is an experience. I don’t like to compare, but this is what I hoped Passage D’Enfer would smell like. That one is also beautiful, but Relique D’Amour took that idea to the next level and gave it dimension and more substance. Both light and ephemeral, but Relique D’ Amour, even though it stays very close to skin, projects more for a longer time and also lasts more on the skin even if it only stays close to it. It lingers like an ethereal memory until it fades. And it is so beautiful I am not even mad about it. This is truly exceptional and just gorgeously done. A perfect example of how perfume and scent can transport you to places and make you feel certain ways. Wearing this is embalming yourself with peace and beauty. Gorgeous, I never want to be without it.

The opening of Relique d’Amour is breathtaking. For a few fleeting minutes, it smells like standing inside an abandoned stone church after a thunderstorm. Wet stone walls, damp earth, cold mineral water seeping through ancient foundations, crushed green leaves, and a faint trace of incense lingering in the air. It feels atmospheric, melancholic, and almost haunted. This is the scent that made me fall in love. Unfortunately, on my skin that magical opening doesn’t stay for long. As the fragrance develops, the mineral and earthy facets quickly retreat and the white florals begin to dominate. The lily and jasmine become increasingly prominent, softening the composition and pulling it into a sweeter, more traditionally floral direction. What started as a mysterious, damp, green ruin slowly transforms into a bouquet of white flowers. This is not necessarily a flaw of the perfume itself, but rather a reminder of how individual skin chemistry can be. My skin tends to amplify sweetness and florals, often pushing fragrances away from their darker, earthier aspects. The result is pleasant and elegant, but much less unique than the opening promised. If the opening lasted throughout the entire wear, this would be one of the most beautiful fragrances I have ever encountered. Those first moments capture the smell of wet stone, moss, rain-soaked earth, and forgotten chapels with remarkable realism. For lovers of green, mineral, atmospheric fragrances, the opening alone is worth experiencing. I only wish the ghostly church remained longer before the flowers took over. I will continue looking for earthy scent to add to my collection this one is not the one for me. On the clothes though- wow. The sleeve of my jacket still faintly smells like that amazing opening days after! Rating: 8/10 overall Opening: 10/10 Drydown on my skin: 6.5/10

Perfume moves in funny ways. Therein contains the enigma not relegated merely to scent, but I suppose all other senses move in kinship. A word spoken, thus received though never as it was meant. The body veils the passions spent on what it barely reveals. In perfumery we speak of 'base' notes, I'll take the distant meaning. The meaning we know to be close. The meaning that rings in our ears, ossifies in our throats, degrades the palm to a fist. The profane of simplicity. Need I even speak it? It was a pear. Thus was spoken. A still life of a fruit bowl. A vanitas. The fruit had gone old and nearly scentless (a miracle in that grey area!). The golden bowl had lied to you. Turns out it was brass. You caught it in a lie the moment you spotted the verdigris. The deceptive blue and green, and somehow feeling grey (another miracle in that place). You turn away. It's all around you. The tattered curtains around the windows. Draping distraughtly as if to point: here lies the light beaming before you, spotted all about the room. It illuminates the dust. This is its beauty and dismay. Your dismay is none the brighter, and for that you must suspend. Suspend your beliefs about the room and what it may exactly be. Don't reach out your arms. It's gone now. You cannot hold what has been held. You have its essence and its shell but not the wind that brought it ruins. It's scattered across the plain and I can see you running after it now. Never will you catch it, not even half of it. This was the story of Relique d'Amour. Funny because the tale is told evermore, always with a different pair of lips, evermore moving in a sense of kinship.

I think this fragrance is a portal into another world. I have been in love with Chypre-Mousse for quite some time but Relique feels like the natural next chapter in the wet, wooded story that i've been on with chypre mousse since i first got her. Relique D'amour is mysterious and solemn.. super romantic in my eyes. in my head, I am smelling chypre-mousse in a lush and dewey forest while looking for mushrooms. although i am deep in the woods, in the gulley's and low in elevation, there are still pockets of light coming through the trees. and thennnn i run into an abandoned stone church or stairs that lead underground and thats where i smell relique d'amour. The coolness of entering a cave in wooded ledges, cold and wet stone walls, a sacred place left for nature to take back over.. leftover cedar boxes and rosaries, dried lilies... It is fleeting though. i see a lot of people talk about this. I also have been guilty of wishing Relique was different.. would stay around a little longer. I sprayed my entire sample bottle of it into my hair and all over my body by the end of the first day because of how much i was transfixed. It really does fade away too fast. but relique d'amour is an experience.. a world.. and she is a ghost. a cold pocket of air in a room.. to not accept the nature of the ghost is a tragic and sad mistake. it is so intoxicating to me !! i think the ghost's seduced me though because every time she goes away i'm practically in tears!!!

More than a scent this is an experience; truly it embodies and conveys the idea of entering an abbey or better a countryside abandoned little church. Relique d'Amour opens with a cold, musty feeling, it's the pine and some resins I think that give you the impression of cold stone, of a place whose wood structures have gained a certain humidity during the centuries and are now releasing their particular aroma. It's a fleeting impression though, it soon leaves space to the scent of lilies embraced by incense and resins. It becomes softer and softer as minutes pass, that gothic opening vanishes but a shadow of it lingers in the background, not to play the leading role, which now is kept by lilies and incense, but to set the tone. It's a beautiful scent, much different from many others I have known in many years. It's not an easy one as its top notes create so strange an opening; it's a scent to be enjoyed little by little, like a meditation wine or a very old cognac you taste slowly to appreciate each and every hue. Relique d'Amour is the same, a scent to be savoured with no haste, but it is also a scent that you can wear confidently as it becomes a close mate of your skin, it turns soft and embracing. Sillage is moderate and longevity is about 6 hours on my skin. It's sold in a splash bottle to whose neck you can apply the spray enclosed in its box, so you can wear it either as a splash or in spritzes. A bonus indeed. WONDERFUL SCENT

This is very unique and transportive. I don't love powdery white flowers, but this is different, deep. I don't think it reminds me of a chapel unlike the description suggests, the dampness and the lily flowers remind me more of funerals and the outdoors. Either a grave in the rain, or the small cave with a Mary sculpture at the Catholic church grounds from my hometown. I used to play and run up the stairs in this cave as a kid. I can also smell myself back in time to when I found a secret spot full of blooming lilies of the valley in the forest. This fragrance brings back many memories, actually, and I think it's because of its wet, outdoorsy, and contemplative nature. Ot maybe it's just me, because the rain and gloom and the outdoors always make me reminisce and daydream. It also reminds me of a lot of spring flowers, from different kinds of lilies to lilacs. This fragrance is not easy to buy in Canada, you can either get it from Oriza L. Legrand for the full price, or from the discounters but it's usually sold out (I got it when they restocked it at fragrancenet and they only had it available for a few days). I'm very happy I blind bought it and also got it for half the price. It's one of the most gothic fragrances I own, and in the most unique way. It's my new favourite spring fragrance, I can't stop wearing it.

I bought this as a blind buy as my first bottle from Oriza, and it's the coolest, most gorgeous perfume I have. You definitely feel the quality and complexity that is put into this bottle, it's amazing from the inside and out. First of all, the notes of moss and earthy dampness is the most prominent parts of this scent and is what makes it really smell like an old church. When first sprayed on my skin, its immedietly peppery and spicy, and quite intense. After 10 minutes or so you feel the damp moss, like a forest after rain, and aged stonewalls. Its a comforting, calm scent that is reminicent to old castle/church walls or vintage clothing. When its finally settled, the fresh, white flowers along with a clean, fresh laundry-smell remains and its amazing. On me, it smells almost like how L'eau d'Issey pour Homme by Issey Miyake smells on my boyfriend, but more delicate and feminine. I usually go for musky, lightly floral and clean scents and this fits right in. The notes of wood and incense puts a nice spice to notes that usually smells very soft and subtle. It smells like a room in a abandoned castle that has been infused with years of incense, during the fall and with open windows so that the cold humid air have made every wall damp with dew and moss. It's beautiful.

The opening is like a very crisp, fresh breath of air. I smell pine, aldehydes, and eucalyptus. Then you get waxed wood, cold stone, and burning incense. Lily is also prominent. I love the marketing of this fragrance, it’s so fitting! This is very atmospheric, and it actually smells like a decrepit stone church or the ruins of a medieval castle. This is daytime gothic. However, I have two problems with this fragrance. First of all, the sillage and longevity are atrocious – I barely smell anything after an hour. Because of that, this is not worth the price point for me. Secondly, this is very unisex, which I don’t mind, BUT as someone more into feminine fragrances, it veers into men’s shaving cream/aftershave territory. Hugging your dad’s neck as a child -smell. If I attempt to ignore the marketing of this perfume, it starts to smell kind of like that. Once when I wore this, my sister exclaimed, “Why does it smell in here? Are you wearing men’s deodorant?”. Anyway, I’ll use up my sample, but I won’t be purchasing a bottle of this. EDIT: Six months later, the latter “problem” doesn’t bother me anymore. I love this! Gorgeously one-of-a-kind and meditative. Poor longevity is its only sin – if only it were 5 times stronger!

Relique D’Amour’s presence is unlike that of any other perfume I’ve ever worn but the image it evokes is nothing short of the cold familiar, something nearing nostalgia. It opens immediately mossy and chill, distinctly damp. Holy water on stone. The product description deems it “the abandoned chapel of a Cistercian abbey” and I’m punching the air at the fact that I didn’t think of it first but it’s true. Relique D’Amour is hollow, sounds almost reverberate off you when you wear it. There’s absolutely nothing warm about it. It’s like the chill you’d feel in the presence of an angel. This perfume is as vast and smooth as it is dark. Rainwater dripping with its own echo trailing behind. An embodiment of something once grand and whole that’s now mere ruins. Winter breeze passing through pine trees. Wear this if you want to touch divinity. Wear this if you want to relive your religious trauma. Wear this if you’re contemplating joining a convent. Wear this if you want to feel like a bouquet of lilies on a grave. You’ll feel closer to God if you do.

A cool, piney incense, with a peppery bite, and just enough organic, floral sweetness to keep it from freezing. It has the effect of a very old northern forest temple, dark and solemn but inviting, with wooden rafters and a floor of cold, rough stone. It could also be compared to a chilled glass of akvavit, that burns a little on the way down. I agree with those that compare it to Passage d'Enfer. They're similar in spirit, though I find Relique d'Amour to be the more serious and natural of the two. But if you like one, you're probably going to like the other, and they're not similar enough to be redundant. Unisex, for sure. If anything, I think it leans slightly masculine due to the pine and pepper, but a nun could sport this with ease. Performance is moderate. Probably best in warmer weather, daytime, but it seems to be more versatile than most. Would recommend to those seeking a cool, contemplative, and spiritual scent, something with a little more organic depth than the typical liturgical incense fragrances out there. Leans pagan.

Relique D' Amour by Oriza L. Legrand. It cannot be categorize to any genre of fragrance as Relique D'Amour is replica of Ambient. In this bottle, the moist mold stone wall with a vase of white lily of the base of Virgin Mary statue. Piney incense was lid a while ago. You confess a sin, In a cold church room. Alone, might be ancient soul there, who's know, witness your pray. Relique D' Amour whispers to your nose. Generally speaking, fragrance from Oriza L. Legrand is like perfumer's Jo Malone. In the manner that, it full of details yet thin and easily tie a note together. But it works in its origin and beautiful compose. Reve d' Orzan still somewhat closer to general genre of piney incense fragrance. like Jovoy, Avignon or Goutal. It's good. But if you, perhaps, have chance to buy or grab a decant. This is an experience in a bottle. You won't find this anywhere. This will transport you to the quiet place. It will do it owning, don't bother. just enjoy. (Song - God Help the Outcasts, from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

Sadness is beautiful, and this perfume is the beautiful kind of sad. It’s Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. It’s bigger than “Gothic” in the late 19th century sense — it’s architecturally and pop culturally Gothic too, timeless and shapeshifting in the way the word itself does. This is the pitch perfect homage to my many years in Catholic School and smells just like cloisters of Canterbury I visited last spring. It’s black as a jackdaw and white as a lily all at once; pure and soft-spoken, whispers in the pews. Secrecy or reverence? Temptation or grace? Mischief or ennui? The Catholic school kid dabbles in it all — guilt in contention with unfettered expression. It is, I think, my favorite fragrance of all time. I don’t think everyone will feel this way given that they may not share all the same associations with these particular smells (pine, linseed oil lamps, incense at the altar); but I think I have found my smell soulmate.

Cold and, like others have said, haunting. Damp with light florals that are so fresh and juicy at the opening. It fades to sort of a damp wood/mossy stone scent (never moldy), with the florals still lingering gently in the background. I get very little incense, almost unnoticeable, and I agree with a previous reviewer that it smells more like outside than in. I fell in love with this scent. There’s just something about it! But it’s true that it has abysmal staying power. I wonder if it’s something others can still detect on me though, even after it’s become too weak for me to notice. I find that if I spray it in my hair I can still get light whiffs of it for hours. I’m wondering exactly how popular this fragrance is, being the number one seller for this brand in the US. I feel like I can recognize a scent when I go out and smell a lot of people. I’m wondering if it’s either so weak I never smelled it on anyone or I just haven’t encountered anyone who wears it. I hope it’s not the former.

I hate to intellectualize fragrance too much, but I do believe that there are certain scents that require a more observant nose to fully appreciate (gained through experience!), and this might be one of them. When I first got a sample of this, all I could really glean was "this is a masculine-leaning wood scent." Revisiting Relique D'Amour, it's so much more. The pine is a given, but the lily, pepper, incense, and elemi are really the heroes here. And as somebody who has (unsuccessfully) tried my hand at oil painting a number of times, the linseed oil descriptor on Oriza L. Legrand's website is spot on. This is such a balsamic-green, mossy treat whose lily really sets it apart from similar fragrances. Everything in here is unapologetically damp. If you're pining (no pun intended) for a dry forest scent, this isn't it. This is Northern California pine and redwood after a heavy rain. Decidedly masculine but, once again, the lily reigns it in from getting too cologne-like. Such a beauty.

This is, without a doubt, the most gothic , melancholic , and morbid lily scent I’ve ever smelled and I bought the full bottle instantly. . ݁+ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁✮. ݁+ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁+ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁ It starts deep in a swamp; muddy, mothball-like, with the scent of something tarry and long forgotten. You slowly pull yourself out of the mire, clinging to wet grass, only to find you’re surrounded by the darkness of a pine forest . The air is thick with night’s damp breath. As you search for a path, you suddenly stumble into the graveyard of an ancient monastery. Ghosts drift silently through the headstones, incense and candle smoke coil in the mist and that’s when you see them: lilies. Pale, sorrowful lilies blooming beside the graves... You lean in to inhale the scent of one, and in that moment, a cold wind from the shadowed forest brushes your face like a whisper from beyond. Tag(s): Lily, true melancholy, pine-y, dark, gothic, tarry, damp, graveyard chill

Relique d'Amour is a love for me. Love love love. One of the hosts of my favorite podcasts wears this, and read the description, I ordered a sample before she finished the sentence. I was not disappointed is amazing and since then I've ordered a full bottle and a couple other samples from Oriza L. Legrand all by the same perfumer Hugo Lambert what a genius. I layer this scent with a myrrh perfume oil from a local shop and use unscented soap, that seems to be essential to get this scent to last on my skin. The first 10 minutes of wear are crisp, then the warmer notes and the lilies pop out. I struggle to even call this warm but after some time it just softens and is so comforting and nostalgic. Reminds me of stepping in the shade at the Met Cloisters after being out in the courtyard. Truly fabulous. Definitely not a scent to intoxicate and lure men, but that's not what I was going for... Anyways this is a must for the mossy weird girls.

Cheshirecatds said it perfectly "There is something truly empty about this fragrance. It is lifeless in a lovely, chilling kind of way." It's definitely a watery scent, it wears like a veil. Not a salty sea breeze, but a creek of fresh mountain water. The creek runs by an old, abandoned stone cottage set deep in the woods. When you step inside you're immediately hit with the damp, musty air that's been trapped inside all this time. The dampness quickly gives way to the smell of dried herbs that have been carefully hung around the room, and you catch a whiff of dead flowers (lily & orange blossom) in the vase next to all of the old family photos and it invokes a sense of sadness... If you're a fan of Serge Luten's De Profundis or L'artisan Passage d'Enfer, you'll definitely enjoy this one. Just beautiful.

I've not smelt anything quite like this. Not gonna lie, reviews on social media got me really intrigued and I finally got to visit the boutique in Paris last month. The vibes were comparable to De Profundis by Serge Lutens, although De Profundis features chrysanthemum notes rather than lilies. Both are melancholic fragrances, but Relique d'Amour feels a lot less severe. It was less incense-forward than I had anticipated. The perfume opens with blast of pepper and lilies, and what smelt a bit like water sitting in the vase of wilting flowers. After the first couple of minutes, the smell of rain-soaked granite and moss-laced grout lines became apparent, reminding me of crypts. On my skin, the perfume dries down to a subtle, sweet lily scent. It's such a beautiful fragrance to wear on rainy days.

you escape the rain to an underground crypt where a wooden altar stands in front of you, rotting. the altar is covered with burning candles, dripping wax down the sides that soaks into the rot like a sponge before it ever touches the floor. there's so little oxygen under here that the incense from the thurible on the altar just spirals into the atmosphere. there's an overarching dampness from the water that trickles down the walls and seeps into the moss and mould that grows in between the stones. you get a chill down your spine and spot a woman in white flash by in your peripherals, but as you turn to follow her, she's gone. all that is left is a a whisper of a woman... lillies, powder and musk. she must've moved straight through you, leaving her memories on your skin.

On the initial spray, this smells of carrots. Like... EXACTLY like carrots. It’s weirdly fascinating. On the complete dry down though, it evolves into the most gorgeous lily scent I’ve ever experienced. Wearing this is the equivalent of sticking your face in an entire funeral bouquet. Relique d’Amour is certainly melancholic and atmospheric. It smells like walking around the mossy perimeters of an abandoned abbey after it’s rained. As you peer through broken stained glass windows, you detect the faint vestige of incense in the air, though it is muddled by heavy petrichor. The dampness of the atmosphere obscures the abbey’s sanctity, yet fading memories of its past live on. Relique d’Amour is what the tears of angels would smell like. It is an ode to what once was.

CRedit given to where it's due to the artist who put together this complex, gorgeous scent. It really does give the impression of something melacholy or ancient. Waxed pews, an antique shop, or perhaps a funeral in a church. Upon opening I was transported to a freshly cleaned old chapel in a backwards country town. On the second day it is reminiscent of twisted trees in a medieval forest; it evokes strong images. The incense notes are lovely in the background and there's something like camphor in it too, evoking an old scent. As other reviews have said it's almost an empty kind of perfume, there's a 'gap' in it conveying a feeling of emptiness. This is a piece of art in a vial and it may be my favourite sample in my amateur collection.

what an odd, eerie scent... Feels like the shadow of an old memory you've unearthed in a secret garden, that escapes in wisps of mist whenever you try to catch it. You press your lips to the petals of a lily and feel its cool kiss. The lilies are at their greenest, vegetal and crisp, broken stems ending in fat, pearly droplets of water that cling briefly and fall away like tears... so quiet you can hear a single drop fall to the floor... it seems to echo like the ripple of a stone in a body of still water, where you lie floating on your back in the pale moonlight: a passenger of the cold air just before dawn, when all the world is mute and winds from afar howl softly in your ears, like the plaintive call of a ghost.

Icy tears race through your face at the slowest peace imaginable. You are sitting in a forgotten renaissance chapel standing between the walls of a shattered monastery as a delicate moth settles in your cold fingers, you let your gaze rise towards the arcane moon. A sacred melody whispers into your ears as you realize everything around you fades away while only your ethereal soul remains, it gets lifted by the wind and left alone in the forest. Now you comprehend, all the suffering was nothing more than distorted lamentations of your past bodies. You now ascend and enter the world of ideas, thus you leave the cave and experience everything you couldn't in all of your lives, as you now realize you are immortal.

I've tried almost all fragrances from this house and this is my favorite. It is somewhat soft in its projection but long lasting. Mysterious, dark and poetic is how I would describe this and it's probably one of the most unique fragrances I've smelled. I get incense and elegance with green florals. I don't find this to be melancholy, but dark, calming and ethereal. Like the coziness of a cool night lit by the full moon. When trying to think of someone who would smell like this I think of Vanessa Ives from penny dreadful, Mary Shelley, or Narcissa Malfoy. I agree with the comment saying that this is gothic in the architectural sense. I haven't had a solid favorite in a while but she is definitely it.

I don't love Relique D'Amour, I have been possessed by it. It has seeped into my subconscious like the whispers of a demon. Relique is a cold hand clutching lilies, it is the stone beneath your bleeding knees as you pray for forgiveness from a crime you can't remember committing. Almost unbearably subtle, the kind of discretion that results in the quiet dispatch of someone who has become a "problem" to a very powerful individual. This is what the wicked queen wears when she plots your downfall. This is the dark woodland that lures the uncautious into its depths and never releases them. This is heaven, glimpsed and then swiftly revoked. Either that or I just really like it, its up to you to decide.

Reviewing a sample from 2024. Relique D'Amour was launched in 2012. This fragrance is a poetic ode to the Lily. I would imagine this is what Ophelia wore in her watery grave. It begins with fresh natural pine followed by haunting white lillies wrapped in a shroud of incense and aromatic woods.The lilies become indolic as they fade. It is a bit powdery but not sweet or smoky. No carrots detected :) Quality - excellent 5/5 Unisex leaning feminine Performance- poor to good ; stays intimate and unfortunately only lasts a couple of hours on me. 3.5/5 This relic of love is an ephemeral fragrance that possesses an atmospheric beauty. I only wish it could last longer. 8.5/10

I am wearing this today and although I really love it, I perceive it differently to the other reviewers. I don't get much incense, I don't get much of a church vibe, but I get a lot of sweet lily and herbal notes. I don't know if my sample is off somehow, or if this is just how it develops on my skin. I will say the scent is so sheer, it's really hard to smell, which makes me think maybe there is something wrong with my sample. What I can smell is so lovely though. It's very natural and unusual - a musky, aromatic herbal scent. I must investigate this more, because I think this is something I could really love, if only it were a little stronger.

I love this perfume so much, i'm surprised that Stone or wet stone is not listed in the notes because to me it smells exactly like a wet stream. Because of the musk and pepper its not so fresh that its boring, its very much more like a damp church smell but in a sexy way?? somehow?? I feel like when I wear this I smell like I have been lazing around in a cemetary or something, its so mysterious. It doesn't last super long unfortunately so I think it would be better in a layering situation though I'm not sure which notes would be best, probably a rain notes scent underneath? I do not get the pine nor powder notes as much from this

Entering into a small abandoned chapel. There is a small fountain, covered in water lilies. you sit down on the bench, breathe in the cold air, basking in the light coming in through a small window. Someone left a small bit of incense burning next to the altar; it slowly reaches you the longer you sit, lost in thought. That's basically how this fragrance feels like. It is a beautifully transformative scent. So romantic and melancholic. The longevity or projections aren't the best, but this is not a fragrance made for those things. Not everything has to be "beastmode". This is a perfect scent for all the sad goths.

Ce parfum sent TELLEMENT BON! Il est vraiment très fin . Les odeurs de Lys et d'encens dominent mais ne cachent pas celles de pierres humides, de mousse. C'est terriblement sombre et gothique et convient parfaitement si l'on cherche une odeur de vieilles chapelle dans la forêt qui reste tout de même très élégant. MALHEUREUSEMENT ne gaspillez pas votre argent, il ne tient même pas 5 minutes même en utilisant toutes les techniques imaginable pour le conserver. Il remplira seulement votre cœur en vous hypnotisant pour ensuite vous l'arracher violemment causant un deuil dont on ne se remet jamais complètement...

This is the first full flask I've ever finished. To me, it's exactly what the label says it is: an old chapel, wet stone and moss, something earthy, then white lilies and powdery notes in the background. The dry down on me is mostly white lilies and powdery notes, but without the sweetness I often associated white florals with. It's very clean, fresh and simplistic. I spray it on my clothes to keep the wet stone and moss a little more. The longevity is sadly not great, three-four hours max, on skin even less. Despite this, it's my go to scent and I love it very, very much. If only it lasted longer!

prettiest crowd pleasing musty scent. almost an exact match for the smell of the small water fountains you can find through rural france that once provided drinking water to the village but you are now definitely supposed to NOT drink from. cold, damp, musty straight out of a worn stone bassin and lightly sweetened. i always find these when it’s a hot summer day and their “eau non potable” signs taunts me. my friend showed this to me a couple years ago and it triggered the beginning of my quest for unusual scents. got a decant to myself recently and pleased to say it still stirs me violently.

Upon smelling this I was **immediately** transported back to the funeral home my Dad rested in. Quite literally, to me, the smell of fresh greenery and funeral lillies. Immediately a little disturbing, but quite comforting for someone who very much responds to nostalgia through scent. It settles down rather quickly into a beautiful incense floating across wood and stone. It doesn't last, which is a real bummer, but even saying that, it's probably one of the most experiential scents I've sampled and definitely one I'll treasure in the collection, albeit as a more personal, intimate fragrance.

Gorgeous scent. This one is an experience. Please don’t judge from a dabber—there is no way that is going to deliver. It’s definitely soft in projection but I believe that is the intent. It’s quiet and atmospheric. I wear it for me. It’s a personal scent you wear to enjoy—not necessarily a scent that people are going to notice. If you want beast mode move on. This is wet earth under a whisper of lilies and misted stones in an abandoned church open to the elements and overtaken with greenery. A phantom whisper of incense so subtle you think you are imagining it lingers.

the ruins of an ancient church being reclaimed by the earth, with rain having just fallen. mossy, damp, smoky, somewhat ambery, and certainly green. this is a beautifully melancholic scent. the lily is almost photorealistic. while i don't mind the intimacy of this scent, I really wish it lasted longer than a couple hours on my skin. I do appreciate the fleeting concept the house is trying to convey, but I wish it didn't sacrifice this beautiful fragrance's performance. will be wearing this next rainy day. 9/10 Song it reminds me of: Punish by Ethel Cain

I've seen many describe Relique' D Amour as "thee abandoned church scent", I feel this label could leave some disappointed when smelling it as it starts off incredibly strong on the green notes, almost like a freshly water garden, or lilies. Its dry down leaves it smelling a little 'churchier' with fleeting notes of powdery incense, but overall, I find it to be a vintage-esc petrichor scent with delicate florals throughout, smells like a clean, fantasy forest. Longevity is also unfortunately very fleeting, would recommend the vaseline trick!

Questo profumo rappresenta la parola "vulnerabilità". Quando ho indossato per la prima volta questa fragranza non la sentivo, la cercavo, la desideravo sentire come qualcuno che cerca di evocare il suo amato appena perduto. Su di me il giglio emerge lentamente dopo alcuni minuti rimanendo l'unica nota riconoscibile, le altre si perdono nei meandri oscuri dei ricordi. è commuovente, è un sassolino sullo stomaco ma allo stesso tempo celebra la vita eterna del ricordo che ognuno di noi si porta dietro dopo aver vissuto la sua perdita.

Ezra at the DTLA Scent Bar helped me discover this masterpiece last month. It is the most gorgeous and mysterious incense perfume I've ever come across. I couldn't get my mind off of it, and when I wore a sample Ezra made me when I returned home, I was so haunted by its melancholy scent that I had to purchase a full bottle from Luckyscent. The white lily is the perfect floral to sit beside its delicate incense, and I find myself thinking of a bittersweet misplaced moment that I'm unsure I'll ever recollect.

Absolute perfection in a bottle, this is currently second in line for my signature scent. When you smell this you are literally taken away to a dilapidated cathedral deep in a pine forest, it’s raining, and when you go inside you find overgrown weeds and wild lilies. Ghostly incense of what maybe was a lively church can still be smelled in the air. Its icy cold, damp, green and surprisingly clean. I personally pair it with Thunderstorm by Demeter to give it a liiiitle more of a rain smell. Obsessed.

This is the weird, religious, gothic, church scent I have been searching for. I am so happy and so in love. To me it's lack of longevity adds to the scent. It is moss and musk, then lily and incense, then wood and moss, then it vanishes. It is a ghost of a fragrance and it is haunting. It makes me overwhelmingly happy. It reminds me of the Chapel in my Catholic school. I am obsessed with it. I am yet to smell an Oriza L. Legrand fragrance that isn't beautiful, delicate and perfect.

a desolate ancient mausoleum - tranquil, eerie and chilling to the bone. moss growing between the stones, dust and cold sunrays filling the sacred space guarded by spirits. a bunch of freshly cut white lilies lying at the altar, remnants of burned-out incense sticking to the dew on their petals. a waft of resins carried by dense mist. it's so delicate, but so haunting. phenomenal, but fleeting. like the verge between dream and wake. or a glimpse into the afterlife.

This fragrance opens up with a damp, musty, mossy scent. Then after about 15-20 mins it evolves into a fresh lily and eventually what I can only describe as candlewax with dusty old wood (in a pleasant way). The initial spray may be offputting to some as it can be reminiscent of mold, but the rest of it is quite nice. My only complaint is that the longevity is not worth the pricetag. I could only smell it for about an hour on myself until it completely dissipated.

Relique just... does something to me. On first spray it’s cool, calming, austerely floral and contemplative. It withers after an hour or two to a wisp of light incense and the smell of oiled church pews and picture frames. Profoundly clean without being sterile. But for hours and sometimes even days after I will catch the full opening experience for a second or two on my clothes, like deja vu or a haunting memory. Lilies, moss, wet stone and stillness.

Such a cool and interesting scent. Wasnt easy to wrap my head around it, but this is my favorite out of the 6 samples i ordered. I dont think i’ll buy a full bottle because this disappears really fast, which is sad... If i had to describe it, i really couldnt. Cold and green are fitting words, but its not clean and minty whatsoever. It smells vintage and rather masculine. It smells like what you’d imagine a stone building in nature to smell like.

This is an absolutely magnificent scent. Complex, green, not for everyone. I've heard someone comparing it to a scent of an old, gothic cathedral - I don't get that, I get a graveyard on an early spring day, after rain, when everything around is blooming and perhaps you can smell the white lillies and a hint of incense from the chapel. This is everything I hoped "De profundis" would be, but isn't. This is an incredibly sad, but beautiful scent.

It’s exactly as described. reminds me of gardenia bushes after it rains. The incense notes are subtle but I can’t express enough how much I love this fragrance! ---- I've worn it a few months now and I'm still disappointed how short the wear is. Definitely recommend buying a travel atomizer to reapply throughout the day. This scent can pair really well with other fragrances! 8.5/10