Olibanum

My colleague, a straight male, opened my office door to chat and stopped mid-sentence to say: "You smell divine!". I think I do too! Olibanum is deep, resinous, smoky and intoxicating. The overall effect is comforting but with an unusual and mystical edge. One might think of tar or petroleum, but in an utterly fetching way. Well-crafted incense based scents have a reverence to them and this is no exception. As it develops, an animalic funk comes through upon close sniffing, however, it's never off-putting. In fact it serves to link the holiness to humanity. There is only a subtle nod to the top notes (lemon? pine?), keeping Olibanum firmly planted in the earth like the trees from which this scent was made. Overall I would say this leans masculine, but would be right at home on a confident, creative and perhaps bohemian woman. This is what I personally look for in a fragrance. The quality of the entire Profumum Roma line is outstanding, owing to their high concentration of oils. Olibanum is my first purchase from the house but I could have gone a number of others. I'm head over heals in love and it seems like others around me are too!

#1779 in my “Tour de Fragrance” Got this decant from scentsplit.com. So far I’ve loved "Ambre Aurea”, “Patchouly” and “Santalum.” I didn’t like “Arso” or“Neroli.” “Olibanum” is a grand slam for me. The name tells you all you need to know. I have never encountered a scent where I found myself saying, “They went overboard with the incense and myrrh” and this won’t be the first. It’s what I loved about “Santalum”, and to cut to the chase, this is “Santalum”, but more so. Spicier, smokier, more powdery, all around gothic church and bishop’s robes. I’d save this for fall and winter. Office wear if you have the gravitas for it. Evening wear if you make no excuses for wearing what you enjoy. Stellar longevity and projection. Definite a buy for me. I have encountered scents where it thought ingredients were out of balance, making the scent too screechy, too sharp, too sweet, but I’ve never encountered an incense scent that I found “overpowering” though many require judicious application for use in tight spaces. That’s what I recommend here. Until you have some sense of this scent's potency, apply judiciously. Good Luck and Good Hunting!

Opens up with a slightly citrusy effervescence, almost terpenic like freshly lacquered wood. Slightly resinous, and gets more resinous as it dries down. Kind of dry, and incense-y without really being very smoky. Almost has a bit of a cedarwood-ish "pencil shavings" vibe. Almost a bit of a camphor-ish brightness in the first couple of hours. Like most other Profumum Roma fragrances, it feels very natural, raw and rugged. Yet also smooth and refined. Mature and masculine. Austere. Longevity is crazy, even for Profumum Roma. After 4-5 hours it's still going strong but morphs into a more resinous and woody scent. This is also an example of how several Profumum Roma fragrances turn out very differently on skin than on a paper testing strip. On paper I first thought that this was kind of sharp, almost harsh, and felt like it lacked depth. On skin, however it really opened up and deepened and became much warmer. So yeah, when testing Profumum Roma fragrances, definitely try them on skin!

Profumum Olibanum is, as its name suggests, an incense-dominant fragrance, and one done very well. Smooth, strong incense dominate the scent. Mainly a combination of incense, sandalwood, and myrrh to my nose, surely this is a winter fragrance that leans masculine. I doubt I'd find myself wearing it in the summer heat. As with most Profumum fragrances I've tried, the care and quality of Olibanum is obvious. It reminds me of By Kilian Incense Oud in terms of both its incense dominance and smoothness, and especially since the orange blossom that some seem to find so apparent is so reticent in my own experience of the fragrance. Performance is unsurprisingly very strong, characteristic of the house, particularly its cold-weather-leaning offerings like this, Arso, Ambra Aurea, etc. Certainly full bottle worthy if I didn't already own By Kilian Incense Oud. 8 out of 10

(Second review after wearing this a lot more and owning a full bottle!) I like the opening, but I LOVE the drydown! The opening is quite fresh and a bit citrusy. This is where you can pick up on the orange blossom. As it dries down, it becomes more woody and resinous. Almost a bit peppery or cumin-like, with an overall vibe of fresh timber or sawdust. It doesn't smell "perfumey" at all, it feels very natural, raw and rugged. Both dirty and clean. The woody, resinous, peppery, almost-cumin-like aspect of the drydown can kinda give the impression of smelling a little bit sweaty. But, you know, like a nice, musky, inviting type of sweaty. This definitely isn't for everyone. But if you like smelling like raw olibanum resin and/or freshly cut lumber, then this is a real gem. Nothing else quite like it.