Wild Incense

I feel like I judged Wild Incense too quickly, as I sold my bottle not long after receiving it to make space for a different fragrance. But now, almost a year later, it’s made its way back into my collection - and I welcome it with open arms. I’m unashamed to say I now love this fragrance. I stand by what I said about this not being incense based at all, it’s definitely a pure gourmand - as well as the fact that it doesn’t smell particularly high quality, but somehow that seems part of its charm. To my nose it smells like fat, sticky dates swirling round a glass of cognac with a brand new leather jacket resting on the table beside said glass. It’s utterly delicious, with a gorgeously creamy base of tonka to finish it off. In the background, a very subtle medley of frankincense, benzoin and guaiac wood seem to give off this dry, balsamic, slightly smoky quality which almost comes across as the faintest whiff of coffee in the distance. Either way, I smell delectable wearing this, and this time it’s here to stay.

Husband back from a trip and strolls in with THIS! What in the...? Incense? Ok, check, I LOVE... (hard inhale then)....Cognac? Check! Love... Leather? Oh, myyyy. Wild Incense conjures up so many images as this fragrance could go SO many ways. I get a black lambskin trench coat/black otk boots/ruby red lips combo- shocking everyone at the country club with her entrance or... biker chick! It's also giving me an Armani-clad-over-40y/old gentleman on his way to the ballet with his equally gorge woman! The opening is animalistic in its aggressiveness, but that only adds to your persona. As it calms, the cognac speaks up & then paves the way for the gorgeous settling of the vetiver, (yes!!) leather and rose! Oh it's a TRIP! So, my husband smelled it & was like, "....this could be male, too, right?" {sigh} "...yes..."

Wild Incense isn’t really incense based at all to be honest. It opens with a sharp, resinous frankincense and a boozy cognac note which is both sweet and bitter. The sticky, syrupy dates soon emerge which adds a significant amount of sweetness, alongside tonka bean. A soft, smooth leather runs along the background which is quite pleasant, while the frankincense gives almost a hint of a smoky tobacco accord. This fragrance is quite interesting and enjoyable in the opening, but dries down to something much less exciting. Unfortunately after some time it settles into a basic sweet fragrance with average quality. I was expecting better given the retail price, and the note breakdown got me really excited initially. It’s a nice fragrance, but I think I got my hopes up a bit too much.

The overall fragrance smells like my old dog🐕 (which I can compare to), but without comparasion, it smells like a sweet leather🧤 with shy oriental nouances, very shy to no incense, but a sweet gourmandish playful leather. The drydown smells like Lattafa Eternal Oud. Longetivity and projection is above average. Overall It's a coldish dark date night fragrance, You can daily drive at work if your style is dark leathery. I think Tom Hardy could pull this fragrance on a winter❄️ sunday night on a motorcycle🏍️ date.

Poured ink on a black leather raw material... I never expected the cooldown to be like this! poured ink on a raw black leather sheet! I can EASILY detect a bitter ink on a rough leather! with a dash of smoke (def not incense) that makes it WILD and RAW! The olibanum, guaiac, and the cognac is VERY obvious & roughly visible! i can BARELY detect any dates or tonka because of the splattering ink on the raw leather. It is WILD, bold, and quite beautiful.