Bohemian Rhapsody

This is what I had dreamed Montale Full Incense would be. It starts with a powerful and heady impression of church incense, very resinous, very holy. And then the cedar and patchouli kick in... the composition becomes darker and earthier, more base and hedonistic. Gustave Moreau painted a scene of the beautiful Salomé, bejeweled and beguiling, dancing before the decadent King Herod in a smoky hall draped in sumptuous tapestry. This is what I imagine that image to smell like. I can’t wait for the cooler months to return so I can don a heavy black shawl, anoint myself in this and head to the goth club.

This totally gives me headshop vibes. Theres plenty of incense, dirty patchouli, and cedar. The overall texture is bone dry and endearingly dusty, like a bin of old vinyl records at a vintage shop or a goodwill or something. The drydown gets a slight vanillic sweetness that hangs around for a few hours before disappearing into only the faintest whisper of patchouli. It's a bit too one-note and ephemeral for my tastes, but it definitely conjures up images of rock n roll in the 70's, or more specifically, 70's rock n roll in todays world. Dusty yellowed record sleeves abound. 6/10

I get more sweet resins than woods, so I'd say it's actually benzoin dominant, then patchouli, cedar, labdanum, frankincense, and vetiver (in order). Smell Bent has many other cedar-dominant scents, and this is not it.. Try it if you like incense-woody-amber :) Since I got a lot of samples, I'M SELLING THIS ONE (4ML) FOR $5 *U.S. only. Message me!

I’m brand new to this indie house, Smell Bent, and this is my first sampling. Bohemian Rhapsody is the scent that emanates from a carpenter’s furniture making shop. I smell mostly sweet resins; definitely benzoin dominant, with less woods and no patchouli or vanilla. This smells similar to oil stain and mineral spirits. Slight transition to a less sweet resin after 10 minutes, then linear for several hours. There’s nothing subtle about this tenacious scent, recommend pulling the trigger lightly. Reminds me of Bowmakers by D.S. & Durga.

I love this scent dearly, but it reminds me strongly of some other benzoin-type fragrance I used to have, years ago, that I cannot recall, and it's driving me crazy. I almost think it might be one of the Comme des Garcon's incense lines, Zagorski Jaisalmer, or Avignon; but I don't have the CDG samples handy anymore to compare. Anyhow, I'm glad I ran across this one, I'll be picking up a full bottle, it's a keeper..