Scrying Smoke

Absolutely Fantastic! Solstice Scents makes outstanding incense fragrances! Scrying Smoke is the most realistic, true-to-form “burning frankincense” fragrance I have ever encountered. It’s magickal, truly. It accurately and realistically captures the entire bouquet of the ritual of burning frankincense resin on a charcoal tablet. It has the very very faint and quick-fleeting citrusy top notes...entwined with tendrils of smoking tears of Hojari grade (top Sultan quality) frankincense. I have many incense fragrances (see my profile) and even the great “niche” houses can’t do it this well.....with the exception of perhaps Sahara Noir. Most of the niche houses have a very very slight...and very fleeting Dr.Pepper /Mr.Pibb/ Coca Cola undertone after the drydown... (Montale Full Incense & CDG) and lacks the “real smoking incense “ note that is highly sought after by the incense fragrance aficionado. Solstice Scents exacts that mastery in this fragrance and in many many others. It appears to be one of their signatures. It is *NOT* the ‘barbecue’ or ‘ashtray’ smoke note you may have experienced in other smoky fragrances.....this is a very smooth and very realistic & accurate olfactory portrayal of the scent of smoke. Very Very Impressive! I have ordered, and re-ordered this fragrance because it is so realistically true-to-form. THE VERDICT: MASTERPIECE!

My initial fantasy thoughts about this before reading the notes, were; 1) Feudal Japan. lone samurai riding thru a forest, and 2) there's something wet ink about this, hiding in the background. The initial smokiness clears pretty quickly, allowing the frankincense and cedar to come forward, but then I really get this strong backbone of hinoki and some rosewood/pettigrain weaving in and out. Really pleased with this. Another winner from Angela St John!

Resin of olibanum, labdanum, cedar and trees and smoooke... a lot of smoke from these "burnt" resins (including Oman) with a light sweetness of vanilla and tonka bean. A very magical and astral scent for me. I really like its changeability in reception over time during the day - especially when it is colder, even cold and still windy. Longevity and projection good.

no reviews yet? how is that possible? Scrying smoke is an excellent woody-smoky scent. Initially I get mostly cedar & frankincense, later on the resins join the party. It smells more or less like sitting on a wooden bench in the church when they burn incense. This scent is on the drier side though and not shy either. Due to the dryness and herbal aspects, I believe it is leaning slightly toward the masculine side.

Opens very metholated and medicinal, cold. Herbal, sharp, camphor... Starting to settle a bit, becoming slightly sweeter with a citrus note slowly morphing into frame. The dry down, on my skin, is simply carmex medicated balm and orange oil. Not bad, not great, not what I look for. Bright, could be considered fresh. It never smooths out. Still going strong at six hours. Review of official PERFUME EXTRAIT sample purchased directly from SolsticeScents.com

This is a very strong incense fragrance. I bought it as part of a sample pack of incense fragrances and forgot about most of them, so this has been resting for probably 2+ years. The incense is a pine-lemon-astringent note, maybe the hinoki wood; along with lesser prominent frankincense and cedar. There is a hint of vanilla, but not enough to smooth this out. It is fierce. I feel like I’ve rolled in pine-sap and wood ash. It seems to have strong projection and longevity too. I am not a fan, but tend to be very picky about incense.

36th EDP: This does remind me of Catholic Church incense during special times of the year. It would be perfect to me if only it did not have that old musty closet combined with beets smell that comes out a little later (which smells like patchouli, but I see in notes that it may be the vetiver causing that smell?). My husband called it a “moldy” smell. I wish that note was not there because it does nothing positive for this composition. It would be awesome without this moldy, earthy beet smell. I bought multiple samples to give it a longer try, but it's not for me due to that earth/moldy/musty note. Otherwise, I like it. 6/10

Peppery woody, very green, exactly the smell of crushed hinoki between your fingers and incensey. So overall. Woody. Spicy and green in crushed astringement plant way. I find this a more unisex/masculine leaning scent because it isn't soft or 'pretty' or padded with anything sweet/feminine and the peppery spice with the woods give it a more tradionally masculine touch to me.

I am going to have to disagree with others who think this smells only of a Catholic church. I does have the resinous smoke smell, for sure, but on my skin the mandarin, pettigrain and wood notes really pop and first. Almost kind of bitter citrus. I still like it a lot due to the incense backbone but those sharp notes just make unwearable for me.