Incense Pure

Straight off, this is a really wonderful scent. Incense is one of my favourite notes and just as the genre seemed in danger of being a little tapped out, Sonoma Scent Studio saves the day here with yet another quality offering. I own a number of incense based scents and this one is right at the very top of the heap with the likes of Comme des Garcons Avignon/Kyoto, Norma Kamali's incense, Tom Ford's Sahara Noir and Profumo Roma's Olibanum. In fact, I think it just shades all of those to be honest, which is saying something! The thing I love about Incense Pure is that it is just that! SSS use all natural components, so there is nothing synthetic here. It is an almost perfect rendition of olibanum (frankincense) that is joined later in the journey by a beautiful, cool sandalwood. The other stand out for this scent for me is the way it takes a different route to some of the scents I mentioned above in that it avoids the 'liturgical' path many incense fragrances take and instead, opts for an outdoorsy, resinous, natural theme. I burn natural resin incense on charcoal in my home and this smells almost exactly like my fingers after I have been digging around in the bag to get some resin for burning. I might add here that Laurie Erickson is not only a genius perfumer, but a genuine good egg as well! I highly recommend subscribing to her newsletter and blog, where you will find someone who is right there with you, personally answering comments and questions, providing a personal touch (I even received a hand written thank you note from her with my shipment!). This is a quality which is so utterly rare in the fragrance world (John Pegg is a solid exception). Such attention to detail really sets SSS aside and that approach is clearly evident in Ms. Erickson's products. To finish off, I'll add that Incense Pure has amazing longevity, no doubt due to the natural composition and it projects perfectly, just to an arm's length or so, enough for it to be noticed, not enough to be offensive (not that it ever could be - it's gorgeous!). It's also fairly linear, which can occasionally be a drawback, as I like to go on a journey with my scents for the most part, to experience them developing and changing on my skin. But in this case, the scent is so perfectly nailed that I don't want it to change too much. Sure, it warms up over the first hour and becomes a little more woody, but the essential nature of it remains throughout. Another bonus of it being a bit linear is that if you get it on your clothes, it's not really like you're stuck with only the top notes on your shirt, instead you are just treated to a longer lasting date with this heady incense as it wears off your skin. Bravo Sonoma Scent Studios, this is in my top 5 fragrances for sure!

There are some perfumes that I’m hesitant to try because I’m afraid I’ll be disappointed, and Incense Pure was one of them. I had high expectations, but I have to say that they were met, just not quite in the way I expected. What I was expecting was a “church” incense in the image of CDG Avignon or Heeley Cardinal, which are both near-impossible acts to follow, but that’s not what this is at all. Incense Pure is a thick, heavy, dark frankincense-sandalwood-evergreen sap combination. The sandalwood provides a strong, primitive, sensuous and insistent bass(base) line for the other elements that play against it: olibanum, labdanum resin, and a hint of myrrh. It’s resinous, not smoky. This is incense in the making, not incense burned. I can almost feel the stickiness of tree sap everywhere around me. The elemi works with the high notes of the sandalwood, blowing them up to larger-than-life proportions. Sillage is quite strong, and the scent lasts and lasts, with the sandalwood drydown persisting for more than 12 hours on skin. I would classify this more as a sandalwood scent than an incense one. It’s just the kind of fragrance I like, so of course I love it. I’m sure not everyone will love it, but everyone should try it.

This is such a beautiful incense scent and a must try for lovers of sandalwood. I'm really impressed by this and will be ordering more from Sonoma. It's an incense scent but not overpowering or too smoky as some incense scents can be. Not a full on churchy incense either but a balanced blend of the notes listed. I actually hate patchouli but this is blended so well that I don't detect that thing about patchouli that makes me sick. To me the most predominant notes are sandalwood (my favorite), amber, and incense and the sandalwood used reminds me of Mysore which is so lovely. Give this one some time and it develops into something so sublime to me. This is one of my new favorites.

Growing up, I had a friend who was Chinese, and her family was Buddhist. In her home, they had an alter set up with tons of extremely skinny, delicate incense sticks jutting out from a small jar where her grandmother would place them after burning them. Sometimes the air was slightly hazy from the leftover smoke. Incense Pure takes me back. It smells like cedar and resins that have actually been lit to produce a wee bit of smoke. Incense Pure is plenty strong. I made the mistake of spritzing waaaay too much, not realizing its strength, and I got extremely nauseous. A little goes a long way with this. I don't say that about many perfumes.

YUM! Is this the incense I've been looking for? This smells ritualistic, gothic, mass-like and utterly compelling to me. That Sonoma have used natural oils only makes me want it more since I am going more and more in that direction anyway. Dark, resinous, this hits me on some deeply emotional level and evens me out, feelings wise, is that weird? I don't even care, this stuff is Lush ( yup, with a capital L). Conjures up images of a gothy type drifting past in swathes of black and long lace skirts. Yum. Edit - My husband calls this stuff my "goth juice"! So now it is Goth Juice in our house ;-)

The warmth and depth to this is insane. A classic mix of sweet and smoky done perfectly. The labdanum and amber mix goes well with the incense. I am a lover of these type of scents and SSS is a definite masterpiece. Similar scents are Ambre Fetiche, Tauer 02 and still in the same category but different Copper Skies by Kerosene. This lasts all day with great sillage. The only drawback to some is the size is small but a couple sprays is enough. Fireside Intense is another standout for SSS.

What a perfectly intriguing incense experience! For me this wonderfully natural perfume is all about enjoying the whole spiritual and meditative ritual of collecting carefully selected, rich and resinous raw materials in the outdoors, taking time to prepare and blend them, slowly adding some heat and finally ending up with a beautiful, pleasantly dry, woody and smoky burning incense of incredible longevity. A true masterpiece :)

My favorite winter perfume. This is one of the few perfumes that last on my skin. It is complicated and sensuous. Love the combination of incense and sandalwood. It does not smell like smoke nor is it "churchy".

No BBQ, smokey, campfire, pine tree, or church smell. This is like walking in a warm, cedar forest with smoldering, resinous incense. A fairly linear fragrance but it lasts an entire day. Wonderful!

Another one of my favorites from the line; it's a crossbreed between an all-natural herbal incense + sweet amber and the very popular Churchy incense

Fantastic. If you love resins, this one is for you.

The opening had a bit of funk to it, but that died down after a few minutes. Then it’s a resinous cedar, smoke, foresty woods. Dry, but with the resin giving it more body / richness. It’s meditative and kind of like walking into a great smelling sauna, but with the resin making it deeper. Kind of transports me to the onsen (hot bath houses) in Japan. This would be such an amazing scent on a snowy day — I can see images of an onsen retreat in Hokkaido when I smell this scent. More evocative than some of the other incense scents I’ve tried which are less resinous and therefore more calming of the mind, because there’s less evocativeness of the heart.

A very dry, resiney-woods scent that is quite familiar smelling. The cedar backs beautifully onto the amber and incense, and works as a unified scent and ticks all the boxes, it's just a little, well, done. I know this is more than 10 years old, I am not trying to say anything untoward, but it just feels like it's been done many times before and, quite often, differently and with more appeal. This is a reference point (for this particular genre/trope), but I'm not much for reference points. This would've been PERFECT with a bit of animalic stank, some cumin or something funky.

This starts off slightly green and lemony but in a very herbal way. As the fragrance progresses it becomes a bit smoky, w/ a dry soil and moss quality. Musky, dry earth w/ the slight spice of crunchy, crisp leaves that have fallen from trees from a year that was a bit to dry. A cabin is in the distance w/ a wood fire burning and smoke is just beginning to come from the chimney. A slight powdery orris root comes through in the dry down mingling w/ a vanilla and giving a sad sweetness to a very wistful perfume. A beautiful masculine composition.

Lovely interpretation of incense. Bone dry, a bit smokey. It has an outdoorsy quality that makes it feel secular, private and introspective. It feels like something to wear alone but if you spray lightly you'd be unlikely to offend anyone. Really great value like all Sonoma Scent Studio fragrances. It is not trying to be anything other than an incense fragrance and as such its "story" is fairly simple. If I ever find myself wanting a straight incense fragrance I'll likely turn to this one. Genderless

I'm trying this out, and I find that the drydown is strangely similar to byredo gypsy water, a buttery sandalwood is definitely there. It's the first incense of many that I hope to try. I like it very much! nose-to-wrist, non-stop. someone else used the word "meditative." it's sonorous, deep but not heavy. PS getting a hand written note from Laurie Erickson on the packing list for my samples was... awesome.

This is a great incense composition, however I wouldn't place it as churchy. It starts out with the smell of incense burning in a cold, dark forest. The cedar fades substantially after the dry down, then you stumble into a warm cabin as sandalwood, amber and vanilla warm up the scent from there. I love the layers that unfold as you wear it, as it keeps you coming back to it again and again.

Just received this today. So happy that someone was letting it go in one of the Fragrance Groups on FB. I was shocked when the seller let it go for $75. He could have easily got $100+ for it. I'm not complaining. Very happy about this purchase because I used up the sample I had. Plus you can't get them anymore. So sad! Hope someone lets go of Tabac Aurea.

Been trying this out for a few weeks (sample) and I am digging this scent. I have a sample of Cardinal by Heeley, and although it is good, Incense Pure takes the cake for me. Will order a bottle.

It smells nice overall, but I can detect a sour note which is a little repulsive. It has good longevity and projection , but for now I will not be getting it!