Temple Twilight

I’ve been to Linguin Temple in Hangzhou twice so far. Every time I go there, I feel very specific atmosphere that evaporates from many ancient and symbolic artefacts: stone carved Buddhas, burned incense basins, biggest camphor wood Buddha statue in the main hall, the nearby stream that brings on even more humidity than what Hangzhou is known for. Now, there is an actual perfume inspired by all the above. Chinese perfume brand Soulvent came up with this incredible concoction of powdery iris and smoky incense. The perfume evokes the spiritual depth of the place where time seems to slow down. The air there carries layers of incense smoke, aged wood, and quiet devotion, an atmosphere that feels both grounding and transcendent. It begins as a cool, mineral whisper, the breath of carved stone Buddhas, smoothed by centuries of rain and reverence. It was the scent of the incense basin, worn smooth by countless hands, each placing a stick with a silent hope, a quiet prayer. And then, the smoke. Oh, the smoke. It started as a sharp, clean spark of burnt incense, then transformed into a tender, resonant cloud of woody, aged cedar. A fragrant bridge between the earthly and the divine. Lingyin captures the essence of the temple with remarkable subtlety: not simply the scent of incense, but the emotion of being present in a sacred space.

From the notes, I thought this was going to be a very dark, woody scent but not really. First off, it reminds me of my sandalwood scent shower gel. Then when the incense becomes more noticeable, it reminds me of a temple. The scent is supposed to resemble Lingyin temple in China and I think they captured it perfectly. You get the smoke from the incense, woods from the temple itself and most surprisingly, the humidity that is in the air. The moss in it gives the scent an airiness that is just so pleasantly pleasing, and it is also what gives it the humidity/shower gel vibe. The oud is listed but it's not really prominent, just has some animalic to it. Overall, I think this is a very nice and pleasant scent. It stays away from your usual dark, spicy, dense woody profile. I'm not a big fan of dark fragrances but this is unique and I'll recommend you guys trying. Nothing too crazy, just clean woody incense.

Just ordered it looking forward to trying it. UPDATE: Arrived. Came in a HUGE white high quality box just for a 50ml bottle. Beautiful presentation. Bottle packaging was very nice with a photograph of a what I assume is a temple. Bottle has a heavy metal cap very secure. The fragrance is very pleasant and starts off with what I believe is very natural oakmoss with hints of cedar and winding down into an soft gentle incense. Is it good, yes, is it good for 45$ absolutely. But on my skin it just seems to vanish into nothing with no lingering notes to go back to and that's a bummer. I really enjoy lingering notes and I just can't find any after 15 min. If it was stronger I would love it but sadly its not.

The pink pepper flashed by, then something stinky which I can't recognize emerges and diminishes. It reminds me of varnish regularly used to protest the wood architecture from moisture and to make it more appealing in the mass' eyes. At the meantime I can get whiffs of creamy woody notes like verawood, which is drowned by sandy smoky and mighty cedar. Both the verawood and cedar are typical local imaginations of Mahayana Temples where, when there are few tourists praying around, the remnants of joss stick incense and the wood constructions of the temples project light and elegant woody and smoky aromas. By the way, verawood is also called "sandalwood", since the root (檀 tán (roughly 'sandal')) is not restricted to the trees of Sandalum, but includes precious or fragrant woods of many different genera. In recent years, verawood, and similar creamy scents, have been reimagined as a Mahayana fragrance with a far more serene oersonality than sandalwood. temple Twilight has moderate projection but good longevity.

Chinese company??? Hm...wonder if weird chemicals will in them