Incense Wood Spirit

This just blew my mind a bit. Deep, rich incense, woods & resins.. I’ll re rest & dissect it later but .. WOWZA! Top of the want list!

This smells like a really nice frankincense overlaid on a creamy wood and slightly funky oud or ambergris, which is I'm guessing occurs via the civet. To me it's a very attractive funk that complements the exotic incense and wood beautifully. The perfume has a very incensy and mysterious slightly powdery sillage for about 30 minutes when a very rosy bright and powdery, slightly green (via the jasmine and rose) creamy wood accord emerges. This part reminds me of the drydown of Bapteme du Feu but less musky, more woody. This lasts a long time, several hours at least with about six inches of projection. That's where I'm at with this perfume, five hours in and really enjoying it. In its final stages it is a rosy white wood. I have Memo's Tiger's Nest which has this same type of sharp, precise, sparkling incense accord with osmanthus and amber instead of jasmine and rose and sandalwood, but the frankincense goes forever, which this one does not. This becomes more like a powdery Indian incense. I also have Bapteme du Feu which has a different, more urban atmosphere with this kind of bright almost metallic woody powderiness. Do I need this one? Probably not. That said, you might need it--it's quite lovely and casual and also very interesting.

This smells like a sweet and slightly spiced masculine fougere to me in the top. Not incense. Maybe because I tried it on after his herbal patchouli. I love incense fragrances but not this one. This is close to the skin and gets a little more of an incense vibe on the drydown.

New territory. At least for me. I usually shy away from perfumes with civet. It is one of the most feared notes in perfumery, and this house also offers Civette Intense, a perfume that celebrates this note. Ingredients have "high proportion of high-quality natural raw materials" and I worry about the source. The secreted oil is still taken from caged animals in some areas of the world, although most perfumers use synthetic. Incense and wood are favorite notes though. I'm always looking for new scents that feature them, and the name called to me like a siren. So, with trepidation, I tried this and was surprised with it's beautiful earthy forest opening that smells like you're in untouched timberland. There's a strangely wonderful point when I smelled a damp ground aroma with a hint of wild animals in the area - a trace of their 'spirit'. This comes from the civet and animal notes I think. Incense, rose and jasmine form a sweet core to the accord, and I loved the transitions. Incense Wood Spirit is intriguing, contemporary, alluring - and well executed - especially the civet that I wasn't sure about. It could become a favorite note if handled as artfully as this one. I just want to know where it comes from! Update: So excited! Just read on SP's website that they "do not use animal products. All animal accords are synthetic notes." Can't wait to try everything by this talented perfumer!

The musky flower accord is present like in other SP perfumes, but here it's drawn up with the incense and drawn wide with the wood. The result to my nose is stunning and gorgeous, qualifiers which make me wonder if it has an air of old school perfumery. I keep getting the name wrong wanting to call it Intense which it is. I found the animalic note problematic in the beginning, but let's not beat around the bush: to get this kind of concentrated effect which lasts 12 hours easily there are not so many solutions out there. If these notes speak to you, then it's FB worthy.