Desert Sermons

desert sermons, in relation to toskovat's line, is a great execution of an intriguing concept rendering it better than most of the perfumes toskovat offers. the brand is not especially known for its sweet scents, but this is uniquely warm and comforting in contrast to the sharp, frigid tanginess i know so well. of course, there’s nothing even remotely sharp here. to me, and though it may be the name playing with my brain, i can’t get the image of a gilded and perfectly smoothed-out desert underneath a parching sun out of my head whenever i catch a whiff of this. this smells like a gust of wind, one that’s not just hot but carrying grains of sand. the resins form a coziness which persists throughout this scent’s duration, providing an amber that seems comfortable in its sweet and slightly vanillic qualities. the petitgrain is a massive player and you can really understand the solar aspect if you think specially about it. depending on your past experiences with the brand, it’s likely something you’ll either greatly like or dislike, and for me it's the former. if you were to try it yourself it's available exclusively on scentsplit

I recently, received a two milliliter decant of this. I don't like sweet fragrances. This does not come off to me as sweet. I do get the honey, but it's so perfectly balanced with a dryness. It almost reminds me of the smell of the inside of a hot sauna. Resinous baked wood. My family has a vacation home in upstate New York. This reminds me in a way of my childhood there. The house was built in the late 1800s and is all wood. When the summer sun heats it, the whole house smells of this sun-baked wood. A beautiful slightly sweet cedar. Someone commented that there's a parched paper vibe-I do understand that. There is depth and nuance to this fragrance. I feel that it's well balanced. Most certainly not cloying. Really fantastic for me.

Got the chance to smell this at a new fragrance boutique in Houston. I heard this scent is hard to find and I was so excited to try it - this was absolutely the correct sentiment to have. Sweet but somehow sort of mellow, the honey and amber play really well together to make a great scent. Imagine if "Bedroom Hymns" by Florence and the Machine were a frag - it's this. Even better - when I sprayed the sample strip, I got some of it on my hand inadvertently. Later in the evening, I threw on some Molecule 02, thinking I had washed the accidental spray long off. Nope, but the happiest accident. Perfect Ambroxan explosion.

I don't get the cake at all, I would say the honey is there but isn't overpowering. definitely smells like a desert in the solar notes and amber, it's a very warm spicy scent that I enjoy a lot. lasted a full 24 hours on me even through working in a lab with a bunch of chemicals--when I woke up the next day I could still smell it though it had definitely faded to a more intimate scent. do keep in mind it is strong, I sprayed this once on one wrist and it was enough for the all of me for that full 24 hours. I got multiple compliments on this one

Ancient honey in a ceramic pot sealed away in a tomb for a thousand years. This is what I think that ancient Egyptian honey they found smells like. Sweet (without ever being cloying TRUST ME I HATE CLOYING SWEETNESS), dry, warm, slightly resinous. Projects minimally but somehow lasts a very very long time. Reminds me a ton of memoirs of a trespasser from imaginary authors. If you took that, and took the vanilla out of it and replaced it with honey, and maybe made it a bit more humid, you'd get this. Good stuff.