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Maria Candida Gentile Sideris & Exultat ~ fragrance reviews

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Maria Candida Gentile Sideris & Exultat

Today, quick reviews of two fragrances from Italian niche house Maria Candida Gentile: Sideris and Exultat. Both are in the brand’s Classic Line.

Sideris

Sideris was born during a walk along a Mediterranean beach in Liguria (Italy) at night. The moment was so beautiful that one could feel like floating in the air, between the sea and the stars in the sky. It is purely poetic fragrance.

With incense, cistus, myrrh, white pepper, saffron, rose, sandalwood, benzoin and waxed woods.

I first tried Sideris last summer, around the same time that I reviewed the brand’s Hanbury, and I liked it right away…

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Serge Lutens L’Incendiaire ~ fragrance review

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Serge Lutens L'Incendiaire brand visual

“The fire is not within the perfume but within me. I want to ignite the smoldering embers of the perfume world, to put the fire back in perfume!” — Serge Lutens, on his fragrance L’Incendiaire1, the first release in his “luxury” Section d’Or collection

Many creative directors wax rhapsodic (and incoherently) about their perfume lines and themselves. Just this week Roja Dove claimed he introduced OUD to the niche fragrance world in 2011…over a decade after he was beat to the punch by many others (niche, and non-niche). I smiled when I read this bit of hyperbole on the Serge Lutens webpage: “Section d’Or is infinite. Serge Lutens takes infinity to a new level.” Only Lutens can bottle, nay, expand infinity! Read his “writings” if you don’t believe me — read too much, and you’ll want to head beyond infinity yourself for some brain-rest…

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5 perfumes: incense fragrances for spring

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incense sticks

Today’s post completes the year: I’ve already done 5 great incense fragrances for summer wear, incense for fall and incense for winter. I’m thinking iris next? But I’m open to suggestions…

Etro Shaal Nur: To my mind, this is the quintessential spring incense, and I was surprised to see how many people mentioned it in the comments to the incense posts for other seasons. Perhaps that means you need to have a bottle on hand at all times…

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Fire, Twigs & Smoke ~ home fragrance reviews

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home fragrance items

I live in a house that’s almost 100 years old; with me are two male cats (and their three litter boxes — yes, they have more “bathrooms” than I do) and my partner (who cooks all the time — seafood, Indian, Thai, Burmese, Mexican, Middle Eastern and Italian food — pungent stuff!) Apart from doing a “country-house-style” cleaning a few times a year (scrubbing walls, floors, ceilings and everything in between) I rely on scented products to make my environment smell a little better than it would if I simply relied on open windows and elbow grease. I’m a big user/addict of, pardon the cuteness, candles (fire), diffusers (twigs) and incense (smoke).

Like all scented products, home fragrance prices have skyrocketed; this post will concentrate on “affordable” (or at least reasonably priced) items. Please chime in with your own favorites in all categories. The comments from my recent soap post provided sensational ideas for soap fiends; I hope this article will generate the same response for home fragrances fanatics…

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5 perfumes: incense fragrances for winter

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burning incense stick

In July, I picked 5 great incense fragrances for summer wear, and I followed that in October with 5 perfumes: incense fragrances for fall. Now that we’ve moved on from “a decent chill” to “polar vortex warning”, it’s time for the winter version. As always, do add your own picks in the comments!

Comme des Garçons Avignon ~ as I’ve said here before, Avignon is my gold standard for church incense. Developed by perfumer Mark Buxton, Avignon starts out foreboding but ends up meditative; it’s also wearable and makes a great layering agent. If you want something churchy but not quite that churchy, try Bois d’Encens from the Armani Privé line. For the budget version, try Demeter Holy Smoke…

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