These are happy times for lovers of incense fragrances: there are lots of new choices on the market, in fact, incense rivals iris as the latest “it” note, at least in the niche sector. Over the past year, I’ve fallen for quite a few, including Juozas Statkevicius, Bond no. 9 Andy Warhol Silver Factory and Amouage Jubilation XXV.
The first three fragrances from Olivier Durbano’s relatively new line of “Bijoux de Pierres Poèmes” (Stone Poem Jewels) are all based around incense…
I am very fond of Amouage Gold (as fond as I’m willing to be given the price), and might be the only person who laments the passing of Amouage Ubar, but their more recent offerings have mostly left me cold. So when I read Luca Turin’s latest article in NZZ Folio, which talks about the recent launch of the line’s Jubilation fragrances and concludes…
To my relief both were very good. The feminine is a Diorella with tuberose. The masculine is a lovely incense composition, by Bertrand Duchaufour.
…I was dubious…
More online shopping ideas. If you missed the earlier posts, see also: Holiday fragrance gifts 2007, part 1, part 2, part 3.
I’ll take one: the Prada Infusion d’Iris coffret, with 100 ml of the Eau de Parfum and a scented candle on a metal base. It is hard to make out in the picture, but the candle is etched with the Prada logo. $150 at Neiman Marcus…
When Terre d’Oc stopped making its Japanese Garden Citrus and Citronella Garden Incense I was very upset. Terre d’Oc’s long-burning, 19-inch bâtons d’encens were perfect for outdoor parties. They produced a gentle citrus fragrance that didn’t interfere with the tastes of food and drink. I put the incense sticks directly into the ground in dark or shaded areas of the garden where their lazy silver smoke was easily seen. I often placed a burning incense stick under my umbrella-shaped Harlequin Glorybower tree next to a Chinese Buddha statue; hours would pass, the yard would smell great and Buddha would look as if he were sitting on a silver-blue cloud. In very un-Buddha-like fashion, I cursed Terre d’Oc for discontinuing their garden incense line.
Thankfully, I’ve found a replacement for the defunct Terre d’Oc garden incense: Ashleigh & Burwood’s Garden Incense sticks; these sticks are also huge (22 inches long) and meant for outdoor use…
With all the jewelers releasing fragrances these days — is there a jeweler left in Paris without a signature fragrance or two? — a bit of conceptual overlap is not surprising. Olivier Durbano, a young architect-turned-jeweler, has launched a line of scents inspired, like the Bvlgari Omnia flankers under consideration yesterday (Omnia Amethyste) and the day before (Omnia Crystalline), by precious jewels, and his first two releases, Rock Crystal (2005) and Amethyst (2006) mirror the Omnia flankers perfectly. Five more fragrances are said to be in the works (and I rather doubt we’ve heard the last from Bvlgari on the subject of Omnia, for that matter).
The notes for Amethyst include bergamot, pepper, grape, raspberry, incense, palisander wood, jasmine, orris, vegetable amber, sandalwood, musk and vanilla…