Olivia Giacobetti

Mood Scent 4 : Frankincense and Myrrh Perfumes


It’s Mood Scent 4 time again! Our monthly blogging project where Portia, (on A Bottled Rose) , Samantha  (I Scent You A Day), Megan (Megan In St Maxime) and I write about a different subject linking perfume to mood or occasion. This time we picked frankincense and myrrh perfumes.

Frankincense is often associated with church by those who visit or used to (Catholic) church.  I used to go to a Dutch Catholic church as a child but frankincense was not used in this very modern 1970s church. I have only fairly recently started to appreciate frankincense when visiting churches as a common visitor. All my choices here are my personal favourites and not meant to give a list of the ‘best’ frankincense fragrances. I only included one myrrh perfumes as these are not easy to find and I wanted to include a fragrance which is still sold for a decent price.

 

Maria Candida Gentile Exultat and Sideris
Exultat brings a feeling of awe and wonder by combining dry frankincense with sweet violet candies. Imagine yourself as a small child sitting at the back of an old empty Mediterranean church, the priest has left a faint trail of frankincense hours ago and now you are eating violet candies secretly next to your grandmother who is visiting the church to pray. My Spanish grandmother was fond of visiting the cinema together instead of going to church with me, so this image was a mere fantasy, but I love these two fragrances combined: the violet candies and scent frankincense in a Catholic church. They make this a special fragrance while light powder and dust give it a more worldly aura.

Sideris, another creation from perfumer Maria Candida Gentile takes the frankincense to different territory by adding pungent pepper, very dry Mediterranean herbs, light sweet rose and balsamic benzoin. The fragrance was dedicated to a poem written by Cesare Pavese and inspired by walk along the Mediterranean Sea in the North West Italian area of Liguria. The frankincense is liturgical in both Italian creations, reminiscent of the smell a Catholic church hours after the priest has wafted a barrel on a chain of smoking frankincense. While Exultat is sweetened by violet confectionary, Sideris is adorned by sweet powdery rose petals, precious saffron and peppery spices.

Comme des Garcons:  Series 3  Ouarzazate
While Avignon gets all the attention from the Comme des Garcons Incense series, Ouarzazate is well worth a try. This incense series was inspired by 5 different world religions. The fragrance Avignon relates to Christianity and Ouarzazate to Islam. Mark Buxton was inspired by the fortress (kasbah) in this Southern Moroccan city. Ouarzazate is the gateway to the Sahara Desert and features in many series and films including Game Of Thrones (season 3) and Gladiator.

Ouarzazate is a sweet caramel like and spicy frankincense scent. Hints of black pepper, nutmeg and dry clary sage on a translucent olibanum/frankincense and dark woody base make it easy to wear. It is a little too light for my taste especially compared to the Ouarzazate incense sticks which I bought first but an interesting frankincense fragrance full of spices and well worth a try.

Caron Parfum Sacre Eau de Parfum
In Parfum Sacre lush dark red velvet rose petals are enveloped by pungent black pepper and warmed by cinnamon. Parfum Sacre feels like wearing a crimson long satin dress, the soft light fabric touching your skin. Resinous dry myrrh and soft vanilla add a comfortable sensation while rich orange blossom and a light cinnamic touch bring an overall feeling of smoothness. This velvety feeling reminds me of Guerlain Samsara which makes me wonder if sandalwood was not added as well.

L’Artisan Parfumeur Passage d’Enfer
In Passage d’Enfer perfumer Olivia Giacobetti combines the white lily flower, symbol of the virgin Mary in Christianity, with translucent cold frankincense and clean ‘laundry like’ musk. Passage d’Enfer translates as passage to hell and was originally created to pay homage to the first office of L’Artisan Parfumeur in the Passage d’Enfer in Paris in the 1970s. Lily flower is toned down here and transparent in true Olivia Giacobetti style leaving a light impression of its essence. Passage d’Enfer comes as an accompanying body lotion and shower gel as well.

Boujee Bougies Gilt Scented Candle
The recently launched Boujee Bougies scented candle Gilt plays with the idea of gold, guilt and confession. Golden sun rays shine through the stained glass lightening up a dark church and the metallic touch of golden leaves. Frankincense was burned hours ago still leaving its light smoky and pine tree trail, embellished by the cold scent of copper from the frankincense barrel. Gilt has amazing throw even for a small 60 g candle and burns evenly which is a great bonus as you use the whole candle until the end.

These are my frankincense and myrrh perfume and scented candle picks. Have a look on Samantha’s blog I Scent You A Day Megan’s blog  Megan in St. Maxime  and Portia on A Bottled Rose,  to read they choices too!

I Love To Hear From You
What are your favorite frankincense and myrrh perfumes? What do you think of my choices? Do you know them?

Disclosure: All fragrances, candles and samples mentioned were bought by me personally. Photographs were made by me as well and are an artistic expression. Bottles which are sold now, might be different from the ones shown on the photographs.

 

Mood Scent 4 : Weird And Wonderful Perfumes


It is Mood Scent 4 time again! A joined perfume bloggers project where we share our views on the same subject linking perfume to mood or occasion. This time Portia (now on A Bottled Rose), Sam  (I Scent You A Day) Megan (Megan In Sainte Maxime) and I chose to write about unusual weird and wonderful perfumes.

It has been a month since my latest blog post. In The Netherlands we have moved from the semi lockdown to a new situation where we are able to travel further away, go abroad and visit restaurants or other public places keeping the 1,5 m in mind. All is still a bit unusual. As some of you who follow me on Instagram might have seen, flowers and nature helped me to stay centred and positive. Luckily I have been able to see my 85 years old dad more as well.  I hope that those reading are able to keep their spirits up.

Back to weird and wonderful perfumes now, I chose three perfumes which all tell an interesting and unusual story. All three are anything but ordinary, because of their story or perfume notes.

BeauFort 1805 Tonnerre, (Come Hell or High Water Collection), Visit The Battle of Trafalgar In 1805

Tonnerre features notes (or accords) of lime, gunpowder, smoke, blood, brandy, seawater, amber, balsam fir and  cedar.

BeauFort was founded by musician Leo Crabtree, a current member from The Prodigy band. Tonnerre was inspired by the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Tonnerre features the scents of a complete sea battle with smoking gunpowder, scorched flesh (or blood), black wet earth, salted seawater and pungent tar. It is almost like time travelling as these are not scents (luckily!) you normally get to smell. Tonnerre is not for the faint of heart or a perfume I wear regularly on skin but I find it very intriguing as a perfume creation and olfactory experience.

Hilde Soliani Caffe Delle Vergini, Visit An Italian Cafe In the Eighties After A Night Of Clubbing

Caffe Delle Vergini features notes of ink, coffee and vetiver. 

Caffe Delle Vergini was created by Italian perfumer Hilde Soliani. She was inspired by her visits to the bar Delle Vergini in the Italian City of Sassuolo after a night of clubbing to have breakfast. Bar Delle Vergini is said to be one of the first bars to admit women in the Sixties in Italy. Which reminds me of going out in the Eighties to a Spanish disco and have hot chocolate and fried churros in the middle of the night, not exactly the same scents but you get the idea. Caffe Delle Vergini smells of ink from the newspapers in the bar, espresso coffee from the steaming coffee machine and the smell of vetiver from the perfumed men visiting this bar. Caffe Delle Vergini is not as unusual as the Beaufort Tonnere perfume and more wearable. Actually it is one of the fragrances I wear most from Hilde Soliani as I like the story behind it too. The bottle has a label with a newspaper as you can see on the photograph.

L’Artisan Parfumeur Dzing! Visit An Old Fashioned Circus With Animal Poo and All

Dzing! Features notes of tonka beans, balsam, saffron and ginger. 

Dzing! was inspired by a live circus with notes of horse or elephant dug, hay, powdery animal fur, sweet bright pink candy cotton, used saddle leather and wood dust in the ring. From all fragrances this is my favourite weird and wonderful perfume as after a few hours it leaves a scent of used soft comfortable black leather with a cleaner aldehydic (or soap like) accent. Last week when my cat Rubio visited his cat loo he left the scent of animal dug which very much reminded me of Dzing! Luckily there is much more to Dzing! than animal poo with the used leather, powdery fur notes, cleaner soap and wood dust. Some people got candied sweet apple too. Dzing! was launched in 1999 and created by perfumer Olivia Giacobetti (who also created Diptyque Philosykos, L’Artisan Tea For Two, Frederic Malle En Passant and Iunx fragrances)

These are my 3 picks of  Weird and Wonderful Perfumes. Have a look on Sam’s blog I Scent You A Day, Megan’s  Megan in St. Maxime  and Portia on A Bottled Rose to read their picks and see how they are doing!

I hope you and your loved ones are able to stay healthy, calm, centred and positive during this period.

There have been some troubles with leaving comments lately. I do hope you are able to leave your choice for a weird and wonderful perfume. I love to hear from you.

Disclosure: all photographs were made by Esperessence. All perfumes were bought by me.