Guerlain
Guerlain
329 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Aldehydes detonate against saffron-stained rose petals, creating an almost sparkling quality that contradicts the density to come—it's the moment before incense catches properly, all promise and volatile oils. The rose here is desiccated, pressed between pages rather than freshly cut, whilst saffron brings its strange, iodine-like sharpness that prickles at the nose.
Pink pepper begins its slow burn as patchouli and vetiver intertwine, creating an earthy, root-cellar darkness beneath the thinning florals. The frankincense finally reveals itself properly now, no longer hidden behind the aldehydic flash, throwing off plumes of resinous smoke that the vetiver makes almost green, almost bitter. This is where the fragrance finds its true character—devotional but not sweet, grounded in soil and wood rather than floating in abstract spirituality.
Ambergris and underwood create a skin-close aura that's part salted mineral, part decomposing forest floor, with frankincense reduced to its barest resinous whisper. The smokiness persists but transforms into something that smells less like active burning and more like the scent that lives in the grain of wood after years of exposure to incense. What remains is austere, almost ascetic, yet undeniably beautiful in its refusal to seduce.
Encens Mythique d'Orient opens with a deliberate shock—aldehydes flare like struck matches against a damask rose, saffron threading through with its metallic, leathery warmth. This isn't the clean, liturgical frankincense of churches; it's the dense, resinous smoke that clings to silk hangings in souks, where spice merchants and perfumers once shared the same streets. The composition pulls you into its haze immediately, pink pepper crackling against patchouli's earthy darkness whilst vetiver adds a root-bound, almost medicinal quality that keeps the florals from turning soft. There's an ambered glow beneath it all, underwood (that mysterious, mushroomy facet of forest floors) meeting ambergris in a way that suggests ancient wooden chests lined with precious fabrics. Thierry Wasser has created something that feels genuinely devotional without being reverential—this is incense as secular ritual, worn by someone who burns frankincense in their flat on a Tuesday evening simply because they want to transform the space. It's for those who find conventional orientals too sweet, who want their spice with backbone and their woods with genuine resinous bite. The 88% floral accord might suggest softness, but here rose serves as scaffolding for the smoke rather than the main event. This is a fragrance that demands attention without raising its voice, leaving a smouldering trail that makes people lean closer rather than turn away.
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4.0/5 (236)