Angélique Encens (1933)
by Creed

This is another fragrance I could easily bathe in -if it were readily available ! I rate this as otherworldly- the same way I rate Vol de Nuit ,Apres L'Ondee .... To me, this is a masterpiece.

I get perhaps a very light tuberose,floral ....lavender and powder and then it deepens to this gorgeous, violetty ,incensey, dramatic vanilla ,with a touch of amber on my skin. I love this ! It's not overpowering at all - just kinds of stays wispy on my skin . The name seems very appropriate.

Since being reunited with this lovely scent- what have I done but look longingly at the various places online, in London that may ship safely abroad !

I have the same experience with Angélique Encens that 'the_good_life' has, really enjoying the first hour then finding the dry down increasingly hard work. I'm not going to give a run down of the fragrance as others have pretty much covered everything, rather I'd like to comment on the element that pretty much governs Angélique Encens, ambergris.

For those that are a little squeamish now would be a good time to stop reading.....

Created by the bile duct of sperm whales, ambergris is a waxy substance that helps the whale pass sharp bones that it inadvertently ingests. How it is expelled is another matter. I apologise if this is more information than the reader needs but I feel that the back story to ambergris is important and why smelling it in it's pure form can be more than some can bear. Ambergris smells waxy, sweet, creamy, syrupy, slightly smoky and a little animalistic. With a little used in a blend ambergris can give a smooth and round finish, but here in Angélique Encens it is left unadulterated. I find this smell nauseating in much the same way that hot fudge cake is, if you have eaten way too much for main course.

Angélique Encens is indeed a classic and unique blend, and with fantastic longevity and sillage, one could hardly not recommend that everyone try it out. 8.4 oz is just too much for anyone though, like Blue Amber by Montale a little goes a long, long way. The Neutral is only for my personal taste rather than the quality.

Absolutely beautiful, from start to finish. Sillage is well above average and that whiff you get keeps pulling your wrist closer to your nose. Vibert is right on the money in that I definitely get an animalic note (cumin, maybe, as he mentioned) in there somewhere. I have worn this four times and tonight I got it for the first time. It's only there for about 5 to ten minutes but it is there and it is in charge for that short period. The rest of the time is spent with vanilla and incense in what others here have described as an unbelievable drydown. It is really hard for me to conceive that this is from 1933. It has a 70's/80's vibe to me, and IMO seems way ahead of it's time, compared to others from the same era. I only visit this once in a while but what a treat when I do.

The first time I tried this scent evolved into a 'gamey' sort of baby powder on me...weird. I've since re-visited Angelique Encens and find it quite unique & interesting. It is powdery, with the vanillic/almond overture of angelica. There is a subtle incense in the base that doesn't exactly 'trip my trigger', and blame it as the culprit for my not purchasing this frag. AE is difficult to find as well. For my own personal taste/chemistry, Guerlain's Angelique Noire is a better presentation of angelica - sans incense. I cannot fault this Creed though, it is at least worthy of a test run!

A classic, and deservedly so! Angélique Encens goes on very soapy, with an immediate and potent blast of sweetened angelica. This is followed by a vanilla note that sweetens the scent even further. Before it can become too syrupy-sweet, the incense of the title wells up to add a sobering dry foundation. A complex blend of spices (I smell mace, black pepper, and perhaps a touch of cumin) enters soon after, along with a gentle white flower accord that nudges what started as a very "masculine" fragrance into the realm of unisex.

As the scent develops, the white flower accord becomes dominant and begins to seem "perfumey" in a very old-fashioned way. I usually prefer my incense a bit less sweet and floral, as in Dzongkha or L'Homme Sage, but Angélique Encens reveals tremendous depth and complexity, with more than one happy surprise turn in its development. It endures quite well on the skin, with impressive sillage and projection right on through its sweet vanilla-ambery drydown. A wonderful scent, though not for me the "religious experience" some have described. I certainly don't need 8 ounces(!) of the stuff.

I LOVE IT! Makes you feel sooooo special. It is glamour , drama, mystery and sophistication in a bottle. It gets better as the day goes on. I think I may have to buy more of this...!