Messe de Minuit (2000)
by Etro

I genuinely like the smell of this - it's got this dusty, orange and frankincense thing going on. But like others have mentioned, this just doesn't smell healthy to me. I don't want to smell like Messe de Minuit, nor I do feel good when I wear it. On the other hand, Etro's other fragrance, Shaalnur, is uplifting and enjoyable.

6.5/10

P.S. If you like the idea of orange and frankincense, I whole heartily recommend Holy Water by Profumo.it (AbdesSalaam Attar Profumo), which smells a whole lot like Messe de Minuit, but a whole lot better. Now that's an uplifting, crisp and consciousness altering fragrance.

The top notes of this sure are busy! Messe de Minuit opens with a rush of citrus; a fresh, effervescent, and bitter; lemon and orange met with hints of cumin and cinnamon. I love purplebird's description of "tonic water and pineapple" - it's dead-on as far as the citrus is concerned. After the spicy-citrus top notes, the frankincense and myrrh dominate the heart, both notes being given a very smooth and rounded interpretation, amber and opoponax coming through on a quieter level. In the base, I smell predominantly patchouli, just a hint of the myrrh and opoponax holding on.

This happens to be one of the few fragrances where I smell the separation between top, heart, and base very clearly.

The sillage was rather low for my tastes, but the longevity was decent.

While not "light", certainly the vibe of this is quite far from a midnight mass, or anything nocturnal... it's warm, calming, and happy. A summer morning in a Mediterranean cathedral, perhaps?

What can I say? I love this stuff. I am a big fan of incense fragrances. My neighbor even made fun of me for having on "hippie cologne", apparently mistaking this incense for patchouli - and I'm not as big on patchouli. I don't care, this fragrance is all for me. It's dry, bright, sprightly incense, a smell that could come out of a censer, but without the oily smoke. It seems to have a dry cedar streak in the base notes, a whiff of a hot cedar-lined sauna. It is lovely stuff... if you like the impeccably rich, brooding note of incense, treat yourself to this bottle!

its hard to imagine i am selling the same fragrance as the postive reviewers. i love incense! but i smell no incense in this.
midnight mass??? please. i smell a disgusting underground subway urinal. my first SCRUBBER. never again!!

Etro Messe de Minuit

I am a huge fan of incense-forward scents and any scent named Midnight Mass is going to have me excited to try. Messe de Minuit was created in 2000 by Jacques Flori and I think he has come up with a very unique take on incense. Right from the top it starts with something that smells like the holiday wassail bowl from the church basement as a mix of citrus and cinnamon start this off. It doesn't take long for the incense and myrrh to come in and eventually take over. The heart is also cut with a skillful use of honey which adds depth and traditional sweetness to the more resinous sweet of the incense. The base notes of amber and patchouli add more warmth and mix with the heart notes making for a lovely intermingling of notes. I've seen this described as musty but on my skin I don't get a hint of that. On me this comes off as a very dry austere scent, there isn't anything that feels lush about it. Which is as it should be at Midnight Mass.

My problem with Messe de Minuit is that, at the end of the day it smells very old and "unhealthy". When I wear MdM I feel myself old and feeble, like I was carrying some sort of virus or disease. Complete opposite to Etro`s Palais Jamais which is very vital, full of life and well being.

Messe de Minuit reminds me hauntingly much of the smell which has corroded clearly to my mind : When I was a little boy, me and my friends liked to spend our time in this deserted house made of wood. It was one of our favourite places. Everybody knew the house was lived by an old granny, who then had died. And obviously she didn`t have any kind of heirs or anything, because that estate rottened a long time untouched before the local officials decided to tear that house down.
In the house there were still a lot of old, musty furnitures, moldy carpets, loads of rusty iron stuff and dirty vessels. Also, very much different kind of miscellaneous things, I for instance remember the cardboard boxes full of old newspapers and magazines.

Messe des Minuit transportes me every single time to this specific time and place of my life. Plus like I said before, it makes me feel old and feeble.
And while this is something fascinating in a way, I can`t wear it because of these things.

Fragrances are meant to worn. This I only spray on my hand couple of times during the year, remembering the time when I was 10 years old, and sensing the fact that I am inevitably closing on death.