Incensi (1997)
by Lorenzo Villoresi

Incensi is one of the famous fragrances of the renowned italian creator Lorenzo Villoresi and in my opinion is basically an incense and cinnamon based fragrance with a partial dusty, slightly dissonant, gassy evolution (ginger, cumin and stirax) and a floral light flying kind of sophistication. It's more womanly than unisex in my opinion. The surfacing note of mimose is dreamy and velvety. Incensi becomes smoother  (almost gassy rather than powery) after a very severe and aggressive herbal, citrusy and spicy opening of  pepper, gummy-mossy  galbanum and cardamom that is misleading, almost off-putting and stark. In this initial phase i was on the point to scrub it off, the note of elemi was overwhelmed, the incenses almost sleeping and the cumin was just pungent and stuck. In more than a while the dusty and incensey cloud of olibanum and labdanum starts exaling smokey and gassy, pushed up by steaming styrax and projecting cumin. That's the cloud of incenses that gives the name and the foundation to the fragrance although as many reviewers had to write, this fragrance is an homage to my beloved cinnamon. The concoction anyway is named Incensi (at plural) and in a certain sense the spice of cinnamon with its level of dustiness could be joined to incense on the side of olibanum and labdanum. What is the responsible of the moderate mildness of this restrained fragrance? The duo cinnamon-ginger under my nose which, whirling perfectly in the general dust, impresses a unique kind of prickly, mineral, sparkling, almost edible and resinous kind of mildness and pushes up the floral sophisticated note of delicate mimose. The fragrance is mostly spicy-powdery-gassy for the main part of its development and what gives a final touch of consistence and structure in absence of an heavy presence of patchouli and woods (anyway i think that the not listed sandalwood is present) are the milky and soapy balsams (benzoin, opoponax, tolu) and the woodsy resins that tame a bit the dust and sustain the mildness. In the final phase of the journey the smell is incensey and resinous with whiffs of florals and soapy-mineral ginger, milk and cinnamon. The smell is close to the skin, evocative but contemporary, contemplative, avergely dry, cool and boise'.

14th October, 2011. (Last Edited: 16th October, 2011.)

Judging from the listed notes alone, I'd have expected to find INCENSI enjoyable. Wearing it however tells me a different story. What started off rather attractively as dry bitter galbanum quickly turned into a weirdly unpleasant concoction that conjured up the image of a sweat-drenched laborer hauling fish at the fishery. Repeated wearings failed to improve matters. I'm inclined to blame it on the styrax & cumin as the 'combo from hell' that sends me reeling with a one-two punch.

The shock is thankfully, transient, with the fragrance settling down to a more palatable blend of dry resins and salty leather. Unfortunately for me, the smelly fish dude still haunts my memories long after the drydown is gone.

Notes:
pepper, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, elemi, galbanum, cinnamon, labdanum, ginger, incense, benzoin, myrrh, styrax, frankincense, tolu.

12nd July, 2011.

A very interesting perfume! One of the driest and bitter Incense around. I really love this one as it's completely different if worn by somebody else, it totally morphes mantaining its own characteristics. It's quite hard to describe it but when I first tasted it on paper I almost got disturbed by its tremendous harshness and severity. I tried it on my skin anyway as it's not so easy, nowadays, to find something really capturing you attention (whether in a good or bad way). Everything seems to get levelled and I got sick of sport-perfumes. Incensi is another world, a very special one made of cinnamon, ginger and mimose (I totally get mimose in this one just like I get Camomille in Avignon) surroundend by an immense dose of dark incense and labdanum. Not an everyday fragrance, but absolutely great to wear once in a while. If you'll have the chance to taste Incensi, make sure to try it on your skin and don't be scared about the opening...let it works!

11th March, 2011. (Last Edited: 4th April, 2011.)

I have given this scent several tries since I received the samples. I sprayed it a few times on my skin and each time it smelled like crushed black pepper mixed with shower gel or bath soap. It was an atrocious smell that I'm sure non-perfume afficionados would hate. It only became tolerable when the basenotes came into play and I could smell the frankincense and myrrh, scents that I find comforting. I was going to give this one a thumbs down, but after spraying it on a card I realised it's my chemistry with the fragrance that's all wrong, not the fragrance itself. On the card it smells softer and the cinnamon becomes noticeable. When I smell it on the card it reminds me of a cinnamon croissant. If only it smelled more like this on my skin. Ah well.

6th December, 2010.

Of my three Villoresi samples I saved this one for last, because my 'sniff test' (a dab on the back of the finger) told me this was the best.

If you put bergamot and galbanum in the opening i'm going to like it, and this opens with a big 'wow' for me. However...

When i put it on my decollete and took it for a hike it deteriorated, and quickly, into a hyper sweet mess. This definitey comes down to skin chemistry.

For me, the only house that can put tolu balsam and opoponax (and benzoin a to boot) in the base and still make it wearable is Guerlain. In the hands of anyone else this turns into a flat out mess on me.

How much of a mess? Succinctly: on my hike I preferred my own sweaty smell to this.

With my chemistry this would have popped had the base been kept dry and resinous. Incense should never play second fiddle to sweet myrrh and friends. It was the base that ruined it for me; the opening was wonderful.

3rd July, 2010.

Incensi's start is not promising. The top notes are a harsh, scrambled brew of soapy lavender, bitter greens and spices, and it takes several minutes for the scent to sort itself out. Once it does, it lays down a warm cinnamon, woody incense, and benzoin accord that's as smooth and serene as the opening is hectic. Ginger lurks quietly in the background, but it's much quieter here than in Bvlgari's ginger bomb Blv. It's to Villoresi's credit that the ginger, cinnamon, and benzoin don't turn Incensi into a comfort food dessert. I believe that it's the firm and mildly astringent combination of myrrh and labdanum that does the trick.

The leathery labdanum note blooms as Incensi evolves, but the sweet spices and a powdery-soapy undercurrent prevent it from behaving like a "leather" scent. Cinnamon becomes more and more dominant the longer I wear Incensi, but it never manages to overwhelm the incense at the foundation. The scent lasts reasonably well and projects powerfully. You'll most certainly know you're wearing it, and if you use too much, so will everybody else in the room.

When I consider Incensi, it strikes me as a very likable, warm, and complex winter scent. I recommend it especially to anyone who enjoys cinnamon in a personal fragrance. You just need to give it some time to put its house in order.

27th February, 2010. (Last Edited: 17th May, 2010.)