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Profumum Olibanum

post #1 of 13
8/22/07 at 8:37am
Thread Starter 
My SOTD today, from a sample. Wondering if any of you other people who picked up the Luckyscent August Sample Pack have tried this one yet?

from today's SOTD thread:

Quote:
wow! Was expecting gothic incense and refined monkishness from the description, instead it went on me smoky, peppery, dirty, a little skunky, and AMAZING! will see how this continues to play out with the heat, but if it stays this good, i'm gonna have to buy (eek!)

A couple of hours later and I'm getting this amazing "box of crayons" note, I kid you not.
I don't see vetiver listed in the notes, but I am getting a smoky vetiver, on top of some wax, pepper, dirt, incense on top of a woody base that reminds me of a pencilbox I used to have in school. i hate to even say CDG2Man or Gucci PH, because there's not a trace of cedar in here anywhere and this really is way dirtier to me than either one, but it's got that dry, incensish, smoky thing going on as well that does bring them to mind a little

ok, so maybe I didn't get enough sleep last night, and yeah I am feeling really a bit "off" today, but this is grounding me in the strangest way. earthy, murky, skanky, dry, smoky. all the things i needed today

anyone else try this yet? am i just crazy today
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post #2 of 13
8/22/07 at 9:56am
"box of crayons" usually means heliotrope and iris to me. See Guerlain's L'Heure Bleue for a school book example of that...
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post #3 of 13
8/22/07 at 10:18am
Rentboy your desriptions sound lovely - I haven't received my luckyscent August sample pack yet, but when I do I'll tear into the Olibanum sample first. Crayon notes are kinda cool - do you mean, in a 'waxy' way? Michael (sloan_8013) said he thought Tuberose Criminelle smelled like wax lips, that candy kids eat. I could see TC having iris or heliotrope in it, but Olibanum...I don't know.

Another online blogger (one of the guys over at Perfume Posse) wrote a short review of Olibanum today also. Great noses smell alike, huh?:

As I meet more perfume fans online and in real life (would you believe it? *that* place still exists), I never ceased to be amazed by their generosity. Its not simply down to glut - folks who love a scent and only seem to have a tiny sample vial of it to hand, willingly hand it over with a smile and a wave I imagine the last part of course, but Im sure thats the case. Which is why Ive ended up with Toms sample of Profumums Olibanum that he picked up at Scent Bar. If you read his review a couple of weeks ago, youll remember it suggested gothic orgiastic reveries to the poor lads febrile mind. Well, hoping for some fun, I liberally poured some on in front of Matt, my long-suffering SO, and laid next to him on the bed and waited.

Now, in spite of his occasional anosmia and frequent lack of interest, Matt does seem to have a gift for, sometimes at least, pinning down a scent. Its a room with wood in it - polished wood - and theres a pipe. Its still warm from being smoked but no longer has the tobacco in it. He was right; there was a sense of tobacco remnant to the scent, if not tobacco per se. As the top notes faded, I was expecting the fragrance to become more incense heavy - it didnt. In fact, although not listed anywhere I can see, it became more cedary - Matt said Someones chopping wood. It has that oily resinous feel you get from fresh log piles So, perhaps if lumberjack outfits were our kink, it wouldve got us going. Which means I will be investing in some plaid pretty damn soon.
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post #4 of 13
8/22/07 at 11:00am

This is as solid a frankincense scent as is possible. Frankincense is a difficult note to get to endure, because is basically a midnote ingredient with limited duration, but Profumum does a fantastic job. I bought a bottle blind on the assumption that the fewer ingredients a Profumum fragrance has as notes, as supplied by Luckscent, the better and truer that fragrance is to what it claims to represent. Santalum is a perfect example. Three notes: sandalwood, myrrh, cinnamon, and that's pretty much all you get, but wow what a amazing combo. I feel the same way about Profumum Olibanum. It claims to be a frankincense scent and it is.

The superior frankincense fragrance, where you really get frankincense, as opposed to a mishmash of incense type notes with a trace of frankincense, is, IMO, Czech & Speake's Frankincense & Myrrh. If you ever smelled pure high quality frankincense essential oil, you'll know what I am talking about. Profumum Olibanum comes a close second, which is pretty impressive when one considers that as far as true frankincense notes go, there is hardly a close third, except, of course, in the great tradition of Arabian perfumery in which this ingredient has featured prominently for over two millennia.

scentemental

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post #5 of 13
8/22/07 at 11:15am
I have to agree. This is one spectacular rendition. And on me lasts about 12 hours. I have to confess that I am a big fan of this line and have been let down only a couple of times. But this is a superior addition to the line.

Regards,
Steve
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post #6 of 13
8/22/07 at 11:20am

Glad to hear that Steve. Even the let downs are quite good, but the successes are spectacular. Victrix EDP is one of those success. It's very close to L'Artisan's Navegar in may ways, but for my money, it's a lot more complex and interesting in it's evolution and more satisfying than Navegar, and, of course, unlike Navegar, it, like all Profumum fragrances, lasts forever.

Interesting response to the fragrance rentboy. I can't say I experience it in the same way, but, hey, it seems like your experience of it is a rich and mutlifaceted one. All the better then.

scentemental

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post #7 of 13
8/22/07 at 12:08pm
I agree again. Victrix is fantastic. And you're right, even the ones I didn't care for weren't bad by any stretch. Just not for me.

Regards,
Steve
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post #8 of 13
8/22/07 at 12:20pm
I have only sniffed Santalum - A-MAY-ZING sandalwood (if I remember, it also blew rentboy away).

Their prices are quite expensive, but its nice to hear about an expensive line that also has longevity - a feat only a handful of houses can back up.

Now, I can't WAIT to get my samples - I know for sure I have two Profumum samples at home that I must sniff soon...I think one is Acqua Viva and I can't remember the other. Perhaps I'll wear one of them tomorrow.
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post #9 of 13
8/22/07 at 6:40pm
I have only tried Santalum and Acqua di Sale from this house .. and that too from sample vials.

I liked Santalum a lot more than AdS. The myrrh and cinnamon tango (at times I got a lot more cinnamon) was interesting, but I wanted more sandalwood. I may need to spend more time with it, but my early impressions are that it falls in the category of the more congested sandalwood fragrances like Trumpers and Original Santal.

Acqua di Sale was disappointing...I like the salty sweet herbal accord with a certain freshness (a pine note?), but this accord doesnt last long before disintegrating into an average musk drydown. Something like Millesime Imperial blows this out of the water (pun intended)
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post #10 of 13
8/22/07 at 7:15pm
I've only tryed antico caruso. Needless to say I didn't see the point in spending 2x the money for a Le Male dry down.
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post #11 of 13
8/22/07 at 7:39pm
Having just broken down and bought Santalum (and L'Air du Desert Morocain) during the Luckyscent sale as a birthday present to myself, and after-the-fact wishing I'd also bought the Profumum Fiori d'Ambra (*gorgeous* amber/opium with sillage and longevity to sing about) while I was being decadent, I was distressed to find no signof either Olibanum or Victix in the sample stash from my big purchase. Between Rentboy and Scentimental's descriptions and what I know about scents I adore, I'm teetering on the edge of being ready to go into debt (again) for these fragrances. Now.

No, must resist spending huge amounts of money blind... Didn't want the whole Luckyscent August sample pack (the Montales are generally tricky for me to wear, tending either too sweet or too harsh), so just bought several additional samples, including Olibanum and Victrix. Can't wait! Thanks, guys, for the reviews and ideas.

Anyone know when... okay, IF... Luckyscent will have another sale? I think there are a couple more Profumums in my future. Let me know if anyone's interested in splitting a full bottle neither of us can afford.
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post #12 of 13
8/22/07 at 8:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ComDiva View Post

Having just broken down and bought Santalum (and L'Air de Desert Morocain) during the Luckyscent sale as a birthday present to myself

Sis', you bought Santalum and LAdDM?! You are my hero.
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post #13 of 13
11/13/07 at 5:58pm
Finally got to my luckyscent sample of Olibanum today - great juice.

The top notes reminded me of a few things: Hay and barnyard smells. Just chopped wood. Wood resin. Having never smelled frankincense (olibanum) resin oil I really had no idea what this resin smells like and...well now I do. It's somewhat strange to encounter a scent that incorporates this note and doesn't smell smoky. Quite nice actually - the absence of smoke I mean.

This is a pretty linear scent - a few strays notes of incense here and there - but the longevity is amazing. Long and strong - at about six hours into the scent, it was as prominent as when I applied it.

I can't really compare this to the Incense Series (CdG) or another incense scent - due to the lack of smoke. However this scent manages to be just as calming, meditative and gothic as any incense fragrance.

There was a slight presence of ash - at the top. Or rather, the smell of wood having already burned (the smell of a campfire in the morning) but not cold or graveyard-ish, warm and resinous instead.

Profumum (the line) is seriously kicking my ass. I have not smelled a bad one yet!
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