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Incense - please define!

post #1 of 17
2/8/08 at 5:21am
Thread Starter 
my SOTD is oscar de la renta pour lui...enjoying every moment...are these kinda scents called incense based...? i love dark perfumes liek these..my other favs in these lines are christian lacroix - tumulte, santos, and st dupont noir (only noir being on the sweeter side)....but pour lui does it for me...coudl anyone please advise smilar fragrances...please do not suggest creed, montale, lartisan etal...way out of reach for me + not available here in india...if at all i find it here...it would cost three times the cost....
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post #2 of 17
2/8/08 at 5:29am
  • jbc
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I do not think that the word incense is what you want. The term refers to a scent used by the ancient egyptians to embalm their Pheros and preserve the body for the after life. Embalming is the process, insense is what they did it with. I think the term you want instead of incense is scents or fragrence. Incences have scents and fragrences but were not used for that purpose.
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I am close, below is how Mirriam and Webster define the term:

1: material used to produce a fragrant odor when burned
2: the perfume exhaled from some spices and gums when burned; broadly : a pleasing scent
3: pleasing attention : flattery
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So by definition a insence is something that is burned not put on as a fragrence.
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post #3 of 17
2/8/08 at 5:39am
Thread Starter 
corrected tht. thanks. i did mean "incense"
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post #4 of 17
2/8/08 at 7:32am
Oscar pour lui is a great chypre.
You may want to try Van Cleef & Arpels and Léonard pour homme.
Get a look at Montana Parfum d'Homme and Havana (by Aramis) too.
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post #5 of 17
2/8/08 at 7:38am
Montana's a great choice, as is Black Cashmere by Donna Karan. Btw, look for frags that are heavy in copal, benzoin, myrrh, frankincense and other traditional incense ingredients -- especially resinous gums and certain oils.
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post #6 of 17
2/8/08 at 7:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tvlampboy View Post

Btw, look for frags that are heavy in copal, benzoin, myrrh, frankincense and other traditional incense ingredients -- especially resinous gums and certain oils.

Excellent post - your advice is always on target.

Here is Wikipedia's definition of Resins (as used in perfumery):

"Resins: Valued since antiquity, resins have been widely used in incense and perfumery. Highly fragrant and antiseptic resins and resin-containing perfumes have been used by many cultures as medicines for a large variety of ailments. Commonly used resins in perfumery include labdanum, frankincense/olibanum, myrrh, Peru balsam, gum benzoin. Pine and fir resins are a particularly valued source of terpenes used in the organic synthesis of many other synthetic or naturally occurring aromatic compounds. Some of what is called amber and copal in perfumery today is the resinous secretion of fossil conifers."
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post #7 of 17
2/8/08 at 8:41am
Thread Starter 
WOW - excellent!!! so this genre is called chypre is it...and tvlamboy - thanks very much for those inputs, will certainly look out for those ingrdients...i think i have seen benzoin in most tht i like and read here in BS. others cant relate to it much...well..in time!

van cleef would be easily available here francois, so will get my hands on those real quick!! black cashmere by DK sounds intriguing....

any more suggestions on wht i cud look for...
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post #8 of 17
2/8/08 at 8:46am
I used to burn charcoal incense with benzoin, frankincense and Myrrh back in the day. I was wondering if CdG or some other house had something that would be like this? Sometimes incense is only a tiny little note - which is fine, but not what I'd be after.

BTW, LOVING Gucci pour Homme today - has a bit o' incense underneath what smells like cedar to me. Wife doesn't like it since it smells like "Church" to her so I'd have to sample.
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post #9 of 17
2/8/08 at 9:07am
Thread Starter 
i love GPh too! i thinks its benzoin goin in thr...love the initial blast the base is good and powdery...
wht i love about pour lui is that , i feel thrs some kinda invisible delicious smoke emanating from each point of application...santos too has tht kinda of feel.. the only other scent in my collections which i love to sniff in this genre is jacomo rouge and KL - photo...i just love tht "bite" tht "smoke"...
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post #10 of 17
2/8/08 at 9:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bromo33333 View Post

I used to burn charcoal incense with benzoin, frankincense and Myrrh back in the day. I was wondering if CdG or some other house had something that would be like this? Sometimes incense is only a tiny little note - which is fine, but not what I'd be after.

BTW, LOVING Gucci pour Homme today - has a bit o' incense underneath what smells like cedar to me. Wife doesn't like it since it smells like "Church" to her so I'd have to sample.

If you really want a predominant incense fragrance, CdG is a good source indeed. Avignon is a particualr standout, though your wife may find that "churchy" as well. You might give its siblings Jaisalmer, Kyoto, and Quartzazate a try, since they lean toward a more exotic incense. One very good incense fragrance that is definitely not churchy is L'Artisan Parfumeur Dzongkha. For a softer, Asian-inspired incense, there's also Santa Maria Novella's Citta di Kyoto.

Have fun sampling!
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post #11 of 17
2/8/08 at 4:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jenson View Post

WOW - excellent!!! so this genre is called chypre ....

Hi,

I do not want you to misunderstand francois when he said "Oscar pour lui is a great chypre".

The majority of chypres do not have prominent incense notes - many do not have any incense notes at all.

The genre of chypres is described by perfume intelligence as:

"(Pronounced 'sheep-pa) One of the main perfume families where often the fragrances are strong, spicy and powdery; they are based on the contrast between fresh top notes of lemon, neroli and orange, and mossy base notes of oak moss underpinned by resinous and animal notes."

Michael Edwards created a fragrance classification system that is in widespread use today.

Edwards groups most of the chypres into what he calls the 'Mossy Woods' category although chypres also appear in other families - notably in the Dry Woods (Leather) family.

Most of the 'incense' fragrances in my collection are classified in either the Oriental or Soft Oriental families.

Here is a link to an Edwards database which, among other options, allows you to sort his database by fragrance family (the last option at the bottom):
http://www.fragrancedirectory.info/usadirectory/

I hope that this helps - if not, please let me know.
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post #12 of 17
2/8/08 at 5:14pm
2 words - Nag Champa.

http://www.nagchampa.com/nagchampaspa.htm
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post #13 of 17
2/8/08 at 5:42pm
Thanks for the clarification, TwoRoads!
I didn't mean that incense = chypre, indeed.
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post #14 of 17
2/8/08 at 9:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TwoRoads View Post


Here is a link to an Edwards database which, among other options, allows you to sort his database by fragrance family (the last option at the bottom):
http://www.fragrancedirectory.info/usadirectory/

I hope that this helps - if not, please let me know.

I do respect Edwards' classifications, but as he has four groups that relate to wood or woody, each subdivided into fresh, crisp, classical ,.rich I get adequately dizzy. TwoRoads, is there a place where he comments the logic behind these sixteen subgroups (or twelve if I disregard woody orientals) ?
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post #15 of 17
2/8/08 at 10:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by narcus View Post

I do respect Edwards' classifications, but as he has four groups that relate to wood or woody, each subdivided into fresh, crisp, classical ,.rich I get adequately dizzy. TwoRoads, is there a place where he comments the logic behind these sixteen subgroups (or twelve if I disregard woody orientals) ?

I will attempt to find something for you that explains, in detail, the logic behind his twelve-family four-subclass-per-family structure.

In the meantime, please do not disregard the Woody Oriental classification - it is the most popular category in my wardrobe, representing almost 25% of the total.

I know that: Dry Woods = Leathers and Mossy Woods = Chypres.

Here are links to two Basenotes articles, that may help in a general way:

Interview with Michael Edwards: http://www.basenotes.net/interviews/int-medwards.html

A Guide to Fragrance Families: http://www.basenotes.net/articles/families.html
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post #16 of 17
2/10/08 at 7:29pm
Thread Starter 
francois - pardon me for the confusion...and two roads, thnx for clearing it! your posts and the reference site is of great help and insight..these posts are too valuable for me coz i really like pour lui kind of depth and would like to know more in these lines which is commercially available in departmental stores...

Thanks all for sparing your thoughts and time!
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post #17 of 17
2/11/08 at 7:53am
Thank you for your kind help re M. Edwards fragrance family system, TwoRoads! To me it appears to be an update/extension of the classical system used by the French industry. I am more familiar with the latter.
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