Ecstasy (2013)
by Tiziana Terenzi

As someone who owns and loves both Frederic Malle "Potrait of a Lady" and By Kilian "Incense Oud," TT's Ecstasy Perfume is reminiscent of both. Landing a bit less oily, resinous & heavy than Incense Oud, or POAL, if blindfolded I would have a difficult time differentiating between the above mentioned fragrances and TT's Ecstasy.

Opening with pleasant green notes of balsam, pine & spruce, the opening recedes rather quickly as beautiful notes of cool stone powder, incense & patchouli emerge. The mid-notes beautifully blend with the opening notes, as rose & violet floral notes waft and rise with a calming, gentle smokiness. While less incense intense and a bit smoother actually that Incense Oud (I imagine due to the absence of oud, real or otherwise), Ecstasy lands with a lovely sandalwood, amber, tonka and old wood base. The fragrance is creamy, smooth and very feminine. The dry down exhibits lots of incense, rose and wood...it's nice.

Not much more to say about this one. It is a beauty. I'd say silage is a bit less than By Kilian Incense Oud and definitely less so than POAL. Longevity is good. Value is extremely good given the high quality of this fragrance, especially when compared to the other main competitors.

If you are a fan of dark, heavy-ish, resinous, dramatic rose-incense-wood fragrances, I say go ahead and give Tiziana Terenzi "Ecstasy" a try.

Incense, then rich rose, touch of amber--impressions from an amateur nose. Lovely, not really me though. Not necessary to enjoy it! Just....not for my skin. Let me put it this way: were I to smell it for the first time on some stranger in the Mall, I would follow her to ask about it. #notastalker #loveperfume

Sharp spicy top notes that include frankincense which isn't listed anywhere. There is sharp pine and green notes that smell a bit citrus-y. There is a haunting memory of "Aspen" by Coty here as well. Don't know if I'd wear it, but it is a creative fragrance.

Everything-but-the-kitchen-sink notes lists frighten me a little – I’ve come across too many perfumes striving for complexity but collapsing instead under the muddle of their ingredients. I kept putting off trying Tiziana Terenzi’s range seeing the length of the listed notes. Ecstasy is my toe in the water.
And while it may not make me ecstatic it is a relief that it is so easy to wear and has some novel juxtapositions.
The start is what might call almost ‘traditional’ for avant perfumery – a fanfare of incense smoke (that all but vanishes soon after) followed by a daring dose of conifers. Ok that’s them ‘artisanal’ credentials established right there. But the audacity and success of what follows is to be commended.
While the pine remains the main theme, planted slap bang in the middle, the complimentary notes are unexpected – syrupy florals (with red roses blooming among them) and dried fruit. These shouldn’t work together and yet they seem to extend the range of the conifers, the forest as garden of the senses. At times the interplay of the notes give an oud-like impression - but soft and distant.
Well-composed but suffers from a certain solidity, which means that while it is good, it doesn’t quite have the zing of the great.

This is a scent that starts out with a nice pine note that has a dusty-balsamic undertone on my skin, and soon add a few floral components. In this drydown I get a spicy impression that mainly seems to be carried by a patchouli that is neither dark nor lightweight; a balanced patchouli without excessive sharpness. Another distinct feature is a pleasant and quite natural violet is a hint of a dark rose.

Following a not uncommon pattern, the base notes are the most base-ic: woodsy, in a nigh-generic way with a fairly pedestrian vanilla - that is a disappointing end.

On me the performance is middle-of-the-road: moderate sillage, adequate projection and six hours of longevity: neither bad nor excellent - as is the overall impression this opus of niche perfumery has on me. 2.5/5