Wazamba Parfum d'Empire 2009

Wazamba was an "unsniffed swap" and I wasn't sure until the last moment if I had been a bit hasty. The often-mentioned similarity to Serge Lutens' Fille en Aiguilles spoke in its favor, which I would love if it only lasted longer than 3 hours on my skin.
On the other hand, there was the incense note. Incense has never worked for me. It doesn't suit me; I can appreciate fragrances with a strong incense component, but I can't wear them.

To avoid making the story unnecessarily long and exciting: Parfums d'Empire has achieved what no other brand has - I am an absolute Wazamba fan despite the incense component!

The scent is sweeter and not quite as dry as the Comme des Garcons Incense series. Incense and pine are the stars in this fragrance. In my imagination, they sit together in a wooden cabin preparing baked apples. A fire burns, its scent mingling with that of the warm apples. Instead of vanilla sauce, incense and pine have opted for a topping of dried fruits and a hint of dark chocolate sauce, giving the blend just the right amount of balsamic, bittersweet depth.

Wazamba is not a gourmand (as it might sound), but a wonderful, complex incense fragrance that also lets other notes speak.