Mazalu

Catholic churches are wonderful places of silence and contemplation for me. When I want to retreat from the stress of the city and its noise, I visit a church. The older the church, the better. And here resides the scent of clear, cool incense.
I associate it with letting go of tension. It is like a deep breath, with which the trivialities of everyday life, that often occupy me for too long, dissolve and disappear. The scent of incense feels like being lovingly enveloped in silky velvet. I fall into it, and it catches me and carries me.
Incense: I will never tire of you! With every nuance and in every shade, you carry me. You are my beloved, my longing, and my desire. And if someone asks me which perfume I am wearing, I will smile and say your name. Always knowing that it is you who truly carries me.
Cardinal by Heeley: this was my first true incense fragrance. I hesitated for a long time to write a review about it. But by now, I have been able to experience other incense fragrances that allow me to finally write a comment.
Cardinal indeed presents itself initially in a Catholic guise. It reminds me of visiting a cathedral after a major Christian holiday. The scent of incense still lingers in the air, yet the heavy smoke has dissipated, leaving only the ethereal purity behind. It feels cool. However, the longer the scent remains on the skin, the warmer it becomes. Yet this warmth is not sweetness. Rather, it is a hard-to-describe kind of evolving earthiness that connects the ethereal with the earthly. Simply beautiful.
It was this scent that opened the portal to the world of perfumes for me. For I only burned incense at home for myself and never thought that there could be perfumes that convincingly smell of incense. That changed after this olfactory experience.

This fragrance reached me in the form of a mystery letter. Many thanks to Franfan20 for organizing the package.

With the first spray, I smell sweet fresh floral notes. I can easily imagine the scent of lush bouquets in the temple grounds of Bali. Here, the fragrance of freesias intertwines with that of lilies, supported by the freshness of bergamot and other not clearly defined green notes.

This is the most pleasant scent for me from Nectar Olfactif, as it is not a gourmand. Even in the dry down, the fresh floral quality remains present, seeming to evolve more from sweetness to green. But unfortunately, in the end, the musk does mix in, which spoils the rather beautiful scent development up to that point. All in all, this is a lovely feminine feel-good fragrance for those who enjoy musk in the finish.

Herb freshness opens the door for me.
"Hello," she says with a smile. A hint of gin brushes past me.
"How lovely she has become," I think, the little bergamot, standing here before me, with thyme blossoms and twigs in her hair. She has grown up so much.
"Iris isn't here yet," she says. Then she magically produces a glass of gin from behind her back and holds it out to me.
"Want a sip?"
Smiling, I wave it off. Carrot seed pushes past bergamot and laughs as it throws its arms around my neck.
"So nice that you came!"
"My God," I think, "she really smells good!"
She is simply the perfectly balanced blend of fresh dill and finely spiced caraway seeds. And she knows it. Because she likes to emphasize her scent with a hint of floral angelica.
Linked arm in arm with the two of them, exchanging pleasant small talk, we stroll into the already autumnal garden area.
We sit down at a small table as more guests arrive.
"How do you like Jorum Studio?" the two of them ask me in unison. They then exchange a bewildered glance and burst out laughing together.
"I should drink something," I think at that moment, the air is somehow dry.
"Kombucha with cloudberry would be nice," I say to one of the passing waitstaff.
"Unfortunately, we're out," I'm informed.
Well, then something else. Just some juice.

And then she stands before us. Iris.

Completely at ease, she sits down at our table, and no one at this garden party can take their eyes off her. She looks fantastic! I've never seen her like this before.

No powder conceals her natural beauty. And in her presence, everyone begins to glow.

In this light, Iris blossoms into her full beauty, and she has never looked better. It’s as if she finally wants to reveal her secret to me.

"Iris," I sigh, and then I must have fainted. Because when I come back to my senses from my fragrance haze, they are all gone.

***

This was the last scent from my Discovery Set Progressive Botany Vol. 1. How did I enjoy my fragrance journey at Jorum Studio?

Well, I must say. Many fragrance nuances were easy for me to detect, and no perfume resembled the scent before it. I really liked that. However, I wouldn't buy a single one of the fragrances (well, I might be tempted by one). Because for me, the price-performance ratio doesn't quite add up (keyword: longevity), and none of the scents really convinced me to want them in my collection.

However, they all left an interesting and sometimes very good impression during their presentation, even the ones that didn't appeal to my nose. Great fragrance journey!

Discovery Set Progressive Botany Vol. 1: Penultimate test candidate.

Well, what is this? A bouquet of contradictions.

Floral friendly sharpness. Horseradish sharp notes pair with balsamic honey. Floral accords drape like a shimmering silk cloth over it, shaping fragrance landscapes that hint at what lies beneath, much like the buildings once wrapped by Christo.

Quite impressive. But after a while, also quite exhausting.

Discovery Set Progressive Botany Vol. 1: here we go again.

My first impression is woody, creaky, and resinous. I enter a small shelter roughly nailed together from spruce wood planks.

It's dark here, but at least it's dry. And it smells of lichens. Oh yes, I saw those earlier on the weather side of the hut. It's not exactly cozy here. Do I smell roses? Oh, look, in one corner of the hut, there are some dried rose petals. Strange ...

I sit down on the floor and wait. Nothing happens. I can't smell the rose anymore either. I stretch out on the floor, and here the scent of dry forest soil rises to my nose. Nice ... but nothing more is coming now. Well, then! I get up and leave. Whoosh, now I can't smell anything at all. Well, that was quick.

Arborist: a scent that is not made for me. Longevity: cough, yes, well ... I've heard of that before. Overall: what a pity.