Sancti

So close to heaven, but mortally flawed by a failure of nerve. Truly splendrous, clean, zingy, citrus-toned frankincense that doesn't go all the way to 'bright cologne' territory like some in this genre, but still perceptibly lighter and less gloomy than some of the dustier, more 'old church' approaches like Cardinal, Avignon, etc. At first it seemed absolutely angelic to me, glorious without being vulgar, traditional without being stuffy, spicy in all the right places without being too heavy. Honestly among my top five of all the dozens of frankincenses I've tried; somewhat like P Roma's definitive Olibanum, for that feeling of intensely spiritual cleanliness and tradition hanging around like a halo of shining wonder. But it can't stick the long Calvary that is survival on my earthly skin; maybe it's made for higher things than base (female!) human creatures like me, but Sancti's gorgeous aura of sanctity only hangs about for 3-4hours, at most. Can true virtue be so easily dispelled?

This is tropical church. This reminded me Christmas in the islands of the Philippines. The citrus sunny opening and that church incense with slight floral. I remember being a kid, my mom would wake me up at 5am to go to church for the traditional “midnight” mass during the Christmas season. The incense takes me back to that time. And that opening reminds me of that early sunrise perfectly timed as we exit the church and I can smell the pomelo tree/ fruits near the church and also the vendors down the public market. It’s so vivid. And pomelo fruit is literally part of new year/christmas food festivities. I’m not practicing catholic now but this is just nostalgic but also uplifting scent. A very well balanced perfume. Transparent and effervescent but has a nice strong presence. A very unisex type. I’m a fan of this house and I’m maybe slightly obsessed. It’s very unique. I’m in love. 8.9/10

This is surprisingly fresh for an incense-based fragrance. It has decent sillage and lasted about 8 1/2 hours on me. The notes I noticed were bergamot and a shampoo-like scent (that I can only assume was the aldehydes that the company's website listed) in the opening, a very strong cardamom note (which I didn't particularly like) in the heart, and a lovely base of frankincense, benzoin, cedar, and to a lesser extent myrrh. It was the cedar and benzoin that I found lasted the longest. Overall, I would say that despite the very strong cardamom note the positives outweigh the negatives, and that this would work well as a year-round fragrance; the incense base goes well with colder winter air but it's fresh enough to work in the summer- I'm wearing it today when the temperature will climb into the 80s.

Easily my most loved of LLI's collection. I'm a huge fan of incense as a whole and this is one of my very favorite incense-based fragrances. The reason is simple: it's not invasive. Some incense fragrances, such as Montale's Full Incense or Chopard's Black Incense Malaki, can be very overpowering and not everyone will be into it, you wear those with liberal sprays at your risk and peril. Personally, I don't like to intrude on others with my fragrances too much so Sancti is a way to wear incense that won't choke everyone out. It has an unusual citrusy tinge and is rather close to skin and doesn't project like crazy (much like the rest of LLI). Be warned that this is still a very "churchy" incense so if that's not your jam, this probably won't change your mind.

This is the best fragrance I have found to date in my quest for the ultimate orthodox-churchy incense scent. It's very wearable and projects well although the longevity is a little weak, so I will reapply after a few hours. In my mind its as if Le Labo Eucalyptus 20 and Diptyque Opsis had a baby and laid it in a very dry manger full of hay and slightly mouldy cassocks. It's got a super-dry zingy fresh opening quickly progressing to a lovely mix of nutmeg, myrrh, cedar, cardamon and vetiver which develops and evokes spring sunshine on ancient pews. There's incense but it's not smokey in the least, just very bright. There's musk in the base lending the perfect amount of funk for my tastes. Well blended, damn near perfect in its class. I'm very happy with this.