Last Sunday, I took a late-afternoon walk and noticed a wonderful incense fragrance "accord" in the air, a mix of spring flowers (magnolias, English laurel, Oregon grape) and the scent of wood burning in fireplaces. I decided to wear an incense perfume the next day and selected a sample vial of Heeley Eau Sacrée.
I love the ritual of burning incense and watching curlicues of incense smoke move through my house. Prime spots for placing incense? In front of religious images and statues, especially my Ayutthaya crowned Buddha that I "adopted" in Chiang Mai, Indra from Nepal and many Ganesh statues from India (one given to me on my wedding day). I light a candle or burn incense on days a person or animal I loved was born...or died. Incense feels important, not simply a product to scent a space.
Then I read articles about how the smoke/particulate matter from burning incense can negatively affect the health of pets and people inside a closed house. Me? Who cares! But my cats and dogs were incense hostages and probably didn't enjoy the strong aromas or smoke, so I moved my incense outside...burning it on the porch or in the garden and smelling it on the air. I finally gave up incense and get my incense-scent fix from perfumes and candles — yes, they come with their own problems but I've made my peace! My huge incense collection now resides in a hefty 3 ft. long, antique wooden bear box, and I use the dry incense to scent closets, boxes or myself (ground to a powder and mixed with wax or oil, and applied as an ointment to my wrists and forearms).
As for incense fragrance, I've owned so many incense perfumes that just listing them would take up many paragraphs. Let me mention my all-time favorites — Etro Messe de Minuit (my first incense cologne); Comme des Garçons Series 3: Incense Avignon, Amouage Jubilation XXV, L'Artisan Parfumeur Timbuktu and, perhaps my favorite, Armani Privé Bois d'Encens. I've owned more than one bottle of each of these and that's saying a lot for a perfume addict who seeks novelty (or did).
Eau Sacrée is Heeley's second incense perfume (Cardinal came first). Eau Sacrée lists fragrance notes of labdanum, frankincense, patchouli, musk, myrrh, vetiver, amber, nutmeg, clove, pepper, opoponax, sandalwood and cedar. Eau Sacrée starts by smelling like a sweet, liquor-y, spice-infused elixir (clove and pepper are prominent); then something a bit 'sweaty' arrives (rich cedar, I believe). Next up, and for the duration, is a silky smooth blend of labdanum, frankincense, vanillic amber and musk that produces a beautiful incense-ash aroma — not too smoky.
I wore Eau Sacrée next to Bois d'Encens, and Eau Sacrée triumphed (in the sillage/wattage/duration departments). Eau Sacrée is not as "church-y" as Avignon or Messe de Minuit but it's also not as original as Timbuktu or L'Artisan Parfumeur Dzongkha (another favorite incense perfume). My bottle of Bois d'Encens is almost empty; Eau Sacrée is a top contender as its replacement.
A few times a year, I do give in to an incense-urge and burn incense indoors. I open a window or door, dim the lights, put on some music (maybe Vivaldi or Handel, Max Richter...Marianne Faithful has a great "incense voice"). I relish every moment of scent magic the incense provides.
If you have any incense tips or incense perfume recommendations, please share.
Heeley Eau Sacrée Extrait de Parfum is $210 for 50 ml.
Note: top images of Indra (left) and Buddha (right) by the author.
I really like Andy Tauer’s Incense Extreme though only from time to time. It’s a little too strong in my opinion and therefore tires me out by the end of the day.
Turtje: I’ve never tried that one; thanks.
I love that one too but it is intense. Few sprays and far from the nose seems to help.
I also burn incense for important days. I have a lovely antique “Buddha house” and several statues I’ve accumulated over the years. One is also from Chiang Mai. One from China and one from Bhutan.
They get incense, a cup of water and the occasional orange.
KR: is the Buddha house outdoors? I always like citrus on altars, too…citron smells so good.
I’m sure originally it was intended for outdoors, but it’s now over 100 years old so it sits on the dining room buffet. I’ve had it for almost 30 years!
Kelly, I need to get a thai spirit house…saw them all over Thailand.
I love burning incense too but have hard time finding ones I like that aren’t pricey, so I just end up buying the cheapo sticks from the grocery store.
Omega: lots of Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese markets do stock good smelling, reasonably priced brands
Thanks for the tip, any one in particular you would like to link?:)
Omega, none of the ones I go to sell online.
I’ll have to try this. Thank you for the review and for your sensitivity about risks to pets. I really love Calling All Angels by April Aromatics. It’s a dark somewhat sweet incense, very potent for an all-natural.
Calypso…Thanks!
Yes to the animals. My sister sent a beautiful droplet diffuser with essential oils for Christmas. One of our kitties started sneezing. Read that diffusers, etc could really harm them. Back to my sister it went. She was thrilled to have it.
Love incense perfumes. Some favorites are ADV Copal Azur, TAUER Incense Rose, SSS Incense Pure and ELDO’s Rien.
Singlemaltcat: and you remind me…love Iris Nazarena from AdV.
I have heard that as well and took them out of my rental home (last year) but NOT before seeing that he had some stomach issues most likely DUE to DIFFUSERS. I don’t use them at home so it was an obvious flag.
Kevin I really like everything about this article, especially touching is the burning of incense for lost loved one and pets. I do burn it often inside and out too.
This perfume sounds right up my alley. I will definitely get a decent. Even the bottle is very attractive in its simplicity and classic look. Thanks for this.
I don’t own any Timbuktu yet, but if you had to pick between these two to own which would you choose?
Angela…I’d pick Timbuktu, one of my favorite perfumes, period…
Thanks Kevin. I will
watch for sales on line.
Kevin, what a timely post! I’ve had incense perfumes on my mind a lot lately, and Eau Sacree is one that I haven’t tried before. This could be a gentle nudge for me to just go ahead and get a sample of it. My favorite incense perfumes that I *have* tried are AG Encens Flamboyant, SSS Incense Pure, Tauer Incense Extreme, and L’Artisan Timbuktu.
Jalapeno: and I do like AG Myrrhe Ardente, too.
I burn frankincense and myrrh regularly in my electric brazier and have been doing that alot more in these covid days. I generally don’t burn incense sticks cuz I am not always sure what’s in them although like you I use them to scent closets, etc.
I love Incense Flash by Tauerville.
I have not sniffed that one yet.
Yasmina: burning pure benzoin “tears” is also nice.
I really enjoy incense too, although I don’t use it very often, I have some lovely Santa Maria novella ‘Autumn’ incense I got as a souvenir from Rome 3 years ago.
I really enjoy Dzongkha, Timbuktu, Tauers Incense Rose.
Heeleys is a nice company, I have Iris de nuit, and Hippie Rose which I wear regularly. They also sell samples via their website, and postage is reasonable (£3.50 within uk), which is important as I have a very small budget for perfume now that I’m studying.
I love all things incense and own the perfumes you’ve mentioned, plus the Tauers mentioned in comments. I only burn incense or candles in the house with the windows/door open as I have a dog and don’t want to endanger her lungs. Last night for Passover I wore Ma Nishtana, an incense scent by Parfums Prissana. Somewhat similar to Avignon. I also wore Profumum Roma Olibanum the other day when I had to go grocery shopping, to ward off the plague.
Thanks for the reminder/news to some that incense and essential oils can be problematic for use in homes with pets – especially cats!!! (Their livers are very delicate)
Unum LAVS doesn’t quite work on my skin, but it smells fantastic on a man I know who wears it occasionally.