Ecclesiophobia

[Ashmedai]

Fear of Church

Suffocating clouds of shroud-thick frankincense and myrrh, sepulchral tolu balsam, black labdanum, and a sin-sick thread of jasmine sambac.

Wow, this is strong and heady! On application I immediately smell tolu balsam, labdanum and jasmine sambac. The jasmine is more than just a "thread" on me, so either I amp it or there's a lot of it here, but despite the floral note, this gives off a dark, heavy almost brooding impression - "shroud thick" is a fitting descriptor. The jasmine is sweet, not the kind that goes sour on me, or that smells like soiled baby nappies; it's sweet, but not to the point of being cloying. Myrrh comes forward a bit as it dries, and now I can tell there's frankincense in here too (though barely), but it's still pretty jasmine-dominated, though that note does settle down a lot by final dry-down to let the resins through. Despite the jasmine, I'd say this is just this side of gender-neutral (well..I think I can pull it off as a guy, anyway). I'm liking this more, the more it dries down, in fact I like it a lot. It's dark, resin-heavy and with jasmine, and really damn good!

 

 

[Smaragdina]

Uh oh.

 

On me, the "thread" of jasmine is a bald-faced lie. I think I've just been socked in the face by a boquet of dripping, cloying jasmine flowers. It's literally the only thing I can smell and boy howdy, can I smell it. I had to wash this off my wrist after five minutes, no joke. The drydown may prove wonderful, but the wet stage "cause of death: drowned in jasmine" isn't worth it to me!

 

...Granted, I amp jasmine and was worried it was gonna do this. But I had to try it for the name.

[VetchVesper]

Sort of the jasmine version of Crucifixion. I too get a definate jasmine note, along with healthy doses of myrrh, frankincense, and labdanum. I'm not familiar with Tolu balsam.

 

I really loved the roses in Crucifixion, but the jasmine's not really doing it for me, but if you love resin rich florals, this one may be worth checking out.

[zankoku_zen]

Myrrh and labdanum, with a whiff of jasmine. The jasmine is the first note that hits your nose, and then it sort of dissipates a little warming up to a warm resinous base.. However, this is precisely the sort of jasmine that doesn't work for me. Good throw and wear length.

[Little Bird]

I actually enjoy Ecclesiophobia, which is surprising, because I usually hate bpal's jasmine blends and this is definitely more than just a thread of jasmine. This one isn't really sour or perfumey on me, though; it's more heavy and thickly sweet (like vanilla-honey-sweet). I think it pairs really nicely with the heavy, sweet myrrh and powdery, dark, amber-y labdanum. It's like drooping, sticky, yellow flowers and air heavy with church incense. My decant will be enough, I think, but I'll definitely keep the decant.

[LiberAmoris]

Ecclesiophobia is like church incense at Easter. I'm loving the combo of frankincense and myrrh with labdanum and tolu balsam. Jasmine is my friend, so it doesn't bother me here. A keeper!

[lizabelle]

Admittedly I'm not a church person, so I'm not entirely sure what one is supposed to smell like. (I have been inside churches when services are not going on, but of course you don't get the smell of it then!) I was expecting something sweet and high-pitched when I acquired the tail end of a bottle, and it's nothing like I expected.

 

I'm actually not getting a lot of jasmine out of this, which is odd considering the other reviews and the way I amp most florals. Instead I get lots of resin and incense, surprisingly dark and gooey. There's a classic perfume vibe here, and it's actually kind of...vampy? Like those perfumes that first came out in the 20s that most people now think of as "old lady" scents, but were low-key meant to smell like you're walking home after a one-night stand. I feel kind of weird writing that when everyone says it smells like a church, but there we are! I rather like it, and it sticks around a good long time; I think I'll keep the bottle.