Pontifex Pontificum

[zankoku_zen]

Somalian frankincense, verbena, neroli, and a waft of rose-tinted incense.

[starbrow]

Oh, hey there orange blossom from Balancing the Sake Cup. I blamed the combination of other notes with you for the crazy cooking spices that turned up there. Turns out, this is just a pretty spicy neroli/orange blossom - like skin-staining yellow-orange-tinted kind of spice - and it's not a spice I enjoy. It's just too savory to belong in a perfume, for me. The verbena isn't helping either, it's really powerful and lemony, so I'm totally getting cooking vibes from Pontifex Pontificum. I don't usually picture the Pope cooking, but when in Rome...?

 

I can tell there's a lovely frankincense beneath, and I'm guessing there's also some champaca. This is another really smug blend. Rose doesn't stand a chance, for once. I would say it's pretty far down into the blend, although it lends that touch of sweeter floral beneath the spicier, headier orange blossom and champaca, and the balance here is actually welcome! The drydown is quite nice, as the top notes start to let the whole thing breathe, with resins finally emerging.

 

Pontifex is for anyone who enjoyed Balancing the Sake Cup and wants to take that into a slightly churchier realm. 

[zankoku_zen]

A ton of neroli and verbena (so hello lemony orange blossom?), with a whiff of frankincense and smoke underneath. It's like a more incensey Jean Nate. Huge throw and wear length.

[irmavep]

This one goes through a few stages on me. In the bottle & first applied it's very strong on the neroli. So much that it might chase some people off. (also, heads up, it's very yellow when applied, but does fade reasonably quickly) On the drydown, the frankincense and verbena take over, and it's a nice fresh scent. In the end it fades to a really pleasing rose. I'm not even much of a rose lover, but it's light enough not to be overpowering. I think I might need a bottle.

[Casablanca]

Freshly applied: Lemony orange flowers with just a little warm blush of rose.

 

Starting to dry: Much the same, but add a whiff of grainy, golden frankincense.

 

Dried: A bit of a shift to more neroli and less lemon, but otherwise similar.

 

This one offers mostly lemon-neroli, but with mild rose and incense notes.

[SophieCedar]

This. Is. Lovely.♥️♥️♥️

I've been on an orange blossom/ neroli kick this summer and PP here has completed my collection. Its warm soft frankincense, definitely rose tinted incense and creamy white citrus notes. Soothing, fresh from the salon, and a bit of warm green.

[Lucchesa]

Pontifex Pontificum is mostly verbena and neroli on me.  I'm not getting the rose, which I wasn't hoping for anyway, and just a bit of frankincense anchoring it.  But mainly lemony verbena and orange blossom.  Bright and summery and upbeat.