Jil Sander Scent 79 Woman (shown) was developed by perfumer Evelyne Boulanger...

Water continues to change its course and gain power with L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme INTENSE, a new fragrance that is both captivating and invigorating...

The last fragrance (alphabetically) in the Incense series by Comme des Garçons is Zagorsk. If you are not familiar with this series, see Monday's review of Avignon & Jaisalmer and yesterday's review of Kyoto & Ouarzazate for an introduction.

Zagorsk was the Soviet-era name for the town of Sergiyev Posad. The town, which is not far from Moscow, is home to the Holy Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius, often called the spiritual center of the Russian Orthodox Church. The symbolism of incense in the liturgy is essentially the same as it is in the Catholic Church: it represents purification, an offering, and the rising of prayers to heaven...

Comme des Garçons launched Series 3: Incense in 2002 with five unisex fragrances, each one painting an "olfactory portrait of a particular milieu" in the incense tradition (via Women's Wear Daily, 1/4/2002). It is easily my favorite series from this house. All five of the fragrances are interesting but also very wearable, and several of them are downright gorgeous.

Avignon in the south of France was historically an important center of religious activity within the Catholic Church, and was the Papal seat for part of the 14th century. The use of incense in the liturgy has its roots in ancient Hebrew practices, and is traditionally a symbol of purification and of the rising of prayers to heaven. The fragrance has notes of Roman camomile, myrrh, cistus oil, elemi, incense, patchouli and vanilla...