Frankincense - a traditional staple of the Christmas story - faces an uncertain future, according to researchers.
Ecologists have warned that the production of the fragrant resin could decline by half over the next 15 years.
— Read more at Frankincense tree facing uncertain future at the BBC News. Hat tip to Abyss, RusticDove & Boojum!
I’ve occasionally paused in a high-end department store — usually on the way to the fragrance department — to admire the creations of Fornasetti. It would be easy, I think, to become addicted to Fornasetti’s world of ceramics and other home décor items, all embellished with witty designs that draw on a vocabulary of classical architecture, celestial bodies, playing cards, keyholes, and (most famously) the face of opera singer Lina Cavalieri, featured in hundreds of “themes and variations.” It’s a whimsical, almost Surrealist, visual style that filters Victorian imagery through a 1960s sensibility.
Fornasetti licensed the Fornasetti Profumi line just a year ago, and this venture seems like a smart fit for the brand. This collection encompasses various home-fragrance devices: scented candles, incense sticks, room spray, and ingenious three-way ceramic diffusers that can be adjusted to hold incense, perfumed oil, or scented crystals. It also has an impressive pedigree. The actual fragrance, named Otto, was developed by perfumer Olivier Polge. The candles, housed in Italian-crafted ceramic containers, are a wax blend manufactured by Cire Trudon, and the incense (the main subject of this review) is made by Nippon Kodo…
I’m loyal. My favorite summer fragrances haven’t changed (much) in years, but unlike most people on Earth my “favorites” are over 25 in number. I’ve reviewed and praised those perfumes already, so for this summer’s “top 10,” I’m expanding and tweaking the process to include non-perfume, but perfumed, products: things like shower gel, candy bars, candles and incense.
On summer days, it’s pleasurable to sweeten the air inside the house with a scented candle. A closed house coupled with air conditioning can make air stale indoors. Un-air conditioned air also benefits from some “aroma therapy.” I usually opt for lots of fresh floral bouquets inside during summer, but a candle comes in handy as roses, lilies and tuberose peter out in the garden. My candle of choice this summer is not floral or citrus-y, it’s the LAFCO New York Majestic Oak candle (in LAFCO’s House & Home/Dream Home Collection of 15 candles; $55). Majestic Oak (“Tree House”) has a smoky, raw-wood aroma, not cloying or oppressive at all (it contains oak, geranium, fir, vetiver, and light amber). While Majestic Oak burns, the air in the house smells and feels clean, and I’m invigorated.
I’m a fan of scenting the air outdoors too. I shun citronella-scented “garden” incense (soooo utilitarian!) and opt for something more exotic, like Nado Poi Zokhang “Bamboo” incense from Bhutan…
Over the years, I’ve been told I smell like 1.) a Christmas tree, 2.) an ashtray, 3.) a sacristy, and 4.) an “ethnic” gift shop. On each of those “occasions” I was wearing an incense fragrance.
I’ve never reached the saturation point with incense-centered colognes. I love incense (and incense perfume) in all seasons. The aromas of frankincense, sandalwood, halmaddi, agarwood, kyphi, and copal can take me on a sensory journey from chilly European cathedrals to steamy Southeast Asian temples, from ancient North African and Mesoamerican pyramids to the high and dry deserts of the American Southwest. For me, incense evokes rites, festivals and magical landscapes.
Montale Full Incense includes notes of cedar, labdanum, patchouli, elemi, and frankincense…
The holidays are about simple pleasures. I recently expressed that sentiment with a straight face to a friend — after shouting with glee: “Cire Trudon makes room sprays now!” My friend read the Cire Trudon Les Parfums d’Intérieur PR announcement and said: “I get the ‘pleasure’ part, Kevin, but what’s so ‘simple’ about a $142 room spray?” Fair enough.
Cire Trudon’s new room sprays come in its most popular candle fragrances: Roi Soleil, Spiritus Sancti, Abd El Kader, Ernesto, and Nazareth. Since one of my favorite churches, Santo Spirito in Florence, is thousands of miles away, I opted for the Cire Trudon fragrance that might help me conjure its atmosphere this Christmas (provided I close my eyes, get my imagination in high gear, and queue Monteverdi, Cavalli and Albinoni on the CD player); I chose Spiritus Sancti.
Spiritus Sancti smells like “classic” church incense…
Stella McCartney in conversation with Alexandra Shulman (video, talks about new scent L.I.L.Y) http://t.co/VAKYigvK "French parfumier Guerlain on trial over 'race slurs'" article at Telegraph http://t.co/lVDxoZMi Vote for NST's Mood Board on FB and win a Zoya Nail Polish collection! http://t.co/MXHMN7I3