To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Vfczyz – :
Ho messe de minuit sia nella prima versione (scatola verde) che nell’ultima (scatola bianca) e sono molto diverse.
La prima è evidentemente una fragranza originale,caratterizzata da una sensazione di umido e freddo,amaro e acre che evoca immediatamente un sotterraneo,delle cripte,le segrete di un castello,e poi le varie sfumature di miele e di agrumi immersi nella nebbia dei fumi di incenso.
L’ultima versione è lontana da queste origini così cupe e medievali,assomiglia a Shalimar,più dolce e polverosa,priva di aspetti incensati e originalità.
Io non ci sento nemmeno l’incenso.
Ovviamente preferisco la prima versione del 94.
lultadractubs – :
I love this fragrance. I don’t get a churchy vibe per se, as much as I do a kind of old monastic library vibe. It feels like studying in a room that’s a bit damp and dark and a bit austere but provides warmth from the dark and wet outdoors with the incense/myrrh and labdanum providing warmth and comfort and kind of meditative or contemplative feeling, like it retains like the library has absorbed the smells of masses over time. So good!
phorgemeere – :
my experience with this is only smell of sweet honey with a touch light of myrrh and nothing else, does not exist incense, has nothing to do with the Church!
make2012 – :
This opened a little boozy in the beginning for about two minutes and when that faded it’s just myrrh full power ahead. I get no other notes.
viastel7002 – :
Real incense, the kind used at a High Mass, comes in a box and looks like road salt colored in different shades of brown, granules of various sizes that are coated lightly in white powder. It is a blend of aromas that often includes myrrh, frankincense, Styrax, amber, sandalwood, and benzoin.
It is far more than the simple smoky-plus-sweet accord that passes for “incense” in other fragrances. I handled it once upon a time as an altar boy, and later in life, I occasionally purchased boxes for home use. There’s nothing like the real thing.
Messe de Minuit reproduces this complex construction with amazing accuracy and breath-taking results. It’s all in here, the individual smells, the atmosphere, even the surrounding environment of wooden benches and the musty pages of old hymnals. Yes, they included that in this fragrance as well.
It’s stunning, and if older formulations were even better, than I’m truly sad that I missed it, because this 2016 bottle I have is damn near perfect.
BeerBass – :
I attended a Catholic liberal arts women’s college once upon a time. It was a small campus in the northeastern U.S. Beautiful architecture. Old buildings that held lots of stories within their walls. In winter, it was common to cut through campus using whatever shortcuts would keep you indoors in the warmth, and that often included the school’s chapel. This wasn’t any ordinary chapel, though. It was the type people would travel to see from all around the region. Think vaulted ceilings, stained glass rose windows, beautiful marble statues, artwork, ancient wood floors. Just a stunning and humbling sacred space.
Today I tested Messe de Minuit (newest edition, I think), and it took me right back to college. I’ve tried my share of incense fragrances, and the reviews are right when they say this is church in a bottle. It totally reminded me of the lingering scent of incense in the chapel as I cut through to get from class to class, or to head back to my dorm room. It’s the smell of learning and books and old buildings and sacred spaces and memories with friends. For me, this smell is completely comforting. I think I’ll wear this inside my jacket where I could smell it quietly from time to time, as a security blanket, of sorts.
lob818Bessinepome – :
no incense. only lemon-sweet citrus mix. horrible.
viksub – :
Smells like Christmas!
Spicy fruits, smoke and incense. It’s a weird one, but it’s just beautiful. Frankincense very prominent, but well balanced by the fruits and spices as I find that can be an odd dusty dry thing on its own, this may sound strange but it always reminds me of those fuzzy bus and coach seats from the 70s.
I don’t get the dark, dank and disturbing quality that it has the reputation for, and I was hoping for, though this decant is a current formulation and I gather things have changed. Maybe you need more of a cultural heritage with such scents than I have.
Still full bottle worthy for me, a wonderful discovery.
AnnaSirovase – :
Hmmmmm…damp concrete and limestone with a pinch of musty thrown in. Quite a recipe. I’m probably going to get in trouble for saying this, but it reminds of the musty, untiled church basement in which my childhood community would have its potlucks for the wakes. If you’re into tombstone rubbings, this is the perfect scent for your day trip to the cemetery. You’ll smell just like your environment.
I had the original frag in my possession, gave it away, and kept a small decant for myself. It seemed to have a totally different effect on me than it did for most.
Pair this under one ear with Demeter’s Dirt under the other, and you could certainly have some fun catching people unaware of the tongue-in-cheek mischief you’re deliberately setting out to do. The reactions could cause some puzzled looks and raised eyebrows. Priceless and worth a giggle.
leos – :
This is more spicy (cinnamon) than resinous (myrhh), and the citrus feels more bitter (citron & petitgrain) than juicy (orange & lemon); overall a somewhat dry spicy amber–I find it more interesting than their Ambra.
wovkodav – :
Unfortunately I have no imagination of church with this perfume. Don’t even smell frankincense. All I got is some kind of of ” iced tea with lemon, very sweet. Some cinnamon and patchouli between. Actually patchouli destroy all this fragrance at the end. It could be even not bad fragrance If not patchouli… How I imagine messe de minute? : Smoke of frankincense, ash, labdanum, candle wax, smell of old wood ( benzoin? Vanilla? And hint of something like flower shop ( white flowers?) “+ cold marble. Give me sutch fragrance and Ill call it messe de minuit…So far can’t find it. There is many close but no one perfect. The problem with churchy frankincense fragrances is :” they are over dry…There is lack of sublime balance between dryness ( frankincense) and creamynes (marble, candle wax, white flowers). John galliano room spray is closest and encense flamboyant.
Stolnik-gil – :
I love my spices and incense. This is one for wearing at night in the summer as its not heavy. I think it really comes alive with warmth.
The citrus notes keep this a bright and welcoming fragrance all the way along its timeline. Yes, I get the myrhh but I also get plenty of warm spice. Particularly the cinnamon. The patch is not heavy and damp. I like the way the petitgrain gives a little bite.
Its amazing how a smell can unlock memories for folk. I agree about the contemplative feel of this light, warm fragrance. The incense seems to be what is spoken of most. Tbh I dont find it a dominant note here at all.
It is a very beautiful fragrance. Like most Etros I think they are at their best in warm weather. Moderate sillage and longevity.
alexblack2005 – :
I LOVE Messe de Minuit!!
It does smell like incense, real good incense, frankincense, oliban, myrrhe, all the good stuff, very mysterious and spiritual and magic but not in an austère way.
The citrus notes (pretty vague citrus smell, not in your face lemon, but we get the feeling) and especially petitgrain are brilliant as they make this scent really luminous, uplifting and surprisingly wearable. The cinnamon I don’t get that much, on my skin it’s not very obvious as it’s really well blended with the incense.
The incense. Mmmmmm…
What I love the most about this incense is that it doesn’t smell like smoke at all, just the resins. And also it’s real incense but tamed. It’s not scary to wear.
I love to sleep in this one!
Pretty magical.
nikniknik – :
Superb. Sublime. Adorable. I love this so much. It’s unique and magical. Such gorgeous incense; it’s so calming, soothing, warm, friendly, welcoming, comforting. A balm to the soul. Nothing jars, it’s only soothing, and happy. Uplifting. Wonderful.
uggsit1115Z – :
Too special to be a casual scent.
Enormous myrhh with extremely agressive cinnamon, but no trails of patchouli and citrus as far as I could tell…
Well, I don’t like the cinnamon even in a small dose. Not to mention that the huge dose of cinnamon which is throughtout all the longevity here. It just paralyzes my nose in the first shot, but the scent is still very attractive to me overall.
I just found out this scent works quite extrodinary for me, after layering with Guerlain L’eau Boisee or some other green/grass vibe frags. This kind of vibe can smoothening the agressive part that disturbs me.
Longevity: almost average. 4-5 hrs with projection in first 2 hrs or so.Rating: 8.0/10
hans85 – :
The beauty of magic is there is no definition for it.
Easier to say what it is not: There is no burden, no guilt, no heaviness.
There is light, air, history without regrets and maybe an infinite future, which is already here around us.
Wonderful job to have put all this in a bottle.
decagon – :
A cozy scent that starts out with warm church incense (as others have said, this is a very authentic, true-to-life Catholic church note) but ends up a bit too Grandpa’s aftershave for me.
Compared to CdG Avignon for instance (similar in quality though very different) MdM is less of a dark, serious scent and is more warm, inviting, comforting, MOR. Anyone could wear this.
jaja777 – :
Myrrh, incense, labdanum and patchouli, what a beautiful combination. Messe de Minuit smells like a church right after the mass. There is some citrus but I get more of a woody, resinous smell. It is very warm and comforting. I love it!
Daeron259 – :
(A review originally posted on MakeupAlley in 2005, I wanted to re-post it here now because I do not use MakeupAlley anymore [but have many fond memories of using it] and I am trying to get back into writing reviews, using old ‘work’ as inspiration…): It is hard to find words to express how I feel about this rare fragrance that haven’t already been used here below in some of these fabulous reviews…but I wanted to give it a personal shot.
MdM seems to be known as the true classic pure incense scent, “church incense”, bringing to mind gothic cathedrals and somehow holiday memories and/or personal backgrounds…to me it is musty, erotic, instantly recognizable as incense, grainy, gritty, tough, bracing, and sensual. It seems to open my nose pores, comforting and bringing me to other places. It does seem bookish, and on the right person could smell even intellectually “mildewy” (again not a bad thing as with Tibetan Buddhism the death’s head is meant positively, as a reverse reaction). To me this is Italian elegance as Guerlain is truly French (and so many delicious others). Even though this is not an edp it is incredibly persistent and long lasting, truly a scent that captures the sunlit frames of light coming in through inspired architectures, full of promise and glory.
кнопа-моя собака – :
This fragrance takes me to Downtown Mexico City, surrounded by hundreds of centuries-old churches… As you enter these magnificent buildings you are immediately surrounded by the opulent and oppressive beauty of its interiors combined with an austere spirituality, and you are somehow suspended in time, an oasis of peace and meditation in the middle of one of the most chaotic cities in the world. Incense and myrrh envelop your experience, as you contemplate in a more earthly state, the immense power the church had in those days and how frightening the experience of conversion must have been during the Conquest.
This is not a fragrance to make a fashion stand. This is a fragrance for a state of mind, for a mood, for seeking solace amidst the chaos of our times.
Utterly gorgeous.
asso – :
The only thing I can say is…. While my eyes are busy rolling back … If anyone has this and wants to swap, I’ll make it worth your while. OMG I love this!!!
Greexenna – :
Maybe it’s the goth kid in me still rearing his head these many years later, but I wish I had’ve been able to smell one of the previous formulations.
That being said I’m hardly disappointed with this incarnation of it. Obviously the incense is there, but there’s a warmth here that goes beyond that base concept of burning resins. Somehow that warm sweetness of candle flame is here, too (oh lord, I’m sounding crazy, and am by no means suggesting you stuff your nose into a candle flame if you don’t know what I mean).
It’s the complete tactile experience of a well attended mass. Warmth from body heat and candles, with the serpentine tendrils of incense curling between it all.
Neiron01 – :
I’m in the path of my holy grail. Every day I feel getting closer.
The name “Messe de Minuit” had all to be a devastating crush in the longing and missing memories of my childhood: family in christmas excursion to church at midnight. And when I sprayed the first drops on my neck and wrists, I was not prepared to the overwhelm I fell afterwards. It was the first time I felt close to perfection in perfumery, this meaning in a rush being in the past, meditation break, traveling to a place of interior regrets, and nostalgia of the forever lost innocence.
Patchouli perfection. Nothing more to say now.
VodolaZzz – :
Messe de Minuit is a fantastic combination of citrus marzipan with frankincense. It alludes to Easter and Easter cakes.
I saw MdM for a great price online and I couldn`t resist it because I love frankincense and I felt like it at that moment. Though I was really scared it would smell like church and grave and ghost, but yet my olfactory intuition was saying go for it. I simply didn`t need any gloomy scent, and I didn`t get it.
So finally all went fine, I got a happy scent, it is Easter, a holiday, smells like bringing Easter cakes to a church.
I know there are 3 versions of Mdm: the initial one, with a round label, followed by the next one, with the golden tap and a square label, followed by the modern version with a silver cap and a square label.
I have tried ” the middle version” only. And I believe that was the golden middle. I think they have started with a really Gothic scent that was describing a grave, and abandoned church or whatsoever, then the version I have tried followed which was a bit more into a holiday, a religious celebration. I guess the modern one, that as far as I know is going to be recalled to Messe de Noel, is even more inoffensive, a Christmasy one.
My conclusion is that the middle version is a perfect one because it still keeps the deepness and reflections of an initial idea, yet it is not as dark and gloomy but it is not fully into Christmas merry scent.
Obviously the best frankincense scent for me so far.
Ditta, hope it will be delivered safe and sound to you.
ArteteBit – :
After the second day of wearing Messe de Minuit in the heatwave we’ve had here lately, I feel ready to wax lyrical about this beauty. This is a review of the current version, and I have never tried the vintage one, although thanks to a wonderful Fragrantican, a decant is on its way to me right now. (THANKS A MILLION, L! X X X)
Let’s start with the fact that I am a sucker for incense, frankincense being my absolute favourite. I have been looking for the perfect frankincense for a long time and now I think I have found it. What is the perfect frankincense like in perfume? Well…not like a church. I adore the smoke of burnt frankincense in churches. I could write an essay on the different phases of the fragrance, from the moment its cast on the embers all the way to residue in the air of ancient churches, but Luca Turin did it already in the Guide. It is a smell to die for (and you get a lot once you die, in case you are Catholic), but I am neither a church, nor dead, so I am not keen on wearing that sort of scent on my person. My ideal frankincense perfume is the fragrance of the pearls or frankincense essential oil, well blended with other herbal aromatic resins like in this case myrrh and not in the pyramid, but I guess there is a little benzoin hiding somewhere in MdM too. My other favourite way to deal with frankincense is mixing it with herbs and/or pine resins as in the case of Fille en Aiguilles/Lutens and L’Eau Trois/Dyptique. Messe de Minuit offers a third alternative: so ridiculously obvious that you wonder why it is not done left, right and centre: frankincense and citrusses! Of course! Frankincense has a multitude of different citrus facets to it, so it seems the most natural thing to do to marry it off with bergamot, orange, lemon, citron and petigrain. The effect is uplifting, ethereal, light, like a watercolour, very wearable even in extremely hot weather, although I can very well imagine it being breathtakingly beautiful (and very different) in the autumn or winter. I love both Fille en Aiguilles and L’Eau Trois, but Messe de Minuit is so far the most wearable rendition of frankincense for me, totally full bottle worthy.
The vintage version must be very different from the current, as at the moment I have no connotations of graveyard, coffin, bookshop, etc.. I will let you know when my decant arrives if there is indeed a big difference.
9/10
tehas – :
I like. It’s nice. But if, like me, you are after a smells and bells headspace capture of a wedding at Saint Bartholomew-the-Great (Comme des Garcons Incense: Avignon) or the first waft of 3000 years as Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvan breached the second sealed door on November 26, 1922 (Montale Paris Dark Aoud), this isn’t it.
Cheerful, comforting, and approachable but it’s incense a la department store Santa Claus.
This with the caveat I’m referencing the 2014 edit. And as I’m a completist, I’m stuck with a quest for a pre-reformulation version. I expect something richer, possibly more complex but not much deeper as I’m confident it will still be more frankincense pearls than the smoke I’m after.
vvurozzzav – :
(90’s vintage edition – square label, first reformulation with gold cap). I’ve been looking for an incense orange scent and this is making me quite happy. It’s not smoky incense, mind you, but a powdery-dusty and ethereal affair. Myrrh with a patchouli grounding. I can tell some of the top notes have lost their luster with time – I wish I could smell this fresh! It’s charming – acts cool but has a vulnerable warmth when you get closer. Loving it!!!! I apply before bed time for sublime dreams.
Edit: I had the chance to sample the original version recently, the one with the round label and gold cap. It’s totally different! A cold basement full of old books, a recently opened crypt but the corpse was stolen years ago. Austere echoes off of cold damp stone walls. A hyper-realistic and cool musty scent. Unique but not as wearable or alluring.
I’ve never tried the current formulation (square label, silver cap) but will update this review if I do.
nelly150 – :
Sp glad that I finally mustered up the courage to post reviews here on Fragrantica, a website I love. I’ve referenced this site many times throughout the years and I value everyone’s input! Of course, I’ve made sample choices and perfume buys based on the great reviews here on this website (and one other site-smile).
Okay, so I am trying to expand my fragrance wardrobe AND I am trying to think “outside of the box” regarding my normal and usual fragrance comfort zone. Well, I love funeral and church like smells and aromas…so I thought I would give MdM a try!
Anyone who doesn’t envision Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox or Roman Catholic churches when wearing this fragrance has never been in one of the above churches, certainly not a Roman Catholic church during High Holy Mass or a funeral! Incense is what it is all about here…frankincense, myrrh, smoke, sap, some fern, musty, musky…that is what this scent is all about!
After showering and spraying this on, I met up with my husband for an appointment and I asked him, “What do I smell like?” Husband promptly said, “CHURCH!” My husband and I both agree that we LOVE the “smell” of church in church. But my husband asked, “Do you really want to walk around all day smelling like that?”
Good question…I DO like the smell…I like the idea of a fragrance so different and unique. In many ways, I find the aroma of Messe de Minuit comforting. But I found Comme des Garcons “Avignon” much more tolerable on me than Messe de Minuit…though I DO like the scent a lot :0)
travel-internik555 – :
When I first tried Etro Messe de Minuit, the SA tried to discourage me by saying: “you may not like this, this smells like a damp graveyard”. For the record, it was the same one who, a few months later, would try to keep me from trying Muscs Koublai Khan. She is a lovely lady, helpful and knowledgeable but, at that time, still unaware of my weird tastes and skin chemistry.
I can’t say she was totally of the mark with her comment. Messe de Minuit is indeed a hollow, cold and somber fragrance. I sampled it in the store, didn’t buy it, took a sample home and sent it to the purgatory. A few months later, I started to crave a new incense perfume. So I tried it again, loved it and got a bottle from the same SA.
Despite all the images its name can evoke, Messe de Minuit is not a straight up church incense. In that particular territory, Comme des Garcons does it much better with Avignon. While this last one smells like a typical catholic mass, Messe de Minuit smells like the church the mass was held was abandoned for years, and then haunted.
It is still an incense fragrance, of course, but not “burning” incense. There is barely any smoke in this one, as if the place the incense used to burn on had already cooled down, and then was dampened. Add to this some earth, stones and then you have the full graveyard imagery. This sounds appealing to me but yes, not a crowd pleaser.
The notes for Etro Messe de Minuit include: orange, bergamot, tangerine, galbanum, honey, labdanum, incense, myrrh, cinnamon, patchouli, amber and musk. From the opening, I can detect lots of citrus, root beer and something nicely musty, as in damp stones and hollow places (not a damp cellar). After the citrus is gone, whatever gives it this root beer vibe, keeps the incense from becoming smoky, and this is how it goes for the rest of the drydown: damp incense ashes.
The longevity is very good and the sillage actually depends on how much you spritz. As I said before, it is not a crowd pleaser, so build it up slowly. To me, it works as a “mood” scent. It doesn’t make me feel like I want to feel every single day, but when the timing is right, it is unbeatable.
mslava – :
Parishioners have completed their worship at Christmastime, departed, and left the essence of their incense lingering in their church at night. This is what Messe de Minuit or ‘Midnight Mass’ reminds me of. The scent smells beautiful on my skin; earthy, deep and resinous, tinged with a little spice. During the dry-down it starts to get more smoky and warm. I often struggle with patchouli so I’m very happy with how well-behaved it is here. I also like how this fragrance is well-blended and isn’t too overwhelming.
I think this would be best in cold weather. Sillage is quite soft on me; lasts for about 4-5 hours.
I can definitely appreciate the art here and I do think that Messe de Minuit is a lovely fragrance, except that I just feel as though it doesn’t fit my personal style which means that I would never wear it. The perfume brings to my mind a woman who wears a lot of black, dark purple, silver jewelry and who enjoys essential oils and burning candles. Perhaps it is because I am also reminded of such a woman who wears clothing tinged with the smell of incense. Nevertheless, it’s a wonderful scent 🙂
191456284 – :
I had gotten myself a sample of Messe de Minuit for Christmas, and it’s really taken me almost 3 months to make up my mind about it.
I was insistently attempting to smell something that I wouldn’t recognize anyway ….I’ve never been to midnight mass in my life. Once I realized that its subtly sour, musty scent reminded me of a shadowed corner of a used bookstore; towering piles of moldering books stacked on sagging rotted wood shelves….a corner that hasn’t seen sunlight in years, books that are touched by human hands rarely, if at all. Not a particularly healthy scent.
Peyton_fromAC – :
It is important to specify which legacy of this fragrance you are reviewing. In this case, I’m reviewing the original 1994 version, I expected a heavy grave-like, musty, somewhat awful scent, I bought it (half fearful) with these expectations, but what arrived was something entirely unexpected. It does embrace the incense/church thing, but as I put it on, and as I’ve worn it I get something different.
The scent comes in very high in the palate/nose. It is sweet, far sweeter than anyone prepared me for, and very like newly mown grass. It mellows into a freshly made sauna, all the strength of cut wood, some citrus – in the family of orange rather than lemon, and still very reminiscent of reading an old book.
I have found myself putting this on in the morning, forgetting about it, then finding myself on the tube (London Underground) much later, thinking someone smells amazing…. then to realize it’s me.
Sinful80 – :
Can anyone please compare this to Sacrebleu ?
I have forgotten Sacrebleu compared to this. To me, the initial blast is citrus, then it develops to myrrh and frankincense. I love this at the height of winter !
Weawaynon – :
I spilled a full sample vial of this into my bra, so I got a really heavy dose. It took me a minute to figure out what it reminded me of, and then it hit me, old school scratch and sniff stickers. Specifically, the dill pickle sticker. After an hour or so, the dill pickle smell faded and then more of the incense emerged. I will say that at the end of the day, my husband came home from work and nuzzled my cleavage and said “you smell divine.” So while I didn’t enjoy this too much, after a good six hours of wearing it did turn into something attractive.
Nabagesia – :
foul. it’s musty like a wet abandoned building, yet it has this really strong candied orange zest note. This is immediately followed by the zest note smelling like it’s on fire and burning. It’s harsh and it’s giving me a headache and it just keeps getting worse. the drydown smells like scented maxi pads. I’m not even kidding. I LOVE churchy incense perfumes…heeley cardinal, the commes des garcon incense series, tom fords sahara noir. But Etro’s take on a midnight mass scent has no incense in it that I can tell, and it smells sh$%%y
стружкин – :
I got a sample of this and decided I had to get a full bottle. Located in the USA, I had a terrible time finding it and then – Essenza Nobile! This German etailer with an Italian name has a web site in English and will ship to the USA (a model of the international economy). They have a wide selection of niche fragrances including quite a few that I can’t find anywhere in North America.
Oh yes this is supposed to be about Etro Messe de Minuit. What an exhilarating scent. It is among the finest evokers of smoking incense I have smelled, paired with irresistably delicious candied mixed citrus, honey, and cinnamon top and middle notes. Later it has lots of frankincense (coniferous peppery balsamic lemony anisic) and myrrh (humus earthy bitter sweet musty) of course, together with a smoky note to evoke the burning, and some patchouli that blends in nicely. I have no Catholic Mass associations with this since I was raised vaguely Protestant and am now a confirmed atheist, so you might react differently if this reminds of something you love or hate or are bored by or feel guilty about. Even to me it smells devotional at the same time as being drop dead gorgeous. Cardinal Woolsey and Mother Superior meet Pretty Woman (Roberts and Roberts and Gere oh my).
volkkk – :
I received a sample of this beauty from a fellow fragrantician, and I have to say that I have never smelled anything like this!
WOW! When I put it on my skin, I wasn’t expecting what I got.
The first note I perceived was lemon zest, real enough that it made my mouth water. It actually made me thirsty, it was so sharp.
After about a minute of warming up on the skin, the myrrh overtakes the lemon. The myrrh adds a sweet dimension to the background of lemon.
As the fragrance goes on, the myrrh lingers and the citrus fades. It doesn’t last extremely long on my skin. It lasts about 3-4 hours.
I’ve never been to a Catholic church or an orthodox church (I was raised Southern Baptist…we didn’t use any incense in church at all), so I can’t vouch for it smelling like a church. I could have only wished for our church to smell like that. WOW!
I absolutely adore this scent! I wear myrrh essential oil sometimes, and this is very myrrh-y. I will have to test again soon to hunt out the patchouli and cinnamon.
I definitely can recommend this!
Edit: Upon subsequent applications of this, I can definitely spot the patchouli. It is not in the foreground, instead it sits subtly in the background…giving off a slight warmth after about 30 minutes on my skin.
I absolutely adore this fragrance, but on warmer days it disappears even quicker than the 3-4 hours.
If this were less expensive, or the lasting power longer, I would buy this in a heartbeat. One of the most beautiful and unusual perfumes I have encountered.
knc123Unlogrere – :
The scent was incense and aldehydes on me, almost bitter-sweet, with a dusty edge at first, gradually becoming greener, airier, and more dewy. I liked the way it was and the way it changed on my skin.
Sougorganda – :
For about a month, I wore this almost every other day. I really enjoyed how this doesn’t smell like a perfume at all, but like the clothes of a person who burns incense a lot.
After a while I couldn’t wear this anymore. I could smell thick, slowly floating incense that was pretty impressive and true-to-life, but in the background I could smell something sour and musty, like a moldy orange. Think: Attack of the Killer Oranges where they roll down the aisles of a Catholic church.
SegaZ – :
Holy incense! This one is really perfect. Blend of citruses and incense really gives a Christmasy feel. I’m a lover of stronger perfumes. This one surprised me, because it is simultaneously smoky and joyful, heavy and light, serious and frivolous.
I should note that I tried two versions of MdM: the second edition of EDC and EDT. There were some differences – EDC seems more fresh than EDT in the beginning. You get a citrusy blast at first sniff, whereas in EDT you can feel myrrh and patchouli at the beginning. EDT lasted a bit longer (~7 hrs) in comparison to EDC (~5.5 hrs). If I had to choose, I’d choose EDC – this is a very unique composition, as I mentioned earlier, with rich range of notes from sour to smoky and more complex development with plot twists. You wear it and it grabs your attention every 20 minutes.
Also what I wanted to mention – this is completely a daytime perfume for me, I can’t imagine wearing it at night, well maybe unless the Christmas Eve, the special night full of miracles and heavenly touch, though it’s the longest night in the year. But for the rest of the year I’d prefer to wear it on sunny day in snowy winter – contrasting weather for contrasting perfume.
tork93 – :
Am I the only person in the whole world who smells here loads of dried lavender with a tiny bit of inscense instead of church full of holy smoke?
aidafaza – :
I love it! I don’t wear it around other people much. It’s the BEST sleeping pill in the world! Very very unusual!
artem7pas – :
Messe de Minuit is a very realistic smell of the Orthodox church. It feels like a flow of warm air from the candles in the face when you enter an old church with thick walls painted with frescos. A very true smell of the melting wax and damp dusty building.
Ugrumov35 – :
Incense, amber, patchouli and myrrh are some of my favourite notes. I’m a sucker for anything dense, woody, spicy or resinous. Messe de Minuit was predestined to bec