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Holy Smoke: Perfumes That Smell Like Catholic Church

Purple Star emoji 18 items
This list is perfect for anyone who loves mystical, gothic, or spiritual scents—fragrances that feel ancient, atmospheric, and meditative. Whether you want to smell like a sacred ritual, a medieval monastery, or a quiet mass at dawn, these perfumes e...
 
Tiffany Washko profile picture
Communion. The childhood fear when hearing "eat the body" and "drink the blood" in a formidable place of reverence. We get melting candlewax, churchy incense and sneaked cinnamon chewing gum. Perfumer is Laura Oberwetter with notes cherry Communion w...
With the Candlestick
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Tiffany Washko profile picture
This has to be one of the best incense perfumes I've found. Instead of a choking smoke, this burns airy, luminous, and soft. I think that linen note really pulls of something spectacular, making this a delicate incense perfume, rather than a harsh bu...
Cardinal
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Tiffany Washko profile picture
Opening reminds me of the beach, for some reason? The pine+incense is almost like a light palo santo. EQ'd really well to make space for the lily, which is softly present, not crowded out, and delicate. The moss is wonderful. Pine fades before too lo...
Relique d'Amour
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Tiffany Washko profile picture
A lot of soft, churchy incense. As if I suddenly found myself in a church. Incense, rows of wooden benches, cold stone altars, on those altars flowers. Burning candles. Dimmed light. Cold and mysterious atmosphere. The smoke of the incense is mixing ...
Paris – Passage d'Enfer​
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Tiffany Washko profile picture
I'm absolutely in love with this perfume. From first sniff I felt like I was in church for Christmas mass at midnight. It's exactly what I've been searching for and wears beautifully as the day goes on. I can smell it on myself all day and it makes m...
Domus Numeni
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Tiffany Washko profile picture
For me, this fragrance evokes sangria wine. Juicy, sparkling red wine generously infused with ripe fruits and berries, with a light floral freshness of rose and violet in the background.
 But the real magic lies in how it seems to “pour” as if from a...
Bloody Wood
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Tiffany Washko profile picture
Strong and understandably divisive but i think I'm kind of in love with it. heady, metallic, and pleasantly spicy with a cozy, interesting sort of mustiness to it, heavy on pine and incense and smoke, maybe to its detriment depending on who you are. ...
Reliqvia
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Tiffany Washko profile picture
Very very nice fruity sweet sandalwood heavy base fragrance, not sugary sweet, more like abstract fruits and abstract flowers with a rubbery sandalwood base. All year rounder easily. Very very pleased with this fragrance, paid 30€ for 100ml, totally ...
Engel Dark Rammstein
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Tiffany Washko profile picture
Volutes has the undeniable sweetness of the honey and opoponax, but without the thick, syrupy, and otherwise cloying intensity- instead being mostly reduced by the powdery iris note. The spices and tobacco ground the sweetness as well as creates a co...
Volutes - Eau de parfum - 75ml
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Tiffany Washko profile picture
Smells like rosary. I really like it! I’ve really been into myrrh fragrances lately and in this one, the myrrh and the rose really play hand in hand. And the peony is definitely leaving its impression as well. Somehow, this fragrance manages to be ki...
Rose de Chine
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Tiffany Washko profile picture
Very very wow. the first exposure to it is so grand and theatrical, it really does evoke everything about walking into an old catholic church. the chocolate note is what i think is weirdly lending itself to the scent of damp and decay; it gives it th...
Notre Dame Notte di Natale
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Tiffany Washko profile picture
Great incensy woody perfume with a gentle touch of green. Feel like walking into a Buddhist shrine, made of wood, filled with incense smoke and surrounded by pine tree garden. Good performance and leaning masculine. It is a love for me. ❤️
Rêve d'Ossian
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Tiffany Washko profile picture
Fascinating in every sense of the word. I have a penchant for sacred smokey concoctions and I am very pleased to have found an iteration which is entirely original. Female Christ is multifaceted and a shapeshifter of dark proportions, impossible to d...
FEMALE CHRIST
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Tiffany Washko profile picture
Christos is not even as much of an incensy perfume but a balsamic one. Its luke-warm, sourish-sweetish, pleasant and intriguing. I’ve never smelt something like this. Perhaps once again because of the influence Bianco Latte has on my brain, I'm insti...
Christos Giardini Di Toscana perfume - a fragrance for women and men 2023
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Tiffany Washko profile picture
Photorealistic church smell. Its like sitting on the wooden bench in a church, closing your eyes, taking a big breath through your nose and smelling that calming church smell. This is a masterpiece in artisan perfumery. Highly recommend to everyone w...
Katholikon
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Tiffany Washko profile picture
The expressed sentiment that "Liturgy of the Hours evokes the image of an old monastery where the scent of burning incense fills the air just like the chanting of daily prayers" cannot be more accurate. Liturgy is both comforting and grounding. I can...
La Liturgie des Heures
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Tiffany Washko profile picture
This is gorgeous. Smells like church after a particularly high-church service when the congregation has gathered in the vestry for tea and fruit cake afterwards, to fortify themselves for the chilly walk home.
Messe de Minuit Etro perfume - a fragrance for women and men 1994
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Tiffany Washko profile picture
Pilgrim is an intensely salty, marine fragrance - capturing the raw and physical elements of a body of water. It smells like sweat soaked skin meeting the sea, immediately calling to mind Saint John the Baptist as he appears in Orthodox icons: scruff...
Pilgrim
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