With La Cérémonie de l’Encens, L’Artisan Parfumeur is launching a new collection called L’Esprit du Parfum – and making an impressive statement in the process. The fragrance is inspired by the traditional Japanese art of incense Kōdō, which encompasses not only olfactory experience but also spiritual contemplation. In Kōdō ceremonies, the scent of incense is not just smelled, but actually heard, felt and understood – a meditative act that requires silence, concentration and mindfulness.
Kōdō – A ritual for the senses
Kōdō – the Japanese art of incense burning known as the “way of fragrance” – is much more than just the experience of fragrance. It is a centuries-old ritual that shares the stage of Japan’s classical arts with the tea ceremony (Sadō) and the art of flower arranging (Kadō). Originating in the Muromachi period between the 14th and 16th centuries, Kōdō developed into a meditative practice in which fine incense woods such as eaglewood, sandalwood or frankincense are carefully heated in ceremonies – not burned – and experienced with great concentration.
At the heart of Kōdō is mindful smelling, the so-called Monkō: participants “listen” to the scent, whereby it is less about naming notes and more about inner perception and quiet contemplation. The scent becomes a mirror of the soul, a bridge between the present and the past, the material and the immaterial.
Kōdō is not a fleeting moment, but a consciously celebrated connection between man and fragrance. This is precisely the idea behind La Cérémonie de l’Encens by L’Artisan Parfumeur. Created by French perfumer Mathilde Bijaoui, the eau de parfum translates the Japanese ritual into a modern olfactory experience and invites you to consciously rediscover incense – as a sensual, almost spiritual event.
La Cérémonie de l’Encens – When fragrance becomes devotion
There are fragrances that don’t just want to please, they invite you to pause for a moment. La Cérémonie de l’Encens by L’Artisan Parfumeur is just such a fragrance. It rises quietly, like the first whiff of smoke in a quiet room, weightless and meditative. A silent rite in the form of a fragrance – based on the idea that a perfume can be more than just an olfactory experience. A moment of contemplation in which thoughts slow down and space is created for the essentials. La Cérémonie de l’Encens is a fragrance that not only touches the senses, but goes deeper – to where memories and emotions meet silence.
At the heart of the composition is frankincense, the precious resin that has filled ritual and sacred spaces with its scent for thousands of years, mediating between the secular and the spiritual and holding a special place in perfumery. The incense is accompanied by Hinoki cypress, a coniferous tree native to Japan, whose woody, clear scent has always been perceived as calming and purifying.
As already mentioned, the perfumer behind the fragrance is Mathilde Bijaoui, who used the ingredients pepper, hinoki cypress, incense and cedarwood for the creation. With La Cérémonie de l’Encens, she has composed a fragrance that is quiet and expressive – like a prayer that does not need to be uttered to be heard.
La Cérémonie de l’Encens opens with a cool, spicy and fresh fragrance. The pepper sets dry, subtly spicy and invigorating accents right from the start, which are soon joined by the cool, smoky and ethereal-sacred notes of incense that slowly spread throughout the composition. It blends wonderfully with the peppery nuances to create a meditative, quiet and calming melange that should make even incense skeptics happy. The mock cypress brings wonderfully clean, citrusy conifer notes to the creation, which picks up on the dry facets of the opening, but without reviving the peppery spiciness. Instead, the eau de parfum reveals powdery, soft facets as it progresses, with which the composition gradually fades away.
With La Cérémonie de l’Encens, L’Artisan Parfumeur has created a beautiful incense fragrance that is finely balanced, elegant and wonderfully meditative. Sublime and graceful, with a sacred touch, yet extremely modern and transparent, the creation is absolutely suitable for everyday and office use and ideal for cooler days. The composition reflects the Japanese incense ritual in a fascinating and mysterious way – like an olfactory moment of contemplation, timeless and seductive. 🖤
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