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The first time I went to James Heeley’s shop in Paris I went for Esprit de Tigre but ended up with a crush on Cardinal. The second time I went to his shop, I bought it. It’s easy to understand why once you experience Cardinal.
There are lots of incense scents out there and I pretty much love ‘em all. But they can be heavy and dark – which I like, but Cardinal is a different kind of incense scent. It broke the needle on the Smell – O – Meter because of it’s clean, elegant, coolness.
The first hit is a rose note spiced up with pepper but it’s not long before incense appears, warmed by white amber and given depth by patchouli and vetiver at the base. And from somewhere comes a note of clean linen, not bed linens, but church linens – collars, coifs and altar cloths. The amber, patchouli and vetiver support the incense and they never dominate so that the result is a light, elegant, clean, majestic incense fragrance.
We usually travel to European cities in the summer, when school is out. Long days mean more time to wander and see the sites, but the heat, especially in the last few years, can be unbearable. Everybody knows that the best place to take refuge from the heat, the hustle and the noise is in an old stone church or cathedral. Calm, quiet, contemplative and cool, with clerics going about their business - the perfect place to stop, reflect on something larger than yourself, shift gears and gather yourself before heading back into the fray.
Cardinal is the scent reminder of that restorative, peaceful place that you carry on you all day long. A tonic for the soul, it smells divine.
Cardinal is listed in our Decant Store. Decants are $6.00 for 1 ml.
- Gwen's blog
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