Milano Fragranze Basilica was released in 2021, created by Violaine Collase of MANE. It is an Art and Olfaction Finalist in the Independent Category for 2021/22. I love incense fragrances - all of them. It is a tough thing to introduce an incense fragrance that does something unexpected. Basilica does that. It's like incense, incense, incense, labdanum, MILK! It is the sacred warmed up and made so cozy. Well deserving of a Finalist spot for Art and Olfaction. Notes of thyme, rosemary, warm milk accord, labdanum, incense resinoid, cypriol, cedarwood and santamanol. It is an eau de parfum, edp.
From the brand - "In the desert Basilica, a cappella singing from the choir, echoed by the sheer stone walls. By the side altar, tiny lights of many a candle warm up the heart. Incense and candlelight, adorned in aromatic freshness. Interpreted by Violaine Collas."
Milano Fragranze is a brand launched in 2020, under the artistic direction of Allesandro Brun of Masque Milano.
Milano Fragranze Basilica REVIEWS
Fragrantica - "Basilica from Milano Fragranze is a gourmand-adjacent spooky scent, it flirts with foodiness but it never actually goes there. It’s an eerie earthy musk (but think graveyards rather than gardens) creamy cedar and milky vanilla woods, and mysterious amber-myrrh resins, both warm and cool, enveloping and remote. It’s like a curmudgeonly ghost monk from a crumbling, haunted monastery has left the centuries-old ruins and paid a visit to a sweetly-bustling local bake sale."
Persolaise - "the inclusion of a bready, yeasty, thyme-and-rosemary accord propels it into a different league: the sort of scent that makes you picture images you’ve never witnessed in real life. In this case, a Sunday mass that is paused half-way through to enable the congregation to munch on some freshly-baked zaatar bread. It’s downright odd, but it works."
Cafleurbon - "Nothing in it is superfluous, capricious – from the employment of thyme and rosemary (medicinal, purifying and quite possibly the herbs suggested to Moses in Temple times) to its soft milk accord. Why milk? I’m positing that it is associated not only with comfort and healing – but hearkening back to olibanum, or frankincense (the same etymological origin as gum benjamin/benzoin), its name derived from the Hebrew word lebhonah, milk – which then became the Arabic word luban, meaning incense. I don’t really believe in coincidences. Labdanum recalls the citrusy, conifer/amber warmth the Ancient Greeks cherished, as does the fine Virginia cedarwood which is present. Other sanctified woods lend their voices: Santamanol TM (Mane), which evokes sandalwood, and cypriol aka nagarmotha – a woody note which reminds one of oudy aspects. On so many levels, Basilica calls into play the beauty of ritual and those woods employed for devotional purpose. When one considers all these facets, Milano Fragranze Basilica surpasses its original intent of recreating a quintessentially Milanese experience and becomes a fragrance with a more universal message."
Fragrantica - "Intoxicating, boozy and creamy incense scent. Herby gourmand? I have no idea how to describe this. It's just... Good. The herby too notes are so... Perfect. I get a good 8+ hours of wear. Stays on my clothes next day."
Fragrantica - "Basilica was love at first sniff for me! I would call it a gourmand incense! A combination of a delicious creamy milkiness and a herbal incense drydown. Its perfomance is fabulous, it lasts over 8 hours on my skin, and it is my favorite from the line! Love it!"
