Messe de Minuit

Revisiting an old incense classic I first bought Messe de Minuit about ten years ago, when I was still exploring fragrances. At that time, I found it too unconventional for daily wear and eventually sold it. Recently, I found a good bargain and decided to give it another try. Nearly ten years after my original review in November 2016, this revisit feels like a completely different experience. The fragrance is built around a very prominent myrrh-labdanum incense accord, supported by a generous amount of cinnamon. The result is dark, resinous, and almost ceremonial, with a warmth that feels both ancient and contemplative. The citrus opening is much more restrained than the note list might suggest. A subtle citrus facet is present, but it remains largely hidden beneath the dense myrrh-labdanum incense structure. To my nose, it only becomes noticeable when the fragrance is sprayed on fabric rather than skin. Another thing I noticed is a faint lavender-like nuance. Lavender is not listed in the official notes, yet to my nose there is occasionally an aromatic facet reminiscent of lavender, briefly appearing before merging back into the myrrh-labdanum incense structure. Interestingly, a 2012 review mentioned the same impression as well. After ten years, I appreciate Messe de Minuit much more. It is still not an easy everyday fragrance, but its unusual character and old-world incense atmosphere are precisely what make it memorable. Rating: 8/10 (revisited after ten years)

Mi dispiace che qualcuno resti deluso perché questo profumo non gli ricorda esattamente una messa di mezzanotte. Forse dovreste prima provare un profumo e poi lasciare andare la vostra fantasia e vedere cosa vi evoca. Credere che un profumo evochi la stessa immagine per tutti è una cosa molto infantile e sciocca. Messe de minuit è una scena, un'immagine,una ispirazione generale dalla quale la mente dovrebbe partire. Anche chi trova che alcuni profumi (tipo hypnotic poison eau de parfum) siano gotici e da vampiro è una visione del tutto personale e suggestionata,quando in realtà odora di uva fragolina e sciroppo per la tosse. Messe de minuit lo ho gia descritto precedentemente nei dettagli,e ribadisco che la sua edizione piu umida e insensata è la prima,del 94. Le successive sono lievemente piu secche e frizzanti e meno da catacombe. Inoltre la mia evocazione è piu da cupe segrete e sotterraneo di castello medievale che non una chiesa di natale. Nessuno ha detto che si tratta di una messa di natale.

The name easily pushes the imagination toward religious imagery, but to me this fragrance does not truly smell like a church. It feels more suited to the atmosphere of damp, slightly mildewed brick and stone buildings. If the goal is an authentic church impression, Velvet Incenso would be the reference point. The opening lists orange, lemon, and bergamot, which on paper suggests a bright citrus start. In practice, the citrus does not feel fresh. It resembles bitter peel suspended in cold, humid air, and very quickly it is overtaken by myrrh, patchouli, and resin. The direction turns almost immediately toward something darker, cooler, and more enclosed. The myrrh shows a clear resinous character with a faint medicinal bitterness. Patchouli introduces an impression of old wood and settled dust. The structure is unusual. It does not read as burning incense, nor does it produce heavy smoke. Instead, it evokes the interior of a building that has absorbed moisture over many years. The walls feel damp, the wooden doors slightly musty, and the air carries traces of cold dust, resin, worn floorboards, and rooms left closed for a long time. It can suggest a church, but just as easily an old monastery, a library basement, a stone house after rain, a castle corridor, or the neglected entrance of an abandoned building. The spatial effect is pronounced, with a faint edge of mildew that creates a sense of uncertainty. In the drydown, a gentle sweetness emerges naturally from the resins, preventing the composition from collapsing entirely into coldness. It is a selective fragrance, somewhat out of step with current mainstream preferences. The value lies more in its character than in daily wear. For collecting or study, it has interest. For regular use, it is less compelling.

Smells like you didn't shower for a year and trying to cover the stench with super sweet citrus smell. Just don't buy it, it's horrible.

I’ve had a bottle of Messe de Minuit for several years and I actually put it away due to my immense disappointment. Just now I decided to check back on this Etro icon and after reading several reviews feel a relief that my feelings are not unique!! Midnight Mass is an emotional and powerfully sacred religious ritual and anyone who has experienced it knows the special intensity of the incense laden chill that clings to the frigid night air. Messe de Minuit is a lovely fragrance but ventured to a place it was not equipped to occupy and would be far better named Messe d’Agrumes!!

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. I bought a bottle of this in, I think, 2011, hoping it would make a good impression on this Catholic chap I had just met on Facebook. Reader, I married him, so that must have worked. :)

I sampled this today and it smells like a church but in a really wet way? I swear it smelled a little like cat urine to me but my friend insisted it didn't. She loved to smell it on me and would comment on it continuously throughout the day

Orange camphoraceous over myrrh with ambery honey sweetness and a touch of smoke Very strange reviews below, perhaps it is the effect of middle eastern perfumery setting a particular standard for resinous fragrances, but people seem to have the impression this is not resinous enough. Messe de Minuit, particularly the newest variation delivers pretty much exactly what is promised, citrus with generous myrrh bridged by a honey vanillic smoky sweet accord, hefty doses of myrrh throughout the composition Immediately when spraying it on i am reminded of citrus herbal teas mixed with honey. The citrus is tart but zesty and mix nicely with the underlying warmth of the vanillic honey sweetness. There is also a soft camphoraceous/herbaceous element adding a cooling quality. The plot twist occurs when the a large and looming myrrh note appears, first behind the scenes and slowly right in the forefront. Warm, round and dark with the characteristic cola inflections but also somewhat of an earthy funky element, almost slightly damp and musty. At the end I get more and more frankincense/smoky accord, very much equivalent to my memories of orthodox churches, myrrh mixed with frankincense mixed with the damp and fresh morning air. Is midnight mass a exaggeration? probably. The darkness is not there for such an edgy title. To me it resembles sitting in a church courtyard in the early afternoon, damp herbaceous smells coming from the garden, myrrh smoke coming from the church. Nonetheless the note pyramid doesn't lie. Definitely a staple myrrh fragrance worth checking out. Excellent execution with fantastic blending.

I grieve to write this. I'm an incense nut, and was desperate to love this. I am sad to say, it was a failed blind buy - I'm gutted. I should have read the reviews more carefully. This scent is a scam, in a way. It really is not the incense of a midnight mass at all (at least, the 2019 batch I have). To save you a long read, Villoresi Ambra smells very much like this, but with no citrus, at less than half the price and twice the strength. Frankcrummit two reviews below this also thinks Messe de Minuit is a con, and points out that this is a citrus, not an incense. True. Kris 9191 highlights that, "Etro's take on a midnight mass scent has no incense in it that I can tell, and it smells sh$%%y." Preach. Dubbytuteaf says it smells like 18th-century America. Maybe. One thing's for sure, 18th-century America didn't smell of incense. So it's a plausible viewpoint. Fausto74 observes, "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." Yup. Compare these comments to those on, say, Gucci Pour Homme 1, Morabito Sultan Noir, Majd al Sultan, Avignon, Zagorsk, Cardinal, l'Orpheline, even ELDO's Rien... Even the dry down of Habit Rouge EdT in the Listerene bottle is more incensey than this. All is not lost. Villoresi Ambra is very similar in scent, and has zero citrus, but 25% of the cost, 300% more projection, and 400% duration. Buy that if you're interested in this scent profile, but want to be able to notice it.

Messe de Minuit is the culmination of warm, smoky amber and citrus. It opens with a juicy and refreshing burst of sharp, rindy orange, lemon and bergamot followed by a thick dose of myrrh. The myrrh here is very dry and dusty, heavy and almost chewy but overall smells high quality and unique. The citric side of the scent is intensified by a zesty note of bitter citron, whilst the warming aspects are elevated through a spicy cinnamon and leathery labdanum. The smoky resinous vibe from the myrrh is then magnified by a dry incense and earthy patchouli. You’ve got 3 separate scent profiles all vying for attention in this fragrance - rindy citrus, smoky myrrh and warming amber are all present and powerful and yet it does seem to work. This is fragrance embodies old, wooden antiques and archaic churchy incense in a brilliant way.

Baby Jesus in a church...all in a bottle! If Lucifer is coming just spray this on you and...puff! he's gone!!!

I've been sold a pup! Fragrantica member massimilianoinquieto in his review below suggests that the current formulation bears little resemblance to its forbears, shifting from an incense-heavy to a citrus-light mix. Given this shift, Messe de Minuit is misnamed: the incense note is NON-liturgical. (For a true rendition of Midnight Mass, head towards Lavs or Cardinal instead). 'Midday in Maytime' might be a better name for this version, as the sweet (and rather sickly) opening citrus note gives way to sweet (and equally sickly) cistus and honey in the dry down. The myrrh (usually a sobering influence) and incense itself (usually smoky and balsamic), seem to be bypassed altogether. The net result is a rather cloying confection, a million miles away from the candlelit interior of a cathedral. This EDT would make a great spring-into-summer spritz for a seaside holiday, but it's not for me.

Full 100ml available in US. Well made fragrance but too resinous for me.

By reading the name, you can easily judge the scent. A "Midnight Mass" (translated from French), is warm spicy ambery fragrance. Opened with lemon and citrus blast, followed by strong spicy cinnamon with herbal style of patchouli and lot of myrrh. To create even more orthodox ambiance, incense is adding and veiling the altar. First launched in 1994, without nose listed, but definitely have very niche scent quality although released by a fashion house.

I recently tried Sonoma Scent Studio’s Ambre Noir and was surprised to discover that it is quite similar to my reformulated version of Messe de Minuit. I know this frag is getting harder and harder to find. It’s worth noting that the SSS version is quite strong. One spray will fill a room. I have a travel spray and it will last me quite a while. I was not expecting a Messe de Minuit dupe when I tried it, but alas, here it is.

This is a strong smoky fragrance with good longevity. It’s exotic and elegant, but too oriental to me. Not a safe blind buy and not a everyday scent. But, like i said, well done.

I don't know anything that smells quite like this. Something about it reminds me of the incense in Shalimar or Anne Pliska but it's not as heavy. It's very unique and wearable imo if you love frankincense and myrrh which I do.

It’s an interesting incense perfume. Most I have tried open with the incense and round out to spice, wood, or other components. This one opens citrus and the incense is revealed on the dry down, and you end up with cinnamon and honey. It is a sweet and light incense and not very smoky. I love deep, dark, sexy incense. This is your incense perfume on a summer day. Nicer and sweeter than expected.

Looking to try a sample of the original round label version. Please message me if you'd like to sell❤

Musty-old-church smell. Gorgeous. I have a vintage bottle from the 1990s, which I find richer and rounder than the current (re?)formulation, which is a tad screechier.

Opens with less sugary orange sherbet with a touch of soft lemon, then after a few minutes the heart notes come forward that evokes an image of green jub-jubs and cola candy. If I try hard I can detect nuances of patchouli and myrrh but this scent sits very close to my skin. This scent does have a certain charm about it but there is no smoke or smokiness which IMO would lend well to an incense fragrance. I want to smell the incense but the sweetness becomes an obstacle and overwhelms the delicate incense note in the base. With the name Messe de Minuit (Midnight Mass), I expected much more. I'm Catholic and I'm well acquainted with incense and Holy Mass, however this scent IMO fails to capture that. It does capture a part of incense, which is a cool resinous vibe. However, with a lack of smoke, it falls short of what I was hoping for. Probably good to layer with...perhaps Interlude Man? Little projection but good longevity

Roman Catholic Church Incense at MIdnight Mass!!! Messe de Minuit , just like it says on the label. I can't understand those who say otherwise, unless they have a fake or some kind of reformulation. Takes me back to Christmas eve in my Lovely Parish Church every time I inhale this beautiful concoction.

Warm, smokey. Reminds me of being a child hiding under my dad’s wooden work desk, his old books near by. Drawers full of old erasers, pencil shavings. Also reminds me of incense, the generic joss sticks my Buddhist family would burn; not the smell of them actually burning but rather walking to a room where the smoke has long settled into everything in it from hours before. I really enjoy layering it with a jasmine or ylang ylang perfume, it really gives the impression of an elder Cambodian’s home in the coziest way.

Messe de Minuit conjures the image of 18th century colonial America, perhaps a mistress would be wearing this in a brothel? It -quickly- reached a warm, enveloping base note of myrhh and honey on my wrist, which is all I'm detecting at this point, 2 hours later. I don't hate it, nor do I love it... had to try based on these reviews.

Messe de minuit è affascinante e misterioso,un pò cupo e anche amarognolo. Ne sono state fatte tre varianti dal suo lancio, nel 1994. La prima bottiglia aveva la scatola verde ,il tappo oro e l'etichetta rotonda. Il suo aroma è amaro,incensato,molto aromatico ma anche addolcito da miele,ma è quello che più racchiude l'odore di muffa e di catacomba suggestivo che rende il nome alla fragranza. Questa versione è quella che odora meglio di umidità e muffa. La seconda edizione aveva scatola rossa,tappo oro ed etichetta quadrata. E' la versione più amara e più cupa,si sente l'atmosfera umida e antica che ricorda sotterranei medievali,cupe segrete,antri delle streghe e cerimonie notturne dal fascino remoto ed è piu acre rispetto alla prima. Questa è la versione più amara. La terza edizione,cioè quella attuale,ha scatola bianca ,tappo argento e etichetta quadrata.E' una versione meno amara e meno scura ma ugualmente piacevole. Fra i profumi di incenso che ricreano sensazioni medievali e gotiche,questo è il mio preferito perchè amaro,acre e austero. Questa versione è dove l'incenso si sente di più ed è piu dolce. La messa di mezzanotte non è necessariamente una messa cattolica, è più un riferimento a una cerimonia magica medievale nei sotterranei di un antico castello,nelle cupe segrete,in una notte fredda e nebbiosa,in un'epoca remota.... Quello che evoca un profumo è del tutto soggettivo.

I get a blast of orange in the opening. Then the orange tones down a bit (without ever leaving the stage), to introduce the co-star: cinnamon. This duo will be supported by a sour citrus note (citron?). In the drydown, the cinnamon will take the lead, with honey, patchouli and a shy powdery/vanillic myrrh in the background. Some noticeable similarities with LV Incensi (which is also a cinnamon-centered fragrance, not incense). I get the "old church furniture" effect they try to mimic, but the orange and powdery effect unbalances thing too sweetly and unrealistically. In a nutshell: it might fit the boxes for a woman who is looking for a "holidays" type of scent, and good taken on its own. That said, the name is misleading, and who is looking for an impression of "midnight mass" will definitely want to look elsewhere. Just ok in my book. Colder days, 30+ ⁝

One of the most compelling fragrances I own, Messe de Minuit captures the essence of spaces that have seen so much through time and have the sediment of human presence and history. I imagine antiquity of all sorts; the somber sweetness of wooden spaces, curio cabinets, Saratoga trunks, literature from days of yore, faded memories and dreams. There is also an element of solemn beauty that comes from the interior of places of worship and the incenses that have enveloped enclosures and left their imprint for ages. The myrrh and labdanum certainly lend to these impressions. The much-needed contrast in Messe de Minuit is the light through a rose window, radiance of the stained glass, courtesy of the citrus and petitgrain, bringing a dimension that is usually absent in the far more brooding incense fragrances that are in abundance. Here is the hope, the exultation that is needed to bear the dark and uncertain. The beautiful duality of the spirit. Wear this for days where you want to be present, when you need a still point in life. 10/10

This is not a “play-nice” incense. This is straight up oppressive, gothic, glowering, gargoyles, rusted iron, mildew, ancient cathedrals, bloodstained creaky wood, stained glass, smoke and mirrors, cobwebs spooky. It radiates evil for three hours (even with me vigorously trying to scrub it off) before settling down into something approximating an old library scent. You have been warned... if you can get your hands on some of this super rare fragrance, it’s a trip like no other.

Dear friends, how recognise Etro batch code?

Latest reformulation: Step in one of the baroque Churches of the old town in Napoli, in an early evening of September. Then, you move to an inner Chapel, where recently, the old benches and the confessionals were polished with citrucy furniture wax. There's a gloomy, dusty stale air for centuries, in here...but the peaceful atmosphere warms up your soul