Encens Suave

Matiere Premiere Encens Suave is a really beautiful fragrance, but in a very specific way. At first, I honestly did not love the opening. It felt a little meh and I was not sure what to think of it. But once it started settling, it became much more interesting. I started getting this slightly churchy incense mixed with cedar, balsamic woods, and almost a Christmas tree or Christmas Eve type of feeling. It is not just smoky incense. It feels more like warm resin, dry wood, and a beautiful holiday atmosphere. What makes it stand out is how atmospheric it is. It does not really smell like a typical seductive fragrance or something I would wear to just smell sexy. It smells more like a warm, expensive room in the winter. Like a dark coat, cold air, a quiet night, candlelight, wood, incense, and something slightly sweet in the background. It is very long trench coat coded. I think it is genuinely beautiful, but it is also situational. This is not something I would wear every day or in warm weather. It feels made for cold nights, Christmas time, nice winter outfits, coffee shops, bookstores, museums, theaters, or a quiet formal dinner. It has a classy, mysterious, slightly dramatic feeling to it. Overall, Encens Suave is a beautiful fragrance. It is not my most exciting scent and it is not the first bottle I would rush to buy, but I understand why it is special. It smells like winter, incense, wood, resin, and an expensive atmosphere. A very classy, specific, and memorable scent.

This is one of those scents that I wouldn’t wear but I keep smelling it because I like it. I didn’t get any coffee at all, the opening was very warm, smoky, sweetish, and leathery for me, like a worn leather couch in a room with a lot of incense. Then it kind of became linear, I could only smell rich incense with benzoin and sweet vanilla. Rich, sweetish, refined, and exotic in a way. It would be a unisex scent for me if I could picture a human wearing it, because it heavily reminds me of a small wooden box my father gifted me from Marrakesh when I was young. Yet, I keep smelling it on myself. The only scenario I could picture wearing it is when I’m a 70 year old woman going to her enemies’ funerals held in churches. But then, that’s all I’m gonna wear.

A dark, incensy vanilla with coffee in the opening. Not much to describe, I think the comments below are spot on with the church association. Very nice, very good.

A true smoky incense which is top quality and blended with beautiful Vanilla, very seductive and addictive fragrance, good attention grabbing power and last long ,best for cool weather, perfectly unisex in my opinion definitely buying a backup bottle for this one 5 star

I have to share my experience with Encens Suave—it’s truly captivating. I wear it to work, especially when I'm in the presence of celebrities, and it never fails to make an impression. It’s the perfect introduction to church-inspired fragrances, striking a balance that isn’t overwhelmingly smoky but still intriguing. What I love most is the gourmand undertone that dances beneath the resinous scent, giving it a magnetic quality. It’s unisex, so anyone can enjoy it, and it blends beautifully with other fragrances if you feel like mixing things up. Encens Suave is a refreshing twist on the typical clean fragrance, inviting those around me to ask what I’m wearing. It’s more than just a scent; it’s become a conversation starter and a signature part of my daily routine. If you’re looking for something unique, I highly recommend giving it a try!

Resinous incense with an unexpectedly smooth texture. Like walking into an ancient cathedral carrying a vanilla latte. Sweet enough to be addictive without becoming gourmand. In summary, a sumptuous, resinous incense enveloped in creamy vanilla, striking a perfect balance between sacred smoke and comforting warmth.

This is definitely a very good churchy incense fragrance, and I really do enjoy smelling it, however…I would of liked to have seen a deeper more richer vanilla and benzoin then what it presents for me to be able to wear it based off personal taste. I do think this would be an amazing fragrance for a man. As this brand always has, amazing longevity.

Wore this during my trip to Portland, ME in the middle of January, and it was the perfect warm, smoky spice to hang on to my coats and sweaters the whole time.

After years of searching, I think I may have finally found a fragrance I can't get enough of. A little story about how I ended up with Encens Suave. It all started when I discovered Holy Metal by Tamburins — one of the most intoxicating scents I've ever smelled. Unfortunately, it was discontinued, which sent me down a rabbit hole looking for something that could scratch the same itch. Spoiler: I've never found anything truly similar. But what I did find was Encens Suave! Along the way, I sampled pretty much everything people recommended. I worked through the entire Comme des Garçons incense series, including Comme des Garçons 2. To my nose, they were all surprisingly rank and unpleasant. I made a trip to a fragrance boutique specifically to try Portrait of a Lady and Diptyque Orphéon, but while I was there, the Matière Première display caught my eye. The bottles looked beautiful, so I started testing a few from the range. I left with three blotters: Portrait of a Lady (which, in my opinion, is wildly overhyped), Orphéon, and Encens Suave. For the next two weeks, those tester strips sat on a table at home. Every day I'd walk past and catch a whiff of something absolutely addictive. Rich, sweet, comforting, impossible to ignore. It was the Encens Suave blotter, going strong. As for the scent itself, I barely get any coffee. The opening reminds me faintly of growing up around a Catholic church; incense, warmth, something nostalgic and almost spiritual. What really captivates me is how sweet it becomes as it develops. The dry down is gorgeous. More than anything, this fragrance has been a bit of a journey in self-discovery. It's helped me understand what I actually enjoy wearing. I genuinely think it's a masterpiece. I haven't received a single compliment while wearing it and honestly, that's fine. I wear it because I love it. That's all that really matters. It leans slightly feminine to my nose, but I can absolutely imagine a stylish guy pulling it off effortlessly. Which brings me to something I've never really understood about fragrance discussions: why are we so concerned about what strangers think? Fragrance is subjective. Wear what makes you happy. Every time I wear this, it puts me in a better mental headspace and honestly, that's worth far more to me.

I struggle a little with churchy incense fragrances as I find the note can sometimes be over-dominant and on its own I do not find it especially attractive. My everlasting soul has been irredeemably gone for years and there is no saving it. But the reason Encens Suave is so good is that the churchy vibe is still there but has been rounded off with ambery textures and especially a really contemporary coffee note. I first got my nose on this one about eighteen months ago and was very impressed at how nice it was, given that I am not always the biggest incense fan. It isn't complex or challenging and is unsurprisingly quite linear but all the more charming for it, I think. For a house with four or five genuine, honest-to-God masterpieces from the wonderful Aurelien Guichard, this is absolutely up there with the best of them. The incense note here is, characteristically of the house, omnipresent across the head, heart and base of this, but it never feels evocative of billowing lamps and confessional guilt. The labdanum and buttery vanillic accords smooth this over to a glassy finish and the espresso coffee accord is genuinely spectacular, in how it smells but also how it adds this dusky bitterness that takes away the cloying sweetness of the incense. It is still smoky and powerful but in a nice way. The benzoin layer is akin to a cleansing, reaffirming "God loves you and forgives you your sins, my child" from a priest. It is funny, because you spray this one and it takes a minute or so to calm down and sit properly and it feels like you are waiting for the smoke to clear and your thoughts to settle down. When it does, it is one of the best unisex incense fragrances ever made in my opinion and is quite incredibly wearable. I'd say it leans feminine but a more open-minded gentleman could rock this in a more formal setting. Three Word Summary: Intensely Wearable Incense Laying Suggestion: Bois Corse by Diptyque as a base layer. Or as a *one spray only* top layer for a Nouveau Monde by Louis Vuitton base. It is one of those layering combos where I cannot explain why it works but it does. Outfit: this is not a warm weather fragrance really, so I'm thinking smart jeans, thick cashmere sweater, Breitling, clean Chelsea boots and a long Aquascutum overcoat. Scent - 9/10 Drydown - 7/10 Sillage - 9/10 Bottle/Packaging - 8/10 Performance - 9/10 44/50

Sweet incense-like scent. Benzoin? A little bit. Coffee? Imaginary amount only, if at all. It's my second testing from this house. The first one I tested just rocketed to be my signature fragrance. I gave 5 stars because it smells good, it's enjoyable but I wouldn't really use it more than my tester because it's too sweet.

I hate incense but this is otherworldly, mainly because it uses a super smooth and clean, non smoky, woody and lemony type of incense instead of a synthetic, cheap smelling agarbatti incense. There is a very faint yet detectable touch of coffee underneath the resins and vanilla. This doesn't smell like a church, churches burn resins, this is a resinous fragrance...

This perfume is walking in the rain in Paris, the sun is down. You take shelter in a Catholic Church. When you enter you smell incense, damp stone and wood, and then a creamy background of wax candles. It’s comforting, warming, addictive. Lasts the whole day as well.

Y’all….Encens Suave and Lune Feline are practically the same scent doing a costume change. Seriously! Lune Feline is a tad deeper with cardamom while Encens Suave is a little lighter and a touch woodier. So if you’re looking to wear that scent all year, here ya go, ES for Spring & Summer and LF for fall and winter. I did a blind buy and kinda regret it for the redundancy but do think they’re both great fragrances.

One of my absolute favourites. Encens Suave smells like the sharp airy part of incense smoke right after you light it. Dry warm, slightly dusty incense instead of thick resinous smoke. I barely get coffee honestly. Mostly woods, musk, incense and this soft sweetness underneath that keeps it smooth without turning fully gourmand. To me, it smells like old wood and paper in winter. Very comforting but still elegant and a little dramatic, very goth. The opening is my favourite part and it lasts forever on clothes with barely any sprays. Not a safe blind buy.

My absolute signature scent. I love it. It smells like a sugary church incense. A very gourmand goth girl perfume. My nose does not pick up any coffee though.

One of my top 3 MP fragrances, a gorgeous sweet resinous incense! Unlike anything ive owned before. Theres a time and a place to wear this, and i dont reach for it often, but it's still nice to have in my collection. Absolutely beastly projection and lasting power, sprayed on clothes it lasted almost a week

I like it artistically, hate it on me! To me the opening is really interesting and gives cool sweaty fantasy warrior girl who just went through fire. I'm actually going to use it on a cosplay for that reason! However, with the drydown on my skin I get some acrid/pungeant mix of decent vanilla that you've boiled for cooking and day-old used (still wet) ground coffee. It's... interesting, but I don't like it and am going to scrub it asap before I leave the house. Maybe I'll give it another try in the colder months, but I have little hope. Edit 2 months later: ok I've been wearing it a few times while cosplaying and it's growing on me. I wore it to embody the cool warriors I was trying to be and it definitely gave me confidence. The acidic drydown doesn't really bother me anymore, and because this frag makes less apologetic I don't really care as much about coming across as "weird scented" while wearing it. Nice boost. Going from "dislike" to "like"!

ambery incense for the age of gourmands, coffee almost reads as chocolate to me. kinda bland, def stay away if you’re looking for a soul stirring incense frag

Ambroxan, vanillin and olibanum. No coffee, no depth, too bad because it starts really promising, but becomes way too simple way too quick.

This smells like an antique bookstore to me. Musky, and mildew. Not for me.

This is a super good deep incense with the slightest tinge of vanilla. It's a little masc leaning.

I got a chocolate plum vibe from this, and of course a ton of incense you can’t miss! This is smoky and sophisticated, not super loud but alluring. Unisex, sexy! ✨ Long lasting and close to the skin as I said, but for me it’s always like that with a resinous/balsamic fragrance

64/100 this is a nice incense and woodsy. very masculine. it’s rough and jagged. i get strong labdanum which to me always comes off like salty and “seasoned meat” like, eucalyptus, and cedar. tiny bit of amber-y vanillic sweetness.

This smells like an elegant, older woman who's spent the last few years collecting rare and expensive antiques. Sweet, old wood, smoky, classy and sexy.

I can’t really detect any coffee in the opening. To my nose, the fragrance starts with a noticeable incense note. As it develops, it moves into a warmer, resinous base where I mainly perceive benzoin, labdanum, and vanilla. The composition leans more toward the base notes, creating an ambered and comforting character. Overall, it’s a fragrance I could see myself adding to my collection.

Encens Suave opens with dry church incense. That’s actually the most beautiful phase of that perfume, in my opinion. When Encens Suave leans toward church incense, it reveals the material in its most atmospheric form: dry, slightly cool, mineral, almost like smoke rising in a quiet stone space. At that moment, the perfume has: dryness, vertical lift (smoke rising) a kind of spiritual spaciousness. But the composition of Encens Suave is designed to soften that austerity with benzoin, vanilla, and coffee. So instead of staying in that sacred, resinous space, it gradually melts into a sweet, resinous amber base. I value air, structure, movement, and contrast—that shift to me feels like the perfume loses its architecture. The opening promises something austere and mysterious, and then the base turns comfortable and sweet. Too sweet for me, actually. Testing Encens Suave did something valuable though: it showed me that I enjoy the incense opening but not the sweet, amber direction that follows.

Surprisingly good. Most of the house falls quite flat for me. They all seem to share a base that I find synthetic and quite cheap for the price point. Encens Suave is the one that clicks, it's by far their catchiest release. It's quite simple; cold incense supported by a generously sweetened amber base. Two distinct layers converging beautifully in the air. has very few top notes but the incense sings so high that I don't find it lacking anything. Minimal yet grand. There's much better incense-forward perfumes out there but this may be the most pleasant and easy to like. Wouldn't ever be mad smelling this in the wild.

Encens Suave by Matiere Premiere smells very very good, like a sweet woody holiday candle. To me, the house uses a signature woody musk and I can smell it here and in Vanilla Powder, which also smells very very good, like an expensive candle. Here is the thing: I've been at this fragrance hobby for 13 years now and at first, I was really drawn to this style of fragrance--sweet and woody without the aquatic (blue) feeling found in designers, but now, I need something with more depth, more notes, more atmosphere, more development, more fantasy. I need a fine fragrance, traditional perfumery to keep my interest; or, new technology (i.e., the latest synthetic) that surprises me. The later category better be in a bottle less than $200 (initial price, not the grey market price), not in a $400 bottle of over-hyped "niche", unless of course it is combined with high quality ingredients to create a complex composition with depth and development. For Your Love by Mizensir is a good example of balancing traditional complexity with the latest molecules, but it is still not worth the full price. This is the third fragrance from the house that I've tried and my conclusion is that I am not the target market for Matiere Premiere, so take my review with a grain of salt and enjoy your perfume. :)

It reminds me of the scent of luxury hotels built in the late 19th and early 20th century. It smells sweet and creamy from the vanilla notes and also like a church from the incense and resins, there isn't much of a coffee note tho. I personally love this perfume, I find it very comforting and warming (defo a winter scent). During the first 3-5 hours of wearing, it is a bit strong, depending on how much you spray (I recommend 1-2). Later, it becomes a much more intimate scent on the skin, and it almost feels like it is a part of you. 10/10 I would recommend!! P.S. I also like pairing it with Alto Astral by Byredo; it adds a bit of freshness and cuts down the sweetness.