@smithstagram: _smithstagram Welcome to the start of another perfume quest (even though the first perfume quest is still ongoing). @Scent Split has graciously sent me the top 20 contenders for the most catholic guilt inducing fragrance of all time! I compiled this list by talking to several perfumers and perfume fanatics as well as crowd sourcing from all of the little people who live in my phone. Lots to get into here and a lot of nuance to deal with so stay tuned! We will have some answers this week. #perfume #fragrance #catholic #church #incense
I’ve been chasing the scent of a Czech cathedral I went to 20 years ago ever since. It smelled like everything you mentioned, damp stones, old dust, and ancient roses. Rosaries are traditionally made of rose petals. That scent haunts me and I fear I shall never find it again.
2025-12-31 07:51:04
1243
poorfoodie :
The search being “list of demonic perfumes to avoid” is killing me 💀
2025-12-31 19:25:53
282
Darmok_onthe_ocean :
No one ever talks about the mix of cold Stoney water touched to a hot forehead skin note. That was always my most intense Catholic upbringing memory.
2025-12-31 02:22:11
328
rian phin :
brother this concept 😭 wild but very fabulous
2025-12-30 20:01:29
641
Astrid “4189” Ellensdottir :
it can’t smell like mass, it has to smell like confession, maybe with a hint of communion wine.
2026-01-13 13:23:33
416
Christine Riutzel :
Female Christ by Sixty-Nine smells like being in a cathedral while it's raining outside
2025-12-31 21:20:23
189
Esty :
I made my own Catholic-inspired fragrance just for me. frankincense, myrrh, tuberose, and bright citrus florals. I blended it into both a body oil and a perfume.
2025-12-31 15:10:42
37
Steph🍓 :
Not guilty persay but Eau de protection by etat livra d’orange reminds me of an old school rosary actually made from roses
2026-01-01 06:53:31
17
ll :
I'd be curious to see some Orthodox church scents. Specifically Antiochian because the Greeks and the Russians never hit quite as hard aromatically in my experience.
2025-12-31 14:32:07
69
Mills :
If you live in Chicago, ill give you a decant of "sister Hilgard" by pearfat.
2025-12-31 05:48:15
52
Insane^soda :
Oh heck, please tell me Avignon by Commes de garçons, Cardinal by James Heeley and la liturgie des heures by jovoy are gonna have a knife fight
2025-12-30 22:18:21
40
Heather | Cold Frame Perfumery :
I would also like to throw With a Candle Stick by Clue Perfumery to the mix
2025-12-31 14:48:48
22
˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ :
I've been wanting to make a video on this exact thing for so long! As a Catholic I was on this very same hunt. I'm curious to see if Passage d'Enfer by Olivia Giacobetti made your list, that's the one I chose to wear daily!
2025-12-31 17:37:49
15
YesSpiral :
I didn’t know this was a thing but when I smelled Incenso by Santa Maria Novella - I felt transported to a church and immediately purchased it. I wear it when I host moon circles.
2025-12-31 14:06:03
34
loveyourground :
Has anyone suggested Midnight Mass by Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab? I have a bottle that is at least 15 years old and it smells just like Catholic Church to me.
2026-01-01 09:31:55
42
Retrofuturista🥀🗡️🕯️📖 :
You better have Avignon, Reve De Ossian, and Casbah in this lineup
2025-12-31 19:03:33
25
😅 :
I layer Jo Malone Myrrh & Tonka under Tom Ford Boi Pacifique to get a sandalwood and myrrh smell. the Tonka helps the sandalwood to smell closer to burnt sandalwood rather than the astringent raw essential oil smell.
2025-12-31 20:44:24
6
myno 😵💫 :
obsessed with that brutalist bottle between all the miniatures
2026-01-14 17:51:29
29
SoIveBeenThinking📚 :
Serge lutens smells like Incense but also the like sealed wax thing that’s on church pews, like the small of the wood bench and that clear whatever it covered in. Photo realistic smell of back when I was a kid resting my head on the pew in front of me during mass.
2026-01-01 00:39:58
5
Kendall :
if female christ by 19-69 isn’t on there it is wrong
2025-12-31 19:45:54
49
coast :
You have to try possessed girl in the attic by St Narcissus
2025-12-31 00:14:10
5
Emme Bloom :
I’m in for this ride. Not catholic but I went to catholic school. Time for some fun.
2026-01-18 01:56:16
3
unacallevacia :
I want to smell like I just spent an hour in confession on an old cathedral during mass on Good Friday, or at least during a day in Lent.
2026-01-13 20:18:11
3
Dominique Michelle :
You’re doing God’s wo—wait
2026-01-02 11:23:17
3
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