Chembur Byredo for women and men

Now this is a Byredo -- at least in addition to Accord Oud -- that I truly liked and appreciated, so I'm surprised to see strong negative opinions of this.

Yes, it's incense, resins, coupled with amber, labdanum, nutmeg and ginger. Yes, you need to like more smoldering fragrances to appreciate this. Yes, it's priced squarely in the niche category. And yes, this has more than likely been done in some other formulation with subtle differences.

However, it still maintains a subtle elegance and remains not-too-understated nor too loud as many incenses would be. I suspect that subtlety may be lost on some and not others, which leads to the strong preferences either way. I found the longevity and projection on this to be just about right -- Byredo seems to get knocked on short duration, but that hasn't been my experience. Moreover, this either has a certain cult following or isn't produced in large quantity, since my Barney's rep has a running list for advance ordering and the stock is usually sold quickly.

I'll stop short of saying this is over-the-moon great, but it's a very solid presentation of an incense-inspired fragrance.

mostly frankincense (ok, elemi), which is nice, but if you want to go that route, get Avignon instead.

I've a feeling with Chembur I've not totally understood yet. It's shy, not loud, kinda laidback but it's there, and you pleasantly notice. Basically it's a frankincense fragrance but it takes its distance from others scents of the same family (Avignon, Cardinal, Incense Extreme) by introducing a metallic note in the opening that I quite appreciate. It's dry and cold at first, a bit pungent, a bit astringent but never too loud, never too much. The drydown is very gentle and comfortable, almost imperceptible and it gave me the sensation of a room where they burned sandalwood incense sticks (the good quality ones), but two days ago. My aim was to write a "not so good /nothing special" review but having Chembur on my skin that shyly appears with its subtile allure, changed my mind and left me somehow fascinated.
I don't think I will never get a FB of this as I usually love darker and warmer church incenses but, if you're looking for something quite distinctive but not too daring, give Chembur a chance.

Rating: 7/10

Another ripoff in the male section from Byredo. This one is similar to a flanker of Alain Delon Samourai Fragrance, Samourai 47. It opens in the same way on skin, with a cheap but pleasant citrus with metallic ginger, which lends you to a base where they barely used incense. The labdanum, amber and elemi resin produce a similar aroma of the base of Gucci by Gucci pour homme, only a little more intense.
Another one that it`d be okay in a massmarket fragrance, but in a more exclusive collection, where they charge you 195 dollars for a 100ml bottle of fragrance, it`s unaceptable. This is false niche, massmarket fragrances under a beautiful concept, with poor execution and unjustifiable prices.

Hmm... I'm surprised I don't see patchouli here, I thought I detected it. This is wearing like Kurkdjian's Lumierre Noir pour femme on me (and like Sublime Balkiss by a Different Company)
I.e, it has a high ringing, medicinal finish that I attribute to patchouli.

I tried this in the evening, adn in the morning still had it hanging on my clothes. I"m now wearing it throughout the day (a different shirt!), and I'm getting better sillage than I did with Bal d'Afrique, and I'm happy about that.

Ginger and nutmeg might frighten some people, but here it does not stand out, and everything is nicely balanced. If pressed I would call this a citrus infused chypre and not an oriental spicy.

It probably comes down to chemistry here, but if you are drawn to green chypres you will certainly want to try this.

This is an elegant unisex spicy scent that starts with bergamot and ginger and it proceeds in a honeyed resinous wonderfully textured drydown. I would really like it if it had sillage and staying power but i can barely it smell it, only when i press my nose to my hand, so it's not worth it.