Comme des Garcons Series 3 Incense: Jaisalmer Comme des Garcons for women and men

It has a touch of mystery, a touch of moss, outdoors, swamps... Something in it makes me think about vetiver some time after the application? Perhaps not, but some wonderful incense burning, dry, soft, like a lovely aura embracing me delightfully. It developes beautifully. I love the earthy warmness, with those spice and incense facets and Orient. This fragrance has a great character, I'm so tired with those fragrances for women - fortunately there are some exceptions, my all time favorite being Balenciaga Talisman, for special occasions. Jaisalmer is for everyday.

The CdG Incense series have a problem with this whole line. They've done a sensational job of replicating various incenses but they've done it quite literally. To me, this is a failure for perfume because while the chemist in me admires turning birch tar into leather, the artist in me needs evocation as much as replication.
Everyone has commented on the pininess of this scent. I see the connection but I think this is actually the ebony. I find this deficient in spice and the pepper missing. My summary: a neat magician's trick but not much of a perfume.

Sillage: fairly close 1-3 ft
Duration: 3 hours and counting
Fabulosity: He's a lumberjack and he's okay
Value to Price ratio: poor
2/10 as a perfume; 9/10 as a special effect

Resinous, peppery and piney. Smells like a very old book. The weakest one in the incense series.

As others have mentioned, this has a very strong pine note at the opening, that lasts for at least 30 minutes. In fact, it's so loud that it smothers pretty much anything else for a while. And then it fades away (never completely though) and the incense shines trough. And how it shines! It's calming, warming, comforting AND not the least bit churchy. While I love Avignon, I find it hard to wear because of the strong churchy connotations; no such fear with Jaisalmer. This is not a meditating fragrance like Avignon or Kyoto, this is an incense to wear when out clubbing. IMO, it's the most wearable of the Incense series (along with Quarzazate but that lacks any lasting power). The spices (cardammon & pepper) warm this up, making it perfect for colder weather. In fact, I find this much more 'flamboyant' than Encens Flamboyant which I also own and although I like to layer my incense scents with other perfumes, I think is too rich to need any 'embelishment'.

After 4 samples, I finally invested in a FB and I can see myself wearing it quite often. A must try for incense lovers!

Really nice, warm, spicy incense with strong notes of cinnamon, clove, pepper, and some kind of a pine-y woody note. It's like a strong spiced tea perfect in autumn and wintertime. I like this one alot.

A rich incense opening! But not the kind of incense that we can find in Avignon, where mixed with myrrh gives us a church feeling.

Here we have a incense note accompanied by spicy notes like cardamon upon a resinous base where benzoin shines. A very versatile incense based fragrance if I may say.

I adore incense-based fragrances although it wasn't a scent I was familiar with until I dated one man that was a meditation fanatic, and then the most recent man, who sees himself as one of those new-age hippies.

I had tried Heeley's Cardinal and Comme Des Garcons Avignon, both of them being rather similar, and believed that I had experienced everything that an incense-based fragrance could possibly achieve. I have since found Jaisalmer which has taken my love of incense to new heights.

I agree with Scorpiosheep that this fragrance is not so 'churchy'. It's more resinous, like the sweet, smokey scent of burning wood in a pine forest. It tends to smell very masculine, however on my skin it turns quite feminine and sensual. Delightfully mysterious actually.

The cinnamon is fairly heavy in the opening, as is the pepper which together create an interesting, spicy blend. The woodsy notes are strong contenders through to the heart where Jaisalmer gives me that outdoorsy type of sensation. Like wandering through the wilderness and not knowing what you'll discover.

This fragrance is indeed pungent, so I spray with caution and allow it to settle before leaving the house. Too much could easily be offensive, however I do believe compliments will be in order when I next wear this in public.

The longevity is extremely good, as reviewers have previously mentioned. I think Jaisalmer is one of those fragrances that will either be loved or hated. For those that like incense, amber, cinnamon, pepper or pine, or all of them combined, Jaisalmer is sure to impress. I'll just re-instate for those men looking at this page, wondering why it's listed for women, do keep in mind that Jaisalmer is intended to be unisex.

Jaisalmer doesn't have the sombre, cold "church" smell of its colleagues Avignon and Zagorsk, but instead is warm and spicy, wrapping you in a cosy welcoming aura rather than the "hands off, show some respect" approach of the others. Despite several foody ingredients it does not smell at all gourmand. Neither does it have that cheap Indian market incense smell which can choke you. It is a refined but exotic perfume which has been put together in a calmer manner, making it eminently wearable and not screaming for attention. 9/10.

Initially Jaisalmer is a dry and austere balsamic incense loaded with fresh pine sap. If it contains spices, they’re not much in evidence. I’m not sure what the Indian connection is, because it doesn’t smell at all like typical Indian incense. What it smells like is church incense accompanied by one of the best pine resin notes I’ve ever smelled in a perfume.

A couple of hours into the drydown, I imagine that I smell a little patchouli, but it may have been left over from something I was working with earlier. The scent remains mostly linear, just the lovely warm pine balsam that reminds me of the rosin that’s used on violin bows. After the initial phase there’s not a lot of sillage, but the skin scent lasts all day.

Jaisalmer is a unique take on incense. I really enjoyed testing it, and will surely end up using all of my sample, then possibly going back for more.

If you mention "woods" or "incense", this will definitely get my attention. If you say both in one sentence - I'll be hooked up =)
I remember sampling CDG Avignon and Zagorsk at the store, trying to decide which one I want, but somewhere at the back of my mind it screamed "Too much church! Are you 100% sure you'll be wearing this?"
And then my hand reached for the bottle standing nearby, which happened to be Jaisalmer, and ...oh! This was it, I found it!
Yes, this one is full of masculine tones, but somehow I love it, and some time after the application and settles to become very cozy. Many incense fragrances are often accompanied by patchouli, which I don't always appreciate. This fragrance, deprived of dreadful patchouli and rounded up by amber, woods and spices, has development and lasts very long, and I love it in cold winter weather. I guess, it's my favourite among the CDG Incense series))

Exactly like burning incense, including the sharp woody edge. Really not a perfume scent, but extremely atmospheric. Recommended for incense fragrance aficionados.

Very spicy incense which makes me think of an oriental marketplace.
It is not a sillage monster, in fact you'll have to smell close to the skin to get all the shades of this scent.

If you liked Donna Karan Black Cashmere, you'll like Jaisalmer. Both are quite similar.