California has always been a state with an embarrassment of riches, whether it be gold deposits, fruits and vegetables, cutting edge foods, or cutting edge perfumers. Dotting the state are many talents, each with their own personal style.
JoAnne Bassett is one of those people. Committed to making the must luxurious natural perfumes, hers alma’s make me think of classic French compositions: deceptively simple but with many depths to them.
Call to Prayer is the latest one. From her website:
“My Call To Prayer Perfume was birthed this Ramadan on July 8, 2015. This precious perfume is a high vibration perfume with rose, frankincense and oud – agarwood in a base of organic jojoba oil.
Vintage Bulgarian white rose (alba) otto the “flower of light”, Vintage Rare Frankincense Oman, hydro distilled, and a combination of Cambodia and Thai wild oud – agarwood.
The general feeling is peace, meditation and reverence when applied.”
I am remedied by it of the (admittedly few) times we went to church in the summer. Raisesd catholic, I was at the tail end of the incense and Latin services, before they went to English and nuns with guitars. THe rose is the entry from the street, the frankincense is the smell of the altar, the agar wood the smell of the walls absorbing those previous scents for a century. It is a peaceful and very meditative scent that needs only a touch of to work.
The lasting power is excellent, especially for a natural scent. I get 5 or 6 hours of “lean in and smell me” beauty.
Call to Prayer is sold at her website, in a 3 ml glass bottle in an ivory satin bag for $108.00. I won mine in a give-a-way. Image is from her website.
Thank you Tom for the review of my Call To Prayer perfume. Yes oud is very expensive …and so is the vintage hydro frankincense and vintage Bulgarian white rose otto. That is what makes it so precious.
Wow! $108 for a sample! And act of God wouldnt make me waste money that way>
I absolutely adore this name. I was reaching for my debit card until I saw agarwood. no go.
You had me until you said $108 for 3 ml. That’s way too pricey for me. While I realize the ingredients are expensive, that’s like paying $108 for a sample size. Lucky you for getting the chance to try this for free 🙂
In churches you get bells. With mosques you get the Call to Prayer. Five times a day. Sometimes quite beautiful, often times over a scratchy loudspeaker.
Hey, Tom! I keep meaning to try her line; it sounds lovely. Won’t start with this one as I’m not big on oud or rose, but will look into some others. And her bottles are adorable.