Heeley Eau Sacree is the latest release from this line. It’s going to the top of my list for underrated perfume house. I’m never sure why some lines seem to not get the attention they should – is it the name? Original launch got lost? I know I love Sel Marin and Cardinal, thought Bubblegum chic was a very cool take on jasmine.
Heeley Eau Sacree has notes of Aldehydes, clove, nutmeg, pepper, incense, amber, cedar, musk, opoponax, sandalwood. It is everything you want in an incense fragrance – peppery, slightly spiced, resinous, smokey. It opens with a punch of pepper, and the aldehydes push it while all that lovely incense unfolds behind it.
I took these pictures in 2008 when I took my sons to Europe for the first time. My youngest son had just graduated from high school, I’d separated from my husband a couple of months earlier. We had the best time there, but it was overlaid with this patina of grief. We went into a lot of churches, but it was this church, St. Denis in Amboise, that we all fell in love with. Churches have a feeling when you walk in them – some are chilly, some are reverent, some are a little scary. We walked around this one, and it was warm, it almost hugged you, and floating in the air was chanting from far away – I kept thinking heaven, but pretty sure it was some way down lower level of St. Denis. Listen, my sons would barely put up with my church crawling, and I’d sometimes get them to stay for a few minutes – St. Peter’s in Rome was one we managed for about 20 minutes. St. Denis was different. None of us wanted to leave. That
‘s my oldest son sitting before the altar.
While we were in there, though, you could smell the incense that permeated every last mossy brick for centuries. Which brings me to the point of this meandering – Heeley Eau Sacree. Not sure it’s exactly right, but it’s close or it is in my head. It’s not just the incense they swing during Mass, it has age in it as well. The aldehydes bring a texture to it that make this incense fragrance unique while keeping all the beauty of my favorite incense fragrances.
Utterly charming. It is an extrait, so it’s about $230 for a 50 ml bottle.
Winners of the Zoologist entire line samples – tiarali and amateur dilettante. Just click on Drop Us a Note at the top, send me an e-mail, remind me of what you won and get me your mailing address. I’ll send you a quick e-mail to let you know I got your e-mail and it didn’t land in a spam filter and then get it on the way to you. I only check Posse e-mail like once a week, so it can take a few days sometimes to respond there.
So of course we will do a Heeley Eau Sacree sample drawing. Just comment with whether you’ve tried the line or your favorite in the comments to be entered. I’ll draw for three winners.
I avoided incense perfume for the longest time. Obviously this was dumb of me. I received 10 Corso Como as a replacement for a sold out sample of something else and it’s been a pleasant smelling downhill slide ever since. Heely is on my to try list but hasn’t been high priority. The ardent campaigning here has reminded me to give them a chance.
I have somehow managed to not try any from this line, and I am quite fond of incense notes! And visiting old churches 🙂 Thank you for the giveaway!
Hmmm. I adore incense scents. Cardinal is close to CDG Avignon, comfort scent. Would love to try EAU SACREE
Heeley has been part of the blur of niche lines – I’ve seen the name but can’t remember what they have (and forget to look). I got a sample of Ophelia in a grab bag and it wasn’t my kind of thing. I’m thinking I’ll have to change that!
Please dont enter me in this draw, as I just wanted to yammer on, but thank you for picking me for Zoologist draw!
I have never tried a Heeley fragrance. I would love to! Thank you Patty!
I do not know any of them, but since they’ve been mentioned twice in the same week by different people, I’m most intrigued. Thanks, Patty!
I meant to add, thank you for the beautiful story to go along with your love for the scent.
I love Sel Marin – it’s one of my ‘go-to’ hot summer day scents. And your review of Eau Sacree has me drooling! Would love to win this one!!
I won’t enter this time as I won samples of Zoologist…thank you very much!
WELL CRAP. I keep trying to find reasons *not* to sample stuff, but I think I need to smell this one.
I’d love to try it! Looking for a new scent.
I have never tried this line, but I am intrigued by your description. I did not know if I would like incense in a fragrance, but I have an decant of Seville a l’Aube, that I am growing to love. That church it just lovely. I was reared in the Catholic Church, so am familiar with the aroma of incense.
I would love to try Heeley Eau Sacree.
My favorite Heeley is Oranges and Lemons. It feels perfectly balanced to me but, alas, it is quite expensive for what is essentially a cologne in composition even if it is in EDP concentration. I’d love to smell Eau Sacree. Your description is lovely.
I meant to add to my last post that I love Heely fragrances. Hippie Rose is gorgeous and I’m currently trying to hunt down a bottle of Ophelia which is no longer in production.
I just bought this perfume at Twisted Lily in Brooklyn and I LOVE it! I was raised in the Catholic Church and attended mass every week but have not been in over 20 years. The moment I tried this I was hooked. It brought me back to the days of warmth and security embracing me in a place of calm and peace. No elecronics no anxiety. It does start out with a very heavy incense note but as it dries down you begin to small a green note and a gourmand note – nutmeg or clove possibly. I also get a faint amber note and after 16 hours the sandalwood surfaces. This has longevity and will stay on your skin all day with no reapplication needed.
I loved the description of visiting churches and I agree they have very different atmospheres and some, like Durham, can feel grim. With English churches there is not that seeped into the stones incense. I have never tried any of this line but would love to try this as I love some incense perfumes like iunx’s l’ether.
I am not at all familiar with the Heeley line, but love your description and the fragrant potential of an aldehydic, peppery punch, clove, nutmeg, sandalwood, incense, amber and smoke (…sounds wonderful), and I’d love a chance to try it. I can also truly appreciate the incredible confirmation one feels when the experience of a place or situation is shared (as your family did in that church). I know a word for that in another language, but not in English.
Okay, now I’m curious. What’s the word in another language and what language? 🙂
I tried Sel Marin and was really impressed!!
Scent memories. I loved this post Patty.
DNEM, because I’m sitting here huffing my arm, testing my sample 🙂 Very nice. I agree that Heeley is underrated. I have a FB of Cardinal, of course, but I also like Hippie Rose, Cocobello, St Clements, and Verveine d’Eugene. I recently went on vacation and thought seriously about taking only my Heeley manufacturer’s samples… if they’d had caps, I might have.
Ok, so I need to look into more Heeley frags. I think I’ve only tried Cardinal. And St. Denis sounds worth the trip.
I love Cardinal and think most of the line is really well done. Iris de nuit is wonderful, sel Marin and Coccobello are great fun, and esprit de tigre is great too. I love the names too “oranges and lemons say the bells of st. Clement’s”…I grew up singing that song.
I have and love Cardinal, plus I am a total incense freak. The price is painful but I’d love to try it anyway.
I have never tried Heeley fragrances. Your post was wonderful, and made me want to smell this Eau Sacree really really bad!
I’ve never tried any of this line, but I would love the chance.
I also love Heeley fragrances. My favorite is Hippie Rose. I never liked beachy fragrances until I tried Heeley Cocobello. Incense is an iffy note for me, but if it’s Heeley, it might just work.
I love Heeley fragrances. iris de nuit is my signature and I adore it. I also have a bottle of Heeley’s Cardinal, it’s a chilly incense fragrance. Looking forward to trying this one! Thanks for the drawing.
I forgot, I also love Heeley’s Amande- it is amazing, so fresh, like a real almond tree blossom! And Cocobello is delightful.
I love incense, especially if it’s churchy, so this sounds right up my alley! Had a quick sniff of Sel Marin & Oranges and Lemons awhile back, but no proper wearing time so far.
Just came back from a two day retreat at a former cloister and the church had a similar feeling. Didn’t want to leave!
I don’t think I’ve ever tried anything from Heeley. I may go toss the sample stash and see if anything surfaces. Thank you for sharing your experience at St. Denise. It’s amazing how a place, any place, can hold such power. And I completely agree that deep emotions, especially grief, can make scent a more powerful reminder of a time and a place.
Early in my perfume journey, I had tried Heeley’s Ophelia and it was just a big old meh for me. I had a dabber so it didn’t help. In my mind, it was the whole nothing special and I could find something just like it for a whole lot less money. Then I promptly forgot about the line.
I haven’t tried any Heeley’s, but I agree it gets very little hype for a house with so many quality reviews and unexpected concepts- maybe the price point makes it a little inaccessible? I don’t know, anyway I’d love to try this, incense notes are the bomb.
I visited St. Denis and was overwhelmed at how beautiful it is. I found myself almost unable to leave. I’ve tried Cardinal and loved it. I would so love to get to sample this. I can’t tell you how much. Incense fragrances are my downfall and this sounds literally divine. Thanks for the opportunity.
You are so right about churches giving off different vibes. When you enter more than a few in a short span, you definitely notice. As a child I loathed the smell of incense at high mass but have come to love it in perfume. Probably because I can control it vs having a giant cloud pass over my head. Thanks for the Zoologist samples!
I’ve tried the Heeley Chypre — I thought it was interesting in a cerebral kind of way, in how it inverted the structure of classic chypres by going really light on the usual oakmoss and woodsy base and heavy on the green notes like patchouli — but I didn’t really love it as a smell. The Eau Sacree sounds lovely, though — I’d be willing to give Heeley another chance!
The smell of incense during high mass, loved it so much more than the rhetoric. Sorry Sister Mary.
I am intrigued by aldehydes in an incense fragrance. I’ve tried several Heeley’s but only Sel Marin comes to mind. Isn’t there one that kind of smells like Tiger Balm? Anyway, thanks for the drawing, Patty and yes, I would love to try this.
I love the line, and would give my left for some of his L’Amenderie (sp?), even though I don’t have a left nut, and don’t usually care for almond notes in fragrance.
This ones sounds heavenly….er, divine…. well, it sounds really good! I’d love to try some, thanks for the chance!
I have some Heeley samples in a cart right now, but have already blown my budget for the month (and next)! This sounds lovely and I’d love to be entered in the draw.
I’ve never tried, but I’d love to