Spiritus / Land #2 by Miller et Bertaux 2004 (?)

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Post by Poodle

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The cottage was a mess when she inherited it. No one had lived there since her grandfather died. Her family thought it was too small, too rustic and that she should sell it. She thought it held a certain charm and now it was hers. It needed a lot of work but she had vision to see past the years of dirt that had accumulated in every crack and crevice. She scrubbed every inch of it until her fingers were raw. She remembered her grandmother used to burn incense to purify the air. She loved the smell of incense sticks but not the smoke so she would tuck them strategically around the house like potpourri. She washed and polished the wood floors. She put fresh new curtains on the windows. Little by little it regained some of its former beauty.

Spiritus/Land #2 gum-tree-cottage TripAdvisorPhoto Stolen TripAdvisor

She was now finally able to sit back and admire the results of her hard work. The warm spice tea she cradled in her hands comforted her. The smell of the ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg brought back memories of when her grandmother used to bake in this very kitchen. It was early fall and still warm enough to keep the windows open. On the breeze she could smell the lavender and geraniums she had planted in the window box. Every now and then she caught a whiff of the late summer roses but they were far from the house so it was only ever a fleeting scent. Sunlight streamed into the kitchen in the late afternoon. She was convinced that as the floorboards warmed under the sunlight she could smell the wood and even after all of her cleaning efforts and bucketfuls of soapy water, a touch of her grandfather’s tobacco still lingered.

 Spiritus/Land #2 by Miller et Bertaux

Spiritus : Land #2 Miller et Bertaux FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Top: bergamot, rosemary, incense
Heart: lavender, rose, geranium, ginger, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg
Base: sandalwood, teak wood, patchouli, tobacco

When I got the sample for Spiritus / Land I was expecting something earthy and dirty. It has a dusty quality to it but it’s clean and fresh at the same time. I saw it described as an incense scent but this is not churchy at all. It smells more like the unlit sticks. It’s also a soapy scent. It opens somewhat herbal, fresh, and woody all at the same time and then hits you with ginger and spice. Not like dessert spices, these are spices without the sugar. The spices are prominent throughout its development and the wood notes seem to come and go. Yet for all the spice and woods it is a very clean smelling fragrance because it has a very strong soapy quality to it that persists throughout. It also seems to smell cleaner as it develops instead of getting woodier and dirtier in the base. This isn’t the modern clean of laundry fabric softener. It’s more along the lines of an old fashioned guest soap. If soap isn’t your thing you might want to pass on this one. If you’re looking for a clean scent without citrus or marine accords it might be worth a try. The lack of sweetness in the spice might make it lean more masculine to some. Longevity on the average person is probably pretty good. My scent eating skin got a few hours out of it and at the end my skin had a just out of the shower scent to it. This was the first perfume I’ve tried from this line and while it was not true love on me I imagine it would be wonderful on the right person.

Spiritus:Land #2 Spices ehowPhoto Stolen ehow

Further reading: Perfume Smellin’ Things and Now Smell This
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Aedes de Venustas has $145/100ml
Surrender To Chance start at $3/ml

Thanks for reading<
Poodle xx

32 thoughts on “Spiritus / Land #2 by Miller et Bertaux 2004 (?)”

    • Thanks, Houndy! I know that soapy isn’t your thing. It might not seem that soapy to you. I’ve seen varying impressions on that. You might get more of the spices. I would definitely sample first.

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  2. Poodle, what a lovely review! I want to visit that lovely cottage and have some tea while reading a good book. I don’t think this would be for me either but you certainly wrote about it beautifully and I can almost smell it. Well done! Xox

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    • Thanks so much! It really did give me an image in my mind when I tried it, hence the whole cottage thing. It’s a scent I think I’d rather smell on someone else and not myself if that makes any sense.

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    • 🙂
      Thanks, Portia! To say I was nervous about this would be a complete understatement. I think my last creative writing projects may have been in college. It was quite fun though so I’m happy I had the chance to do it.

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    • Yay! APJ family. I feel like I’m an honorary Australian, at least for today. 😉
      Thanks for the welcome!

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  6. Thank you for the review. I know some people love a bit of soapiness in a perfume, but I appreciate the heads-up, as the spiciness sounded appealing.

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    • I have difficult skin so it may not be as soapy, or soapy at all on you. My husband didn’t find it soapy but he likes his scents a bit cleaner than I do.

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  8. I enjoyed this review so much! Thank you, Poodle. The description “old fashioned guest soap” makes me want to give Spiritus/Land #2 a try.

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    • I would be curious to know what you thought of it. There was a soap factory in my hometown that made soaps for lots of companies. Mom used to get various bars from a friend who worked there. This perfume triggered lots of memories for me. Thanks for reading, Azar.

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  10. Dear Poodle
    I just adore the idea of hiding unlit incense scents about a house, so that the smell seeps out rather than appearing and dissipating in puffs of smoke.
    The Dandy actually rather likes the right kind of soap, for me it’s there in much of Estee Lauder (not just the detergent of White Linen) and of course older Carons.
    So I might seek this one out for, as you say, on the right person this sounds as though it could be amazing,
    Yours ever
    The Perfumed Dandy

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    • Mom used to put incense sticks in her houseplants in the window and would refresh them with essential oils. When the sun warmed them they’d release the scent.
      Dearest Dandy, you might like this one. Now that you mention Estée Lauder and Caron I would say this might be along those lines.

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      • Dearest Poodle
        You have inspired me and I will try concealing my frankincense cones around in the study to see whether I can conjure some semblance of a cathedral library in there!
        Yours ever
        The Perfumed Dandy

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  12. What a wonderful review, Poodle! So great to see you hear!

    Spiritus / Land #2 doesn’t really sound like my taste, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post. Your images were so evocative and I can so easily imagine the red, soap-smelling hands, the unlit incense sticks throughout the house, and the cup of spiced tea. Brava! I look forward to reading more from you! Thanks, Poodle!

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