The Note That Makes Cheap Fragrance Smell Expensive
If you have ever picked up a £15 bottle and thought “that smells like it costs four times as much”, there is a decent chance resin is why. Frankincense is the single most reliable way to make a composition read serious rather than sweet.
It is also one of the most confusingly labelled notes in perfumery. Here is what the words actually mean, what the three sub-styles smell like, and which Lattafa bottles give you the most of it.
Olibanum vs Frankincense vs Incense
The resin tapped from Boswellia trees. Dry, peppery, slightly citrusy, with a cool smokiness. The actual material.
The same thing. Olibanum is simply the perfumery name for frankincense. If a note list shows both, it is padding, not two materials.
A category, not a material. An “incense accord” might be frankincense — or myrrh, benzoin, styrax, or a purely synthetic smoke. This is where labels get vague.
Why Resins Read “Expensive”
Three reasons, and none of them is marketing.
They are slow. Resins are heavy molecules that evaporate gradually, so a resinous base is still there hours after a citrus top has gone. Longevity is the thing people most associate with quality, and resin buys it cheaply.
They are not sweet. Most inexpensive fragrance leans on sugar — vanilla, ethyl maltol, sweet ambers — because sweetness is easy to like. Resin does the opposite: it is dry and slightly bitter, and that restraint is what our noses have learned to associate with niche and designer work.
They add smoke without ash. Frankincense gives a cool, clean smokiness rather than the burnt-tobacco kind. It reads as depth rather than as a gimmick, which is why so many genuinely expensive fragrances use it as a spine.
Three Sub-Styles, Three Shopping Paths
| Style | Smells like | Start with |
|---|---|---|
| Dry incense | Resin with nothing sweet under it. Cool, peppery, formal — the most “grown-up” reading. | Mishlah · Emeer |
| Sweet incense | Resin over caramel, vanilla, dates or benzoin. Warm and enveloping — the easiest way in. | Qaed Al Fursan Untamed · Art of Arabia III |
| Smoky incense | Resin pushed toward tar and burnt wood with styrax, cypriol or guaiac. The most polarising. | 1505 Watch |
Seven Lattafa Resins, Ranked by How Much You Get
How far the resin dominates the composition — based on where it sits in the pyramid and what it is competing with.
1505 Watch — £32.99 · the smoky one
Olibanum in the heart alongside apricot-like osmanthus, resolving into balsam, styrax, cypriol and guaiac wood. That base is about as resinous as budget perfumery gets — cypriol and guaiac are both genuinely smoky materials rather than smoke accords. If you want incense to be the whole experience rather than a finishing touch, this is the bottle.
Lattafa La Collection D’Antiquités 1505 Watch 100ml EDP →
Art of Arabia III — £34.99 · the sweet one
Frankincense right at the top with bergamot and davana, then dates, tobacco and sandalwood, closing on vanilla, tonka, labdanum, myrrh and patchouli. Two resins — frankincense and myrrh — plus labdanum makes this the most classically Arabian composition on the list. Cold weather and evenings only; 6–10 hours with above-average projection.
Lattafa Art of Arabia III 100ml EDP →
Al Dana — £39.99 · the fresh one
The unusual one. Sparkling citrus and pineapple over jasmine, lily of the valley and olibanum, landing on patchouli, amber and smoke. Incense fragrances are almost always cold-weather; this one works in daylight and warm weather because the resin sits under citrus rather than under sugar.
Creative Art — £39.99 · the polished one
Saffron and patchouli over vanilla, benzoin, amber and smoky olibanum, with elemi in the opening adding a second resin. Benzoin is sweet where frankincense is dry, and having both is what gives this its depth. The best-constructed thing Lattafa has released this year.
Lattafa Creative Art 100ml EDP →
Mishlah — £18.99 · the value pick
Bergamot, black pepper and lavender over iris, with frankincense giving the woody base its structure. Dry incense without the price of the tier above — if you want to find out whether this style suits you before committing £35, start here.
Qaed Al Fursan Untamed — £12.99 · the easiest way in
Frankincense sits in the base with labdanum, amber, cedar and vetiver — under cinnamon, caramel and mandarin. So the resin is not the headline; it is the thing that stops a spicy-sweet fragrance from being ordinary. This is the drydown reviewers call “expensive”, and at £12.99 it is the cheapest resin education available.
Lattafa Qaed Al Fursan Untamed 90ml EDP →
Emeer — £29.99 · the formal one
Olibanum runs as a thread through white tea, green cardamom and creamy sandalwood, over ambergris, cashmeran, patchouli and cedar. The most restrained use of resin here, and deliberately so — this is the one to wear somewhere you need to be taken seriously rather than noticed.
How to Choose
Browse by Note
Frankincense is one of a dozen note families mapped across the Lattafa range.
Related: cinnamon fragrances explained · the Bade’e Al Oud collection · Eros Najim alternatives ranked
FAQs
Is olibanum the same as frankincense?
Yes. Olibanum is simply the perfumery term for frankincense — the resin from Boswellia trees. If a note list shows both separately, it is padding the list rather than describing two materials.
What does frankincense actually smell like?
Dry, peppery and slightly citrusy, with a cool smokiness — closer to fresh pine resin than to burning wood. It is the smell most people associate with churches and Middle Eastern homes.
Which Lattafa has the most frankincense?
1505 Watch from La Collection D’Antiquités, where olibanum in the heart is backed by styrax, cypriol and guaiac wood. Art of Arabia III is the closest runner-up and pairs frankincense with myrrh.
Are incense fragrances only for winter?
Usually, because most pair resin with sweetness or heavy woods. Al Dana is the exception here — its resin sits under citrus and pineapple, which keeps it wearable in daylight and warm weather.
Why do resinous fragrances last so long?
Resins are heavy, slow-evaporating materials, so they stay on skin and fabric long after lighter top notes have gone. That is why a resinous base is the cheapest reliable route to good longevity.