Mandala from Italian House of Masque Milano was a blind buy based on the notes I read and it was love at first sniff when my box arrived. It is my 2nd favorite from their entire line. Mandala opens with very clear olibanum note accompanied with nutmeg which I love! It immediately transformers me to my memories when visited Oman and my nose came across olibanum smell for the first time. After initial strong 10 minutes, perfume settle a bit and notes of smokey but soft incense, cardamon and cedar starts coming on top which transforms the fragrance to more of “churchy/smoky” smell which I was hoping for to get and love since I was a kid visiting church. As the fragrance continues to develop on its journey, it became slightly salty with ambergris & oakmoss. I personally don’t like ambergris in perfumes but here it fits perfectly and it’s nothing overpowering nor harsh. It actually gives the fragrance more “air” and stabilize the loudness of incense & olibanum. Compared to other olibanum-based fragrances, Mandala is winner for me in terms of overall blend and longevity is very good (7-9 hours) – it actually last longer on me when used in cold weather. I think it’s unisex but leaning more masculine (very mature & educated person) definitely more suitable for autumn & winter. Because it has incense, don’t expect strong “Interlude Man” smell, this is more about olibanum and incense here plays smoky role which is offset by powdery notes used in this amazing composition of Christian Carbonell. Bottle looks great, love the fact it’s 35ml bottle which makes it great for traveling and that Masque Milano gives appreciation to the composers of this liquid art and state their name on top of bottle (this house actually teach me to select perfume also by perfumers not just by notes or niche house.