Shoyeido – Magnifiscents – Diamond

In October 2022, I bought a few boxes of the Magnifiscents line and one from the now discontinued Angelic line second-hand. A box of this Gemstone series costs around €7. It contains 30 sticks, each 14 cm long, with a burning time of about 30 minutes.

Ingredients: Sandalwood (Santali lignum), Frankincense (Olibanum), Cinnamon (Cinnamonomi cortex), Ginger Lily (Kaemperiae rhizoma), and spices.

Diamond is one of my favourites of the Magnifiscents which I’ve tried, and currently also of Shoyeido in general.
The scent starts out very creamy and soft. Then, a gingery sharpness adds in, which doesn’t make the smell scratchy but rather spicy fresh. This freshness is further supported by the slightly resinous citrusy note of frankincense, which only occasionally comes to the fore.
The scent is relatively sweet, but I find it balanced. The sweetness doesn’t seem out of place or forced; it forms a bridge between the almost silky softness and the ginger note, which seems to be contributed by the ginger lily. Contrary to what the name suggests, it is not the flower, but the rhizome (the root ball) of the plant that is used.

Diamond has something special for me that makes it stand out. This also leads to me regularly craving this scent.
However, people who find the Daily Incense line too sweet will surely find Diamond much too sweet as well.