August | 2012 | The Scented Hound

August 14, 2012
by The Scented Hound 14 Comments

Black by Comme des Garcons Play Series

I love spicy and peppery food. I practically put Tabasco sauce on everything that I eat. And like perfume, I would have a hard time living without it. As much as I like spice and pepper, I don’t want to smell peppery! As a pepper scent, Black isn’t all that bad, it’s just not my thing so I’ll try to do it justice without being too prejudiced.

WHAT I SMELL: Black goes on cool to the touch almost sweet in a fashion. That quickly fades and a smoky incense comes to the surface. I’m not really smelling the pepper at this point, instead it’s almost a woody incense that swirls and curls like smoke. Eventually, the pepper comes to the surface and it’s sharp. The incense that seemed so smoky still is there, but the punctuated sharpness of the pepper gives it all a bite. But like the incense, the pepper seems to be a bit subdued as well. It’s like you are waiting for the ingredients to jump out in a blast, but as each note appears it manages to contain itself without being too loud.

Black Notes: black pepper, pepperwood, red pepper, violet, thyme, black tea, birch tar, incense, tree moss

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Dried wood boxes that have been sitting in a smokehouse storage basement, but not as they just came out of a building, but rather if had been sitting outside for a month or so to smooth out the sharper edge of the remaining smoky smell.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE BLACK: dry, subdued, dusty

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT BLACK: Bois de Jasmin, Grain de Musc, CaFleureBon

BOTTOM LINE: This is an interesting scent and I find that its well done if you like your scents to feel more modern and remote. For me, it’s great for sampling but not for wearing. Black is one of a trio of scents in the Play Series. The other two scents are Green and Red which you can read more about in the above cited links. I do like the playful bottle though!

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Woody Spicy
Classification: Leans Masculine
Nose: Antoine Maisondieu
Expense: Approximately $100 for 100ml EdT

August 12, 2012
by The Scented Hound 18 Comments

George Sand by Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier

The weather today was actually decent today, so after going for a long walk and then tending to the yard, we took out the convertible and headed into Washington DC. Every now and then I lament the fact that when we moved to this area we purchased a house in Virginia instead of the District of Columbia. DC is progressive and liberal. Virginia is conservative and Southern. We may only live 3 miles to DC, but the laws and politics are diametrically different. In any case, I wanted to go check out some townhomes in the upper NW side of the city. The townhomes are right off Rock Creek Parkway so it seems that you are in the country in the middle of the city. In fact, when we were at one of the open houses, we walked out to the car only to be greeted by 4 deer grazing across the street. So these townhomes were built in the 1970s and were designed for entertaining and adults in mind. Beautiful neighborhood, beautiful home that needed a little updating. But I could imagine the wonderful parties and entertaining one could do. Which leads me to George Sand by Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier. It was the perfect fragrance to wear for such elegant surroundings.

WHAT I SMELL: George Sand opens with a flash of lemon and bergemot, but you can’t barely blink before the patchouli comes out with the amber. Whenever I see patchouli as a note in a fragrance, I typically will go running. I have learned however, that patchouli doesn’t always mean hippieish. This is definitely one of those cases in which the patchouli and the warm amber and musk meld to make for an incredibly warm and luxurious and boldly feminine fragrance without being girly-girl. George Sand is a fragrance that changes with your body temperature, one minute seemingly strong and musky, the other vaporishly spicy. I also find that this fragrance hugs close to the skin and with dabbing on it seems average in sillage. But I have the feeling that if this were to be sprayed on the sillage would be substantial.

George Sand Notes: lemon, bergamot, patchouli, rose, amber, musk, Mysore sandalwood, spices

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: This fragrance is a limited edition as part of Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier’s collection of fragrances dedicated to remarkable and influential French people, who marked the 19th century with their high class scandals. George Sand was an aristocratic writer who had a penchant for speaking her mind and wearing men’s clothes. Very much a woman ahead of her time. The funny thing is, I find this fragrance incredibly elegant and very proper. George Sand should be worn at the opera and at the ball in full gown attire. What drew me to this fragrance is that I thought it would be a bit masculine; it’s not, but I can see men wearing it easily. I really love this fragrance and could see myself wearing this often.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE GEORGE SAND: warm, elegant, haunting

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT GEORGE SAND: The Scented Salamander, Nero Profumo, Scenteur7

BOTTOM LINE: I’m in love. The more I wear this fragrance, the more I am enraptured by its incredible beauty. Unfortunately I don’t believe my words give this fragrance justice.

Bone Rating: 5 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Oriental Woody
Classification: Feminine
Nose: Nicolas de Barry
Expense: Approximately $120 for 70ml EdP

August 8, 2012
by The Scented Hound 17 Comments

Mechant Loup by L’Artisan Perfumeur

WHAT I SMELL: Oddly, when I first applied Mechant Loup it was hardly noticable. I asked my better half to take a sniff and he said he couldn’t tell what it smelled like because it was almost non-existent. Maybe it was due to the fact that I had just gotten out of the shower because later in the day I applied some more and it didn’t disappear like it had in the morning. In any case, it does not go on strong. This fragrance has a bit of a sharp edge to it in the beginning, I smell the licorice and I get almost a bit of green tea (don’t see that in the note, maybe it’s the cedar). It stays in that location for a bit but then moves into the base which ends up as a mild honeyed hazelnut close-to-the-skin fragrance which is cool in nature. Mechant Loup doesn’t have great longevity or sillage. I find it rather boring and don’t find it particularily distinguishable from many other men’s fragrances (although I am having problems defining which ones, which means they too have not made an impression on me).

Mechant Loup Notes: licorice, hazelnut, cedar, honey

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Mechant Loup means “Big Wolf” in French, but the L’Artisan Perfumeur website lists it as “Big Bad Wolf.” With that kind of name, I expect something over the top and powerful. Sorry, there is nothing wolf like about this scent. Instead, maybe it should be called “Nutty Ecureuil” or “Nutty Squirrel,” in English as it’s about as big and bad as a squirrel and holds a hazelnut note.