Ex Nihilo | The Scented Hound

WHAT I SMELL: Sweet Morphine makes good on its promise as being addictive as it opens sweet, soft, gentle and powdery with a feeling of spun cotton candy without the confectionaried sugar. Lilac is listed as the top note, but I rarely get lilac out of the perfume, but instead a powdered and pretty iris surrounded by fringes of succulent green. After a few minutes, the light opening (which almost begs for you to apply more on because you believe it’s going to disappear) makes way for a vanilla laced iris and mimosa floral that moves from demure and softly spun to a much rounder and slightly thickened and slightly creamy candied state. The perfume then assumes a woody based, but resting on top of the wood remains the sweet and lightly peachy and powdered floral that makes this the addictive morphine it’s named after.

From the Ex Nihilo website:

SWEET MORPHINE, the embodiment of a self assumed but ambivalent femininity, at once delicate yet lascivious.

It’s floral bloom melts on the skin with a dark and addictive woody vanilla background.

A subtle bouquet tenderly perverted by a very captivating carnal lightness.

Notes:

Top – Lilac

Heart – Iris

Base – Wood Accord, Vanilla

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A sexy (not slutty) nurse. I’m ready for my shot of sweet morphine!

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE SWEET MORPHINE: current, uncomplicated, accessible

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT SWEET MORPHINE: Colognoisseur, Kafkaesque

BOTTOM LINE: Sweet Morphine has a very modern sensibility and is incredibly delicious for a non-gourmand fragrance. Every time I wear this perfume it morphs just a little different each time; sometimes it’s a bit sweeter, sometimes it’s more demure, but it is always just the right amount of sexy.

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Floral
Nose: Nathalie Gracia-Cetto
Classification: Leans feminine
Expense: $225 for 50 ml eau de parfum

WHAT I SMELL: Venenum Kiss (poison kiss) opens with a saffron laden ripened fruit. The perfume is fleshy and thick, and it feels like fruit that’s ready to fall off the limb of a tree with the weight of the rotting juice. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just very narcotic and rather fermented. Or in other words, it is forbidden-fruit in the best sense of the word. Overall, the perfume is warm, radiant and seductive. And as the perfume develops, the rose and the sandalwood come forward with a soured and sharpened melding of forces. What once was more seductive and fruited, is now more of a poisoned arrow; still beautiful and seductive, but it feels more deadly. As the perfume continues to morph, the sharpened edges soften, but not by much as the vanilla base continues to provide a sweetened, oudish bounty of menace. And in the end, it’s all topped off with a bit of incense, making it all so very seductive.

From the Ex Nihilo website:

VENENUM KISS, a sensual and sophisticated liquor with hints of candied apricot and vanilla.

The strong and intense feel of an electric night in the Orient…
The women are wearing their evening perfume, in their wakes, a veritable storm of scents.
Wherever you go at night, you succumb to this same hypnotic smell.

TOP: Neroli, Saffron, Nutmeg

HEART: Rose absolute, Davana, Amber

BASE: Vanilla, Styrax, Sandalwood

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: The sin of desire.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE VENENUM KISS: sinful, dangerous, fleshy

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT VENENUM KISS: Colognoisseur

BOTTOM LINE: Venenum Kiss is named perfectly. The perfume is decadent, poisonous and it feels predatory and rather deadly. It also reminds me a bit of Armani Prive’ Cuir Noir, except that Venenum Kiss feels a lot more dangerous and over the top. Venenum Kiss is NOT an office scent and it would have to be worn on just the right occasion. Perfect when you want to bring out your deviled horns.

Bone Rating: 4 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Oriental
Nose: Quentin Bisch
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $225 for 50 ml Eau de Parfum.

Sample courtesy of Lucky Scent.