Parfum d’Empire | The Scented Hound

April 11, 2012
by The Scented Hound 7 Comments

Wazamba by Parfum d’Empire

Wazamba is a hard fragrance for me to review. It’s exotic nature and unfamiliar notes make for a scent that is for me very distinctive, yet difficult to describe. According to some information I found on the web, a Wasamba (spelled with an S) is a West African instrument made of wooden sticks that is used during circumcision and initiation rites. Now the description above is not going to help describe this scent, but I found the definition pretty interesting upon itself.

So what does Wazamba smell like? When applied its spicy, dry and a little bitter. To me it has almost has hints of Indian curry with a slight dry fruitiness. As time goes on, this becomes even dryer and closer to the skin and a bit sharper. I found that as I wore this throughout the day, it didn’t overwhelm me, but would occasionally rise to surround me at various times. I love this scent, but am not sure how often I would wear it. I would say that it works for both day and night and leans towards the masculine although it would work well for women as well.

Bottom line: Hard to describe, lovely to wear, exotic and distinctive!

Wazamba Notes:

Somalian incense, Kenyan myrrh, Ethiopian opoponax, Indian sandalwood, Moroccan cypress, labdanum, apple, fir balsam

Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $75 for 50ml EDP

March 25, 2012
by The Scented Hound 4 Comments

Aziyade by Parfum d’Empire

Yesterday I received my full collection of samples from Parfum d’ Empire. This was a wonderful buy in order to check out the entire collection. Very nice packaging and even a hand written note thanking me for my purchase. Good customer service as far as I’m concerned. So to start my venture in sampling, I reached into the bag and chose to wear the first offering I grabbed. So here it goes. Coca-Cola, body odor and prunes were the first things that came to mind when I sprayed Aziyade on for the first time. You wouldn’t think that by my description this would be a scent that I would favor, but in fact is wasn’t so bad. I think the thought of body odor (or maybe a better description would be a musky smell) was the coming from the cardamon and cumin. The cumin especially steps out after a bit and I rather liked it. I would describe this as spicy with a hint of sweetness as it’s not a strong overpowering spice. It is definitely a one of a kind scent. My one disappointment is that it quickly vanished and I had to reapply just a few hours later. Not that I’m complaining, because upon reapplication I quickly traveled through all the layers once again! I think this could really grow on me and become a full bottle purchase. We’ll see.

Aziyade Notes: pomegranate, crystallized date, almond, orange and prune, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, Egyptian cumin, carob, frankincense, vanilla, Madagascar vanilla absolute, patchouli, musk, cistus

Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
Classification: Unisex
Expense: From $75 for 50ml, EDP

March 13, 2012
by The Scented Hound 7 Comments

Cuir Ottoman by Parfum d’ Empire

I thought it was timely that I do a review of Cuir Ottoman by Parfum de Empire as I have read some interesting reviews as of late and just received a sample myself. Now my preferences don’t lean towards the leather scents, but I have learned to be open to new avenues of fragrances. So after reading what others thought about this fragrance, I decided to give this a try. The first thing that I found when I applied this was a lovely floral note, mixed with what I found to be almost a rubber or plastic smell. Is that the leather trying to come out? Yes. The rubber smell dissipated quickly and the leather made its presence. Now this is not leather that is harsh or strong, but is more of a buttery, suede leather. The mix of floral and leather is very interesting and quite refreshing. This is a scent that stays close to the skin and is surprisingly light, a little sweet and clean and airy. Cuir Ottoman is quite different from what I think of a typical leather scent. As nice as I found this scent to be, my one disappointment was that it disappeared on me after a few hours. In the end, I found Cuir Ottoman to be an elegant surprise. For those of you who love leather scents, I recommend giving this a try.

Cuir Ottoman Notes:

jasmine, leather, iris, benzoin, balsams, resins, incense