Uncategorized | The Scented Hound

January 10, 2013
by The Scented Hound 55 Comments

The Scented Hound Turns 1 Year Old with a Birthday Draw!

A year ago this week, The Scented Hound was born. What started as an interest has turned into a wonderful passion that has grown and blossomed in the last year. I can still recall buying my first niche perfume, Carner D600 from Min NY in the fall of last year and then finding all the other wonderful blogs and sites that gave me inspiration to jump in. I can clearly remember too, that a couple other bloggers started their sites at the same time and I’m happy to say that Katherine from Mad Perfumista and Freddie from Smellythoughts are still running strong aside me with wonderful insight and commentary on their love of fragrance.

I have learned a lot in the last year and would like to share with a few thoughts on this first year of my endeavor:

Blogging is fun, but it can be tough. You go through spurts of creativity while at other times your creative juices just run dry. I look back at some of my first posts and cringe at what I have written…and to be honest I still do that! I wonder if other bloggers never feel satisfied with their posts?
It’s easy to write reviews on perfumes that you love. The words just flow. Actually the same can be said for those fragrances that you hate too. I don’t like criticizing anybody’s creation…but again, it’s just my opinion. But the love and hate posts seem to generate the most views!
You can’t keep up with all of the new launches. This industry is constantly churning out new product and it’s impossible to keep up with it all. So you have to search out those products which pique your interest and then continue searching out established products that you want to sample and not worry about all of the new.
My wallet suffers from too much love. I have spent so much money on perfume this year, but as my wonderful husband said, “don’t worry about spending on your passion, at least you’re not passionate about cars…now that would cost some money.” Note to perfumers: If you offered more 30ml and 50ml product, I would spend even more money.
I wish I had the mind of many of you out there. I read and speak to people who can recall and compare and name off perfumes and ingredients and notes with detailed accuracy like people who can recall football game and player statistics. That’s an art that I just don’t possess.
I have sooooo much to learn about fragrance, which I guess makes sense since this endeavor is only 1-year-old. I consider myself a novice.
The best part of this whole experience is sharing and communicating with all the wonderful people in this community. And without a doubt, this community is all about sharing and support…it truly is the number one thing that keeps me going with this blog. Thank You!

And as a special thanks to you, my wonderful friends at Penny Lane Perfumes have offered as a draw, a 100ml bottle of E. Cordray Ambre et Vanille to one of my lucky readers. Ambre et Vanille is a luscious vanilla wrapped up in amber which makes for a snuggly sweater for these cold winter nights. The draw will be open until 11:59 pm Eastern Time, Wednesday, January 16, 2013 and is open to all US and non-US readers. A winner will be drawn at random using random.org. To enter in the draw, please check out pennylaneperfumes.com and leave a comment on this post telling me what product from their stock you wished you owned or are curious about. Or, if there is something in their stock that you already own and absolutely love, share that love in a comment. Penny Lane Perfumes carries Amouage, Serge Lutens, Mona di Orio and many other wonderful brands.

But wait, there’s more (that sounds like an infomercial doesn’t it); for the first 50 people who make a purchase from their site, Penny Lane Perfumes will give you $25.00 off of your order. All you have to do is put 2013 in the coupon box. However, this offer is valid for US customers only as they currently do not ship overseas. I am thinking that I may have to make a little purchase of Serge Luten’s Chergui myself! I think my friends at Penny Lane Perfumes are pretty awesome, don’t you?!

In the end, thank you for all of your support. I look forward the year ahead and the perfume experiences to come. And since I’m a big boy now, I’m passing a bone to some new wonderful bloggers who are just starting out as pups, please check them out: Kafkaesque, Scent Bound, The Other Scent.

January 5, 2013
by The Scented Hound 23 Comments

Really??! A Twisted Perfume Shopping Tale

I know it’s right after the holidays and it’s the beginning of the year and I wondered if I should make a posting that is somewhat negative, but what the heck, it’s an interesting story…well, I’ll let you be the judge of that.

We have our yearly appraisals at work in December. I found myself surprised that I was to receive a small bonus (yes, federal workers can get bonuses, but not large ones mind you) and decided that as a special treat to myself I would go ahead and purchase a small EdP version of 24 Faubourg by Hermes. Years ago, my hub bought this as a present for a friend and I have loved it from the first day I smelled it. Yes, it’s very feminine, but damn it… I like it too!

As it is more of a mainstream perfume, I trolled the web perfume site to find the best price. Now, most of the sites only had the EdT versions for sale, but I found a couple that had the 50ml EdP versions as well. I won’t name the site, but in addition to the good price, they had an additional 10% off coupon code and free shipping. Great…I’m in!

Three days later I receive my little treasure. When I open the box, the box the perfume in was a bit worn, but I thought, so what, maybe it just got damaged en route. I then open the box only to find that it was missing almost 1/4 of the juice. I could tell immediately that it had not leaked, because the package nor the bottle were wet. It was just used.

The Offending Bottle

I receive the bottle on Christmas Eve, so I called the company on the day after Christmas and told them of the situation and sent the picture to the right. They nicely apologized and said that I could return the perfume but that they wouldn’t be able to replace it as they didn’t have any more in stock. I asked about possibly getting the bottle for a reduced price thinking that they might give it to me for 50% off which would have been fine.

The customer service representative came back and said they could give me an additional 5% off. I told her that at least 25% of the fragrance is missing, why would they only give me 5% off? She said that I had already received 10% off of the purchase when I ordered it. I explained that 10% off was for the full bottle purchase, so in essence you would only be giving me 5% off a bottle that was 25% missing or 15% off a non-discounted full bottle for 25% missing! I asked to speak to her supervisor. She went away and came back (sans supervisor) and said that all they could offer me was either an additional 5% off or I could return the perfume for a refund. I was flabbergasted. Here they would want me to ship something back (at their cost) that they could not sell instead of giving me a decent price for a used bottle and still make some money!

Really??!!!

I shipped the bottle back and was credited the full amount. I still don’t own 24 Faubourg. Maybe I wasn’t meant to own a bottle?

Oh, what the heck, the company in question is perfumeworldwide.com.

January 1, 2013
by The Scented Hound 28 Comments

Happy New Year…and a Belated 2012 in Review

Ahhhh, 2012 is finally over and 2013 is finally here! I hope that everyone had a wonderful and safe New Year’s Eve. Ours went out with a bang as we went to see Cheyenne Jackson with the National Symphony Orchestra performing songs from the “Mad Men” era at the Kennedy Center. It was hands down the best concert that I have experienced in many years and Cheyenne Jackson is an extraordinary talent. It was a wonderful way to end 2012.

I meant to post this listing prior to the end of the year, but I always seem to be running late these days. Like some of the other wonderful bloggers out there, I will comment on some of the perfume like and dislikes for the year. However, as I can’t claim to be privy to all of the new releases, my opinions will include both new and existing discoveries.

Best Fragrance Find of the Year:

George Sand by Nicolas de Barry – OK, I have raved about this numerous times and I’m sure that you are all tired of hearing my praises about this fragrance, but this has to be my favorite for the year. It is my comfort scent and the one fragrance that I just can’t get enough of. Although it was previously labeled under Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier, it now is part of the Maison de Haute Perfumerie Nicolas de Barry collection. I like being in love!

Runners up: Spiritueuse Double Vanille by Guerlain and Trayee by Neela Vermeire Creations

Favorite Fragrance House of the Year:

Parfum d’Empire – Wonderful niche perfumes at a very reasonable cost. I own more Pd’E perfumes than any other fragrance house. Iskander and Azemour les Orangers were my mainstay this past summer and I am itching to add Wazamba and Aziyade to my collection. The wonderful oakmoss base on these fragrances is so smooth and luxurious. Big yummy! Which then leads to…

Biggest Disappointment of the Year:

Musc Tonkin by Parfum d’Empire. This was a blind buy that was based on my love of their perfumes and the fact that it is a limited edition. I wore this again the other day and once again it left me cold. Does anyone want to purchase a slightly used bottle?

Best Marketing of the Year:

By Kilian smartly sends out samples of their new releases to all their Facebook friends. Smart, smart, smart. I wish more perfumers would do the same. Although I understand that the LVMH, by Kilian’s parent company, has more money than most fragrant houses which makes this easily possible.

Arquiste is a close 2nd in this category. The ever so cute Carlos Huber is out there constantly stirring up publicity.

Anyone who says they’re not influenced by marketing in the least is in my opinion very self unaware. We all get sucked in to a degree.

Best Packaging of the Year:

By Kilian again has the most remarkable and beautiful packaging. The “In the Garden of Good and Evil” clutches are absolutely breathtaking. Unfortunately they come at a high price and the perfumes were underwhelming at best.

Best Fragrance Personality of the Year:

I don’t know if I labeled this category correctly, but this honor goes to Neela Vermeire. Her warmth, friendliness, support and personal attention is only matched by the trio of magnificent perfumes that were developed for Neela Vermeire Creations with Bertrand Douchaufour. I can’t wait to see what she has in store for 2013.

Worst Blind Buy of the Year:

We all do it on occasionally, but for me it was Royal Pavillon by Etro. I purchased this for a song and I can see why it was such a deal. This fragrance is like fingers on a chalkboard to me. Unfortunately my better half likes it and wears it on occasion. When he does, I can’t stand being in the same room.

Biggest Scrubber of the Year:

Orange Star by Tauer Perfumes. I know this is an either you love it or hate it perfume. For me, I can still smell it in my head months after testing it and the memory can still make me nauseous.

2012 Me Against the World Award:

I think that 90% of the fragrance world loved Seville a l’Aube by L’Artisan Perfumeur. For me it was just a sour mess.

Best Online Retailer of the Year:

Is there any question that Lucky Scent remains the king of niche perfume retailers? I love their service and love their site and their ever increasing stock of interesting niche perfumes. Unfortunately, my wallet suffers continually at their hands! I hope to one day soon visit the infamous Scent Bar!

OK, I could go on and on with lists and my thoughts on the best and worst of the year, but I have to go put my New Year’s ham in the oven and get my first day of 2013 going. All the best to my perfume friends in 2013! I look forward to the year’s journey ahead with you.

Steve