The Scented Hound

Perfume blog with abbreviated perfume reviews & fragrance reviews.


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Tom Ford Black Orchid

Black Orchid

WHAT I SMELL:  Black Orchid opens with this luscious citrus that dances upon some candied florals.  It’s spicy sweet without being obnoxious .  After a couple of minutes, in comes the orchid, big, creamy and smooth and it’s met with a flattened note that I can’t quite put my finger on, but it might be the chocolate note (see notes below), but after a few more minutes that seems to dissipate.  After around ten minutes, Black Orchid begins to warm and mellow with the vanilla coming forward like it’s covering the fragrance with a creamy layer of elegance.  At around the 30 minute mark, the fragrance becomes more woody that’s dried with some peppered spice. And then at around the hour mark, the patchouli starts to begin to lightly sweeten Black Orchid  again.  When it’s all said, in the end you’re left with this spellbinding concoction that is greatly seductive.

Black Orchid notes listed in Fragrantica:

The top notes are French jasmine, black truffle, ylang-ylang, black currant and effervescent citrus. In the floral-spicy heart, dwells the Tom Ford‘s black orchid, imaginary more than real, and the base combines woodsy notes (patchouli and sandalwood), dark chocolate, incense, amber, vetiver, vanilla and balsam.

1980s2WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  Bringing the 1980s back to the present.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE BLACK ORCHID: creamy, bewitching, lush

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT BLACK ORCHID:  The Perfume Critic, What Men Should Smell Like, Perfume Posse

BOTTOM LINE:  Tom Ford and I have not always been great friends as his perfumes will tend to overwhelm me.  Black Orchid could do the same, but if you moderate the application, it’s incredibly beautiful.  

  • Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
  • Scent: Oriental Floral
  • Classification: Feminine, but can easily be worn by a man
  • Expense: $110 for 50ml EdP from the Tom Ford website


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The Hound’s Guest Post on CaFleureBon: Sonoma Scent Studio Jour Ensoleille & Picnic at Hanging Rock Draw

anne-louise-lambert-from-picnic-at-hanging-rock

One of my favorite fragrance industry experts, Michelyn Camen, Editor in Chief at CaFleureBon, recently asked me to contribute to one of my favorite fragrance sites with a guest post.  I was and am thrilled beyond belief that she would have this humble hound as a contributor.  In any case, my first (and hopefully, not last) post for CaFleureBon provides a review of Sonoma Scent Studio’s Jour Ensolielle.  After being introduced to Sonoma Scent Studio with the wonderful new release Yin & Ylang, this second foray into Laurie’s work was another thrill as I have to say it even topped my love of Yin & Ylang, and that’s not an easy feat.  Please check the full review at Fragrance Review:  Sonoma Scent Studio Jour Ensoleille & Picnic at Hanging Rock Draw.

Oh, and for my regular readers, what it doesn’t state in the articles is how many bones I give Jour Ensoleille.  So as not to disappoint; I have to say that I give it 4.5 bones!


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Bandit by Robert Piguet

banditWHAT I SMELL:  Bandit opens up with rush of galbanum; it’s green and almost sparkling in its intensity, but at the same time rather animalic and dirty which seems like a contradiction.  But soon, Bandit starts to elicit its floral side with a some gorgeous ylang ylang and jasmine sitting on what seems to be a layer of cigarette smoke that is layered on top of the green notes.  After around the five-minute mark a light spice combines with the floral and hints of leather start to peak through.  Soon enough the oakmoss starts to make itself known as the dryness sits at the base while the other notes morph above it.  However, after some more development the oakmoss reveals an extra sharpness that when smelled it wants to collapse the inside of your nostrils, but that sharpness soon moves to a more dusty and powdery essence; all awhile still sitting on top are the lightly leathered florals that are rather pretty in more of a masculine way.  In the end you’re left with a dusty and dreamy lightly leathered floral.

I find that Bandit seems to transform itself at different times when I wear it.  Sometimes it’s more floral and pretty, other times it morphs quickly into the dryer chypre and light leather. Either way I like it because it’s unique and different and I believe, pretty unmistakable as a perfume.

From the Robert Piguet website:

Provocative and sultry, this chypre fragrance is an intense blend of exotic leather, wood, spice and floral notes including neroli, orange, ylang ylang, jasmine, tuberose, vetiver, oakmoss, patchouli and musk.

pussycat banditWHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  Bandit’s not quite the tough and wild gal that I had heard about and was expecting.  Instead, I think she’s much more of a “Pussycat Bandit!”

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE BANDIT: dry, semi-tough, dusty

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT BANDIT:  Olfactoria’s Travels, Perfume Shrine, Perfume-Smellin’ Things

BOTTOM LINE:  My review is based on the Parfum Extrait version and on my box is a sticker that states:

“Certification

This is the original formula for Bandit created by this company with Robert Piguet for the introduction of the perfume in 1944

Errol G.W.Stafford, President, Givaudan Fragrances Corporation”

So I guess this version is about as good as you can ever get to the real thing.  But I have to admit that if I want a real dirty girl, I’ll stick with my Gres Cabochard.  However, don’t get me wrong, I love this pussycat of a rebel.

  • Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
  • Scent: Chypre Floral
  • Nose: Germaine Cellier
  • Classification: Feminine, but can easily be worn by a man
  • Expense: Varies depending on the concentration.  Review based on the parfum extrait.