The Scented Hound

Perfume blog with abbreviated perfume reviews & fragrance reviews.


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Les Nombres d’Or Rose Etoile de Hollande by Mona Di Orio

Rose EtoileWHAT I SMELL:  Rose Etoile de Hollande opens with a bright peach layered upon aldehydes, which is then quickly followed a disconcerting clove note.  What opens and pretty, soon becomes strange and sour and somewhat biting.  Thankfully the rose steps out a bit which helps to soften the clove, but there remains a sharpness that I am hoping will dissipate.  After around 15 minutes or so, the rose retreats and the peach once again makes it to front and center.   The peach is tangy and bright.  I wouldn’t say it’s juicy, but it does have a warmth about it which cuts the sharpness experienced from the first 15 minutes.  This is strange.  Where’s the rose?  All I get is peach and more peach.   More strange is that another 15 minutes it seems like I am back to the beginning with the sharpness that I experienced earlier and a bit more rose than all the peach.  After a lengthy dry down, Rose Etoile de Hollande becomes slightly woody and much softer with hints of heliotrope.  And after even a few more hours, you’ll notice a very light smoky incense leather added to the mix.  Rose Etoile de Hollande overall is rather pretty and comforting, but it’s all peach and little to no rose.   Surprisingly, for a Mona di Orio fragrance, Rose Etoile de Hollande sits close to the skin and is rather light in its projection.  Overall, it’s a beautiful fragrance in the end.   I just wish there was a little more rose and a little less peach.

Top notes are aldehydes, white peach and bergamot; middle notes are rose, cloves and geranium; base notes are leather, patchouli, cedar, heliotrope, vanilla, benzoin, amber and peru balsam.

peachWHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  peaches

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE ROSE ETOILE DE HOLLANDE:  peachy, bright, semi-sharp

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ROSE ETOILE DE HOLLANDE:  Perfume-Smellin Things, Olfactoria’s Travels, Cafleurebon

BOTTOM LINE:   Rose Etoile de Hollande is perplexing to me.  I really want to like it, but something is holding me back.  I think it’s the peach.  It’s just a bit too dominant for my tastes.  However, if you love a good peach note, I can see how this could be wonderful.  It’s no Mitsouko, but it is nice.

  • Bone Rating: 3.5 out of 5 possible bones
  • Scent:  Floral
  • Nose:   Mona di Orio
  • Classification:  Unisex, but leans feminine
  • Expense:  $230 for 100ml EdP


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Sideris by Maria Candida Gentile

SiderisWHAT I SMELL:  Sideris opens with a deep warm breath of saffron, incense and myrrh.  It smells like it’s from another world; like it’s been around for ages only to reveal itself again.  Sideris sits in a haze.  You feel that it’s there, but somehow it exists in aura around you rather than directly on you.  Sideris takes its time to transform and when it does, it doesn’t do so in a dramatic fashion.  Everything is seamless and it mixes so perfectly that you can easily miss the differences; but they’re there.   After about 30 minutes, the light sweetness of the rose makes a rather subdued appearance in a manner that you barely notice.  To me this is not “rose,” but a veil of earthen rose shrouded by incense.  Sideris then becomes more creamy and yet woody which sounds contradictory, but trust me it’s not.  As Sideris continues to progress, the incense from the early stages starts to subside, and the benzoin starts to become prominent and along with the rose and sandalwood, the fragrance becomes a bit sweeter.  Sideris is a fragrance that I feel like I just can’t give enough justice to… It’s all too beautiful and sometimes words are just too hard to convey.

Notes from the Maria Candida Gentile website:

Top notes:  Incense, Cysts, Corsican Myrrh, White Pepper, Saffron

Heart notes:  Turkish Rose, Rose Ayrshire Splendens

Base notes:  Sandalwood, Benzoin, Waxed Woods

Sideris 429px-Diego_Velázquez_057WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  Lady with a Fan by Spanish painter Diego Velázquez

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE SIDERIS:  dreamy, serious, classical

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT SIDERIS:  Scent for Thought, Cafleurebon, The Non-Blonde

BOTTOM LINE:   Sideris is unique and incredibly beautiful.  I’ve only been introduced to two of Maria Candida Gentile’s fragrances thus far, Cinabre and this.  I have the feeling I need to explore some more.

  • Bone Rating: 4.5 out of 5 possible bones
  • Scent:  Aromatic Spicy
  • Nose:   Maria Candida Gentile
  • Classification:  Unisex
  • Expense:  $180 for 100ml EdP


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Onda EdP by Vero Profumo

OndaWHAT I SMELL:  Onda opens with a rush of warm and medicinal herbal coriander and basil.  It’s  almost minty and slightly chocolate and very gourmand.  When you put your nose to your arm, you’ll easily open your sinuses with its powerful menthol.  In a short bit, the herbs start to feel like they are beginning to be covered in salt.  Onda sits in this mentholated stage for some time and it’s big and strong and must be applied with discretion because a little goes a long way.  After around a half hour or so, Onda becomes slightly honeyed and slightly sweet with a bit of funkified fruitiness that seems to be peppered with a bit of ginger.  Onda’s a bit strange in that it’s warm, but there’s a cool quality about it that keeps the wearer at a distance.  After many, many hours In the end, Onda leaves you with a  light and honeyed earthy dried vetiver.  And trust me, this has some lasting power.  24 hours after wearing Onda you’ll still know that she’s there.

Onda Notes (from Luckyscent):  bergamot, citron, mandarin, ginger, coriander, basil, passion fruit, iris, ylang-ylang, honey, vetiver bourbon, patchouli, musk, cedar wood

Jute rugWHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  A jute rug.  That’s not a bad thing, but if you have ever laid on a jute rug you’ll know exactly what I mean.  It smells like it’s from the earth.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE ONDA:  herbal, potent, sharp

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ONDA:  Smellythoughts, Kafkaesque, Indieperfumes

BOTTOM LINE:  Freddie from Smellythoughts passed me a sample a while back.  As a sample, I dabbed it on and found it incredibly interesting.  Enough so that I decided I had to have a bottle for myself.  When I received my purchase, I spritzed some on and thought…”what have I done???!!!”  For the price point, Onda is not something you want to have sitting on the shelf.  So after a couple of days, I went back to it.  Maybe I had spritzed too much on the first time, but the second time I liked it more.  And now I have days when there isn’t anything else that I want to wear!   However, Onda is one of those perfumes that you have to wear when you are in just the right mood and right frame of mind.  Today I was driving around in the convertible with the top down on a sunny day that wasn’t too hot.  Onda did her job well 🙂

  • Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
  • Scent:  Woody Spicy
  • Nose:   Vero Kern
  • Classification:  Unisex
  • Expense:  $200 for 50ml EdP