The Scented Hound

June 14, 2012
by The Scented Hound 4 Comments

Ambre Topkapi by Parfums MDCI

Clean fresh and sparkling are the first adjectives that I would use to describe Ambre Topkapi as it is applied initially. As nice as that sounds, it’s really not all that special or interesting. It’s really hard to pinpoint the notes as there are so many in this composition, but I can detect the citrus notes in the opening and I might detect a little bit of pineapple, but I’m not sure if that’s just power of suggestion in reading the notes!

After that initial blast of freshness (and I’m only talking for a minute), the scent moves into a nice light warm spice. Again, it’s not all that special, just nice. Finally, the scent completes it’s drydown leaving a sweeter, but still light, vanilla powdery amber. Again, nice, but nothing special.

As you can see, my enthusiasm is bare, if at all. So to be fair to Ambre Topkapi maybe the Luckyscent description may give a bit of a more inspired tonality to the scent:

The top notes are the perfumer’s nod to the classic masculine scents: the beginning of Ambre Topkapi is brightened by bergamot, spiced up by ginger and have a cool, herbal undertone of basil, thyme and lavender. The heart notes, with their combination of luxurious leather and soft, sweet sandalwood, add depth, warmth and what we can only described as a very “expensive” feel to the blend. In the base, vanilla and amber ornament the scent beautifully, bringing to it a wonderfully exotic feel, making it evocative of faraway lands, luxurious palaces, and Eastern splendor.

I found the longevity on Ambre Topkapi rather weak as is the sillage. The coolest thing about this fragrance is the fact that you can get it with the beautiful classical bust for the bottle. However, at an additional $150 is it really worth it? For the cost associated with this fragrance, I expect a lot more. I want to feel inspired to write something from an excited voice, not a forced hand!

Ambre Topkapi Notes:

Bergamot, grapefruit, pineapple, melon, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg ginger, basil, thyme, lavender, oak moss, vetiver, sandalwood, rosewood, leather, Darjeeling tea, amber, musk, vanilla, jasmine and violet

Bone Rating: 2.5 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Woody Spicy
Classification: Masculine
Expense: $250 for 60ml EDP with bust, $375 with bust

June 12, 2012
by The Scented Hound 7 Comments

L’Ombre Fauve – Parfumerie Generale Private Collection

I was a little worried about the appropriateness of sampling L’Ombre Fauve on a hot and humid day. I usually associate amber and musk fragrances as winter wear. I was pleasantly surprised that this worked for today’s weather. In fact, I see it working in both summer and winter. You have to love a fragrance that you can wear comfortably year round!

L’Ombre Fauve is an unusual concoction. For an amber, it’s not sweet. For a musk, it’s not too heavy. I found it very similar to Frederic Malle’s Musc Ravageur… ok, let me articulate that thought. I would consider this to be Musc Ravageur’s little sister. Where Musc Ravageur hits you hard with its musky and animalistic characteristics, L’Ombre Fauve still retains a bit of the naughty, but for the most part it’s just really loving and nice.

L’Ombre Fauve goes on warm and a little spicy. It feels like it hugs the skin, but you find that it comes up to greet you as well… playing tricks on how it sits on your body. The amber is just so lightly sweet which makes this perfect for both men and women alike. The fragrance doesn’t change much after the initial application. But it does have great longevity and with that longevity the dry down (which seems to take a long, long time) moves into an almost light and sweet vanilla.

L’Ombre Fauve is a scent that I thought I might like, but as the day wore on, I began to think that this might be a keeper. Sometimes little sisters can be a pain in the butt, but sometimes they’re just fun to hang out with!

L’Ombre Fauve Notes:

amber, musk, woods, incense, patchouli

Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Woody Oriental
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $100 for 50ml EDP

June 6, 2012
by The Scented Hound 4 Comments

Eccelso by Profumum

I don’t recall a fragrance that when I put it on, my husband said to me, “what are you wearing that smells great” and when I walked over to him and said, “oh, you like it” and put my arm up to his nose, he wrinkled his nose and said that it smells better from afar then up close. Strange.

To me, Eccelso smelled just OK all around. The only other 2 fragrances from the Profumum line Fiori D’Ambra and Ambra Aurea were stunners to me. Of course those were ambers and I’m not surprised that I loved them. But enough of the past, let’s go to the present…

Eccelso is a light and bitter scent, punctuated by bergamot and magnolia mixed with a light nutmeg spice and sandalwood. This is not a groundbreaking scent and I found it to be familiar. Sadly when I say familiar it kind of reminds me of what my mother’s Aqua Net hairspray used to smell like after she obliterated the bathroom with her aerosol cloud. Maybe that’s a bit to the extreme since the scent stays rather close to the skin and doesn’t take over a room like the Aqua Net did.

Bottom line for me, is that Eccelso did not hit the mark. Longevity is average. Sillage is average as well. Eccelso leans a bit masculine but is considered unisex. Unfortunately, for the cost of a 100ml bottle of Profumum, I expect a bit more.

From the Profumum website:

Elegant and nonchalant.
Walking through the vernissage’s crowd,
a haze wraps him and attraction renders
him even more mysterious than
what he seemed from far away.

Olfactory notes:

Bergamot, Nutmeg, Magnolia, Sandal wood and Musk