The Scented Hound

March 18, 2012
by The Scented Hound 9 Comments

Terre d’Hermes by Hermes

Spring has definitely sprung this year. But today, the day started off a bit chillier than it has been for the last couple of weeks. This gave me opportunity to break out one of my favorites, Terre d’Hermes. I’m not much for “this is a winter” or “this is a summer” scent classifications, but in this case this fragrance best suits my fall and winter moods. On initial application, you get a rush or citrus and orange with a slight clove note (I don’t notice cloves as an ingredient, but to me it’s there). The orange then takes background to a beautiful and warm cedar scent. When you mention cedar, I typically think of hamster cages; but in this case, the hamster would be lounging on the most luxurious bedding imaginable. Terre d’Hermes is a unique scent that has great longevity and sillage. It’s a captivating scent without being intrusive. Although marketed to men, a female co-worker of mine was wearing this once and it worked perfectly for her as well. This is one of my favorites; so much so that I’m on my third bottle!

Terre d’Hermes Notes:

grapefruit, orange, shiso, flint accord, woody notes

Bone Rating: 5 out of 5 possible bones
Classification: Masculine
Expense: Varied; available in EDT and EDP

March 18, 2012
by The Scented Hound 3 Comments

Pardon by Nasomatto

My oh my…this will be a short review. Yesterday I tested Pardon by Nasomatto and things went terribly wrong. I am trying to find the words to describe this and am having a hard time doing so. As a parfum extrait this went on incredibly strong. I’m not sure what I was smelling because something came to light very quickly and then became the dominant note…metallics. I have experienced this metallic smell before, but I couldn’t define when and where. After about an hour it hit me. When I was in my twenties, prior to my tonsils being pulled, I had many bouts with sinus infections. Whenever I knew that I was getting a sinus infection, I would experience this really unpleasant metallic smell. That’s what I experience with this scent (and no, I don’t currently have a sinus infection). What was making this reaction? The oud? The tonka bean? Whatever the case, I washed it off, and then washed it off again. Before going out last night I put on my favorite Pour le Soir, knowing that it be strong enough to mask this mistake. It didn’t. And the effect it had on me made me slightly nauseous. Incredibly bizarre. Please note that I only put a dab on my hand, and yet this morning I can still detect this on my skin. Funny thing is, my husband says he likes it, but he too detects the bite in the scent. He’ll be happy to know that I’m giving him the rest of the sample. I’m usually forgiving of a scent and am typically willing to give it another try. This is one of those times that I won’t be doing so.

Pardon Notes:

magnolia, oud, tonka bean, unsweetened chocolate, cinnamon, sandlewood

Bone Rating: 1 out of 5 possible bones
Classification: Unisex, but leans masculine
Expense: $165 for 30ml, Parfum Extrait

March 17, 2012
by The Scented Hound Leave a comment

Charles Street by Mark Birley

Today is St. Patrick’s Day, so I thought I would celebrate by wearing an Irish fragrance. The only problem is that I don’t have anything that is from, or resembling anything near Irish, like a Creed’s Irish Tweed. So as blasphemous as it may be, the closest I could come to Irish is a scent from England. Charles Street by Mark Birley is nice and subtle, almost too subtle. When applied, the initial smell is of soft leather and raspberries. But wait, there are no raspberries in the composition, so where does that come from? Who knows, but it’s there and it’s nice. It mellows into almost a raspberry/cherry wet pipe tobacco smell with a hint of light leather. Again, I use the word nice. It’s nothing that wows and I found that it quickly dissipated and disappeared. Too bad. I guess that’s what I get for going English on St. Patrick’s Day!

Charles Street Notes:
Coffee, mace oil, angelica root, leather, vanilla, musk, patchouli