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April 17, 2012
by The Scented Hound 6 Comments

Amber Oud by By Kilian

Oh my, an amber that didn’t work for me. I have heard nothing but rave reviews about Amber Oud…but again, oh my. First Amber Oud goes on sharp, it has a strong bite. It’s the oud mixed with the bay leaves I am guessing. I read from other reviews that this fragrance is sweet. I’m not getting any sweetness whatsoever. I was hoping that the vanilla would pop out to even out the sharpness of the scent. It materializes slightly, but never to the point of cutting that edge. After a bit, the sharpness dissipates and the scent retreats close to the skin. That’s fine, but all day long all that I was smelling was a sour note. And not even the amber warmed this for me. I am truly disappointed, but I will be giving this one another chance. Maybe it’s just my body chemistry! 😦

Amber Oud Notes:

Amber, oud, bay leaf, cedarwood, vanilla

Bone Rating: 2 out of 5 possible bones
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $395 for 50ml EDP

March 21, 2012
by The Scented Hound 2 Comments

1828 by Histoires de Parfums

1828 (Jules Verne) by Histoires de Parfums is a scent that when I first put it on, I knew I was going to love. Today was going to be a pretty spring day so I wanted to try something light. In looking at the composition, I thought this would be a perfect fit. The top notes are fantastic; citrus, grapefruit, eucalyptus…the perfect refreshing mix to get the day started. Nothing like a good zesty opening to put a spring in your step! After a bit, the citrus dissipated and out came a woody and peppery mix; still zesty, but the scent started moving into a more piney embodiment. I still was in awe. OK, sometimes, good things must come to an end. Unfortunately, 1828 moved into a direction in the end that didn’t agree with me. In the end, this fragrance just became sharp. Still woody, still piney, but something else left the scent, some bit of warmth, and it just became a bit annoying. I found this sharp and biting quality driving me to a headache. Can I just have the top notes back please??

From the Histories de Parfums website:

Top Note: Grapefruit, Citrus, Tangerine, Eucalyptus
Heart Note: Nutmeg, Pepper
Base Note: Cedar, Incense, Vetiver, Pine cone

Bone Rating: 2 out of 5 possible bones
Classification: Masculine
Expense: $125 for 2 oz., EDP

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